Deadline for Applications is February 28, 2014

OAKLAND, CA, Feb. 10, 2014 . . . Interested in a paid summer internship? High school sophomores, juniors and graduating seniors in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area are encouraged to apply for paid summer internships in the transportation field. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s (MTC) annual High School Internship Program seeks student applicants for summer internship positions in local transportation agencies throughout the region (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma counties). “The program’s purpose is to introduce students to career opportunities in transportation,” said Steve Heminger, executive director.

Students must be at least 16 years old by the start of the program this June and have completed the 10th grade. Additionally, students must live and go to school in the county where the position is offered. Students graduating in 2014 are eligible to apply for the internships. The deadline for submissions is Friday, February 28, 2014.

The program’s flexible schedule allows students to be employed either full-time or part-time for up to ten weeks between June 16 and August 29. Students will work with local public agencies in a department related to transportation planning or engineering, public works or public transit. Hourly pay is $10.75. Some 35 paid internships are available. A list of internship opportunities and the online application are available at: http://jobs.mtc.ca.gov/InternshipOpportunities/jobinternship.html. Program requirements can be found at: www.mtc.ca.gov/jobs/high_school/. MTC’s high school internship coordinator, Yulee Kim, can be contacted at 510.817.5807 for further information.

Students applying with a minimum unweighted grade-point average of 2.8 or above must submit one letter of recommendation. Applications from students with grade-point averages below an unweighted 2.8 will be considered if accompanied by two letters of recommendation. “This is an opportunity for students throughout the entire region,” commented Ann Macaulay, program manager. “We especially need student applications for positions in the northern Bay Area counties.”

Applications will only be accepted online. To apply, submit the completed application, along with a one-page response that describes, in the applicant’s own words, a transportation problem in their community and what the applicant thinks could be done to resolve it. A letter (or letters) of recommendation from a teacher, principal, counselor, religious leader or employer must also be included. Applications must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Pacific time, February 28, 2014. In some counties, the deadline may be extended until the internship positions are filled.

MTC is the regional transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

As part of the Highway 4 construction work, the contractor will be installing electrical loops into the new roadway of eastbound Highway 4. In order to ensure crew and public safety during this work, the contractor will close all lanes of Highway 4 in the eastbound direction at Loveridge Road on Thursday morning, February 13, from 12:30 am to 5:30 am.

The detour for this work will be as follows:

o Eastbound motorists will be directed off the highway at Loveridge Road and immediately back on the highway at the eastbound Highway 4 on-ramp from Loveridge Road. For detour map, please see attachment.

The Highway 4 projects include improvements to the entire project corridor that will help revitalize eastern Contra Costa County. The projects expand Highway 4 from four to eight lanes between Loveridge Road and SR-160, and add a BART extension from Pittsburg to Antioch (eBART). The projects will also expand the highway from two to four lanes from Lone Tree Way to Balfour Road.

This will greatly improve transit accessibility for the region and help reduce traffic congestion and enhance the quality of life for the more than 250,000 residents of eastern Contra Costa County. The projects have been carefully staged to keep 130,000 vehicles per day moving as major construction and demolition work continue, and include over $1.3 billion in State, Federal, Regional Bridge Toll, and Contra Costa Measures C & J sales tax funds.

Caltrans and CCTA appreciate your patience as we work to improve the highways. For the most current information on all SR-4 corridor closures please visit our website at: http://4eastcounty.org.

Reggie Moore

By Allen Payton

Former Antioch City Councilman Reggie Moore, died on Monday morning, February 10, 2014, after battling lung cancer for many years.

Moore was the first African American council member, following his election in 2006. He served one term until 2010, when he lost his reelection bid. He had previously served on the Antioch Planning Commission from 1999 to 2003.

His best-known legacy is the annual Martin Luther King Day celebration in Antioch, which Moore helped start.

Reggie Moore is presented with his official council photograph by then-Mayor Jim Davis the last night of his term.

Moore worked as a meter reader for the East Bay Municipal Utility District, and according to his biography from his 2006 campaign, he was “the elected President of AFSCME (American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) Local 444,” before being elected to the council.

Moore is survived by his wife Dishon and their children Rachel, Brandon, Quentin and Pierce.

Steve Duran

To read the latest weekly report from Antioch’s new City Manager, Steve Duran, click here: City Mgr Weekly Report 020714

For past weekly reports, visit http://www.ci.antioch.ca.us/CityGov/reports/.

Albert Seeno, Jr. makes rare appeal

By John Crowder

At the Tuesday, January 28 meeting of the Antioch City Council a proposal by Discovery Builders, owned by Alberto Seeno, III, to build 60 homes in the city was rejected on a 3-to-2 vote. The Pointe project, planned for an approximately 22-acre site near the corner of Somersville Road and James Donlon Boulevard, would have generated more than $2.55 million in city and regional road fees if approved according to a Seeno spokesman.

The fees assessed to the project included $27,500 per home Residential Development Allocation fee for a total of $1.65 million to the city, and $15,000 per home for a total of $900,000 for regional road improvements, specifically Highway 4, including the Bypass, as well as the Buchanan Bypass road, which will be an extension to James Donlon Blvd., connecting to Kirker Pass Road in Pittsburg.

The proposal to build the homes had generated controversy at the December 10^th meeting of the Council, with residents of the Black Diamond Area and a representative of Save Mount Diablo speaking out against it, because it meant grading 125 feet of a hill and violating the city’s hillside ordinance. At that meeting, at which the council had put off a vote on the matter, then city manager Jim Jakel had urged the council to make a decision, even though it might be hard.

Discovery Builders was requested by Councilman Gary Agopian to bring back an alternative plan showing how many homes they could build while following the city’s hillside ordinance. In response, during his presentation to the council, the developer’s spokesman showed the design of how one home would look on the hillside and a plot map showing a few areas on the hill, for a total of about four acres that could be built on.

Following the presentation, about a dozen citizens, including neighbors of the project, and a representative of Save Mount Diablo again spoke out against the project during the public comments portion of the hearing. Only one speaker, former councilman Allen Payton, spoke in favor, reminding the council that the builder had moved forward based on direction given by the council six years ago, when they had allocated the 60 units, under the city’s Residential Development Allocation program. Payton also noted that to reverse course would send a negative message to businesses willing to invest in Antioch.

In the project proponent’s three-minute rebuttal, at the end of the public hearing, a rare and emotional appeal was made by Albert Seeno, Jr., the first time he had spoken on an issue at an Antioch City Council meeting, since 1979.

“I’ve been building homes in Antioch for 52 years, more than any other developer,” Seeno said. “I never had a project that didn’t have opposition. Not in my back yard. I’ve heard it for 52 years. It doesn’t work.”

“How much open space do we need?” he asked. “People have to live somewhere. There’s limited land in Antioch inside the Urban Limit Line that can be built on. This should be approved.”

Seeno later shared that the company had spent $100,000 on fees to pay for city staff time, after receiving the allocation of the 60 housing units, much more than the $30,000 spent to develop the plan.

Following the public hearing the council debated the proposal extensively, with all but Councilwoman Monica Wilson stating why they were voting for or against it.

Agopian said he hadn’t made up his mind until that moment. He had considered voting in favor even though he had driven by and seen the hill the development would have taken down.

“I saw the hill and said ‘That hill? Tear it down to build houses?,’” he stated. “This hill needs to not be built on.”

At one point the public hearing was reopened in order for Councilman Tiscareno to question Albert Seeno III about two meetings his company had held with neighbors, in an effort to address some of their concerns. He pointed out that he also met individually with neighbors living in the adjacent subdivision, also built by Seeno, and reminded them they had signed documents acknowledging the 60-lot project could be built.

Following Seeno’s comments, and further deliberation by the council, Mayor Pro Tem Mary Rocha made a motion to deny approval of the development, and was joined by council members Gary Agopian and Wilson in voting to do so. Mayor Wade Harper and council member Tony Tiscareno cast the two votes in favor of the project.

On a related note, during the discussion, city staff mentioned that the developer would complete the widening of Somersville Road, between James Donlon and the canal, and install a signal light at that intersection, by December.

By John Crowder

At the January 14, 2014 meeting of the Antioch City Council, City Clerk Arne Simonsen, got his hand slapped by the council for being absent from his duties since October 28th. The council adopted a resolution stating that if an elected official were absent for more than one month unrelated to his or her own medical condition, then the official would be encouraged to return salary, car allowance, and communication allowance (if any) to the City for the period of absence.

It was approved by Mayor Wade Harper, Mayor Pro Tem Mary Rocha and Council Members Monica Wilson and Tony Tiscareno. Councilman Gary Agopian left the meeting before the item was discussed.

One Antioch resident Karl Dietzel addressed the council about the matter, speaking out against what he called “your inflated salaries and benefits packages.” He suggested that each elected official be required to submit a monthly itemized expense report as a consent calendar item. He then stated that he would like to see the City Clerk resign.

Following public comments, Rocha spoke about the proposed resolution.

“I pulled this item out,” she said, “but it wasn’t directly to the City Clerk itself, it was in place of ourselves.”

She then went on to mention times when she had missed Council meetings in order to attend to personal matters. She also stated, “It has to be related to a health issue, and personal issue, as well.”

After further discussion and advice from Lynn Tracy Nerland, the City Attorney, the Council, passed the resolution and directed her to draft a proposed ordinance with respect to the issue of absences.

Simonsen, who was at the meeting and fulfilling his duties, did not speak at the meeting about the item or his absence from town over the holiday season, which appeared to trigger the resolution.

A former Antioch City Council Member from 2000 to 2008, Simonsen was elected City Clerk in November, 2012. The position was made part-time in 2008.

As City Clerk, he currently receives a monthly stipend of $941.20 and a transportation allowance of $350 which is the same amount provided to each member of the Council and City Treasurer Donna Conley, the only other elected positions in the city government. Much discretion is given to each of the elected officials, with respect to how his or her duties should be fulfilled and there is no time requirements for any of the positions.

However, Simonsen has been notable for two reasons. First, upon election he immediately took steps to increase public access to the City Clerk’s office by moving his office back to the first floor in City Hall where the public can more readily meet with him. Second, he has kept office hours almost daily, and has filled in during times when his deputy has been absent.

When asked about his absence, Simonsen stated that he had been out of the country since the end of October due to a family issue, but noted that he stayed abreast of city business over the Internet during that time. He missed three council meetings during that time, but the Deputy City Clerk was at the meetings to handle the duties. Simonsen and his wife, who is from Scotland and has family there, own property in and have traveled to that country, many times in the past.

When asked why he spends so much time at City Hall even though it is not required of him, he said, “I believe in open government, and that means that the public must have access to government offices and officials in order to make good decisions.”

Prior to the council meeting, he had offered to reimburse Antioch the stipend he had received during his absence. With respect to the time he was away he said, “Family comes first, no matter what.”

In addition to the time he spends at City Hall, Simonsen is an appointee to several League of California Cities committees relating to city governance, including the Administrative Services Policy Committee and the Employee Relations Committee. As a member of these committees, he is frequently required to travel to sometimes days-long meetings. He also travels to other meetings related to development of the skills necessary for fulfilling the duties of City Clerk.

Simonsen said he uses the transportation allowance to attend the committee meetings to which he has been appointed and that he has never asked for reimbursement for costs above his monthly stipend.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

By Allen Payton

Following Congressman George Miller’s retirement announcement last week, two candidates who have been suggested as potential candidates for California’s 11^th District, which Miller represents and includes part of Antioch, have said they won’t be running.

Contra Costa District Attorney Mark Peterson said last Friday, that he’s focused on his reelection, which is on the ballot in June, and won’t be running for Congress.

Another high-profile individual, who is known nationally, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberg, who lives in the district issued the following statement, on January 14.

“I believe I can best use my skills, experience, and the public platform I have been given as an advocate for the traveling public and for promoting safety in general and I am not considering a run for public office,” Sullenberg said.

He’s known as the Hero of the Hudson for the emergency landing in the Hudson River, of the U.S. Airways plane he was piloting, five years ago, last week.

The 62-year-old native of Danville is a best-selling author and has received honors from both Presidents Obama and George W. Bush. He is now an airline safety advocate.

So far, only State Senator Mark DeSaulnier on the Democrat side and on the Republican side, retired federal immigration Judge Tue Phan-Quang, who lives in Danville, have announced they will seek the open congressional seat, for which filing opens February 10^th. More information about the judge can be learned from a Youtube video, by clicking here.

The voter registration figures for the district are 49.5% Democrat, 25% Republican and 21% independent.

By Allen Payton

J.C. Penney announced, today, it will be closing 33 of its stores across the country, as part of a turnaround effort. Fortunately, for our community, the Antioch store, one of the newer locations in the chain, is not on the list.

Only one of the stores on the list is located in California, the Rancho Cucamonga store. For the complete list of the stores J.C. Penney will be closing, click here.