Search begins for his replacement

Randell H. Iwasaki, the Executive Director of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority announced recently, his intention to retire from the agency.  Following is a statement from the Board Chair Julie Pierce.

“It is with a range of mixed emotions that I announce Randell Iwasaki’s (Randy) retirement from his successful and accomplished career at the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA). I am sad Randy will retire as CCTA’s Executive Director effective December 26, 2020; yet, I am immensely proud of the goals, recognition and innovations CCTA achieved in the ten years Randy has been at the helm of the Authority, and extremely grateful for the leadership Randy has demonstrated while managing this agency. His vision, as well as his ability to create, guide and inspire a remarkable workforce resulted in a small but mighty team who has made significant advances to improve mobility in Contra Costa County.

Randy and his staff have delivered on our promise to the public by completing major infrastructure improvements such as Highway 4 and the Caldecott Fourth Bore projects, while simultaneously pursuing innovative ways to improve mobility in the future. During Randy’s tenure, CCTA has become a leader in advancing new technology to solve real challenges faced by our residents. Notable achievements include establishing the nation’s largest secure, connected and automated vehicle proving grounds, securing legislation to pilot the first low-speed, multi-passenger, shared autonomous vehicles that are not equipped with a steering wheel, brake pedal, accelerator or operator on public roads in California, and more recently winning two nationally competitive grants to deploy innovative transportation technology from the United States Department of Transportation.

Throughout his tenure as Executive Director, Randy has ensured CCTA remains a responsible and prudent steward of public funds. For eight years in a row the agency’s management of sales tax dollars has been recognized with the coveted “Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting” from the Government Finance Officers Association. Last year, the Contra Costa Taxpayers Association also honored CCTA with a Silver Medal Award for Good Government.

On behalf of the CCTA Board, I’d like to express our gratitude for Randy’s extraordinary role in delivering so many projects aimed to strengthen the economy, protect the environment and enhance Contra Costa County’s transportation system. In the ten years he has served as Executive Director, he has accomplished much to improve the quality of life for our residents. We thank Randy for his dedication to this agency, and wish him all the best in his new adventures.”

The CCTA Board has appointed a sub-committee of the Board to lead the search for the agency’s next Executive Director.”

Iwasaki is the former Executive Director of CalTrans, the state Department of Transportation, said he plans to work in the private sector following his retirement in December.

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.

In an email on Sunday, the Antioch Police Officers Association sent out the following message to Antioch residents:

Voters may have received a mailer from Mayor candidate Lamar Thorpe claiming he is for greater law enforcement efforts in Antioch. THIS IS NOT TRUE.

There is a reason the Antioch Police Officers’ Association has endorsed the re-election of Mayor Sean Wright and NOT Lamar Thorpe. Mr. Thorpe’s vision for the future of Antioch will INCREASE CRIME, increase our HOMELESS POPULATION and lead to further blight in our City. Here’s what we know:

Lamar Thorpe is the leader in the effort to DEFUND the Antioch Police, which would be devastating to our effort to fight crime in our community.

Lamar Thorpe initiated the proposal to turn the Executive Inn Motel on E. 18th and Cavallo into permanent housing for the homeless. This motel is 1/4 mile from 4 Antioch Schools and the Antioch Youth Sports Complex. We think this will only attract more crime to this vulnerable area.

Lamar Thorpe voted against accepting a Department of Justice yearly grant of $750,000 to return School Resource Officers to 6 Antioch schools where we need them most.

In contrast, Mayor Sean Wright has added 20+ new police officers (we’re now at 118) to the Antioch Police Department. He opposes Lamar Thorpe’s homeless motel and voted to accept the grant to further protect our students.

What happens this election is extremely important for the future of Antioch. Please join us in supporting Mayor Sean Wright’s re-election. Thank you.

Antioch Police Officers’ Association

Firefighters extinguish fire in tunnel where she’s been living.

By Art Ray

It’s starting to get cooler at night if you have a place to sleep, you can thank God.

I responded to. a working fire in the underpass beneath Highway 4 at Century Blvd. in Pittsburg. When I got there I saw a young, homeless woman, and I do mean young. She was lying down on a nasty mattress behind some metal bars. The arriving firemen grabbed a saw and cut the gate open so they could put a hose on the fire.

What got me was that the young woman remained on the mattress with smoke pouring out of the tunnel. She didn’t have the capacity to get away from the smoke or fire. Finally, she walked out of the tunnel bare foot stepping on glass, rocks and all kinds of dangerous things. As she passed by me, I asked “where are your shoes?” to which she replied she didn’t have any.

The point of this story is not that I went and got her a pair of shoes from the store but that she has some demons that has her early, 20-year-old self, homeless and living under a highway. She didn’t even have the mental capacity to follow my directions and to walk the one block down to the store to meet me to get the new shoes.

I had to go driving around to find her. When I did find her, she was sitting on the ground painting a cigarette lighter with fingernail polish. When I walked up to her with the shoe bag she never even looked up to me when I gave her the new blue shoes she was fixated on the nail polish and lighter. That’s when I realized that’s there are bigger issues than being homeless. There are thousands of homeless people that are not thinking straight.

After dropping off the shoes I went to meet with the county’s homeless advocate to see if they could help the young sister. He told me he would leave his office and go find her as soon as he got done checking in another homeless person into the newly opened homeless residence the state just bought from Motel 6.

I’m saying all of this to encourage everyone to find a way they can help another human being instead of just complaining about the homeless problem.

Most police departments and counties have resources you can plug into. Maybe you have a warm coat or shoes you don’t wear anymore. Be a part of the homeless solution not a person that finds pleasure in complaining about the homeless. Trust this. Many of the homeless have issues they are battling in their heads. It’s getting cold out. Are you willing to find a way to get involved? Perhaps it’s through your church. Like they say, it takes a village. We are all our brother’s, or in this case, our sister’s keeper.

This is a story that I needed to photograph and tell. I included a picture of the nasty mattress in the filth someone’s daughter or sister was laying on when I arrived. Notice I didn’t include her face so she could retain some kind of dignity.

Art Ray is owner of Bay News Video providing video footage to Bay Area news stations and online media.

video footage to Bay Area news stations and online media.

Two run, one had multiple outstanding warrants

By Antioch Police Department

What happens when retail theft suspects raid one of our local stores and start loading garbage bags full of merchandise? Read-on, and I’ll tell you….

On Sunday at about 4:42 pm, APD Dispatch received a 9-1-1 call reporting three (3) lady larcenists clearing entire shelves and filling bags with store merchandise at the Walgreens on Deer Valley Road. Our caller remained calm and gave a description of their getaway vehicle while APD swing shift officers raced to the scene. Officers caught them near the south side of the parking lot as they were inspecting their loot.

Two ran from the car (leaving behind the third accomplice) and officers gave chase. Both were detained without incident and brought back to the scene, where one decided to try her hand at a game of “Guess my Identity?” Our officers are experts at this game and quickly learned her true name, revealing her motive for fibbing. You see, it turns out she had several outstanding warrants from San Francisco County for (you guessed it!) burglary, theft, and child endangerment.

All three San Francisco residents were arrested on new charges of burglary, grand theft, and criminal conspiracy. Two adults were fitted with chrome bracelets and given a ride in our luxurious shuttle to the County Jail in Martinez, so they could tell others that Antioch isn’t the place for malfeasance. The third, who was 17 years old, received a future court date and was released to a relative (according to youth offender protocols). Several thousand dollars in merchandise was returned to satisfied employees at the store.

Retail theft continues to be a HUGE problem in California. What can you do if you witness a crime in-progress? NEVER place yourself in danger and get on the phone with 9-1-1 when it is safe to do so. Our exceptional dispatchers will first ask for your location, and then ask for suspect and vehicle descriptions. Oh, and if you’re thinking about coming to Antioch to victimize our businesses, we are powered by #AntiochStrong residents and business owners who won’t tolerate that nonsense here. #antiochpdca

 

Filed felony looting case, refers low-level drug cases to behavioral health care system for treatment

Dear Antioch Residents:

“The most dangerous untruths are truths slightly distorted.” Recently, Sean Wright, the Mayor of Antioch has made repeated distorted untruths about the District Attorney office policies, and about my record as your District Attorney. To have an elected official, make distorted truths, and then hide his head in the sand and refuse to learn the true facts is troubling to say the least. I take transparency and accountability very seriously, as any elected official should.

Facts matter. First, the Mayor bought a political smear hit piece from a biased website about looting. He never reached out to me to find out what my office guidelines actually require.  The guidelines do not prohibit the filing of any looting case – in fact, just recently, we filed a felony looting case. The truth is, my office guidelines assist prosecutors in making the distinction between thefts and burglaries that merely happen while we are in the pandemic, and lootings which are substantially motivated by a state of emergency. The guidelines are on the District Attorney website. I encourage you to read them. (See related article)

Second, your mayor attacked our office policies regarding low-level, stand alone drug cases. (See related article) What he fails to mention is that initially these cases are referred to the behavioral health care system for treatment. Please do not forget the failed policies of the War on Drugs. Arresting citizens for possession of small amounts of drugs, taking them to jail, and releasing them without treatment ensures that these individuals will soon be arrested again, and so the cycle continues. The aim of my office policy is to stop chronic patterns of arrest, to connect individuals to behavioral health services, to reduce the burden on the court system and law enforcement, and to allow prosecutors to focus on more serious and violent crimes. Of course, repeat offenders can be charged, diverted or suffer additional consequences.  As the chief law enforcement officer for the county, I take my oath seriously to protect the public. However, clogging our criminal justice system with low-level crimes does not deter crime nor find equitable solutions for our community. I am focused on common-sense solutions that are fair and equitable, and good for the entire community. 

Here are some items to keep in mind during this election season. We cannot let lies get in the way of the truth, even during campaign season. The mayor is making this a political attack against me in order to bolster his campaign for re-election, and to take swipes at his East Bay Times endorsed opponent, Lamar Thorpe. Stand on our own record Mr. Mayor, and please stop trying to bolster your platform by making distorted claims about our office policies. During the election season, we hear from elected officials about their vision for their community. Unfortunately, despite his message of unifying the community, your Mayor is trying to divide Antioch and use our office as a foil and create a controversy when none exists. Examine the facts. Facts matter.

Sincerely,
Diana Becton

District Attorney, Contra Costa County

Dear Editor:

How about you do a long story or set of stories and publish the salaries of the Antioch Unified 2,700+ employees collecting outrageous pay amounts while the children in the district are getting sub-par or no services. It’s all on TransparentCalifornia.com. The district has contractors “providing services” for special needs children through “distance learning”. Services for mentally handicapped children through a computer screen. Children that cannot talk and do not have fine motor skills to operate the computer.

Yet, these same contractors also work for doctor’s offices and provide in-person services through medical insurance. The kicker is medical insurance won’t pay for these services after three years old because the public schools are required under federal laws to provide it free. But they’re not providing it either, as Sec. 504 of the ADA requires.

https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/2019/school-districts/contra-costa/antioch-unified/?page=1&s=-gross

Thomas Giles

Antioch

Only candidate to offer a vision for the people – The Bridge to a Brighter Future

Today, Thursday, October 8, 2020, Gabe Makinano, in fulfilling the slogan “Vision With Action” for his campaign for Mayor of Antioch, presents his Vision 2020 for Antioch to show what our city can have and become in the very near future, and what he will take action on during the next four years following his election. Vision 2020 Antioch by Gabe Makinano for Mayor

“It’s a leader’s job to provide the vision for the people to know the direction we are all heading, together and to take action to make it a reality,” said Makinano. “These are the items – many I find very exciting – that I will work to make happen, some of which build on plans that have already been in place for several years.”

“The problem is the two incumbents have been talking about doing things to make Antioch better, but they haven’t taken the necessary action,” he continued. “That’s what I offer, action. We must stop the foot dragging, playing political games and get things done that our people need, want, and will benefit them.”

“It will produce an upward spiral, not downwards as we’ve been on for the past four years,” Makinano added. “I’m releasing this vision on 10/8 because we must be ‘ten-ate-ious’ when getting things and not give up until they are. If you want action, not just talk, then I need your vote.”

Makinano’s vision includes a variety of items under the five areas he is focusing on during his campaign and will work on once elected: Increased Public Safety; Local, Quality Jobs; Education; Housing; and a Revitalized Rivertown – Antioch’s Historic Downtown.

Makinano will take his leadership skills, community connections and what he’s already been working on, along with the rest of the city council and staff to make the items in his vision a reality.

Vote Makinano for Mayor, the only candidate with a vision for a brighter future for Antioch and a plan to make it happen.

Gabe Makinano for Mayor of Antioch

The Bridge to a Brighter Future!

“Where there is no vision, the people perish” – Proverbs 29:18

It’s a Leader’s Job to Provide the Vision for the People to Know the Direction

We are All Heading, Together and to Take Action to Make it a Reality!

 

VISION STATEMENT

To ensure Antioch is a clean, safe, vibrant and diverse community

where all residents can live, learn, work, worship and play in

a positive, encouraging environment of unity and

to serve as an example of the type of City others desire to be.

 1. Increased Public Safety

Work with community leaders, law enforcement agencies, and all residents of our community to create a safe environment for all citizens in Antioch.

a. Hire More Police using Measure W funds as the people voted for to get to 2 Officers per 1,000 Population.

b. Require Diversity Training for each officer before being hired.

c. Bring back Community Policing with Officers on the Beat on foot or on bicycles in Highest Crime Areas of Sycamore and Cavallo. Include it in the field training of new officers to get to know the people they’re working to serve and protect.

d. Body Cameras for Every Officer.

e. Strengthen Role of the Antioch Police Crime Prevention Commission.

2. Local, Quality Jobs

Work with Antioch Economic Development Commission, Economic Development Director, Antioch Chamber of Commerce Economic Development & Government Affairs Committee, and the private sector to follow and implement Antioch’s Downtown Specific Plan and County’s Northern Waterfront Economic Development Initiative Strategic Action Plan.

a. Antioch Tech Center – Create master plan to attract businesses for the 200-acre site set aside in 1998 near the Laurel Road/Highway 4 interchange between Slatten Ranch Shopping Center and the Antioch BART Station, for employment, including commercial office and high-tech businesses creating a Green Technology Cluster including Advanced Transportation Technologies. – Get our residents out of the commute to spend more time with their families and in our community.

b. Convention Center, Art Gallery and Visitors & Convention Bureau – work with private sector to build a hotel and convention center and establish a visitors and convention bureau to host business and art events and conferences in Antioch. Build a rotating restaurant on the top of the hotel with views of the river, hills and Mt. Diablo for a unique feature in our city.

c. Bring Back Manufacturing to Antioch for more, quality, high-paying jobs. Clean industry, using the reclaimed water from the Desalination Plant and the excess electricity generated by the solar-powered transit system extension to BART. Establish an Advanced Materials & Diversified Manufacturing Cluster, a Food & Beverage Processing Cluster, and a Biomedical/Biotechnology/Life Sciences Cluster.

d. Antioch Gateway Port deep water facility – take advantage of the Stockton Deep Water Channel and the BNSF railroad line, along the Wilbur Avenue corridor for shipping goods in and out of Antioch to and from all over the world, creating well-paying dock and shipping jobs. Truly making Antioch the Gateway to the Delta and World!

Location in Antioch:

e. Job Center at 18th & A Streets using the fiber optic cable network hub located there.

f. No More Cannabis Businesses – four is too many. No expansion citywide. It’s bad for other business and the city’s reputation to attract major employers and causes more police impacts.

g. Complete the BART Extension to Oakley, Brentwood, Discovery Bay, Byron, Byron Airport, Mountain House and Tracy, connecting Antioch to Livermore and Pleasanton and the California High Speed Rail system. Using a smaller, quieter, solar-powered electric system that can move commuters during the day and evening and move goods in and out of Antioch at night.

h. Complete the widening of Highway 4 (bypass/extension) to four lanes from Balfour Road to Marsh Creek Road for greater safety for commuters and trucks.

i. Build Route 239 – the long-planned 4-lane highway from the end of Highway 4 (bypass) and Vasco Road to Interstate 5 in Tracy, connecting Antioch to the rest of the Bay Area and Golden State, and for trucking products in and out of East County creating more local jobs and completing the beltway around Mt. Diablo. It’s been on the books for over 60 years. It’s time to work with our state and federal representatives to secure the funding and get it built. I will work to get Antioch a seat on the Contra Costa Transportation Authority, again.

j. Expand Byron Airport – for more commercial and freight flights, getting products manufactured in Antioch to the statewide, national and global marketplace quicker.

3. Housing

a. Homeless – Identify and implement long-term solutions to combat homelessness in Antioch, to get them off the streets, out of the encampments, out of the cold and wet of winter and heat of the summer. Work with the Community Outreach Center on E. 18th Street and other churches and non-profit organizations. Use all of the $500,000 the Council set aside last year. And no more hiring consultants!

b. Increased Home Ownership – Partner with both the private and public sectors to create a clear and achievable path for greater home ownership in Antioch.

c. Sustainable Development – Take decisive action to create sustainable housing and community development. Transit Villages surrounding and near the BART Stations, preserve hillsides, and protect habitat and the Sand Creek corridor.

d. Complete Mix of Housing Types – Ensure Antioch has a complete mix of housing types so our residents can remain living in our city throughout their lives.

 4. Education

My first-hand experience working with local school campuses has given me unique insight to the issues facing our students and teachers on a daily basis. My plan is to establish regular meetings between city council, school board, and parents to collaborate on safe and academically-enriched opportunities for all students. Identify new resources to generate education-related programs, such as civic engagement activities including intern/extern/apprenticeship programs for eligible students. An improved education helps students, improves our economy and home values.

a. 4-Year Private College in Antioch – raise the education level in our community, improving the educational opportunities for our youth in a multi-disciplinary, 4-year, private, liberal arts college, while improving the culture as well as property values.

b. Job Training – work with local businesses and Los Medanos College for job training and retraining for Antioch workers.

c. Antioch YES – Youth Employment Services – for after school and summertime jobs, internships and apprenticeships with local businesses and at City Hall. Work with Antioch Chamber of Commerce and Central Labor Council to establish a website and database for local businesses and students to use to offer or apply for and fill the positions.

d. Teach Antioch History in our schools. Work with the Historical Society Museum.

e. After School Education Programs – like Math Intensive Program and mentoring programs for students.

5. Revitalized Rivertown – Antioch’s Historic Downtown

Find creative ways to procure long-term investment and revenue to enhance the development of the waterfront. Seven ferry boats, historical artifacts and vessels, family attractions, and beautification programs. These changes aid to the creation of an infrastructure that attracts business.

a. Remove the Dilapidated House on the Water at the end of A Street. It’s Rivertown not Shantytown!

b. Sell the 9 City-Owned Parcels that are part of the exclusive negotiations with one developer for the past 5 years, including the old lumber company lot. Get it done!

c. High-End High-Rise Condos with river views on the former Cannery Site next to A Street on the east end.

d. Rezone Property on West 2nd Street between I and L Streets for high-rise condos and apartments with river views.

e. Obtain Ownership of the Hard House from the State – for a non-profit to revitalize the home of Antioch’s first mayor on First Street.

f. Implement Antioch Downtown Specific Plan – expanded park at Waldie Plaza, and allow new buildings facing the river, etc.

g. Antioch Sesquicentennial Celebration – 150th Anniversary of Cityhood 1872-2022. Re-establish the City Council subcommittee recently dissolved for events and activities celebrating our city’s rich history in Rivertown and citywide, all year long.

h. Bring Back July 4th Fireworks to Rivertown – shoot them from a barge on the river like used to happen. Work with Celebrate Antioch Foundation.

i. Rename Streets to Rivertown – as in the 1996 Antioch Economic Plan to promote Rivertown on Highway 4 with such names as Rivertown Drive, Smith’s Landing Way, Marina Parkway, or Veterans Blvd. in time for July 4, 2022.

j. Arched Entranceway Signs – 3 signs at A & W. 6th Streets, L & W. 10th Streets, and 4th and Auto Center Drive.

k. Smith’s Landing Pier-39 type attraction over the water from H to F Streets, with an outdoor amphitheater, Ferris wheel, carousel, shops and food vendors.

l. New East Antioch Marina at Roger’s Point and the former Tommy’s Harbor with big boat berths.

m. Historic Boats for rides throughout the Delta and to and from San Francisco and other stops in the Bay Area.

n. Ferry Stop next to Riverview Lodge and Amtrak Station – part of the San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transport Authority (WETA) for commuter line to Martinez, Richmond and San Francisco. – From the WETA 2016 Strategic Plan: “changes in technology and the limited ability to build out other modes may warrant reconsideration of ferry service in the future in communities such as Martinez, Benicia, Rio Vista, Antioch or Discovery Bay. Demand for these services is steadily increasing, and WETA is prepared to work with regional stakeholders to identify and develop cost-effective options for serving travelers in these corridors.”