Indoor swimming pools can reopen; bars can reopen outdoors; live entertainment for up to 50 people (requires pre-approval), more

By Contra Costa Health Services

More businesses and community activities can reopen beginning today in Contra Costa after the county’s data indicators for COVID-19 transmission showed improvement in October.

California today reassigned Contra Costa to the less-restrictive orange tier of its Blueprint for a Safer Economy, allowing for larger local gatherings for indoor worship services and dining, and the reopening of indoor pools, bars and bowling alleys.

But health officials caution that it is now more important than ever to follow the state health guidance for physical distancing and use of face coverings, to keep everyone safe and healthy during the holiday season and to avoid a return to the red tier.

Contra Costa’s adjusted per-capita case rate – the average daily number of new COVID-19 cases identified in the county per 100,000 population – stood at 3.7 on Tuesday, just qualifying the county to move into the orange tier.

The average daily percentage of COVID-19 tests that return positive in the county is 1.9%, with 4.9% or lower qualifying for the orange tier. That number for census tracts identified by the state’s health equity metric was 3.9% today, with 5.2% required for the orange tier.

Counties in the orange tier can allow:

• Worship services and other cultural activities indoors at 50% occupancy or 200 people, whichever is fewer;
• Indoor dining at 50% occupancy or 200 people, whichever is fewer;
• Indoor swimming pools;
• Bars and other businesses that sell alcohol without meals to open for outdoor operation;
• Family entertainment centers to open indoors for “naturally distanced” activities, such as bowling alleys, escape rooms and climbing-wall gyms, at 25% occupancy;
• Cardrooms to open indoors at 25% occupancy;
• Small amusement parks to open at 25% of occupancy or 500 people, whichever is fewer;
• Professional sports venues to open at 20% occupancy;
• Live entertainment to open with no more than 50 people, if approved by the Health Officer.

The county will remain in the orange tier for at least two weeks. The state could move Contra Costa into the less-restrictive yellow tier, or the more restrictive red tier, if its metrics qualify for one of those tiers for two consecutive weeks. The state updates the official numbers every Tuesday.

To reduce the spread of the virus in Contra Costa County, and to continue its progress toward reopening, county leaders urge the public to get tested for COVID-19 regularly, including people who have no symptoms of illness.

Contra Costa would not have qualified for the orange tier this week had it not tested more residents than the state average. California adjusts the case rates of high-testing counties downward to reflect their work controlling the virus. Without that adjustment, Contra Costa’s per-capita case rate this week would have been 4.1, which would not qualify for the orange tier.

Following the heath guidance for physical distancing and face coverings, practicing good hand hygiene and staying home when you feel sick are also key to continuing Contra Costa’s progress against the pandemic.

About 3,500 people get tested every day for COVID-19 in Contra Costa. By ramping up to test at least 4,500 daily, the county can more quickly notify those infected – particularly people with the virus who do not have symptoms – to prevent outbreaks and better protect community members at high risk of serious illness from COVID-19 because of their age or health.

Contra Costa recommends that workers in jobs that bring them in frequent contact with the public, including all essential workers, consider a COVID-19 test every 30 days. Anyone who has symptoms such as fever, cough or difficulty breathing should also consider a test.

Call 1-844-421-0804 to schedule a fast, free COVID-19 test in Contra Costa, or visit cchealth.org/coronavirus to schedule online.

 

“In the interests of transparency” – Chief Assistant County Administrator Eric Angstadt

“The difference is primarily due to the below market purchase price” – from the appraisal

“This is a classic example of a gift of public funds” – County Assessor Gus Kramer

By Allen Payton

After learning that the county’s outside appraisal for the Motel 6 in Pittsburg was $16.7 million, and the purchase price offered by the Board of Supervisors of $17.4 million, was only 4.2% higher, it was learned today that the same motel sold for just $12 million in February 2019. In addition, it was assessed on January 1st, this year slightly higher at $12,226,480. After requesting a copy of the appraisal since last week, the County Counsel’s office released it, today “in the interests of transparency.” The appraisal states last year’s “purchase price was modified to $13,200,000.” (See related article)

Asked for copies of what was believed to be both internal and outside contract appraisals from the Public Works Department Real Estate Division, Chief Assistant County Administrator Eric Angstadt responded, “I’m only aware of one appraisal. It was contracted out. I can give you what the topline is, but the appraisal is not available until after escrow closes.”

“The appraised value is $16.7 million at $96,000 per room,” he stated. “It’s 4.2% above the appraised value.”

Asked if the appraisal was done internally or contracted out, Angstadt said, “We always contract out appraisals. We have staff with real estate licenses. But I don’t believe we have any licensed appraisers on staff.”

“The state was very public about how much they were willing to pay, at $100,000 per room,” he continued. “So, it didn’t leave us with much room to negotiate.”

“We have not signed the purchase and sale agreement, yet. That will happen once we finish the due diligence. We are working our way through all of it. It’s scheduled to close escrow on November 10th,” Angstadt added.

However, Angstadt released the appraisal to the Herald, today after obtaining permission from the County Counsel’s office. It was done by West Hollywood-based HVS Consulting & Valuation, a Division of TS Worldwide, LLC which, according to their website, provides highly credible hotel valuations and appraisals.”  (See page 13) HVS Appraisal – FINAL – Motel 6 – Pittsburg CA – 09

The sale price for the 41-year-old motel was $68,000 per room, last year.

In a search of the Assessor’s Parcel number for the property, which is 088-152-039 on the ParcelQuest Lite website, a link to which can be found on the Contra Costa County Treasurer-Tax Collector’s webpage and which any member of the public, county staff, Board of Supervisors and any appraiser can do, it provides the details of last year’s sale and this year’s valuation.

The closest comparable sale was the Ramada Inn, now Comfort Inn, in Antioch which sold in March 2017 for $50,000 per room. That’s a much higher end hotel than the Motel 6. Another comparable property, the Marina Bay Inn & Suites on Cutting Blvd. in Richmond near Pt. Richmond sold in August 2017 for $80,000 per room, and that’s in an area considered nicer than where the Motel 6 is located in Pittsburg.

“The real comparable sale is the property itself,” said County Assessor Gus Kramer, who has been an outspoken critic of the county’s purchase of the motel. (See related article)

“Did the appraiser back into the state’s and county’s number?” he asked. “How can the appraiser say the value of the motel increased in the last year by 45%? No property in the county has increased in value that much during that time.”

Asked when the property was assessed this year, Kramer said his staff did that on January 1st.

“This is a classic example of a gift of public funds,” he stated. “Just because the state is giving us this amount of money doesn’t mean we need to spend that much.”

“This is why local government is in trouble,” Kramer continued. “It’s not that they don’t have enough money it’s that they don’t manage what they have, well.”

An email was sent to all members of the Board of Supervisors, County Administrator David Twa and Angstadt asking them why there is such a difference in the value arrived at by the county’s contract appraiser as well as the offer price, and last year’s sale price and this year’s assessed valuation. They were also asked to confirm that the property in the online search was in fact the Motel 6, since it has the same address and the photo of it appears to be the motel. In addition, they were asked why the appraiser didn’t take into account the sale and assessed value for the motel and if they will now seek a second appraisal.

Text messages were also sent to Supervisors Federal Glover, in whose district the motel is located, Diane Burgis and Board Chair Candace Andersen informing them of the difference in appraised value and assessed valuation and to please check their emails.

The Board was holding a special closed session meeting, today beginning at 9 a.m. to discuss both Kramer’s lawsuit against the Board over allegations of violations of the state’s Brown Act open meeting law, as well as potential candidates to replace Twa who is retiring, this year.

Angstadt responded with, “The appraisal does include a discussion and analysis of the past sale of the property and the reasoning, changes and circumstances that led to the appraiser assigning the valuation they did.  As I said in our earlier discussion Government Code Section 6254(H) exempts release of the contents of an appraisal before the acquisition of the property is complete.  Therefore I can’t directly answer your question about how they justified the higher value, but I can assure you they did discuss the issues you raised and their methods of determining the higher value they assigned to the property.

However, California Government Code § 6254 (2017) reads “Except as provided in Sections 6254.7 and 6254.13, this chapter does not require the disclosure of any of the following records:

(h) The contents of real estate appraisals or engineering or feasibility estimates and evaluations made for or by the state or local agency relative to the acquisition of property, or to prospective public supply and construction contracts, until all of the property has been acquired or all of the contract agreement obtained.”

A further question was asked if the county is prohibited from releasing the appraisal or just not required to and if they can release it to please provide it, as has been requested since last week.

In response Angstadt wrote, “I spoke with County Counsel and they said they we could disclose the appraisal at this time in the interests of transparency.  A number of the issues you raised are discussed starting on page 13.”

Appraisal Explanation for Higher Value Than 2019 Sale Price

On that page, the appraisal provides the reason for part of the higher price. It reads, “The ‘as is’ market value opinion in this appraisal is approximately 27% higher than the February 2019 purchase price. The difference is primarily due to the below market purchase price, as described throughout this report.”

In addition, the appraisal states the actual “purchase price was modified to $13,200,000”.

Please check back later for any responses from the Supervisors and any other updates.

Below is the information from the ParcelQuest Lite property search of the Motel 6 property located at 2101 Loveridge Road in Pittsburg.

Russell V. Watts , County Treasurer-Tax Collector

Property Address: 2101 LOVERIDGE RD PITTSBURG CA 94565-5019

Full Detail $14.95  The Full Property Detail includes everything displayed here plus completed information for those fields where “See Full Detail” is shown. If a field is empty on this page, no data is available, and the field will also be empty on the Full Property Detail.

Property Address: 2101 LOVERIDGE RD PITTSBURG CA 94565-5019

General Information

Parcel # (APN):	088-152-039-9
Owner:	See Full Detail
Mailing Address:	25920 VIA MARGARITA CARMEL CA 93923-8313
Legal Description:	PCL MAP 78 PG 36 POR PCL A
Use Type:	COMMERCIAL
Tax Rate Area:	007-004

Assessment

Total Value:	$12,226,480	Year Assd:	2020
Land:	$2,550,000	Zoning:
Structures:	$9,424,800	Use Code:	See Full Detail
Other:	$251,680	Census Tract:	See Full Detail
% Improved:	See Full Detail	Price/SqFt:	See Full Detail
Exempt Amt:
HO Exempt:	N

Sale History

	Sale 1	Sale 2	Sale 3	Transfer
Document Date:	02/12/2019	See Full Detail		See Full Detail
Document Number:	19052	See Full Detail		See Full Detail
Document Type:
Transfer Amount:	$12,000,000	See Full Detail
Seller (Grantor):

Property Characteristics

Bedrooms:		Fireplace:		Units:	See Full Detail
Baths (Full):		A/C:		Stories:
Baths (Half):		Heating:		Quality:
Total Rooms:		Pool:		Building Class:
Bldg/Liv Area:	43,352	Park Type:		Condition:
Lot Acres:	2.905	Spaces:		Site Influence:
Lot SqFt:	126,542	Garage SqFt:		Timber Preserve:
Year Built:	1979			Ag Preserve:
Effective Year:	See Full Detail
**The information provided here is deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed.

 

 

 

By Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) would like to invite you to take part in a national effort to keep our communities safe. The DEA and the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff hold Take Back Days aimed to provide a safe, convenient, and ecologically responsible method of prescription medication disposal while also focusing on prevention and education.

Take Back Day is this Saturday, October 24, 2020, from 10 AM to 2 PM,

Bring your pills for disposal at the following sites. The DEA cannot accept needles or sharps, only pills, patches, and liquids sealed in their original container. Vaping cartridges and devices with batteries removed can be accepted at Take Back collection sites. The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

Take Back Collection Sites:

-Office of the Sheriff Muir Station, 1980 Muir Road, Martinez (Field Operations Building)

-Office of the Sheriff Bay Station, 5555 Giant Highway, Richmond (West County Detention Facility)

-Office of the Sheriff Delta Station, 9100 Brentwood Blvd., Brentwood

-Danville Police Department, 510 La Gonda Way, Danville

-Orinda Police Department, 22 Orinda Way, Orinda

The National Prescription Drug Take Back Day addresses a crucial public safety and public health issue. According to the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6 million Americans misused controlled prescription drugs. The study shows that a majority of abused prescription drugs were obtained from family and friends, often from the home medicine cabinet. The DEA’s Take Back Day events provide an opportunity for Americans to prevent drug addiction and overdose deaths.

For more information about the disposal of prescription drugs or about the Take Back event, go to the DEA Office of Diversion Control website at: www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov.

 

$21.6 million total for program; approved as a consent calendar item and the last item on the agenda without discussion; no appraisals included; Glover, Kramer split on issue; appraises at $16.7 million

By Daniel Borsuk

The light will be left on for homeless, now at the Motel 6 in Pittsburg. Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors may have quietly went about unanimously approving $21.6 million for the purchase of the motel and almost two years of operations, as part of the state’s Homekey program to help the homeless find shelter, food, jobs and get social services, but the Board’s consent action on Tuesday also demonstrates how far apart two political candidates – longtime District 5 Supervisor Federal Glover and challenger Contra Costa County Assessor Gus Kramer – are on the issue of homelessness.

The agenda item was quietly acted on as a consent item, and the last on the agenda. There was no discussion on the item, nor were copies of the two appraisals by the county’s Public Works Real Estate Division included with the agenda. Attempts to obtain the appraised value for the property from members of the Board, County Administrator David Twa, and the Public Works Real Estate Division were unsuccessful prior to publication time. However, Supervisors Federal Glover, in whose district the motel is located, as well as Candace Andersen and Diane Burgis said they would work to provide the information. The only documents included with the agenda item were the purchase and sale agreement and deed of sale. Motel 6 Pittsburg – Purchase & Sale Agrmt final 10.12.20

Located at 2101 Loveridge Road in Pittsburg, the County, with the state’s financial assistance decided that acquisition of the Motel 6 will increase the number of shelter beds permanently available in East County from 20 beds to 174 beds, a 770 percent increase.  In addition to providing shelter, the program, funded under the state’s Home Key Program, would provide health care, behavioral health and other services to residents.

Contra Costa, along with the counties of San Francisco, Alameda and Santa Clara have now drawn state Homekey funds in the fight to solve homeless issues.

“This will be a great opportunity to get people off the street,” said Supervisor Glover who faces Kramer in a November 3rd face-off election because neither candidate drew enough votes to surpass 50 percent threshold of the total votes in the March election.  In that March election, the District 5 Board Seat had three candidates competing for the District 5 seat covering the communities of Antioch, Alhambra Valley, Clyde, Crockett, Hercules, Martinez, Mountain View, Pacheco, Pittsburg, Port Costa, and Rodeo – Glover, Kramer and Martinez businessman Sean Trambley – and no candidate had mustered votes exceeding 50 percent of the votes counted.  As a result, Glover and Kramer are in a run-off election on November 3.

The Contra Costa County Behavioral Department will operate the county’s Homekey program.

County Assessor Kramer, who must appear in Superior Court Judge John Cope’s court room on today, for a jury trial on civil “corrupt or willful misconduct” charges took a different view on the Board of Supervisors’ action to acquire the 174-room motel from OKC of Pittsburg for use as a homeless  facility.

Kramer lashed out at his political opponent Glover and other supervisors for spending $21 million.  “It’s a great program, but it is a waste of resources,” he said. “What a horrible investment.  Shame on the Board and Federal.”

Kramer did offer a potential solution to the homeless problem in the county and perhaps the state by creating camps like what occurred during the Great Depression where job, health and other public services would also be provided to individuals.

10/27/20 UPDATE: Asked for copies of the appraisal, Chief Assistant County Administrator Eric Angstadt responded, “I’m only aware of one appraisal. It was contracted out. I can give you what the topline is, but the appraisal is not available until after escrow closes.”

“The appraised value is $16.7 million at $96,000 per room,” he stated. “It’s 4.2% above the appraised value.”

Asked if the appraisal was done internally or contracted out, Angstadt said, “We always contract out appraisals. We have staff with real estate licenses. But I don’t believe we have any licensed appraisers on staff.”

“The state was very public about how much they were willing to pay at $100,000 per room,” he continued. “So, it didn’t leave us with much room to negotiate.”

“We have not signed the purchase and sale agreement, yet. That will happen once we finish the due diligence. We are working our way through all of it. It’s scheduled to close escrow on November 10th,” Angstadt added.

Orange COVID-19 Metric Next Week?’ 

Supervisors were informed that by next Tuesday the county should transition into the orange COVID-19 criteria, Contra Costa County Health Services Director Anna Roth said.  “We should meet the orange metric next week,” she said.  A move to an orange metric would mean the removal of further restrictions on some businesses.

Since the County declared a State of Emergency because of COVID-19 in March, there have been 18,214 cases and 236 deaths, Roth reported.

The health director encouraged the public to continue to wash hands, keep their distance, and stay home from work or school if they felt ill.

Four Abatement Actions

Supervisors acted on four abatement actions at the recommendations of the Conservation and Development Department.

Properties the Supervisors took action on were:

Property at 2738 Dutch Slough Road, Oakley, owned by Elmo G. Wurts, for $8,141.20; property at 0 Stone Road, Bethel Island, owned by Thanh Ngyyen for $6,964;  property at 4603 Gateway Road, Bethel Island, owned by Franks Marina for $5,591.20; and property at 3901 La Colina Road, El Sobrante, owned by Rudolph N. Webbe for $3,256.70.

Supervisors did not hear any comments from either property owners or the public on the abatement items.

Please check back later for any updates to this report.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

 

 

 

Arrested for elder abuse, in jail since Oct. 2; Sheriff’s Office investigating

By Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff

On Saturday, October 17, 2020, at about 6:15 PM, a deputy sheriff escorted a Mental Health Clinician to speak with an inmate at the West County Detention Facility in Richmond.

As the deputy opened the door to the inmate’s cell, she found him unresponsive with a bed sheet wrapped around his neck. Deputies and jail medical staff provided life saving measures until an ambulance and the fire department arrived. The inmate was later pronounced deceased at the scene.

The inmate is identified as 42-year-old Gregory Lynds of Antioch. He was originally arrested by the Antioch Police Department and was booked into jail on October 2, 2020. He was being held on two felony counts of elder abuse (likely to produce great bodily harm or death), two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon, parole violation, and battery on a peace officer.

The investigation into the apparent suicide is being investigated by the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office and Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office.

The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Investigation Division at (925) 313-2600. For any tips, email: tips@so.cccounty.us or call (866) 846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message.

The Forensic Services Division of the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff was awarded $408,853.00 in grant funding from the California Office of Traffic Safety. The funding will be used to purchase a Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometer (LC-MS/MS).

The new equipment can detect illegal drugs, prescription drugs, and over-the-counter drugs commonly found in driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) and drug facilitated sexual assault (DFSA) cases. The addition of this equipment will enable the Sheriff’s Crime Laboratory to provide a higher level of service to the agencies in Contra Costa County and the criminal justice system.

“We are pleased to receive this grant from the Office of Traffic Safety,” said Contra Costa County Sheriff David O. Livingston. “This will increase our efficiency and enable us to provide rapid results to law enforcement and prosecutors on DUID cases in Contra Costa County.”

The purchase of the new instrument, training, and method validation are anticipated to take up to one year. Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Program promotes racial equity in prosecution and reducing the use of jails; only one of seven DA’s offices in the nation; will host six weekly podcast-styled video discussions beginning Wednesday

By Scott Alonso, Public Information Officer, Office of the District Attorney, Contra Costa County

Martinez, Calif. – Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton announced, Monday the next phase of work with the Vera Institute of Justice. The DA’s Office first partnered with Vera in 2018 to take a critical look at the inner workings of the office through a data driven focus. Vera’s Reshaping Prosecution program offers reform minded prosecutors to opportunity to analyze their own data, policies, and practices with a lens toward reducing racial disparities and mass incarceration, delivering justice, and pursuing public safety.

According to the organization’s website, “Vera is partnering with prosecutors to put their campaign promises into action as concrete, data-informed policies and practices.”

The website continues with, “Across the country empowered communities have demanded a new approach to criminal justice by electing prosecutors committed to change. Standing on forward-looking platforms including promises of bail reform, diversion, and ending mass incarceration, a new generation of prosecutors in Chicago, Philadelphia, Jacksonville, Orlando, Contra Costa, Denver, St. Louis and elsewhere are part of a small but growing cadre who understand what many Americans have also learned: that ‘tough on crime’ does not equal public safety.”

According to the organization’s Facebook page, it was founded in 1961 and “works to secure equal justice, end mass incarceration, and strengthen families and communities across America.”

The DA’s Office has shared data from the Office’s case management system from the time period of January 1, 2014 to July 30, 2019. Once the data and policy analysis are complete, Vera will present their findings and recommendations to DA Becton. After the findings have been analyzed internally and shared officewide, they will be publicly released.

“Our community is calling for a more transparent and equitable criminal justice system. I am excited to partner with Vera to work on those long-standing issues, especially around the analysis of our data. Data from any law enforcement agency tells a story,” Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton stated. “We need this data analysis to improve our communication with the public and our law enforcement partners. As a former judge and now district attorney, I understand the systemic issues in our county with racial disparities. We must think critically about how best to improve our operations and work with our law enforcement partners to ensure our prosecutions are just. With this partnership with Vera, we can shine a light on our practices and make informed decisions to better protect the public.”

Contra Costa is one of only seven prosecution offices nationwide participating in the Reshaping Prosecution program. Each office will have a designated internal working group that will reflect on a range of topics including: a deeper dive into the historical role of the prosecutor, working with your community and exploring what justice looks like, and discussions around building group cohesiveness to lay the foundation for successful implementation of reforms.

“Vera applauds District Attorney Becton’s commitment to racial-equity and transparency,” said Jamila Hodge, Director of the Reshaping Prosecution Program at the Vera Institute of Justice. “Our partnership will address the disparities that have impacted Black, brown, and Indigenous communities in Contra Costa County by providing analysis and policy solutions, critical steps to reduce harm, rebuild trust, and deliver the safety and justice our communities deserve.”

Training and exposure to different ways of thinking is also an important component of the partnership. For six weeks, beginning October 7th, Vera will host a weekly podcast-styled video discussion series focused on why racial equity is integral to the prosecutorial role, and how prosecutors can center racial equity in decision making. The series will feature criminal justice experts from across the country who will cover a range of topics including: Origins of the Criminal Justice System; Centering Human Dignity; Accountability vs. Punishment; Restorative Justice; Community Well-Being; and Action Steps for Prosecutors.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

Say “Hello” to more drugs on our streets

Antioch Residents,

I emailed you recently about Contra Costa County District Attorney’s surprise announcement requiring prosecutors to consider “need” before deciding whether to charge an individual with LOOTING. Last week, the DA made another disturbing announcement.

Individuals caught possessing smaller quantities of heroin, cocaine or methamphetamines WILL NOT BE CHARGED with a crime. UNBELIEVABLE. It gets worse. Actually, an individual can be caught three times in the span of a year and STILL NOT GET CHARGED for drug possession. (See related Herald article)

In effect, what the DA has done is legalize drugs in our county. I worry about how this might increase drug use among youth and increase crime in our City. I would be interested in your thoughts – please CLICK HERE to send me an email.

My opponent, Lamar Thorpe, is a huge supporter of the District Attorney’s policies and supported her re-election (click here for documentation). If elected, I worry that he will embrace policies that favor criminals, which would do more damage than not to our community.

Thank you for reading this message.

Dr. Sean Wright – Antioch Mayor