Ron Bernal. file photo

By Allen Payton, Publisher & Editor

A sub-headline both online and on the front page of the July print edition of the Herald (which went to print prior to the June 26th council meeting), for the article about the June 12 council meeting was incorrect. It stated the city council approved a $20,000 pay raise for City Manager Ron Bernal.

At the meeting on Tuesday, June 26, Interim City Attorney Derek Cole announced that no amendments to Bernal’s contract would be made at this time, but directions were given to the city staff to develop a salary schedule for the city manager that involves a step system, which is tied to performance for future consideration.

During the June 12th City Council meeting the council agreed to bring the discussion of a possible $20,000 pay raise for City Manager Ron Bernal back to closed session for further deliberation. The decision came after hesitation from the council.

I apologize for the mistake.

Although Bernal has the highest base salary of any city employee, the decision leaves him as the second highest paid city employee with a salary of $234,914.17 per year, behind Police Chief Tammany Brooks at $261,917.78 which includes other pay, according to TransparentCalifornia.org. For the 2017 fiscal year, Bernal was the fifth highest city employee behind recently retired Police Captain Diane Aguinaga and two police lieutenants based on their overtime pay. He is the third highest paid government employee in Antioch, behind Antioch Unified School District Stephanie Anello who earns a salary of $238,583 per year.

Correct information provided by writer Alexandra Riva.

By Allen Payton, Publisher & Editor

This is to inform our readers that there was a mistake on the back page of the four-page advertisement, known as a wrap, around the outside of the November issue of the Antioch Herald promoting Dr. Sean Wright’s campaign for Mayor of Antioch. It was paid for by his campaign whose FPPC ID# is 1384338, but that information was too small to read.

The revised back page artwork with a larger “Paid for by” section was not used by the printer, but instead the original artwork sent to them. The revised artwork also contained additional endorsements of Wright by Supervisor Mary Piepho, Robin Agopian and Gordon Gravelle. The revised back page can be seen on the right side of our website.

We take responsibility for this and apologize for the communications break-down between us and our printer, and it is not the fault of either Wright or his campaign. We hope this clears up any misunderstanding or confusion regarding paid political advertisement.