Police seek shooter(s)

By Lieutenant John Fortner, Investigations Bureau, Antioch Police Department

On Thursday, July 21, 2022, at approximately 12:59 AM, Antioch police officers responded to the report of gunshots fired in the 300 block of Lawton Street. It was also reported that two people were struck.

Numerous officers responded to the scene. When officers arrived, they located two male victims in the driveway of a residence suffering from gunshot wounds. One male victim fell onto the driveway, and the second was a short distance away. Evidence at the scene indicated the incident occurred outdoors in a drive-by style shooting. Officers immediately began administering first aid and called for emergency fire department and AMR paramedics.

Unfortunately, one victim, a 34-year-old male, succumbed to his injuries at the scene, and he was pronounced deceased. The second victim, a 45-year-old male, was transported to a local area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and is currently in stable condition. The suspect vehicle fled the scene and has not been contacted.

Antioch Police Department’s Investigations Bureau, consisting of Crime Scene Investigators and detectives with the Violent Crimes and Special Operations Units, 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 and evaluated.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Antioch Police Department non-emergency line at (925)778-2441, or Detective Whitaker at 925-779-6890. You may also text-a-tip to 274637 (CRIMES) using the key word ANTIOCH.

Part of street gang

By Ted Asregadoo, PIO, Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office

The Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office filed three felony counts with enhancements against an Antioch man in connection with armed robberies in Walnut Creek and Danville. He was previously listed as a resident of San Jose. (See related article)

18-year-old Leon Cathay Fountain was arraigned in Martinez on July 7th. Fountain entered a plea of not guilty to one felony count with an enhancement for armed robbery on June 24, 2022, in Walnut Creek. Fountain also pleaded not guilty to two felony counts with three enhancements – which includes one gang enhancement – for armed robbery on July 1st at a Trader Joe’s parking lot in Danville. In both incidents, Fountain and a minor used an illegal AR-style assault firearm and other guns to steal Rolex watches. The robbery in Danville was carried out at the direction of the Klap street gang, who also told Fountain where to sell the watch. Authorities say the estimated value of the luxury timepieces is between 30-thousand and 40-thousand-dollars.

In both robberies, the perpetrators followed their victims in vehicles. When the victim reached a location and exited their vehicle, Fountain and one of the minors would surround them at gunpoint and demand they hand over their watches. In the Danville robbery, a Black Acura was used that witnesses said had a distinctive marking.

After detectives with the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office got a description of the suspects and their vehicle from witnesses, they were apprehended by police at a residence in Antioch approximately two hours after the robbery at Trader Joe’s.

Fountain is currently in the Martinez Detention Facility. The minors are in Juvenile Hall and have been charged with Second-Degree Armed Robbery.

The People of the State of California v. Leon Cathay Fountain, Case Number: 01-22-00977

Connects from Hillcrest Avenue to Highway 4 allowing for better traffic flow in Southeast Antioch

By Allen D. Payton

After more than 20 years of waiting since the adjacent new home developments were approved and are being built, the section of Laurel Road between Highway 4 and Kirk Lane opened on Monday, connecting commuters and others who live in Southeast Antioch from Hillcrest Avenue. It also allows for quicker access by emergency vehicles like the one that used the road Tuesday evening.

No speed limit signs have been posted along the new section, yet. But the speed limit appears to be 45 MPH based on two signs posted between Hillcrest and Canada Hills Drive. Questions were sent to Public Works Director John Samuelson asking when the speed limit signs will be posted, and all the streetlights completed.

7/21/22 UPDATE: Sameulson responded, “The HAWK Signal at the trail crossing is still waiting for equipment to arrive later this year.  The new traffic signal at Laurel and Canada Valley is also waiting on equipment to arrive later this year.  I am hesitant to give a more accurate date because it keeps changing due to supply chain issues. I will look into the speed limit signs.”

 

Two pilots, five crew chiefs and other team members participate

“it’s real flying” – Randy Howell, Patriots Jet Team owner and one of two CineJet pilots

By Allen D. Payton

Planes, aerobatic pilots, crew chiefs and other members of the Patriots Jet Team based at the Byron Airport in Contra Costa County helped make the new movie Top Gun: Maverick, starring Tom Cruise, now in theaters. As in the original Top Gun film, the sequel features a variety of jet training and combat scenes in which the team provided their L-39 CineJet™ to film the high-speed, in-air shots.

According to their website, the Patriots Jet Team is the largest civilian-owned aerobatic jet team in the western hemisphere. The team was started in 2002 by founder and owner Randy “Howler” Howell, a Discovery Bay resident, who also helps pilot the special jet. Howell has more than 26,000 hours of flight time and over 30 years of flying experience with United Airlines. He has been an advanced instructor in aerobatics, formation, UPRT (upset prevention and recovery training) as well as a Check Airman and Simulator Instructor in a multitude of aircraft.

The CineJet™ high-speed, cinematography platform was launched in 2017 when the Patriots Jet Team partnered with Helinet.

In a March 2 post on the team’s Facebook page it shows a brief video during filming of the movie from the CineJet™ Facebook page asking, “Recognize the jet?”

In another Facebook post on April 1 it reads, “The Patriots are so excited to finally see Top Gun Maverick come out. The #cinejet was key to many of the aerial scenes, can’t wait to see them on the big screen.”

Then on April 18 the team posted, “Lots of Patriots L-39’s in the latest #topgunmaverick Trailer. https://twitter.com/tomcruise/status/1516039183332216838…”

A June 6 post on their Facebook post reads, “If you haven’t already seen Top Gun: Maverick, you won’t want to miss our Helinet CineJet aerials on the big screen! #TopGun #TopGunMaverick #TGM #CineJet #PatriotsJetTeam” and includes a brief trailer from the movie.

At the Top Gun-themed, Patriots Jet Team Foundation annual fundraiser last September, the Guest of Honor and speaker was American actor, writer and producer Glen Powell, who is co-starring in Top Gun: Maverick. He plays the part of pilot, Lt. Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin. The evening’s program also included a special behind the scenes look at the involvement the Patriots Jet Team pilots had in the aerial shooting of the new movie.

Howell Provides Details of His Team, CineJet, Filming and Training Cruise and the Other Actors

According to Howell quite a few members from the team participated in the making of the film, which includes two pilots, Howell and Scott “Intake” Kartvedt, and five crew chiefs to mention a few.

He provided more details about his organization and the filming of the movie.

The team provides three services, “one is flying a six-ship airshow similar to the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds,” he shared. “We also provide upset training, teaching corporate and airline pilots how to recover from an unusual attitude or an upset due to wake turbulence, weather, or mechanical failures, flight controls.”

The third piece of the puzzle, is “the CineJet operation for filming,” he stated. “We partnered up with Helinet, a company in Southern California. They own the Shotover F1 which is a large, gyro-stabilized platform which can hold many different types of cameras for filming.”

“We designed, engineered and mounted it to the front of a highly modified L-39 Albatross jet.”

“This all started when my good friend, Kevin LaRosa, Jr., who I have shot commercials and movies with, in the past, came to me and said, ‘hey, would you be interested on partnering up on putting a big, Shotover F1 system on the front of an L-39?’” Howell explained. “My first question was that’s usually used on helicopters with a maximum speed of 150 knots. We need to go a lot faster if we’re going to start doing aerial filming of Top Gun and the likes.”

LaRosa has worked in the film industry for over 16 years as a stunt pilot and aerial coordinator. He and Howell are the pilots for the CineJet.

“So, we worked with the company Shotover based in New Zealand and they then started doing modifications to the six-axis, gyro-stabilized system that can be controlled, to look straight up, straight down, behind you, right and left,” Howell stated. “We needed to do 350 knots and sustain three G’s for maneuvering with the Super Hornets in the movie. So, they modified the arms, gears, motors and other items within the unit. They would then send it to us, and we’d test it up to the next speed, and the next until we reached 350 knots and 3.5 G’s. They did a lot of studies in the wind tunnel and a lot of engineering prior to this.”

“Once it was ready to go, we started launching every jet that every friend had, corporate jets.  I flew the Mig-17, the Saberliners, as well as multiple L39’s intermixed with the Mig-17 and we created an exciting, one-minute sizzle reel,” Howell continued. “We sent that to Paramount, and they contacted us and said, ‘we like it. We want to talk.’ So, that’s how it all started.”

Work on Top Gun: Maverick

“We were then contracted to work on three different areas for the movie over about a year-and-a-half period,” he shared. “First was filming the Super Hornets in flight and the majority of the tactics that you see in the movie. The second was training all of the actors and actress, Monica (Barbaro) is the only actress who portrayed a pilot in the movie. We flew with every single one of the actors including Tom. He then wanted to get checked out in the airplane because he loved the L-39 so much. I flew with Tom many times getting him up to speed in the airplane.”

“The purpose for training all the actors and Tom was the Super Hornet was going to be pulling up to seven-and-a-half G’s,” Howell explained. “So, we went up in the L-39 which is stressed to eight G’s and we flew over, and over and over again at eight G’s. We flew up to 18,000 feet, we’d get a lot of energy up and we would put it into a spiral and sit at eight G’s for long periods of time. That was to get all of them into a mindset that they could act, which is a lot of energy. Acting, you can’t be putting energy into getting sick and nauseas, throwing up and all of that, and acting. So, we flew a lot with all of them.”

“Then Tom loved the airplane so much, and Tom is an awesome pilot, a really, really good pilot, and a really good formation pilot, as well, which is a whole different skill set from normal aviating” Howell shared. “I trained him, and he took a check ride with the FAA. Now, he’s qualified to fly by himself in the L-39 or with other people.”

He then mentioned a video of Cruise in which he flew TV talk show host James Corden in the L-39.

“The other piece of the puzzle was to paint two of our L-39’s in movie grey, sort of a flat, grey color and then put targets on both sides of the tail, both sides of the nose, top and bottom of each wing,” Howell explained. “Production was not able to get a flying F-14 because they don’t fly anymore, they’re all retired and they couldn’t get a Russian Sukhoi 57, either. We did the flying for that.”

“So, it’s real flying,” he added.

“They blocked off 40 miles of the Feather River for us up near Chico,” Howell continued. “Then one of our pilots, Scott ‘Intake’ Kartvedt a former Hornet and Blue Angel pilot in the Navy and I flew all the two-ship stuff with the two Su-57’s and the F-14 through the Feather River. When we did that, it was about a six-week project, and we flew two to three times every day. We also flew off the coast of Point Mugu for the over water, ocean scenes with the two airplanes along with the CineJet filming us.”

“The first time we flew, we scouted the river in a helicopter,” he explained. “There’s a lot of hairpin turns, reversals, with granite walls, a thousand, two thousand feet high on both sides of you. So, as you come up on these switchbacks, come back the other way, you need to know you’re going to be able to come around there and some of them you can’t, they’re too tight. So, now you’ve got to come up over top of the mountain, roll inverted, pull down the other side of the mountain and roll out. All while being filmed by a helicopter or the CineJet with Shotover systems on them.”

“After we flew the first one in the L-39’s and spending several days scouting the area, taking notes, memorizing exactly which turns you were going to make all the way around, which turns you had to come over the top in,” Howell shared. “And we were down in the dirt, we were down 10 feet off the trees through a lot of that and the first time we landed the two of us were visibly, our hands were shaking. We walked toward each other and hugged, ‘Intake’ backed up and said, ‘I have 153 combat missions under my belt. I’ve never been under such high stress flying, before.’”

“So, it was definitely high-risk, but very calculated in the way we executed with all the scouting ahead of time,” he continued. “We started flying up higher, first. Then we came down as we got more comfortable and then we started filming once we got really comfortable down low.”

Asked how many times they flew the canyon route Howell responded, “many, many, many times.”

“You know to get one second of film, you’re gonna film an hour,” he said with a chuckle.

“Every last, little detail in the Super Hornets, everything, everything is the real deal,” Howell stated. “All the internal cameras they would mount inside one of our L-39’s for proof of concept to show what it would look like to the producers, to the director, and what angles they wanted. Then they could go the Navy and say, ‘we’ve already tested all these cameras in the airplane now, we need to mount them inside your airplane’.”

“That’s the whole story of Top Gun. A year-and-a-half involvement, but we were not filming for a year-and-a-half,” Howell shared. “We might film for six weeks, then have a month or two off. Then we’d go back and film for a month or two months, and then we’d have time off. So, it was just over a period of a year-and-a-half.”

They started filming in 2018 and finished up in 2019.

Filmed Another Movie Set During Korean War

Howell then shared about another movie they filmed, “which is going to be spectacular. It’s based on a true story, during the Korean War era where there’s an African American and a white pilot in flight school. The African American was a sharecropper’s son. He was homeschooled. He only wore shoes on Sunday. The white pilot’s dad was a prominent attorney, he belonged to the country club. The two of them became best friends in flight training.”

“They finished flight training and started flying in combat. They were assigned to F-4U Corsairs, the gullwing Corsair, and they went into battle,” he continued.

“I won’t ruin the rest of the story for you,” Howell stated. “There’s a book out called ‘Devotion’ by Adam Makos. You can order it on Amazon. It’s a really, really good story and it’s a true story. I love true stories. It’s going to be a great movie.”

The aerial scenes were filmed in 2021, January to March in Wenachee and Pasco, Washington and then Savannah, Georgia.

The name of the movie is the same as the book, “Devotion” and will be in theaters Thanksgiving weekend beginning Wednesday, Nov. 23.

“Our good friend, Glen Powell, who starred in Top Gun and others, and who was our speaker at our fundraiser is one of the two stars, he plays the pilot/character ‘Tom Hudner’,” Howell shared.

He also played John Glenn in the movie Hidden Figures, “and he’s starred in other movies, as well,” Howell added.

Q&A

Asked how many members from the team participated in the filming of Top Gun: Maverick he said, “There was probably seven of us at different times. We took different crew chiefs who would maintain the airplanes. We have a big hauler, an 18-wheeler and it carries spare everything for the L-39’s. Then we took Jet 7 and Jet 8 which are both set up with the Shotover wiring. There’s a lot of mods to the airplane before mounting the camera. So, we had both airplanes at every event. We had other airplanes there too for doing other training, as well.”

Asked how many pilots the team has Howell said, “we have six airshow pilots.”

According to the Patriots Jet Team website, “they have logged over 105,000 hours of flight time and performed in more than 1500 air shows.” Most recently, they performed over Venice and Mandeville Islands in the Delta prior to the fireworks show on Sunday evening, July 3.

The Patriots Jet Team Foundation

Lastly, the accomplishment that Randy is most proud of is the Patriots Jet Team Foundation, a separate non-profit 501 (c) (3) corporation which he founded in 2011.

“The Foundation educates and mentors youth in America in aviation/aerospace and STEM career paths. The Foundation has partnered with other STEM based Foundations, as well as public, private, charter and University school programs.” Howell shared. “We cater to nearly 10,000 kids a year with rocket launch competitions, high-altitude balloons, introduction to aviation classes, aerodynamic classes and many more that we do, right here, at our facility as well as in the public schools system.”

Be sure to attend the PJT Foundation Benefit Gala on September 17th. You can register at PJTF.ORG.

To learn more about the Patriots Jet Team visit www.patriotsjetteam.com.

By Darryl Saffold, PIO, Antioch Police Department

On Thursday, July 14, 2022, at 9:49 am Officer Carpenter contacted a suspicious vehicle in the 7-Eleven parking lot on Sunset Lane and contacted Clayton Johnson, age 28, in the car. Officer Carpenter learned that Johnson was on felony searchable probation and saw drug paraphernalia in plain view in the vehicle. During a search of his person, Officer Carpenter located 20 grams of fentanyl on Johnson’s person. Johnson was arrested for 11351 HS, possession of a controlled substance and was transported to the Martinez Detention Facility. As of Tuesday, July 19 Carpenter is out of custody on general release.

On Friday, July 15 at 1:48 pm Officer Mulholland made a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by 48-year-old Don Miller. During the traffic stop, Officer Carpenter saw Miller was sitting on a pistol. Miller was removed from the vehicle and detained. Officers examined the pistol and found it was a loaded P-80. Additionally, Officer Mulholland located a crossbow, methamphetamine, Fentanyl and packaging for sales. Miller was found to be a prohibited person and was arrested for the above listed charges. Miller was ultimately booked into Martinez Detention Facility.

He was arrested for numerous felony offenses including HS 11351, possession of a controlled substance; HS 11378, possession of meth; PC 25400, carrying a concealed weapon; PC 29800, felon in possession of a firearm; PC 30305(a)(1), felon unlawful possession of ammunition; PC 21310, illegal possession of a concealed dirk or dagger; HS 11375(b)(1), possession for sale or sale of Xanax; and HS 11370.1, possession of a controlled substance while armed.

Joint effort with U.S. Marshals Service, DEA, FBI and Homeland Security, part of National Public Safety Partnership

Mayor, interim police chief hold press conference to make announcement

By Darryl Saffold, Public Information Officer, Antioch Police Department

Beginning Monday, July 11, 2022, the Antioch Police Department hosted the U.S. Marshals Service-Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force for a week-long warrant sweep to help reduce the rise in violence in the City of Antioch and surrounding areas.

Through additional partnerships with Alcohol Tobacco & Firearms (ATF), Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Contra Costa County Probation, the task force was able to make twenty-three felony arrests, seize four firearms, and confiscate illegal narcotics from Monday through Thursday, July 11-14, 2022, in Antioch, Concord, Oakland, San Francisco, Tracy and Stockton.

This “Violent Crime Reduction Operation” was an effort that identified wanted persons who had active felony warrants for violent crimes, such as homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault, robbery, and sexual assault.

The Antioch Police Department was selected in October 2021 to participate in the National Public Safety Partnership (PSP), which is an initiative by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that increases collaboration with local law enforcement, the District Attorney’s Office, and community partners to enhance public safety.  (See related article)

The DOJ-law enforcement community, U.S. Marshals Service, ATF, DEA, DHS, and FBI assisted by taking on the challenge alongside the Antioch Police Department to stem the rise in violent crime.

Mayor Lamar Thorpe called a press conference for Monday morning, July 18 to announce the arrests with Interim Police Chief Steve Ford.

Following are notable arrests from the operation:

Antioch, California – Other Male Adult (OMA) Suspect – On Monday, July 11, 2022, a OMA was arrested on his outstanding felony warrant for Robbery and Assault with a Firearm. The OMA was wanted for an armed robbery of a convenience store where he fired one round.

Stockton, California – Black Male Adult (BMA) Suspect- On Monday, July 11, 2022, a BMA was arrested on his outstanding felony warrant for Assault with a Firearm. The BMA shot multiple rounds at his girlfriend striking an occupied dwelling.

Antioch, California – Jeremiah COWART – On Monday, July 11, 2022, COWART was arrested on his outstanding felony warrant for a home invasion while armed with a firearm. COWART committed this crime with three other suspects. All suspects are now in-custody. During the home invasion the suspects held an elderly couple at gunpoint as they ransacked the home.

Antioch, California – Black Female Adult (BFA) Suspect – On Tuesday, July 12, 2022, a BFA was arrested on an outstanding probation violation warrant out of Las Vegas. A Marshal’s team got information she was evading police contact hiding at a residence in Antioch. The BFA has a long criminal history for Attempted Homicide, Robbery, Burglary, and Assault.

Antioch, California – Daniel O’Neal – On Tuesday, July 12, 2022, O’Neal was arrested on his outstanding felony warrant for Parole Violation w/ underlying charges of Assault with a Firearm.

Antioch, California – Black Male Adult (BMA) Suspect – On Tuesday, July 12, 2022, a BMA was arrested on his outstanding felony warrant for Attempted Homicide and Kidnapping. Also, White Male Adult accomplice was identified as taking part in the assault and also taken into custody.

Tracy, California –Black Male Juvenile (BMJ) Suspect – On Tuesday, July 12, 2022, a BMJ was arrested on his outstanding felony warrants for a shooting Homicide and Robbery.

Concord, California- White Female Adult (WFA) Suspect – On Tuesday, July 12, 2022, a WFA was arrested on multiple felony warrants for various crimes throughout the East Bay Area.

Antioch, California –Black Male Adult (BMA) Suspect – On Wednesday, July 13, 2022, a BMA was arrested on his outstanding felony warrant for Aggravated Assault with Firearm. A Firearm was recovered at location.

Antioch, California – Black Female Adult (BFA) Suspect– On Wednesday, July 13, 2022, a BFA was arrested on her outstanding felony warrant for Aggravated Assault with Firearm. The BMA and BFA are siblings who were both sought by Antioch PD for a shooting that occurred outside a Hospital Emergency Room.

Antioch, California – Black Male Adult (BMA) Suspect– On Wednesday, July 13, 2022, a BMA was arrested for an on-view firearms violation involving the investigation above.

Stockton, California – Black Male Juvenile (BMJ) Suspect – On Wednesday July 13, 2022, a BMJ was arrested on his outstanding felony warrant for multiple shootings including a shooting Homicide.

Oakland, California – Black Male Adult (BMA) Suspect – On Wednesday, July 13, 2022, a BMA was approached by TF members at a warrant location. As the BMA was contacted by law enforcement, he was observed retrieving a concealed handgun from his waistband and discarding it. Law enforcement officers detained him and safely retrieved the firearm.

San Francisco, CA – Black Female Adult (BFA) Suspect -On Thursday, July 14, 2022, a BFA was arrested at San Francisco Airport (SFO) while attempting to travel International. The BFA was wanted for a Homicide out of Oakland PD. The BFA has ties to Antioch.

Oakland, CA – Black Male Adult (BMA) Suspect – On Thursday, July 14, 2022, a BMA was arrested in Oakland for a warrant for Assault with a deadly weapon and a Parole Violation. Two firearms were located with the suspect (a sawed-off shotgun and a rifle).

Special thanks to all of the supporting agencies as well as our community members.

Anonymous tips or information about this – or any other incident – can be sent via text to 274637 (CRIMES) with the keyword ANTIOCH.

Allen D. Payton contributed to this report.

Won’t be prosecuted because the cases are “compromised to the point they can’t be salvaged” – Ted Asregadoo, CCDA PIO

By Allen D. Payton

The Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office has dismissed 40 cases from prosecution as part of the investigation into crimes of moral turpitude by Antioch and Pittsburg Police Officers announced in March. As previously reported, several officers were placed on paid administrative leave due to the accusations against them. (See related articles here, here and here)

Asked for details about the 40 cases, CCDA Public Information Officer Ted Asregadoo said he could not provide it as “it’s still an active investigation of the Pittsburg and Antioch officers.”

“Out of a group of the cases, there are 40 cases that can go forward in the investigative process. Approximately 40 of those cases were dismissed,” he continued.

Asked how cases were from which agency Asregadoo responded, “I can’t talk about that.”

“The DA’s office is involved in ongoing evaluations of the cases to determine if the cases are compromised due to the criminal wrongdoing and misconduct,” he stated. “Those 40 have been compromised to the point they can’t be salvaged so they were dismissed.”

“The Antioch and Pittsburg Police Departments are cooperating with us and are assisting,” Asregadoo shared. “It’s a complex endeavor and is wide ranging. The scope of it is not a single incident.”

Chief Assistant District Attorney Simon O’Connell offered the following statement about the matter:

“There are multiple officers who are subjects of an ongoing criminal investigation involving a range of offenses which constitute crimes of moral turpitude. The Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office is actively engaged in evaluating these cases to determine whether the charged case is compromised or whether the case can proceed. Community safety remains paramount, and the District Attorney’s Office remains steadfast in preserving as many cases as possible.”

An estimated three or five Antioch Police Officers are under investigation for the allegations against them.

Antioch Police still won’t say how many Antioch officers are under investigation, APD Public Information Officer Darryl Safford said. But he did confirm they are still on paid administrative leave. Asked if the DA’s office shared how many of the 40 cases were from Antioch Saffold said, “they have not informed us.”

In addition, an effort to reach new Pittsburg Police Chief Steve Albanese for details from his department was unsuccessful prior to publication time. Please check back later for any updates to this report.

Wilson, Torres-Walker, Rocha up for re-election, Motts, Ogorchock plan to challenge incumbent councilwomen; Householder not running for re-election to school board

By Allen D. Payton

Who wants to run for and serve in public office in Antioch?

Filing for candidates in the November 8 election for two seats on the city council as well as two seats on the school board opens on Monday, July 18. That’s the first day candidates can obtain nomination papers to complete by gathering required signatures from registered voters within the council district or trustee area they’re running to represent. A filing fee is required but that can be reduced by gathering what are known as in-lieu of signatures.

Filing closes on August 12 in races where the incumbent is running for re-election and is extended until August 17 for races with an open seat.

In the city races, Districts 1 and 4 Councilwomen Tamisha Torres-Walker and Monica Wilson in are up for election in November, for four-year terms. So far, former Councilwoman Joy Motts has announced plans to run in District 1. Wilson and current District 3 Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock, after she was gerrymandered into District 4 during the redistricting process earlier this year, have announced plans to run in that district.

For the Antioch Unified School District Board of Trustees, Area 5 Trustee Mary Rocha is expected to seek re-election and there is no incumbent in Area 3, which includes portions of Oakley. Both seats are up for election on November 8 for four-year terms. Trustee Ellie Householder, whose term ends this year, moved into and when the new map was approved during redistricting in January, lived in Area 1 which is represented by Trustee Antonio Hernandez whose term runs through 2024. When reached for comment about her plans, Householder said, “I won’t be running for re-election for school board.”

The qualifications of a nominee and of an elective officer of the city or school board must be a citizen at least 18 years old, registered voter and resident of the council district or trustee area they want to represent.

Forms for declaring candidacy for city races are available at the Antioch City Clerk’s office inside City Hall located at 200 H Street and for school board are available at the Contra Costa County Registrar of Voters’ office located at 555 Escobar Street in Martinez, beginning at 8:00 a.m. on July 18, 2022 and shall be filed no later than 5:00 p.m. on August 12, 2022 (except as noted above).