The overnight closure of State Route 4 between Lone Tree Way and Sand Creek Road in Brentwood originally planned for Friday, May 5 through Saturday, May 6, 2023 has been postponed one week to Friday, May 12 through Saturday, May 13, 2023.
In partnership with the City of Brentwood, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) is constructing the Mokelumne Trail Bicycle and Pedestrian Overcrossing to provide safe access to cyclists and pedestrians for commuting and recreational travel, reconnecting two sides of the trail that were separated by the expansion of State Route 4.
When completed, the overcrossing will provide access to the future East County Intermodal Transit Center and BART Station in Brentwood, as well. It is part of the larger Mokelumne Coast to Crest Trail which also includes the Delta de Anza Regional Trail that runs through Antioch and Oakley, that will, when completed, connect six counties across California from the East Bay to the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
The overnight closure will facilitate final adjustments to the falsework as part of the construction work installing the pedestrian and bicyclist crossing over State Route 4. This closure will impact State Route 4 in both the Eastbound and Westbound directions. CCTA and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) have scheduled the closure during the early morning hours in order to minimize impacts to the motoring public.
In order to ensure crew and public safety during the planned construction work, a temporary nighttime freeway closure in both directions of State Route 4 will occur in both Eastbound and Westbound lanes of Highway 4 from midnight on Friday, May 12 until 6:00am on Saturday, May 13, 2023 (weather permitting).
Detours Detours will be in place to reroute drivers around the closure and are planned as follows: Eastbound traffic will be directed to exit at Lone Tree Way, go eastbound to Shady Willow Lane, then southbound on Shady Willow Lane to Sand Creek Road, before proceeding westbound on Sand Creek Road to the eastbound State Route 4 on-ramp.
Westbound drivers having to detour will exit on Sand Creek Road and go eastbound on Sand Creek Road to Shady Willow Lane, then northbound on Shady Willow Lane to Lone Tree Way, and proceed westbound on Lone Tree Way to the westbound State Route 4 on-ramp.
Future Freeway Closures
Additional overnight closures will be needed over the course of the next eight weeks (weather dependent) to facilitate concrete pours for the stem and soffit and deck of the future Mokelumne Trail Bicycle and Pedestrian Overcrossing. Additional information regarding dates and detours will be provided once the schedule is confirmed. This project is anticipated to be complete in late summer or early fall of 2023.
In response to a request for more information and details about the nine shootings in Antioch since last Thursday, April 27, 2023 Antioch Police Department PIO Ashley Crandell shared the following. One shooting took the life a 31-year-old man on Monday, as previously reported and another resulted in a non-life-threatening injury.
Case 23-3101 – 3400 block of Gentrytown Drive – 4/27/2023 – 9:53 am – bullet hole located in the gutter of a residence – no injuries.
Case 23-3113 – 20 block of Service Road – 4/27/2023 – 10:50 pm – a residence was shot at – no injuries.
Case 23-3139 – 4900 block of Parkgreen Circle near Knoll Park – 4/28/2023 – 7:37 pm – one male with one gunshot wound – non-life-threatening.
Case 23-3142 – Lone Tree Way and Putnam Street – 4/28/2023 – 7:24 pm – shell casing located – no victims or suspects – no injuries.
Case 23-3161 – 4900 Country Hills Drive – 4/29/2023 – 6:22 pm – a residence was shot at – no injuries.
Case 23-3191 – 900 block of W. 9th Street – 4/30/2023 – 10:38 pm – unknown person shooting in unknown direction – no injuries.
Case 23-3219 – 2700 Hillcrest Avenue – 5/1/2023 – 7:42 pm – Homicide. The identity of the man has not yet been released by the Contra Costa County Coroner’s Office.
Comment below a post on the Antioch Police Department’s Facebook page on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 announcing comments have been disabled.
“We want citizens to use the forums and city council meetings during public comment” – Acting City Manager Forrest Ebbs. Says Circuit Court decision doesn’t apply
By Allen D. Payton
In response to comments from people outside the community following the recent racist text scandal involving several officers, the Antioch Police Department has shut off the ability for the public to post comments on their Facebook page as of today, Wednesday, May 3, 2023. In a comment below a post of a video of Corporal Price Kendall “showing off his dance moves at the Multi-Cultural Event hosted at Park Middle School”, the APD wrote, “Notice: The Antioch Police Department has been directed to disable public comments on Facebook social media posts. If you would like to provide your feedback, please contact us at (925) 779-6801 or email us at APDCommunityFeedback@antiochca.gov.”
Asked who gave the direction, APD PIO Ashley Crandell responded, “The City.” Pressed further asking if it was Acting City Manager Forrest Ebbs or City Attorney Thomas L. Smith, she did not respond.
When asked about it Ebbs responded, “Directed by me in collaboration with the Chief” Steve Ford.
Asked why and if it’s legal due to the 9th Circuit Court decision which held that official use of a social media platform created a public forum, and blocking members of the public violated the First Amendment (recognizing that case and a separate 6th Circuit Court case with the opposite decision being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court) Ebbs said, “The court case doesn’t apply. That was for being selective and it must be all or nothing. The reason for the decision is we’re really trying to encourage people to use the community forums to discuss policing. We want to have a civil conversation there. Facebook doesn’t give that ability. Some of the comments were disturbing and weren’t regarding the posts. We weren’t able to comment back and address things. So, we made the decision to not use Facebook as the community forum.”
There had been no posts on the page since April 25, including nothing about the eight shootings since last Thursday including the shooting death on Monday night. Information about that incident was shared via press release. (See related article)
However, Crandell said she would work with the department’s crime analyst to provide details on the other shootings.
Comments on APD Facebook page below a post on April 24, 2023 were by three men not from Antioch.
Comments below a post on the APD Facebook page on April 24 included videos critical of Antioch Police Officer Tom Lenderman, shared by a man who lives in Santa Clarita, California and another by a man who lives in Huntsville, Alabama and another video shared by a third man who lives in Ovid, Michigan according to their own Facebook page profiles.
“We want citizens to use the forums and city council meetings during public comment. That Facebook page wasn’t set up as the forum for such an important issue as this one,” Ebbs added. “The forums are tailored to the local folks, here, in the community and Facebook allows anyone to comment.”
Note: Corporal Kendall’s impressive dance moves are worth the watch, here.
Police seek suspects including two seen running from vehicle
By Lt. John Fortner, Investigations Bureau, Antioch Police Department
On Monday, May 1, 2023, at approximately 7:41 PM, Antioch police officers responded to the report of a solo vehicle collision, in the parking lot of the 7-Eleven convenience store and 76 gas station, located at 2700 Hillcrest Avenue. Citizens nearby reported seeing two subjects run from the vehicle. It also appeared the driver was injured and not breathing.
Numerous officers responded to the scene. When officers arrived, they located one male victim in the driver’s seat suffering from at least one gunshot wound. Evidence at the scene indicated the incident likely occurred inside the vehicle. Officers immediately began administering first-aid and called for emergency fire department personnel and AMR paramedics.
Unfortunately, the victim succumbed to his injuries at the scene, and he was pronounced deceased. The suspects who fled the vehicle on-foot were not located.
Antioch Police Department’s Investigations Bureau, consisting of Crime Scene Investigators and detectives with the Violent Crimes Unit, responded to the scene and took over the investigation.
Currently, detectives are interviewing witnesses and working to identify any suspects or persons of interest. The investigation is still active, and evidence is being collected.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Gragg, rgragg@antiochca.gov, at (925) 779-6889, or Detective Palma, kpalma@antiochca.gov, at (925) 779-6286. You may also text-a-tip anonymously to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH.
Mokelumne Trail Overcrossing April 2023 progress. Photo: CCTA
Midnight to 6:00 am for Mokelumne Trail overcrossing
BRENTWOOD, CA – In partnership with the City of Brentwood, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) is constructing the Mokelumne Trail Bicycle and Pedestrian Overcrossing to provide safe access to cyclists and pedestrians for commuting and recreational travel, reconnecting two sides of the trail that were separated by the expansion of State Route 4. The overnight closure will facilitate final adjustments to the falsework as part of the construction work installing the pedestrian and bicyclist crossing over State Route 4. This closure will impact State Route 4 in both the Eastbound and Westbound directions. CCTA and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) have scheduled the closure during the early morning hours in order to minimize impacts to the motoring public.
Overnight Freeway Closure of State Route 4 between Lone Tree Way and Sand Creek Road In order to ensure crew and public safety during the planned construction work, a temporary nighttime freeway closure in both directions of State Route 4 will occur between Friday, May 5, 2023 and Saturday, May 6, 2023 on the following schedule (weather permitting): Eastbound and Westbound Highway 4 will be closed from midnight on Friday, May 5 until 6:00am on Saturday, May 6, 2023.
Detours Detours will be in place to reroute drivers around the closure and are planned as follows: Eastbound traffic will be directed to exit at Lone Tree Way, go eastbound to Shady Willow Lane, then southbound on Shady Willow Lane to Sand Creek Road, before proceeding westbound on Sand Creek Road to the eastbound State Route 4 on-ramp.
Westbound drivers having to detour will exit on Sand Creek Road and go eastbound on Sand Creek Road to Shady Willow Lane, then northbound on Shady Willow Lane to Lone Tree Way, and proceed westbound on Lone Tree Way to the westbound State Route 4 on-ramp.
Future Freeway Closures
Additional overnight closures will be needed over the course of the next eight weeks (weather dependent) to facilitate concrete pours for the stem and soffit and deck of the future Mokelumne Trail Bicycle and Pedestrian Overcrossing. Additional information regarding dates and detours will be provided once the schedule is confirmed. This project is anticipated to be complete in late summer or early fall of 2023.
About the Contra Costa Transportation Authority
The Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) is a public agency formed by Contra Costa voters in 1988 to manage the county’s transportation sales tax program and oversee countywide transportation planning efforts. With a staff of twenty people managing a multi-billion-dollar suite of projects and programs, CCTA is responsible for planning, funding and delivering critical transportation infrastructure projects and programs that connect our communities, foster a strong economy, increase sustainability, and safely and efficiently get people where they need to go. CCTA also serves as the county’s designated Congestion Management Agency, responsible for putting programs in place to keep traffic levels manageable. More information about CCTA is available at ccta.net.
Sixth arrest this year including one the day before, has history of arrests dating to July 2018
By Chief Paul Bard, Oakley Police Department
On April 27, 2023 at 9:11AM Officers B. Jackson and A. Hurtado were on patrol in the area of Main Street at Neroly Road when they saw a white Saturn vehicle being driven in a reckless and haphazard manner. Officers Jackson and Hurtado attempted to stop the vehicle but the driver fled from them and lead them on a pursuit.
The pursuit went into the City of Antioch via Laurel Road. The driver briefly yielded at the intersection of Laurel Road and Canada Valley only to take off again. The driver then took several routes through the City of Antioch with Officers Jackson and Hurtado being joined by Officer Radcliffe and his canine partner “Harkon”.
Eventually the driver ended up driving down Fulton Shipyard Road to the dead end. The driver attempted to drive beyond what is typically able to be navigated at the end of the road, but then he came to a stop. The driver also opened his door and showed signs he was getting ready to run from our officers.
The driver, identified as Matthew Quiroz (Antioch, 36), however opted to surrender and comply at that point, and he was taken into custody.
Quiroz was booked into jail for being in possession of a stolen vehicle and for leading our officers on a pursuit.
Matthew Quiroz has been arrested five times so far in 2023. It appears as if Quiroz was released from jail (in Martinez) this morning, for the crime he committed yesterday, and quite possibly the first thing he did was steal a car to come to Oakley. The following constitutes Quiroz’ known criminal activities in 2023:
February 8, 2023- arrested for being under the influence of drugs and unable to care for himself (Brentwood PD)
February 22, 2023- identified as the suspect in a carjacking involving threats of harm and death (Oakley PD)
March 5, 2023- arrested for robbery, terrorist threats, false imprisonment and probation violation (Antioch PD)
April 15, 2023- arrested for being drunk in public and unable to care for himself (Antioch PD)
April 26, 2023- arrested for lewd conduct and theft (Antioch PD)
April 27, 2023- arrested for evading officers and being in possession of a stolen vehicle (Oakley PD)
I suspect some people will look at the pattern of Quiroz’ activities and come to the conclusion many of his offenses have been “victimless crimes”. What I see however, is a strong pattern of criminal activity. We are barely past one quarter of 2023 and Quiroz has been arrested more times in this quarter than most readers of this article have been in their whole lives. When I consider the fact pattern of our carjacking case in February, the fact Quiroz was arrested for robbery and false imprisonment in March, and when I consider the lives Quiroz placed at risk during today’s pursuit I see many opportunities for his actions to create a great number of victims, so I am not apt to equate no harm to no foul. These crimes (fouls) did occur and there are victims associated to them.
Are you tired of the consistent pattern of crimes that occur time and time again? Are you tired of the more violent society we have? Are you tired of organized retail thefts when you spend your time working hard to pay for everything you need? If you answered ‘yes’ to all three of these questions I am in complete agreement with you. We need better legislation. We need legislation that would work for the people to undo the damage AB 109, Prop 47 and Prop 57 have done and we need to return necessary tools back to prosecutors, and the criminal justice system as a whole, in order to establish much more accountability for criminal behavior and a much greater degree of safety for society. Until then I will continue to appreciate and rely on the police officers of the Oakley Police Department, and the region as a whole, to keep doing what they do to keep the public safe.
Stay safe everybody.”
Suspect Has History of Arrests
In addition to his arrests this year, ccording to localcrimenws.com, Quiroz has a history of arrested dating back to July 2018 by the Solano County Sheriff’s, Antioch, BART Police, Vallejo, American Canyon and San Leandro Police Departments for outstanding warrants, parole violations, drug possession, assault with a deadly weapon or with force likely to cause great bodily harm, threats of violence, vandalism of $6,000 or more and failure to appear.
8th grader Jered E. Clark from Black Diamon Middle School in Antioch was honored with the Rising Stars award for Perseverance by the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. Photo: Office of Supervisor Diane Burgis
Antioch 8th grader Jared E. Clark honoredwith Rising Star for Perseverance Award
On April 4, 2023, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors honored César E. Chávez’s legacy and a group of students as part of the Youth Hall of Fame Award during the 29th Annual César E. Chávez Commemorative Celebration. This year’s theme was Hope and Healing – Esperanza y Bienestar. (See event video here)
Mariachi Monumental & Ballet Folklórico Netzahualcoyotl perform during the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors meeting and 29th Annual César E. Chávez Commemorative Celebration on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. Photo by Glenn Kimball (ContraCostaTV)
The festival featured keynote speaker Genoveva Garcia Calloway, a community leader, former Mayor of San Pablo and behavioral health professional, who shared her perspective on César E. Chávez’s legacy. The event included a presentation of the 2023 Youth Hall of Fame Awards to students who have made outstanding community contributions, live performances by Mariachi Monumental and Ballet Folklórico Netzahualcoyotl, and celebratory remarks from members of the Board of Supervisors.
Source: Contra Costa County
2023 Youth Hall of Fame Award Winners
Rising Stars
Perseverance – Jered E. Clark
Jered Clark currently attends Black Diamond Middle School in Antioch where he holds a 4.0 GPA and will be graduating with his 8th grade class at the end of this school year. He is a self-motivated person who is determined, outgoing, intelligent, and a stand-up scholar. He takes initiative to work on his assignments as well as his extracurricular activities which include volunteering with local nonprofits and playing volleyball. (See the 56:48 mark of the event video for Jered’s introduction by Supervisor Diane Burgis and his remarks)
At two years of age, Jered was a victim of child neglect and diagnosed with behavioral challenges. After tragically losing his parents to domestic violence, he entered the foster care system. Today he faces obstacles head on, remains focused and determined to overcome barriers. His perseverance at just 14 years old clearly shows he has a bright future ahead of him.
Teamwork – Zihan Cherry Chou
Zihan Cherry Chou is an 8th grade honor student at Adams Middle School in Brentwood. She has been volunteering with NAMI Contra Costa for over 4 years and has been invaluable to their organization and the clients they serve. Cherry has a kind and gentle spirit and is always eager to assist where she can. She is a glowing example of the characteristics you hope to see in both youth and adults.
Cherry is passionate about building mental health friendly communities and works to eliminate mental health stigma and discrimination. She is non-judgmental and recognizes love and compassion should be shown to those impacted by mental health challenges. Cherry is part of NAMI’s Outreach Team which provides services and supplies for those who are unsheltered. She helps distribute food, personal hygiene products, and aids with their pets as well.
Cherry has been a presenter at NAMI Contra Costa Suicide Prevention events and advocates for youth mental health in all her activities. While Cherry is warm-hearted and a happy child, she has also experienced an emotionally trying time in her life. She immigrated from China to the United States with her parents when she was 7 years old. Adapting to an unfamiliar environment, with language barriers and cultural differences was challenging. She experienced repeated bullying in elementary school. Remaining optimistic, she got through this time in her life with bravery and strength. She doesn’t want others to experience what she did, so she makes it a point to welcome new students and takes initiative to introduce them to their new school.
Leadership & Civic Engagement – Carter Considine
Carter Considine is a 9th grade student from Lafayette and has started three organizations with helping the community in mind, Teen Art Market, Meaningful Teen, and Humon.
When Carter started Teen Art Market, it was inspired by local youth artists needing to promote their work. Teen Art Market is an online platform that allows teen artists to share their work and connect directly with art enthusiasts, buyers, and other artists.
Carter also co-founded an online nonprofit called Meaningful Teens during the pandemic. Unable to continue the weekly in-person ELL tutoring program at the senior center in Walnut Creek, it became virtual. Since then, the program includes 1,800 + youth tutors and 800+ students, many of the tutors are based in Contra Costa County. Now, tutors are paired up with other non-profits, educational institution serving low-income communities increasing their footprint and positively impacting the lives of many other young people.
Today, Carter is starting an app, Humon, linking people with different perspectives to come into community by identifying commonalities. This app works with a wrist device that lights up when people nearby have certain commonalities, expected to be available on the Apple app store very soon.
Volunteerism – Makenzie Lee Foster
Makenzie is a homeschooled straight A 6th grade student who balances her school time with acting, writing books, and volunteering to read books to others.
Makenzie has written three books, two of which have been published and available on Amazon. She embodies what she writes about in her books; Kickin’ it With Kenzie – What’s Meant for Me Will Be, Kickin’ it with Kenzie – Luckily My Luck is Me! And Seeing Me is Believing in Me!
Makenzie has partnered with First 5 of California and has visited over 20 classrooms as well as UCSF Children’s Hospital. She visits with the children and reads her books to them, sharing how important it is to foster a love of reading and encouraging them to follow their dreams. With each visit, she donates copies of her book along with mini bookmarks and encourages kids to create their own stories.
Good Samaritan – Gianna Baglieri
Gianna is a 3rd grade student at Rio Vista Elementary in Bay Point. According to those who know her, Gianna demonstrates excellent problem-solving skills and leadership for such a young age. She is a kind friend and cares for others. She befriends new students, so they won’t feel alone.
High School Awardees
Leadership & Civic Engagement – Anay Pant
Anay Pant is an 11th grade student at Athenian School in Danville, and from the start, it was abundantly clear that he had a keen interest in being engaged with his community. Anay has been involved in a host of activities in which he has eagerly volunteered for.
It started on Election Day 2022 when Anay volunteered to be a poll watcher in Contra Costa County and his engagement only gained momentum since. With a keen interest in getting more young people tuned into what’s happening around them, he developed an app called Qrated, to keep his peers up to date on local events. Along with his app, Anay is planning a TEDx talk to promote the app to students around the Bay Area. Additionally, he will be hosting a Youth TEDx forum at Athenian to encourage his young peers to lean into civic engagement at the local level.
Anay is a natural leader amongst his peers and inspires others with his energy and tenacity to do good in his community.
Teamwork – Prisha Purohit
San Ramon Valley High School Junior Prisha Purohit is no stranger to working with others. She is actively engaged with several school and community organizations that are dedicated to the betterment of her peers and the community at large. Prisha serves on the executive board for the Golden Bear Foundation and as President of the Danville Chapter. GPF is a charitable organization, founded by high school students, that helps provide care to economically disadvantaged persons through charitable giving. Prisha worked alongside other members to organize clothing and school supply drives for local families in need.
Prisha supports other students at her high school by providing clarity and bringing them closer to their academic goals as a peer tutor. She provides a reassuring voice to students who start the year late, helping them catch up with their classmates. Prisha has also created a school club for lovers of tea and philosophy. Cleverly named Philosotea, members meet over lunch and are encouraged to sample new teas and discuss philosophical ideas, concepts, and media.
Outside of school, Prisha volunteers her time as part of the local library’s Teen Advisory Club. As a teen advisor, she works with library staff to develop teen programs, expand the young adult collections, and improve services the library can offer teens.
Perseverance – Anayely Arreola Caldera
Anayely has been described as a fighter. She has not had an easy path in her young life. Through her encounters growing up she decided early on to see herself through adversity and was determined to become a success story. Anayely is in her senior year at Liberty High School in Brentwood and will be the first in her family to attend college.
Anayely is also the first in her family to play a competitive sport. She runs track on Liberty High’s team and always looks forward to training. She continues to push herself to do her best when she’s out on the track, for both her and her teammates. Participating and playing a sport is truly a privilege not lost on Anayely and she recognizes that not all kids have the opportunity to do so. Anayely can often be found spending her extra time in school clubs and sports as she is working to help support herself through college with a track scholarship.
In addition to her love for track, Ana’s favorite subject is English. Her goal is to be a lawyer and she notes that the reading comprehension and critical thinking skills learned in English will be invaluable to her future career path. Anayely understands the power of being a role model to her younger sister. She strives to show her sister that you can achieve anything you set your mind to.
Volunteerism – Frances Kellman-Lima
Frances Kellman-Lima is a Senior at El Cerrito High School, where she consistently achieves top grades and is involved in a wide range of extracurricular activities. She acts as a Peer Counselor and Conflict Mediator, and was selected as a “Culture Keeper” mentor. Culture Keepers are youth leaders trained in dynamic mindfulness and restorative practices who work to transform the school’s culture and put an end to the “school-to-prison pipeline.”
For the last year and a half, Frances has been a standout voice on the topic of teen dating violence. She began as a member of a school-led support group, before joining Contra Costa County’s Youth Against Violence leadership group. She regularly goes out of her way to help other leaders in the group, presents great ideas, and displays strong leadership skills. Frances also takes time to volunteer at a preschool, specifically working with children who are living with intellectual and developmental delays.
Outside of school and volunteering, Frances has taken a Latino psychology class and was a teaching assistant for a cognitive neuroscience class at UC Berkeley, both of which she hopes to utilize for helping others.
Good Samaritan – Aria Capelli
Aria is co-founder of a non-profit called Meaningful Teens which connects teens with volunteer opportunities where they can make a real difference. Meaningful Teens offers a literacy and math platform Aria created which has been a wonderment in this time of COVID-19. Her compassion to help the underserved and to lead a group of young people from diverse backgrounds to reach a common goal has been remarkable.
Fueled by a passion to meet the needs of others, Aria saw opportunities in the distant learning modality even as others viewed its limitations. She recognized the hardships and life challenges that low-income families and immigrants face. Being open-minded, she brought her vision of bringing literacy and math instruction over a Zoom one-to-one platform to reality by tutoring underserved students in low-income housing, immigrants, and refugee communities. To ensure the quality of the lessons, she recruited credentialed teachers to roam the breakout rooms, while Aria aided anyone in need of help, thus providing on-the-spot solutions to problems.
Over the past three years Meaningful Teens has grown from a small project with four friends to a huge success with over 1,900 high school and college volunteer tutors from around the United States with almost 1,500 student-learners worldwide. As Meaningful Teens continues to expand and grow, Aria keeps the students, and their needs, at the forefront.
The original gerrymander in 1812 of a Massachusetts State Senate district approved by Gov. Elbridge Gerry. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
AB 764 and AB 1248 would help end gerrymandering in the state as was done in Antioch and bring local redistricting into alignment with statewide and congressional redistricting standards
SACRAMENTO – A package of statewide redistricting reform bills that would help end gerrymandering and the abuse of local redistricting processes in California passed out of the Assembly Local Government Committee on Wednesday. AB 764 (Bryan) and AB 1248 (Bryan and Allen) have recently gained a groundswell of support, pushing the bills past a massive legislative hurdle and inching them closer to becoming law. It would stop what happened in Antioch by the council majority with Districts 2, 3 and 4. (See related article)
“The abuse of our redistricting processes by incumbent politicians is a statewide issue that requires statewide solutions if California is to build a fully inclusive and representative democracy that works for everyone,” said Jonathan Mehta Stein, Executive Director of California Common Cause. “Informed by evaluations of over 100 of local jurisdictions’ redistricting processes and conversations with dozens of community-based organizations, AB 764 and AB 1248 make this vision a reality.”
Backed by civil rights, good government, and community organizations, these bills would empower communities in the redistricting process and would help end gerrymandering at the local level by strengthening current redistricting protections and establishing independent redistricting commissions for larger local jurisdictions.
AB 764 amends 2019’s FAIR MAPS Act (FMA), a bill that requires cities and counties to use standardized, fair redistricting criteria that prioritize communities when drawing district lines. The bill strengthens the FMA’s redistricting criteria, public engagement requirements, and transparency measures, and would extend its protections to additional local governments, like school boards. It would also prohibit incumbent-protection gerrymandering and would give the public greater control over a process that fundamentally should belong to them.
Under AB 1248, all counties, cities, school districts, and community college districts with a population over 300,000 would be required to establish an independent redistricting commission before the 2030 redistricting cycle that meets their own local needs. If they do not act on their own, they would be required to utilize a more detailed default commission structure outlined in state law.
“Comprehensive redistricting reform is a long-term solution for building truly representative elections and a democracy that includes everyone,” saidLaurel Brodzinsky, California Common Cause’s Legislative Director. “The momentum of AB 764 and AB 1248 shows there’s a real chance that California can end the abuse of our redistricting processes and set the national standard for prioritizing people over politicians.”
AB 764 is sponsored by California Common Cause, League of Women Voters of California, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California. AB 1248 is sponsored by California Common Cause, ACLU of Southern California, Asian Law Caucus, and League of Women Voters of California.
Registered Support for AB 764:
AAPIs for Civic Empowerment Education Fund, ACLU California Action, AFSCME, Alameda County Coalition for Fair Redistricting, Alliance San Diego, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus, California Environmental Voters (formerly CLCV), Catalyst California, Central Coast Alliance United for A Sustainable Economy, California Common Cause, Communities for A New California (CNC), Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ), Community Health Councils, Courage California, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Indivisible CA Statestrong, Indivisible Marin, Initiate Justice, Initiate Justice Action, Inland Equity Partnership, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of The San Francisco Bay Area, League of Women Voters of California, Oakland Rising Action, OC Action, Peninsula Family Service, San Francisco Rising, Secure Justice, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, The Resistance Northridge-indivisible, The Santa Monica Democratic Club, Thrive, the Alliance of Nonprofits for San Mateo County, Voices for Progress, Young Women’s Freedom Center
Registered Support for AB 1248:
Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Southern California, California Common Cause, League of Women Voters of California, AAPIs for Civic Empowerment Education Fund, ACLU California Action, AFSCME, Alameda County Coalition for Fair Redistricting, Alliance San Diego, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus, Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Southern California, California Environmental Voters (formerly CLCV), Central Coast Alliance United for A Sustainable Economy, Community Health Councils, Courage California, Dolores Huerta Foundation, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Indivisible CA Statestrong, Initiate Justice, Initiate Justice Action, Inland Empire Immigrant Youth Collective, Inland Empire United, Inland Equity Partnership, OC Action, San Francisco Rising, Santa Monica Democratic Club, The Resistance Northridge-Indivisible
About Common Cause
Common Cause is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to create open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process.
