Requires two armed security guards on-site during business hours

By Allen Payton

Following a few comments by only two members of the public and discussion by council members Tuesday night, April 23, and a vote in favor by the Antioch Planning Commission, the City Council voted 4-1 to approve the city’s first recreational marijuana retail store. Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock was the only dissenting vote.

The vote grants the company, One Plant, a Use Permit to locate a “cannabis dispensary with delivery at 2701 West 10th Street”. That’s the current location of the Goodwill Store at the corner of Verne Roberts Circle.

One Plant is the first applicant to go through the approval process since the Council adopted two “overlay districts” for cannabis-related businesses in Antioch, last year. One district is in the Verne Roberts Circle area near Costco and the other is along the Wilbur Avenue corridor in the northwest part of the city.

According to the city staff report, “The retails sales will be conducted in an approximately 2,500 square foot sales area. All customers must enter the lobby, first and present a valid identification to a security guard prior to entering the sales area.”

The business also plans to “sell vape pens, vape pen batteries, and chargers which are used to administer cannabis concentrates. They do not intend to sell rolling papers, pipes, bongs, etc.” The city’s “cannabis guidelines prohibit the sale of…paraphernalia unless explicitly authorized through the use permit.”

One Plant also “plans to begin delivery operations…during the same hours as the retail business hours” using one vehicle. They “may increase the number of delivery vehicles based on demand” but can “not have any marking or other indications on the exterior of the vehicle that may indicate the delivery employee is carrying cannabis goods.”

The Antioch Police Department is required “to conduct a site inspection to assess the security of the site prior to a certificate of occupancy being issued.”

In addition, the conditions of approval require “no fewer than two uniformed and armed security guards” on-site during business hours.

One Plant is required to have an online submission forum on their website or by using a comment drop box located at the dispensary, in which residents

They will also be hosting an ongoing series of public information meetings with residents about issues surrounding cannabis.

The business is also required to mitigate potential off-site impacts, such as odor “that demonstrates the measures they will take to ensure that cannabis odors will not be detected at or beyond the site.”

The city’s conditions of approval also prohibit the smoking or ingesting of cannabis products on-site.

According to other news reports, One Plant, “is an adult-use cannabis retail operation led by members of the Serruya Family, including Aaron Serruya, the president of (Canada-based) International Franchise Corp., which has over 4,500 franchise locations in over 50 countries” including ice cream shops Pinkberry and Swensen’s.

Antioch resident Dr. Jeffrey Klinger was one of only two members of the public who spoke on the item, sharing concerns about the sales of vaping products, which are being used by young people.

The council then took up the issue, asking questions of Chris Hester, Security Director for One Plant Antioch.

“I think everyone’s going to know my comment. A 600-foot separation from this spot to the (Babe Ruth) fields,” Ogorchock said.

In response to a question from Mayor Pro Tem Joy Motts, Hester spoke of supporting local, community organizations.

“The additional space, what do you plan on doing with it?” Councilman Lamar Thorpe asked.

“In the future we might incorporate manufacturing or a distribution center,” Hester said. “On that lot size we could put another building there. In a similar size location in San Diego, we have 350 employees.”

He also spoke of expanding their delivery service and plans to employ 20 to 30 people.

Asked about revenue projections, Hester estimated $4-5 million and up to $10 million, annually.

Thorpe asked about the issue of equity and the war on drugs.

“We can have starter programs for equity participants. We understand, basically that there was a plight on certain communities in the war on drugs, and we like to give those people opportunity in the business we thrive in,” Hester stated.

“Is it going to be safe, is there going to be blight?” asked Councilwoman Monica Wilson.

“My first answer to a lot of this, you wouldn’t know what we were doing if we didn’t have to go through this process,” Hester responded. “We go above and beyond what is required. We’re in it for the long-term. It’s an industrial park area.”

Mayor Sean Wright said, “I appreciate some of the things that are in here, the on-site security at all times…you’ve included all the items that the police department has given to you. No tinting. You’re not going to hide the front door.”

“What are you going to do to that front corner…the entrance to Antioch?” he asked. “You’re not going to write, ‘cannabis sold here.’”

“We’re kind of a destination. We really don’t have to advertise. It’s an online platform,” Hester stated. “We don’t need a bright, yellow sign that says, ‘come purchase your marijuana, here.’”

“In other areas we’ve done murals on walls, so it looks cool,” he continued. “We like to do whatever we can to make sure the building is presentable…set ourselves apart from dispensaries of five to seven years ago.”

“I’ve read online that of the dispensaries out there you are one of the highest class out there,” Wright said.

Ogorchock attempted to insert language in the ordinance to make sure it is 600 feet away from the Babe Ruth baseball fields.

Forrest Ebbs, Community Development Director stated that the location is 2,450 feet away from the baseball fields.

The council then voted 4-1 to approve the use permit for the One Plant cannabis dispensary with Ogorchock still voting no.

Thursday morning, April 18, 2019 around 3 a.m., Antioch Police officers were dispatched to a suspicious circumstance involving a man with a gun in the area of Aster Drive. Officers located the man walking away into a nearby apartment complex and were able to quickly catch up and detain him.

During a search of the area K9 Purcy located a .40 caliber Glock handgun with an extended magazine in a nearby bush.

The man was arrested for multiple weapons violations and K9 Purcy was rewarded with his favorite toy.

Named for denomination’s only African American deaconess

By Allen Payton

St. George’s Episcopal Church in Antioch recently merged with St. Alban’s in Brentwood and together have taken on the new name of St. Anna’s. The congregation is the first Episcopal church in the nation to be named after an African American woman, Anna Ellison Butler Alexander. A daughter of freed slaves, she was also the denomination’s only African American deaconess, serving in Georgia in the early 1900’s. She is a new saint in the Episcopal tradition.

This Sunday the church will hold its first baptism since the merger and renaming.

“We are thrilled to baptize Wynter J’adore Smith on Easter Sunday,” said Rev. Honodel. “Not only is she related to Betty Smith, one of the members of the first board of Saint Anna’s (and the long-time leader of Antioch’s Rivertown Jamboree), Wynter will be the very first person baptized in St. Anna’s Episcopal Church named after Anna Alexander of Pennick, Georgia.”

“We are very excited, and we’ve planned some lively music for the service,” she continued. “We’ll also be reading a sermon from St. Chrysostom an early church Father from the original Antioch in Syria from the 4th century.”

“We are developing our relationship with the people of The Church of the Good Shepherd in Pennick, Georgia, the church founded by Saint Anna,” Honodel shared. “In fact, some of the members were taught to read by her directly during the era of reconstruction immediately following the emancipation proclamation.”

Honodel has been invited to attend the renaming of a chapel in Saint Anna’s name at the Diocese of Georgia on May 3rd.

Anna Alexander will be recognized as a saint of the Episcopal Church in Lessor Feasts and Fasts, with which every seminarian and clergyperson in the Episcopal Church is well acquainted.  The book provides the Collects (prayers) and readings specific to the saint of their assigned day (their feast day). Saint Anna’s day is on September 24th.

“We will certainly have a special Feast Day planned for her,” Honodel stated. “We may start the day off with Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing known as the Negro national anthem written in 1900 as a poem by James Weldon Johnson and set to music by his brother John Rosamond Johnson in 1905.”

The church will also have a public, community celebration on July 21st. The public is invited to attend. St. Anna’s Episcopal Church is located at 301 E. 13th Street in Antioch. To learn more about Anna Alexander, click here. For more information about the church visit www.saintannas.org or their Facebook page.

By Daniel Borsuk

The Contra Costa County Supervisors were presented Tuesday a proposed $3.69 billion budget for fiscal year 2019-2020 that sparked dialogue among supervisors of potentially developing a new tax source in order to support the county’s growing service needs, especially in the areas of health, medical, employment and human services.

The proposed 2019-2020 budget consists of $1.7 billion in county imposed general fund revenue that is approximately the same level of local tax revenue budgeted for the current 2018-2019 fiscal year. State and federal funds make up the other $2 billion in budget revenue.

Supervisors voted 4-0 to instruct county administrator David Twa to present the budget for adoption at its May 7 meeting. Vice chair Candace Andersen of Danville was absent at the time of the vote.

“After several years of relative stability, we now enter a period of needing to adjust our county budget to meet challenges due to uncertainties to countywide revenue streams (especially in the Health Services and the Employment & Human Services departments), compounded by sharply rising wage and benefit costs,” County Administrator Twa wrote in his 2019-2020 budget presentation. CCCo Budget Presentation 19-20 Draft

In the 2019-2020 fiscal year county officials plan to wrap up labor negotiations with the Physicians and Dentists Organization that represents workers in the Health and Human Services and at Contra Costa Regional Medical Center and Clinics, the District Attorney Investigators Association, the Deputy Services Association and the In-Home Supportive Services Association.

Even in a good economy, Contra Costa County employees find themselves underpaid on average 5 percent to 8 percent of what their counterparts earn at similar jobs in the Bay Area. Supervisors listened to a number of speakers representing the county’s health care system, Contra Costa CARES, that the county needs to boost salaries of its healthcare workers 8 percent if it expects to retain employees.

For next fiscal year, county medical director Anna Roth proposed that the supervisors approve a 3 percent cost of living adjustment, designate $135 million in county general funds, count on $1.6 billion in revenues, but expect expenses of $1.8 billion. The department plans to expand the West County Behavioral Health Center next year, she said.

“We’ve got some work to do,” said District 4 Supervisor Karen Mitchoff of Pleasant Hill upon noticing a projected a combined general fund deficit from health services and human services of at least $30 million.

Noting how other Bay Area counties like San Francisco, Alameda, and San Mateo can adequately pay county workers because of additional tax revenues streaming in from property and sales tax sources, board chair John Gioia of Richmond said, “Other counties have robust tax revenue resources. We don’t have that.”

“You say we need more money,” said District 5 Supervisor Federal Glover of Pittsburg. “We have to be creative.”

Employment and Human Services Director Kathy Gallagher said to balance her department’s budget for 2019-2020 she will have to eliminate 67 positions. For next fiscal year, EHS will have 1,904 fulltime positions in order to operate its diverse operations such as Adult Protection Services that has undergone some criticism for alleged financial abuse of its clients.

Sheriff-Coroner David Livingston has proposed a $7 million increase for salaries and benefits for his 685 sworn officers and 350 non-sworn personnel. For next fiscal year, the sheriff plans to hire three additional sworn officers. Planning for a proposed 128 bed mental health facility for the West County Detention Center in Richmond is back on track after being sidelined for rising construction costs, mostly related to steel tariffs.

With $44 million proposed for the District Attorney’s Office, District Attorney Diana Becton plans to increase staffing in the human trafficking unit by $1 million. The DA Office has 222.5 positions on the payroll of which 102 are attorneys, 33 are investigators, 17 are victim/witness experts, and 70.5 are administrative support.

A $3.7 million project at Buchanan Air Field is one of the big tasks on drawing boards for the Public Works Department next fiscal year, department director Brian Balbas said, but the biggest challenge is retaining staff. With a $254 million budget and 545 employees, Balbas said his department is hampered by a high turnover rate of more than 20 percent when workers find better paying jobs at other counties or in the private sector. “The focus for 2019/2020 will be in recruitment and retention,” he told supervisors.

Public Defender Robin Lipesky said in addition to handling 6,900 misdemeanor cases, 3,747 felony cases, and 450 bail hearings, her department handled 600 Stand Together Contra Costa legal consultations, a new duty of her department. Citing a decline in the county’s juvenile population and a decline in the juvenile hall population, the department plans to cut 22 juvenile justice positions, she said.

Supervisors Salary Ordinance Approved

On a 3-2 vote, with supervisors Candace Andersen of Danville and Diane Burgis of Brentwood casting the dissenting votes, supervisors approved an ordinance that will raise their salaries at an established percentage, 65 percent of the annual salary of the Office of Superior Court Judge, effective January 1, 2021.

Effective June 30, each supervisor will earn a monthly base salary of $9,736.75, equivalent to an annual salary of $116,841.

From July 1, 2019 through Dec. 31, 2019 supervisors will each earn an annual salary equal to 60 percent of the annual salary for the Office of Superior Court Judge as prescribed by the state legislature. Supervisors will receive another salary boost effective January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020 at a base of 63 percent of a Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge. A third and final salary hike equal to 65 percent of the annual salary for the Office of Superior Court Judge in Contra Costa County would go into effect after January 1, 2021.

In addition to the pay increases, each supervisor will receive reimbursement for “reasonable expenses incurred in the conduct of such office” and “eligibility for an eighty-five-dollar monthly contribution to the county’s deferred compensation plan in the same manner as other exempt management employees.”

Each supervisor will also receive an automobile allowance of $600 per month and, in addition to the automobile allowance, mileage at the rate per mile allowed by the Internal Revenue Service as a deductible expense, for all miles driven by the supervisor on county business outside that supervisor’s district.

Supervisors OK Revised WCCTAC Transit Mitigation Fee

In other business, supervisors unanimously approved revised property transportation mitigation fees developers in unincorporated parts of the West Contra Costa Transportation Advisory Committee area of El Cerrito, Hercules, Pinole, Richmond, and San Pablo that have been in place since 1997.

No one spoke either in favor of or in protest against the fees that are assessed to go towards construction of transportation projects.

Since the inception of the WCCTAC transit mitigation fees in 1997, $11.6 million has been raised to help alleviate transportation impacts from residential, commercial or industrial development, said John Cunningham of the Contra Costa County Conservation and Development Department.

Revenues from the transit mitigation fee cover 19 percent of the construction costs of transit projects in the WCCTAC area. Some of those projects include $9,672 towards a $50,903 San Pablo Avenue complete streets project, $156 for the I-580/Harbour Way Interchange pedestrian and bicycle access improvements, $10,175 for the Hercules Regional Intermodal Transportation Center, and $20,749 for capital improvements to the I-80 Express Bus Service.

Accessory dwelling units are exempt from the revised transit mitigation fees that will go into effect July 1, 2020 and will increase or decrease every July 1 thereafter based by the annual percentage change in the Engineering News Record Construction Cost Index for the San Francisco Bay Area for the 12 month period ending with the February index of the same year in which the increase or decrease will take effect

The new WCCTAC transit mitigation fees are multi-family residential, $5,439 per dwelling unit; senior housing, $1,469 per dwelling unit; hotel, $3,481 per hotel unit; retail/service, $6.59 per square foot; office, $8.12 per square foot; industrial, $5.56 per square foot; storage facility, 0.76 per square foot; and other, $7 per square foot.

Red Cross Community Services Award Recipients

As a consent items, supervisors adopted resolutions honoring Bryan Canty of Antioch as recipient of the 2019 Red Cross Good Samaritan Award, Samantha Barhouse, also of Antioch, as recipient of the 2019 Red Cross Disaster Service Award, and the San Damiano Retreat Center of Danville, as the recipient of the 2019 Red Cross Community Service Award.

By Antioch Police Department

On Monday, we welcomed Officer Ashley Crandell. Ashley was raised in Roseville and graduated from Wood Creek High School. After graduating High School, Ashley moved to the Bay Area and attended Contra Costa Community College. While in college, Ashley worked for the Contra Costa Community College District Police Department as a Police Aide. Ashley earned her Associates degree in Administration of Justice and graduated with honors.

Ashley attended Alameda County’s Police Academy and was a Deputy Sheriff for Alameda County for two years prior to joining the Antioch Police Department.

In her free time, Ashley enjoys hiking and backpacking, reading, and spending quality time with her family.

A fun fact about Ashley is that she has no fear of heights and is fascinated by bears. While backpacking, in Yosemite she got to see a mother bear and two cubs up close.

By Brentwood Police Department

Posted on Facebook April 9, 2019

Recently an alert citizen notified dispatch of a suspicious vehicle driving around in their neighborhood. Officers responded to the area, located the vehicle and while contacting the occupants of the vehicle, officers observed a suspected firearm inside the vehicle. The occupants were removed from the vehicle and the suspected firearm was found to be a replica. Metal knuckles were located on the driver.

During the investigation, the vehicle was found to be stolen out of Antioch and was later reunited with the owner. Two of the occupants were arrested without incident and charged with various crimes. The third occupant was released. All three individuals were juveniles from Antioch.

By Antioch Police Department

Tuesday (April 9, 2019) was a very good day for the Antioch Police Department, while not being a very good day for a couple of suspected drug dealers. Early in the afternoon, Officer Smith and his K9 partner, Kona, responded to assist on a traffic stop. Kona was utilized for her ability to locate narcotics and alerted on the vehicle stopped. She was then able to pinpoint an area of the vehicle and approximately 2 lbs. of suspected methamphetamine was located, hidden in the vehicle.

Then, late Tuesday night, graveyard officers responded to a disturbance in the 5000 block of Rockwall Way. As it turned out, this appears to have been a narcotics transaction gone awry. A male subject involved was found to be in possession of an ounce of suspected cocaine, an ounce of suspected methamphetamine, over a half pound of marijuana, a loaded firearm, and a large amount of cash.

Both suspects from both incidents were sent to the main detention facility in Martinez for several different felony charges.

Antioch’s Delta Veterans Group honored

By Daniel Borsuk

At their meeting on Tuesday, Contra Costa County Supervisors approved on a 4-1 vote the ordinance that ties their base salaries to 60 percent of the salaries of superior court judges. Supervisor Candace Andersen cast the dissenting vote. The pay raise goes into effect for the period between July 2, 2019 and Dec. 31, 2019; then increases to 63 percent of judges’ salaries for 2020 and finally to 65 percent of judges’ salaries thereafter.

Supervisors will receive the same periodic increases as are as granted by the legislature to the judges as recommended by the Ad Hoc Citizen’s Committee.

Supervisors waived the reading of the ordinance and fixed their April 16 meeting for adoption of the ordinance. Two weeks ago, supervisors had voted 3-1 with Andersen opposing and Supervisor Diane Burgis absent due to recuperation from heart surgery.

In casting a negative vote again this week, Andersen said, “I still have my reservations. We still earn Bay Area salary, but this isn’t a full-time job. It’s more than a full-time job. I can leave my house at 8 a.m. and not return until 10 p.m.”

Consider Exempting Transportation Impact Fees for Accessory Dwelling Units

Supervisors can be expected to adopt a policy aimed at exempting the imposition of public transit fees on homeowners wanting to build accessory dwelling units to homes as a jab of slowing down the Bay Area’s runaway rising housing costs.

Supervisors on Tuesday instructed county Conservation & Development Department (CDD) officials to draft a policy that would halt the levying of transit impact fees on ADU applications in unincorporated Contra Costa County, a move that could lift a financial burden off the shoulders of homeowners wanting to add living units onto their homes. ADU transit impact fees are imposed taxes for public transit improvement or road construction to mitigate increased public transit patronage and automobile trips stemming from ADU construction.

Based on county data, since 2017, there’ve been 130 ADU’s approved, 42 interior conversions and 88 new footprint additions approved.   County records also show 130 ADU permits were issued via administrative means such as variance or deviation from the standards. Total ADU tax revenues data collected during that two-year period was unavailable.

“Ultimately, however, the reduction and or elimination of traffic impact fees would unavoidably create a funding gap.” warned CDD Director John Kopchik in a memo to supervisors. “That gap cannot be filled using the fee program’s revenue and must be backfilled with other sources.”

So far there has been political posturing locally and out of Sacramento concerning the status of ADU transit fees, but housing affordability advocates have maintained ADU transit fee are part of the reason for the Bay Area’s housing unaffordability crisis.

Leading the charge on the ADU fee exemption conversation at the county level has been board chair John Gioia of Richmond who has been tuned into the ADU and tax exemption discussions at West Contra Costa Transportation Advisory Committee level.

Gioia said by exempting the transit fees it would remove financial barrier on homeowners wanting to add onto their homes. In West County, the additional costs a homeowner pays on average per ADU is $10,000 the supervisor said.

Supervisor Candace Andersen of Danville praised the ADU transit fee exemption fee proposal saying” It’s a great way for families to stay together.”

CDD staff is expected to present a draft ordinance on the ADU tax exemption proposal sometime either in June or July.

Mitchoff Gets Heat Over Library Closure

The upcoming closure of the Pleasant Hill Public Library drew protests from upset community residents, some of whom accused Supervisor Karen Mitchoff of Pleasant Hill of playing into the hands of real estate interests by closing down the library too soon.

Besides the construction of a new library, the county in conjunction with the city of Pleasant Hill are making way for the construction of a housing development on county owned property long vacant nearby the library.

The outdated library will be demolished in late spring or early summer to clear the site for a new library that will eventually feature a café, a used book store and shelf space for 70,000 books. The new library will be completed in 2021 and according to Pleasant Hill residents like Dick Offerman that won’t help middle school students who rely on the library to study.

Mitchoff took issue with Offerman’s statement that the library’s closure would negatively impact middle school students.

“I’ve visited the library when middle school students are there and many of them are playing video games rather than studying,” she said.

Pat Morgan also of Pleasant Hill criticized supervisor Mitchoff for not doing enough in keeping the old library open.

“It’s unacceptable. This demonstrates real estate money interest. Greed. It’s shameful, “she said.

Consent Items Approved

Supervisors approved the Sheriff-Coroner’s request to purchase Automated License Plate Reader cameras in the Discovery Bay area for an amount not to exceed $283,000. The ALPR camera capabilities are not only for the detection of stolen vehicles, but also as an investigative tool for persons and property crimes.

They also approved and authorized the Sheriff-Coroner to execute a contract with the State of California, 23rd District Agricultural Association (Contra Costa County Fair Board), including all indemnification of the State of California, to pay the county an amount not to exceed $35,000 to provide law enforcement services at the County Fair for the period of May 15-19, 2019.

Approve the collection loss write-offs in the public housing program in the amount of $106,729.09 for the quarter ending March 31, 2019, which is up nearly double from the $50,381.06 in collection losses for the same quarter in 2018. The Bayo Vista housing development in Rodeo led with the most loss write-offs with $73,470.36 followed by the Vista del Camino housing development in San Pablo with $10,501.

Supervisors also approved new Housing Choice Voucher payment standards for the Housing Authority that goes into effect April 15. Studio to three-bedroom sized unit payments standards have been reduced between $19 to $101 while the four to seven-bedroom sized payment standards are being increased between $121 and $175.