Martinez, CA – The Contra Costa County Fish and Wildlife Committee is now accepting applications from individuals and groups interested in enhancing the fish and wildlife resources of the County.

Grant applications must be received by January 4, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Application materials may be obtained on the Fish and Wildlife Committee website or by contacting Maureen Parkes of the Contra Costa County Conservation and Development Department by phone: 925-674-7831, fax: 925-674-7250 or e-mail: maureen.parkes@dcd.cccounty.us.

The Fish and Wildlife Committee strongly encourages applications related to improving habitat, public education, scientific research, and in addition, as a new additional focus for 2013, the Fish and Wildlife Committee wishes to fund high value, low-cost public education projects related to the scientific principles of fish and wildlife conservation in the County.

The Fish and Wildlife Committee generally does not recommend funding for operating costs and overhead, such as benefits or utilities, or on-going staff support for an organization. Further, projects awarded monies from the Fish and Wildlife Propagation Fund must meet the requirements of Section 13103 of the Fish and Game Code. Funding for the grant program is generated from fines for violations of the Fish and Game Code and Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations. The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors receives the committee’s recommendations and holds final decision-making authority over the awarding of grants.

During the 2012/2013 grant cycle a total of $50,645 was awarded to 10 projects. The awards ranged from $1,060 to $10,000. A copy of the 2013/2014 grant application packet is available by clicking here.

BART’s all-time ridership record was broken Wednesday with 568,061 exits reported, among them fans attending the San Francisco Giants World Series victory parade, Halloween revelers, and people relying on BART for their everyday trips to work, school and other activities.

It was the highest ridership in BART’s 40 years of service, easily passing the old record of 522,198 exits, which was set on Nov. 3, 2010, the day of the Giants victory parade after they won the World Series that year. (This year’s parade day had 45,863 more exits in all.)

Compared to a typical October Wednesday, the Oct. 31, 2012, ridership represents a whopping 40% increase.”This was a tremendous and exciting day for BART and the Bay Area,” Board President John McPartland said. “We can’t thank our passengers enough for being patient and helping make the day a success.”

BART beefed up staffing and deployed every train available to accommodate crowds. Rush hour service was used the entire day with extra event trains travelling the entire system to help carry passengers into the city and then home.

Ticket sale tables were set up at high volume stations to help speed up ticket purchasing. About 100 extra BART employees in yellow vests were stationed throughout the system to help with crowd control and to assist passengers. BART Police had extra patrol and extra train technicians were also on hand just in case.

“Safety and crowd control was our top priority,” McPartland said. “BART staff diligently managed passenger flow especially at our downtown San Francisco stations to avoid overcrowded platforms. So far, today was a great example of the power and efficiency of public transportation. That is something worth celebrating,” McPartland said.

For more on how and why the Bay Area relied on BART, watch BARTtv coverage of the parade at www.bart.gov/barttv.

By James Ott

It’s election season – and as such, two high-profile ballot measures were on the agenda at the Antioch City Council meeting on Tuesday, October 23, 2012.

Measure B is a ballot measure that seeks a $56.5 million in school bonds to provide modern renovations for 58-year-old Antioch High School. The bonds would be paid over 30 years by new property taxes within the Antioch Unified School Facilities Improvement District #1 (SFID #1).

The district estimates that the highest tax rate required from property owners within SFID #1 would be $49.80 per $100,000 of assessed valuation per year beginning next year. Currently that works out to roughly $6 per month per homeowner.

Measure B will require a 55 percent majority vote to pass.

Money generated by Measure B will be used for improvements to the Antioch High School campus such as classroom renovations, a larger cafeteria, a new library with a college and career center, new computers and technology supplies for students, and to update outdated athletic facilities.

The Measure requires all of the funds raised to be used to, “modernize, renovate, construct, acquire, equip, furnish, and otherwise improve school and related facilities at Antioch High School.” In addition it requires the school district to pursue matching funds from the State and other potential sources to finance those upgrades.

Measure B will require the district to perform independent financial and performance audits each year until all of the bond money is spent. And if it’s passed it will also require the district to elect local residents to a citizen’s oversight committee to monitor the bond moneys and make sure they are spent only on school improvements and not on things such as teacher or administrator salaries.

Antioch High School Principal Louie Rocha is a strong supporter of the ballot measure and he stressed during the council meeting how vital improvements are to the aging school. In particular he stated that the cafeteria is so small that the school is forced to have several lunch periods and even then he said that students are still forced to eat outside, regardless of the weather.

Also of note were the athletic facilities. Rocha said that the track cannot be used for any track and field events because it’s so old that its lengths are still measured in feet and yards instead of the standard meters. And the pool, he said, cannot be used for water polo because one side is only three feet deep because it was only designed years ago as a community pool.

Supporters of the bond measure such as Rocha say that the school is in sore need of repair and that there is no other money available to make such improvements. They say that up-to-date classrooms and facilities are necessary for students to meet state and federal standards and to graduate and be prepared for college.

Critics of Measure B say that school officials are ignoring what happened just this past June with Measure J – a similar $59.5 million school bond that was defeated by voters. Although Measure J failed to pass by a mere 31 votes, critics say that the school board is ignoring what voters want.

A resident at the council meeting spoke against the measure and said that although the yearly amount for Measure B was low, over the 30-year life of the bond he estimated he would have to pay an additional $115,000 in property taxes.

Like many in this deteriorating economy, a lot of Antioch residents are hesitant to vote yes when that vote means additional taxes.

Also at the Meeting:

The City of Antioch is seeking $114,723 owed to it by Contra Costa County as the successor agency to the city’s redevelopment agency.

When Antioch’s redevelopment agency was dissolved and its funds were spirited away by the state, the city had the option to become a successor agency to that redevelopment entity.

By becoming a successor agency, the city guaranteed itself about $250,000 a year as part of an administrative cost allowance.

Or so the city thought.

Back in January the city told the county that they needed $125,000, (the $250,000 is paid in two yearly installments), and the county forked it over.

But in June when Antioch asked for the rest of the money, Contra Costa County informed them that they did not have enough money to pay the city.

So they gave them about $10,526.

Now the city is attempting to retrieve the remaining $114,473.

Although the county now has the money to pay Antioch, they told the city that the regulations surrounding the city as successor agency program prevents them from making a back payment.

City of Antioch Finance Director Dawn Merchant held a meeting with the county recently and said that the county claims they have never run into this problem. Merchant called the meeting “positive” however, and said she came away with the impression that there is hope for the city to get they money it is owed.

Antioch City Attorney Lynn Nerland said that there are about 25 lawsuits pending in relation to the state-wide dissolution of redevelopment agencies and summed up the city’s most current debacle with the county.

“No one seems to dispute that we are owed money,” she said, “but it seems to be a bureaucratic issue of how to get it to us.”

By James Ott

United Professional Fire Fighters of Contra Costa County President Vince Wells came to the city council meeting on Tuesday, October 23, 2012 asking them to support Measure Q – a proposed parcel tax for residents within the Contra Costa Fire Protection District. The council voted unanimously to endorse the tax.

Measure Q seeks to help raise money for the firefighter’s district that has lost about $32 million since the 2008 housing market collapse, according to Wells.

If approved, Measure Q will levy a $75 parcel tax per year for owners of single-family homes. It would cost apartment owners $37.50 per unit and any commercial or industrial landowners would need to plunk down $300 per acre, or $75 per quarter-acre. And agricultural or vacant property owners would pay $37.50 per parcel.

The proposed tax would take effect from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2020 and is estimated to create $16.8 million a year for the county fire district.

Measure Q will need a two-thirds supermajority vote to pass.

There are 28 fire stations in the Contra Costa Fire Protection District and four of those are in Antioch. Wells said that the lack of money is forcing the fire district to close up to10 fire stations in the next two years, with the first closure coming as soon as January, 2013.

As for now, it isn’t known if any fire stations in Antioch are scheduled to be shuttered. Those that are scheduled to close will be notified in December.

Wells also said that lack of funding has cost the district 81 firefighters. Those that remain have taken a 10 percent pay cut and have also made concession to their benefits and pensions.

“I personally pay 26 percent of my paycheck toward my pension every month,” said Wells.

Like fireman Vince Wells, proponents of Measure Q say that the money is sorely needed, even in the rough economic times. Supporters point out that Contra Costa Fire Protection District is among the 14 largest metropolitan fire agencies in the state and they say that without additional money, response times to fires and other emergencies could be impacted.

Most people would only pay the $75-per-year parcel tax which adds up to only $1.44 a week.

Opponents of the measure such as “Halfway to Concord” Editor Bill Gram-Reefer accused Supervisors and union leaders of ignoring serious pension reform and restructuring that could have saved money without having to take from taxpayers.

Contra Costa Taxpayers Association President Kris Hunt said that the fire district has lived beyond its means for too long and thinks Measure Q is only a temporary fix.

And the Contra Costa Times editorial board went so far as to call the measure “political blackmail” for the district’s plan to close almost two-thirds of it’s fire stations if the voters don’t pass it.

It is worth noting that on the June 5, 2012 ballot, the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District proposed a similar parcel tax called Measure S. The $197-a-year tax proposal was soundly defeated when 56.2% of voters rejected it.

By James Ott

A local church made an unsuccessful, last minute attempt to overturn the city’s initial decision to deny them the ability to close off a street for their annual community carnival this Halloween.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, Grace Bible Fellowship of Antioch asked the council members to overturn the city engineer’s decision to deny the church a permit to close a section of Sunset Drive for their “Holy Eve Community Carnival.”

In the end, the city decided that there were too many issues with staging the large event at the suggested location and not enough time to resolve them so the street closure was denied.

The vote was split down the middle with council members Wade Harper and Mary Rocha for and Gary Agopian and Mayor Jim Davis against while Councilman Brian Kalinowski was absent.

Council said that the sheer size of the event and the late pursuit of permission to close the street brought on issues of public safety and potential backlash from neighboring businesses.

Last year the church said they had about 20,000 people when it was staged at the Antioch mall. In previous years people have apparently come from as far as Fairfield, Fremont, Vacaville and Pinole to attend the carnival.

The event was so big last year that the local Starbucks allegedly took in “10’s of thousands of dollars” in sales, something a church representative at the meeting was told was a better sales day than Black Friday.

According to the church’s website, the fair has been held since 2003 and it is such a success because it provides a safe, fun atmosphere for families “on a night that is typically synonymous with heinous pranks and random acts of violence particularly against those who are socially vulnerable.”

The church said they are holding the event at their own church and not a larger venue such as the mall or the Antioch Fairgrounds as in previous years because they have received far less funding from local businesses than they have in years past. As a result they had to scale back this year’s carnival by advertising less and so are expecting less people to attend.

The church said they have written permission from each business within the street closure area. Those businesses apparently gave permission to use their parking spaces for any overflow parking the event might generate.

One of the many issues that surfaced during the council meeting however, was that even businesses outside the planned closure section would likely still be affected by the large amount of vehicles and pedestrians that would potentially block customers.

That’s a problem, Councilman Agopian said, because the issues was an emergency agenda item and so those potentially affected businesses have not had time to come to a city council meeting and give their opinion to city council.

“The reason we have items agendized is so that the other interested parties can come and speak. We have a duty and an obligation to everybody in this city and everybody on this street to do the right thing, otherwise it’s just not good process.” said Councilmember Gary Agopian.

Public safety was also a big concern, especially from the Antioch police who said they did not support the closure of the street.

“The closure of that area is not conducive to public safety,” said Antioch Police Captain McConnell. The captain said that because of Highway 4 construction there is increased traffic on Sunset including heavy trucks. And although the church said they have about 30 people for security and traffic re-direction – some of whom are off duty police officers from neighboring cities – McConnell said that having untrained civilians working traffic would expose the city to “a tremendous amount of liability.”

“We really want to support this because it’s a great event,” said Mayor Jim Davis. But in the end the council just barely missed approving the street closure permit. The vote was split 2 to 2 and so no action could be taken to approve it.

The council however, voted unanimously to allow the event to take place at the new boat launch in downtown pending approval of an administrative use permit. They also agreed to waive any fees for that facility’s use up to $500.

According to the event announcement on the church’s website, the Holy Eve Community Carnival will be held in the church’s parking lot on Sunset Drive.

The Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) is constructing Highway 4 (SR-4) Sand Creek Rd. Interchange and 4-Lane Widening through Antioch and Brentwood. As part of the SR4 Widening, the contractor will be performing work on Lone Tree Way in preparation for construction of a new SR4 bridge over Lone Tree Way. The work will consist of erecting temporary bridge falsework over Lone Tree Way. In order to ensure crew and public safety during this work, and to minimize the impacts to public traffic, the contractor will be performing traffic control and flagging operations during late evening/early morning hours.

Traffic control will take place on Lone Tree Way between Jeffery Way and Canada Valley Road between 9:00 PM and 5:00 AM starting on Monday, October 29th and ending on Thursday, November 1st.

Traffic control will consist of lane closures/flagging in both the eastbound and westbound directions on Lone Tree Way. One lane will be open for the travelling public in both the eastbound and westbound directions at all times.

Motorists are advised to expect some delays and allow extra time for their commute.

Please drive with caution through the work area and leave a safe traveling distance between your vehicle and the vehicle ahead of you. CCTA appreciates your patience as we work to improve mobility in East Contra Costa County. For the most current information please contact the project hotline number at 925-206-3002 or go to www.ccta.net.

Publisher’s Note: We apologize for the delay in posting this article. We thought it had been posted last month. But, due to our main computer’s hard drive going down, it wasn’t. However it was published in the October print edition of the Herald.

By James Ott

The City of Antioch has updated its budget projections through 2014-15 and has included six new hires in the police services division among its estimates.

At their meeting on Tuesday, September 25, the City Council approved hiring five new Community Service Officers, (CSO’s), as a result of the federal COPS grant, and a Human Resources Director for the police department.

The CSO’s – which the council eliminated all of the positions two years ago – do administrative tasks in the department, freeing up sworn officers who can spend more time on the street.

The Antioch Police Department is also in the process of filling the 13 other vacant officer positions that were approved and funded by the city. According to Police Chief Allan Cantando they are currently in the process of background checking 13 potential candidates.

“This is the direction we need to be heading to improve safety in Antioch, “ said Councilman Gary Agopian.

The impact of the five new positions to the budget estimates by city Finance Director Dawn Merchant is expected to be roughly $405,955 by the 2014-15 fiscal year. Police services as a whole though shows projected increases of $2,611,840 from fiscal year 2012-13 to fiscal year 2013-14 and $1,482,233 between 2013-14 and 2014-15 for a total three year increase of $4,094,073.

This is the only projected major increase in the budget according to a city staff report. That’s because the Council has made hiring police its major focus. The estimates, particularly from fiscal year 2014-15 are listed as early preliminary estimates.

Despite those estimates coming somewhat early the city is expecting to be operating in a deficit of over $2 million in 2012-13, $5.4 million in 2013-14 and $6.3 million. The projections for fiscal year 2014-15 however, assume little to no revenue increases.

Publisher’s Note: We apologize for the delay in posting this article. We thought it had been posted last month. But, due to our main computer’s hard drive going down, it wasn’t. However it was published in the October print edition of the Herald.

By James Ott

The City of Antioch currently has 13 vacant police officer positions that they hope to fill in the next three to six months. That will leave 22 positions.

According to Finance Director Dawn Merchant, in a report at the September 11, 2012 meeting, there are currently eight vacancies that the city has funded and with the five COPS grant positions that are open that’s a total of 13 vacancies the city needs to fill.

The COPS grant awarded the city $1.5 million in moneys to hire five new officers.

It requires a $750,000 match by the Antioch over the life of the grant.

The grant will only fund 67.7 percent of an officer’s cost because it only covers the officer’s base salary, PERS retirement cost, workers compensation, Medicare and a cafeteria plan. The city will have to fund the remaining 32.3 percent of the officers cost.

An entry level officer costs about $126,529 a year by the city’s estimate. So Antioch will have to pay roughly $40,869 per hire. That amount though, does not include other likely expenses such as any overtime pay or things like educational incentives or senior officer pay.

According to a staff report the price tag of those entry level officers could be a little higher. When some of those likely additional costs are included those same hires are more likely to run $130,945 to $138,814 per year.

So the city’s estimated one-year cost for the five COPS funded officers would be $654,770 to $694,070 of which $428,300 will be covered by the grant money. The city will then have to pay $226,470 to $265,770 per year to cover the five new hires.

Those estimates however, do not include any overtime pay and it assumes the new hires will be entry level, or “Step A,” officers with a base salary of $76,778 a year. An officer hired at “Step C” for example, would have a base salary of $87,000 per year and the city would have to fund the difference.

Also, “Step A” base salaries are set to increase by 3 percent in March of next year to about $78,968.

Antioch Police Chief Allan Cantando said that he was looking to potentially hire former U.S. service men and woman to fill the remaining vacant positions.

Cantando said that about 95 people applied for the beginning of the hiring process. Of those, 45 passed the oral boards and 28 are on the eligibility list and several of those are former military.

The Police Chief said that his hiring “wish list” would have Community Service Officers, (CSO’s), at the top but that he also needs help with clerical, dispatch and evidence positions.

As a result of those needs, Chief Cantando said he is looking to hire six CSO’s and potentially put two in evidence, three or four in the jail and perhaps one to provide for code enforcement if needed.

Despite the upcoming new hires, Antioch may be back to square one next year if Cantando’s attrition forecast is accurate.

During questioning by the city council, Cantando said that he expects to lose two managers and 7 officers this upcoming year not counting any losses from job hazards or officers moving on to a different city.Councilman Brian Kalinowski said that hiring more officers is the best way to fight crime, referencing the July police report that showed arrest rates were down some 20 percent.

“At the end of the day it’s about taking those that break the law off to jail,” he said.

Also at the Meeting:

At the beginning of the meeting and on the eleven-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Father Robert of Saint Ignatius Parish blessed the city and remembered those that were lost in the 9/11 attacks and in the war on terror. 2,976 people from 93 nations lost their lives on that day in 2001.

While Father Robert paused to remember those lost and the horror that accompanied that day eleven years ago, his prayer was a prayer for peace, forgiveness and healing.

“Today we pause once again to remember that moment of horror and to remember those that were left scarred by those terrible events… Our prayer today is that we will have the ability to forgive those who caused so much trauma and that we find release in that forgiveness… May we move from suffering to hope, from brokenness to wholeness, from anxiety to courage.”

The Council voted in three applicants to fill the remaining vacant terms on the Board of Administrative Appeals. Those residents are Deborah Simpson, Andrew Schleder and Mike Schneider. The Board hears appeals from residents on matters such as code enforcement.