Parents allege their students were victims of bullying

By Luke Johnson

Minutes before a home game against Heritage High School last Thursday, players from Deer Valley’s varsity girls’ basketball team threatened to go on strike by taking off their white-home uniforms with their black-away uniforms underneath. This was in an effort to get head coach Linsey Bailey to resign or fired from his job.

Moments later, he proceeded to exit the gym, ending the protest, so that the game could resume under assistant coaches.

Immediately following the final whistle, DVHS administration conducted an investigation that resulted in 8 out of 12 players on the roster receiving suspensions for the remaining two games of the season with Bailey continuing at the helm the program. This course of action was announced Monday.

Principal Kenneth Gardner said every player was talked to during the investigation and that nothing was found leading to “impropriety or unprofessional behavior becoming the coach,” and only two or three of the players’ concerns were related to playing time. He added that two sets of parents voiced their distress prior to the protest, only regarding playing time.

“Playing time is based on merit and skill, and is at the sole judgment of the coach,” Gardner said. “We did what we felt like we had to do.”

On the contrary, parents claim that the protest had little to do with playing time, and that their kids were victims of bullying by intimidation and verbal abuse from Bailey. One parent, Melvin Davis, said that the “principal was lying through his teeth” after hearing his comments about the investigation.

In a 454-word email sent on Jan. 4 to Vice Principals Tim Cooper and Reggie March, Davis wrote:

“The coach informed the team he has no fear of putting his hands on a player, and offered proof by saying he was currently under investigation at Antioch Middle School for placing a child in a choke hold… The coach was witnessed punching walls on several occasions, visibly cries in front of team on several occasions. I view these as inappropriate.”

Cooper replied the next day, and told Davis he would look into his concerns and talk to players as witnesses.

According to Davis, this followed up with a meeting among himself, Cooper, Bailey and Athletic Director Dan Peters. He said Bailey denied all the allegations, and players were never questioned.

“After that meeting, his treatment of the girls became progressively worse. Myself and other parents continued to complain and were told administration wasn’t going to do anything until after the season was over,” Davis said.

Some parents chose to speak anonymously, while others declined to comment in fear of their children being punished even further.

“They were out of line, and it was very unfair,” an anonymous parent said about the suspensions handed out by DVHS administration. “They just care about protecting the name of the school.”

Numerous parents claim that Bailey, who is a first-year head coach at Deer Valley, was fired from his previous coaching job at Alhambra High School (Martinez). Gardner, nor Alhambra Athletic Director Pat Ertola, could neither confirm nor deny those allegations.

A December 3rd article in the Martinez Tribune states the Alhambra High School “Bulldogs dismissed Linsey Bailey” as head coach last Spring. No additional details on why that occurred are known at this time.

By Allen Payton

In a letter to the editor to the Herald, responding to my column about Lamar Thorpe needing to be removed from his position on the Antioch Economic Development Commission, over his leadership of the card room initiative, Thorpe claimed that one of the Antioch Council Members signed the petition to place the initiative on the ballot.

In response to an email question to each of the council members, only one of the Council Members, Monica Wilson admitted to signing the petition, through the spokesman for her campaign for Supervisor, Jon Colmenares.

In an email from Colmenares, he wrote “wanted to answer your question regarding petition signatures for cardroom initiative. Monica signed the petition, and along with the rest of the Council and Mayor, voted to put it on the June ballot.”

Mayor Pro Tem Lori Ogorchock was first to respond to the email with a brief, “Not I.”

Mayor Wade Harper was the next, also denying he signed it.

“I did not sign the petition,” he said. “I would be interested to know if any Councilmember signed the petition.”

In a phone conversation with Council Member Tony Tiscareno, he said he did not sign it, either.

When reached for comment, Council Member Mary Rocha stated “I wouldn’t have signed that petition.”

Wilson did respond later to the questions of why she signed the petition and didn’t inform the public of that during the council meeting, and why she didn’t make a motion to adopt the initiative language as a an ordinance.

“I believe in organizing a community when it needs something,” she stated. “I do believe that the voters should have a voice and I do not believe in imposing ordinances on them. I believe in involving voters for what affects them directly. That for me includes laws that are as high profile as the cardroom initiative and why I signed it. I joined the Mayor and council because I felt that this was an important issue to be put forth to voters.”

One additional email was sent asking Wilson to clarify whether or not she supports the ballot initiative language and what she thinks a council member’s job is if the doesn’t believe in imposing ordinances on the public. Please check back later for her response.

The card room measure will be on the June 7th ballot. It requires a majority vote to pass and become law in the city. If it fails, the current city ordinance of allowing two card rooms in town, down from the previous five prior to 2013, will remain in force, with only one currently operating in Antioch.

 

Honors First Black Resident, Introduces Shopping Cart Ordinance

“The City of Antioch will not be bullied” – Mayor Wade Harper

By Nick Goodrich

During its regular meeting on Tuesday, February 9th, the Antioch City Council gave the go-ahead for the Vineyards at Sand Creek development project, the city’s first gated, new home community. In addition, they introduced a new shopping cart ordinance aimed at preventing the abandonment of carts around the city, and made a decision to place a citizens initiative to control card rooms in Antioch.

Thomas Gaines Honored

The meeting opened with the approval and reading of a proclamation by the City Council honoring the first black person to live in Antioch, entitled Celebrating Thomas Gaines Day in Antioch, February 9, 2016, as part of the City’s efforts to recognize Black History Month.

According to the proclamation and local history books, “In the 1860’s an emancipated slave named Thomas Gaines came to Antioch and worked as a laborer on the Antioch docks;…was the only African American resident of Antioch between 1860 and the 1940’s; and…He lived in a red brick shack on the waterfront in the back of the Antioch Lumber Company; and…On February 28, 1875, Thomas Gaines became a member of the First Congregational Church by profession of faith; and he…was highly regarded around town for his noble work and his caring attention towards others – he regularly walked women and children home from church for safety.

Health & Wealth Initiative Presentation

That was followed by a presentation on the “Antioch Health and Wealth Initiative” by Keith and Iris Archuleta, who have spoken with city stakeholders and residents for close to a year to help their effort gather data. The Initiative aims to foster a successful and growing Antioch by identifying and addressing areas in which the city can improve, while playing to it’s strengths.

“We have to build on our community’s assets and strengths, (of) which we have so many,” said Iris, who has been a prominent community activist in Antioch since moving to the city in 1992, and is the founder of the Antioch Youth Intervention Network. She and her husband’s company, Emerald Consulting, are working on the Initiative pro bono, emphasizing that there would be no cost to the city.

“We are citizens here, and if we want it done right, and we think we can, we’re doing it,” she added.

Vineyards at Sand Creek Development

Later in the meeting, Council held a public hearing to discuss the Vineyards at Sand Creek, a proposed housing development in the Sand Creek Focus Area. The project has been gaining steam since it’s approval by City Council in September of 2014, and would involve gated community, with 641 units, a park, and a swimming pool.

Matt Beinke, representing the developer GBN Partners, LLC, a company of Blackhawk-Nunn which built the Applehill Estates gated community in Brentwood, spoke before the Council during the hearing.

“A lot of time and effort has gone into this, a lot of community meetings,” he said. “It would be the only net positive community in the city.” Beinke noted that for the last 25 years, a lack of infrastructure in the Focus Area has prevented development from moving forward. But the proposed development would include the addition of both roads and underground utilities, such as gas lines. “There are no other contributions (to the project), city or otherwise,” he said. The adjacent Heidorn Ranch development would provide added infrastructure as well, with Heidorn Ranch Road running out to connect with Sand Creek Road.

No official opponent to the project was listed in the hearing, but Antioch residents turned out in force to speak both for and against the Vineyards. Lucas Stuart-Chilcote, a student at Dozier-Libbey Medical High School, in the Focus Area, cited several concerns before City Council including wildlife conservation, congested roadways, and crowded schools. “This area should be seen as Antioch’s natural preserve,” he said.

Wendy Aghily, an Antioch resident, echoed these concerns, reading from the city’s General Plan, which included making an effort to reduce commute times and traffic congestion. She asked the Council how it planned to follow through with these aspects of the document by adding another housing development to the city. “The city is going to replicate the mistakes of the past, and it is going to do it in record speed,” she said.

Beverly Knight, another resident, was concerned about overburdening an already understaffed police department with another neighborhood.

“This seems like a fancy addition to a dilapidated house,” she stated. “You need to focus on the foundation first.”

Other citizens were in full support of the Vineyards development. Tim Forrester, Associate Superintendent for Business and Operations for the Antioch Unified School District, was excited about the infrastructure that the project would introduce to the area. He noted that both Dozier-Libbey Medical High School on truck shipments of gas to stay running. The proposed gas lines would solve that problem for both establishments, he said. Forrester also mentioned the sewer service for both the school and Kaiser hospital, which will benefit by the new sewer line, instead of collecting it in a tank on site and pumping it to the neighborhood to the north.

Pablo Galvan, representing the environmental group Save Mount Diablo, said he supports the conservation benefits the development would bring, as well. A proposed buffer zone would help to protect natural habitats, a big point for him, and the city’s Habitat Conservation Plan would add “an extra level of conservational scrutiny”.

Union tradesmen, a representative from the IBE brotherhood of electrical workers, and more than a dozen plumbers also offered their support for the project, citing an increase in work for local businesses. Finally, Jack Roddy, prominent Antioch resident and owner of the Roddy Ranch Golf Course, spoke in support before the Council.

“I stand for planned growth,” he said. “These developers are classy and always do a great job. Antioch deserves them, and they deserve Antioch.”

Estimates from the project developers and city staff state that the housing development would offer more than $64,000 per year in revenue to the city of Antioch. The community would pay for it’s own police services, with every unit contributing $450 per year to the police services fund. “This developer is known for creating respectable, attractive developments in the East Bay,” said resident Ralph Garrow.  “It will be a responsible development.”

After fielding questions by City Council, Matt Beinke returned to the audience. Council voted to approve the next stages of the project in a unanimous, 5-0 vote.

Card Room Initiative

A ballot initiative concerning card rooms in Antioch was also brought before City Council on Tuesday. The proposed ordinance, which would limit the number of card rooms in Antioch to just one, would require voter approval in order to add any additional card rooms or expand the current one. The effort to pass the ordinance, which gathered enough signatures to be placed on the ballot, is being led by Antioch resident and Economic Development Commission member Lamar Thorpe, and is being funded solely by the California Grand Casino. Multiple attempts were made to contact Thorpe for his comments, but he did not respond.

The California Grand, which aims to limit card room competition in Antioch with the measure, was part of the organization that attempted to shoot down a Planning Commission vote in 2013 on whether or not to send the issue of the reopening of Kelly’s Card Room to the City Council. The California Grand has a history of weeding out its competition, as it used similar tactics in 2010 to defeat a measure that would have allowed for another card room in Richmond. And in 2004, the Casino purchased a bankrupt card room in San Ramon and subsequently shut it down, eliminating it as a threat to competition. It attempted to do so anonymously, but was forced in court to reveal its identity before the purchase.

Antioch currently has a card room ordinance in place, which was passed in 2011, reducing the number of card rooms in the city, from five to two. The only real change to the current law that the proposed measure would offer is to limit that number to just one.

Council Member Tony Tiscareno recalled being solicited by a petitioner outside of Food Max. When he questioned the petitioner about the details of the proposed measure, the petitioner didn’t have any additional information to give him, and didn’t know much about the measure, he said. Tiscareno discover during the conversation that the petitioners were paid, and the man in question was not even an Antioch resident.

“This issue here disturbed me,” said Tiscareno, during the meeting.

The Council was faced with the decision to either pass the measure, or allow it to go to the June ballot, which would cost the city’s General Fund between $132,771 and $177,028. Council Member Monica Wilson likened the situation to “being pushed into a corner.”

“It’s kind of like tying our hands, and saying you have to do it, or it’ll put the city in a lot of money,” added Council Member Mary Rocha.

Mayor Pro Tem Lori Ogorchock asked city staff to look into whether or not having a member of Antioch’s Economic Development Commission circulating the petition would constitute a “conflict of some sort”.

Interim City Attorney, Derek Cole responded that he didn’t think there was a legal conflict, which requires a financial impact to a commission member.

Concerns about the cost for placing the initiative on the June election ballot were partly waylaid by City Clerk Arne Simonsen, who reported to Council that sending the ordinance to the June ballot rather than the November ballot would not constitute a significant addition to city expenditures.

Ogorchock suggested adding another initiative to the ballot, in response to a proposal by City Treasurer Donna Conley, that they eliminate her elected position and annual salary, and combining it with the City Finance Director’s job. The savings from not paying the Treasurer’s salary would help offset the cost of the election. The Council has until their February 23rd meeting to place another measure on the June ballot and will discuss Ogorchock’s proposal, then.

In the end, the overwhelming sentiment from the City Council was the belief that they were being pushed into a decision on the card room ordinance.

“I don’t like the way they presented it to us at all,” said Mayor Wade Harper. “The City of Antioch will not be bullied.”

The Council then voted unanimously, in a 5-0 vote, to call for the election and submit the decision to voters in June.

FULL FREEWAY CLOSURES:

State Route 160:

There will be full freeway closures in the southbound direction of State Route 160 between Main Street/E. 18th Street and the State Route 4/State Route 160 connector ramp on Thursday Night and Friday Night from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am.

HIGHWAY LANE CLOSURES:

State Route 4:

There will be highway lane closures in the westbound direction of State Route 4 between Railroad Avenue and Contra Loma on Tuesday through Friday from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm. There will be highway lane closures in the eastbound direction of State Route 4 between Bailey Road and Contra Loma on Tuesday through Friday from 4:30 am to 12:00 pm.

For questions or comments please send e-mail to info@4eastcounty.org

Today, candidate for County Supervisor in District 3, Doug Hardcastle announced he has received the endorsement of former State Assemblywoman Lynne Leach.

While in the Assembly for six years, Leach represented almost all of what makes up District 3, including the East County communities of Oakley, Brentwood, Discovery Bay, Bethel Island, Knightsen, Byron and parts of Antioch, as well as Blackhawk, Diablo and Camino Tassajara, in the San Ramon Valley portion of the Supervisor district.

“What impressed me about Doug is that he has taken so many of the necessary steps, both as a member of the Ironhouse Satinary District Board and Oakley City Council, and is now well prepared to be a member of the Board of Supervisors,” said Leach. “Plus, his small business experience and community service, it just makes a lot of sense.”

“He is one of the best, well-rounded candidates you could imagine,” she added. “That’s why I’m supporting him for County Supervisor.”

A leader in the Assembly, Leach served as Vice Chair of the Assembly Education Committee in her second and third terms. She also served on a variety of committees, including Transportation, Insurance, Business and Professions, Jobs and Economic Development, Aging and Long Term Care, Joint Legislative Audit and the Master Plan for California Education (Kindergarten through Higher Education).

“I appreciate Lynne’s endorsement, and her time and counsel in my campaign,” Hardcastle said. “Plus, her great experience serving the same communities that I will be serving as Supervisor.”

Doug Hardcastle was elected to the Oakley City Council in 2012 and recently completed a year as Mayor. From 2000 to 2012 he served as a Director on the Ironhouse Sanitary District Board, for which he served as President in 2010-2011. He currently serves on both the Transplan Committee and the Tri Delta Transit Board of Directors. Doug and his wife Lyn own Hardcastle’s RV in Oakley and have for over 40 years. Doug was selected Oakley Business Person of the Year in 2006. He’s a life-long resident of Contra Costa County. For more information visit www.doughardcastle.com and follow the Hardcastle campaign on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @doughardcastle.

Supervisor District 3 includes Oakley, Brentwood, Discovery Bay, Blackhawk, Diablo, Camino Tassajara, Bethel Island, Byron, Knightsen and a portion of Antioch. The election is on June 7, 2016.

Today, Wednesday, February 10, 2016, Brentwood Councilmember Steve Barr announced his intent to run for Contra Costa County Supervisor District 3.

“After careful consideration I have decided to seek the office of Supervisor and represent the residents of Far East County and the communities of Blackhawk and Diablo,” Barr said. “I feel it is the right time for me to use the experience I have gained serving the Brentwood residents for the last five years on the city council and make a positive contribution to the Board of Supervisors on behalf of District 3 residents.”

In 2005 Steve was appointed to the Liberty Union High School District Board of directors and was elected to the board in 2006. He served as President of the Board in 2008 and completed his term on the school board in 2010.

Steve was elected to the Brentwood City Council in 2010 and served as Vice-Mayor in 2011 and 2012. In 2012 he ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Brentwood against Bob Taylor. In 2014 Barr was re-elected to the council in an uncontested election.

While on the City Council he has served on the following city committees: Operating and Capital improvement Budgets, 10 Year Fiscal Model Plan, Downtown Specific Plan, General Plan Implementation, Sewer/Water/Solid Waste rates, School Inter-agency Council, and Land Use and Development.

He was appointed to the East Contra Costa Fire District Board of Directors in 2011 – 2014 and was recently reappointed in 2016.

Steve has been active in the Brentwood community in various roles including coaching youth sports, soccer, CYO basketball and Pony baseball, has chaired community events such as the 1996 Brentwood Cornfest, the 2014 Harvest Time Festival and co-chaired the Brentwood Art Wine and Jazz Festival for three years. He served as President of the Liberty High School Athletic Boosters and Liberty High School site council from 2002- 2005.

Steve is a third generation Contra Costan and lived in Pleasant Hill from 1956 to 1978, Martinez from 1978 to 1981 and in Brentwood since 1981. He has been a licensed contractor for 35 years specializing in structural concrete and custom pools, and currently is providing contracted construction management services for a processing plant in Ripon California.

Steve and his wife Kathy have lived in Brentwood for 35 years. They have a daughter Kristin age 32 of Yuba City and son Paul age 29 of Walnut Creek.

This brings the number of candidates for County Supervisor in District 3 to six, including Oakley City Council Doug Hardcastle, NAACP East County Branch President Odessa Lefrancois, East Bay Regional Parks District Board Member Diane Burgis, Antioch Mayor Wade Harper and Antioch Councilwoman Monica Wilson.  The Primary Election is on June 7th and if no candidate receives a majority of the vote, the top two candidates with the most votes will face off in the General Election in November.

State Route 4:

There will be highway lane closures in the westbound direction of State Route 4 between Railroad Avenue and Contra Loma on Monday through Friday from 11:00 am to 7:00 pm.

There will be highway lane closures in the westbound direction of State Route 4 between State Route 160 and Laurel Road on Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 pm to 4:00 am.

There will be highway lane closures in the westbound direction of State Route 4 between State Route 160 and Hillcrest Ave. on Wednesday and Thursday from 10:00 pm to 2:00 am and on Saturday morning from 12:00 am to 5:00 am.

There will be highway lane closures in the eastbound direction of State Route 4 between Bailey Road and Contra Loma on Monday through Friday from 4:30 am to 12:00 pm.

There will be highway lane closures in the eastbound direction of State Route 4 between Laurel Road and State Route 160 on Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 pm to 6:00 am.

There will be highway lane closures in the eastbound direction of State Route 4 between A Street/Lone Tree Way and State Route 160 on Tuesday through Friday from 11:00 pm to 5:00 am.

State Route 160:

There will be lane closures in the northbound direction of State Route 160 between State Route 4/State Route 160 connector ramp and Main Street on Tuesday through Friday from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm.

By Allen Payton

As part of February’s Black History Month, the Antioch City Council will recognize the first African American to live in Antioch, back in the 1800’s, Thomas Gaines.

Council is asked to approve a proposed resolution to declare February 9, 2016 as “Thomas Gaines Day” in Antioch

The resolution states “In the 1860’s an emancipated slave named Thomas Gaines came to Antioch and worked as a laborer on the Antioch docks; and…was the only African American resident of Antioch between 1860 and the 1940’s; and…He lived in a red brick shack on the waterfront in the back of the Antioch Lumber Company; and…On February 28, 1875, Thomas Gaines became a member of the First Congregational Church by profession of faith; and…Thomas Gaines was highly regarded around town for his noble work and his caring attention towards others – he regularly walked women and children home from church for safety…”

According to the First Congregational Church of Antioch’s 150^th anniversary website page, from last year, Gaines “was the only African-American allowed to live in Antioch, and he lived in a red brick shack on the waterfront in back of the Antioch Lumber Company. The shack was formerly part of the Joost Distillery.”

City’s First Gated Community

Also on the agenda for council approval will be the Vineyards at Sand Creek, a proposed 641-home, gated community on the most southeastern side of Antioch, by Blackhawk-Nunn. The partnership is the same one that built the Apple Hill Estates development, Brentwood’s first gated community. The new homes are projected to be in the $500,000 to $600,000 range and will each pay an annual fee for more police. If approved, the project will be the first gated, single-family home community in Antioch.

Shopping Cart Ordinance

The Council will also consider a new shopping cart ordinance that “requires that all operators of business that offer shopping carts install an identification plaque that identifies the cart owner and states that it is unlawful to remove the cart from the premises…and contain the telephone number and address of cart owner.”

It also allows a City official who discovers a cart two options. They can either inform the cart owner and “notify them of the location of the shopping cart” and give “three business days to retrieve the cart.” Or, “the City official could impound the cart, contact the owner” and give them three business days to retrieve it from the City.

If they don’t retrieve it within that time, then the business “will be subject to impound and storage fees.” The fine is to be determined, later, to give businesses “an education period while the program begins.”

The ordinance further states “Repeat offenders who have three violations in a six-month period, may also be subject to a $50 fine for each occurrence.”

The proposed ordinance is modeled after one adopted by the City of Oakley.

Card Room Initiative

A privately funded initiative to limit the number of card rooms in Antioch to two and expansion of the current one, and require voter approval for any changes, has obtained the necessary votes to be placed on the ballot. The City Council can decide to either pass it, at Tuesday’s meeting, or allow it to go to the June ballot. However, if it goes to the ballot, the initiative will cost the City’s General Fund between $132,771 and $177,028, according to City Clerk Arne Simonsen.

The effort is being funded by the California Grand Casino in Pacheco to limit competition and led by Antioch residents Lamar Thorpe, a member of the Antioch Economic Development Commission and unsuccessful candidate for the Antioch City Council in 2012, and his wife Patrice Guillory.

The Council previously voted to reduce the number of allowable card rooms in Antioch from five to two, but currently there is only one operating in town.

The city staff report on the item reads as follows:

It is our understanding that the initiative is sponsored/supported by the card room industry and certainly has the intended purpose of: 1) maintaining the status quo for the existing one card room; and 2) making it difficult to allow new or enlarged card rooms. These two factors would benefit the existing local card room as well as other existing card rooms within the trade area, which includes Pacheco and Livermore.

The limitation of card rooms to the status quo may be something that a majority of voters would support. There was widespread community opposition to a proposed Indian Casino in town several years ago and the idea was dropped.

Additionally, there is no apparent organized opposition to the initiative, but the initiative supporters could be expected to campaign in support of it. Thus with expected vigorous campaigning for the measure and little or no expected opposition, the measure could easily pass (only a majority vote is required).

These factors argue in favor of having the Council simply adopt the ordinance without amendment Reconfigured Ordinance, 1 Attachment #4. State law speaks in terms of the Council “adopting” such measures, so there is no introduction with reading waived step in the process, as would be typical.

However, adopting the ordinance would eliminate the City’s option in the future of trying to attract, or acting on an application, for a new or enlarged card room. If the City Council wishes to keep open the option of entertaining a new or larger card room in the future, and believes that such option is worth the expense of the election, then the Council should reject the idea of adopting the ordinance and it should call the election.

Also, it should be noted that if Council adopts the ordinance, it cannot be amended in the future without approval of the voters. The same rule applies if the measure is submitted to the voters and passes, i.e. the City Council cannot subsequently amend it without further voter approval.

The Antioch City Council meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, located between West 2nd and 3rd Streets at H Street in downtown. It can be viewed on Comcast local cable channel 24 or AT&T Uverse channel 99, or via live stream on the Council meeting page on the City’s website.