By Dave Roberts

The good news is that the Antioch City Council, which not long ago feared the city may be headed for bankruptcy, approved a $34.4 million operating budget Tuesday night that provides a healthy 15 percent reserve fund for the fiscal year starting July 1. The bad news is that the year after that, the budget is facing a $1.8 million deficit as employee pay and benefit concessions expire.

“With minimal revenue increases projected and many of the agreements with our bargaining groups triggering pay increases as well as expiring, we find ourselves with the potential of outpacing our revenues once again,” warned Finance Director Dawn Merchant in her budget report. “The City must begin to face the challenges in 2013 immediately.”

Council members are cautiously optimistic as they prepare for a budget study session on July 19 to begin facing those challenges.

“I feel really good about where we are today,” said Councilman Gary Agopian. ‘We have stability, but it’s momentary stability. What I’m very concerned about is projections for the future. We don’t want to lose the progress we have made on this budget.

“This success did not happen in a bubble. It’s taken hard working, intelligent, creative individuals in the city and every level of the organization from the bottom to the top for being successful in a very, very difficult time.

“If we can navigate through some shoals in the river and get through the next few years with stability we will be able to leverage much better in the future. Revenues are flat. I don’t see how sales or property tax will increase significantly. We are looking at a reserve number that is healthy. It’s not hefty but it’s healthy. We need to stay healthy going forward.”

The budget assumes that there will be a 5.5 percent increase in the sales tax in the coming year but that property tax revenue will not increase. The exact property tax figure will be released by the county assessor next week. The budget also assumes that the employee union wage and benefit concessions will remain in effect for the next year. That includes $501,456 in savings from employees paying a portion of their retirement costs.

One of the unknowns is how the elimination of the city’s redevelopment agency by the state government will affect the city’s finances. It could result in a $600,000 hit to the operating budget for services that have been picked up by the redevelopment agency. That would still leave the budget with a relatively healthy 13 percent reserve for the coming fiscal year. But it would decrease the following year’s already unhealthy reserve of 9 percent down to about 7.5 percent.

Despite Merchant’s warnings and a fiscal situation that has left the city operating with a barebones staff with 145 vacant positions remaining unfilled, reduced services and City Hall closed on Fridays, Councilwoman Mary Rocha was concerned about increasing spending for arts and cultural activities.

The city’s Arts & Cultural Foundation budget has been reduced to $18,000 in the coming year. It traditionally receives 30 percent of the revenue from the hotel occupancy tax, which has been decimated in recent years with the demolition of the Best Western hotel and drop-off in tourism and travel to the city. At one time that tax was bringing in more than $300,000 annually.

The reduced budget has resulted in fewer art shows at the Lynn House Gallery but the city’s summer concert series, which is sponsored by the Lesher Foundation, will go on as scheduled, with the first concert headlined by Vocal-Ease this Saturday at 6 p.m. in Waldie Plaza in downtown Antioch.

‘We are losing who we are,” said Rocha about the reduced arts and cultural activities in the city. “Little by little we are cutting away what Antioch is. If we can keep it going. I know music might not be a lot for people. To have a free concert and enjoy ourselves is an important thing. I’m asking for support on increasing that.”

The other council members were noncommittal but agreed to discuss it at the July 19th study session. Councilman Wade Harper acknowledged the value of the arts, saying, “How important is civic pride and establishing our brand and attracting other people to our city.”

But Councilman Brian Kalinowski, the budget hawk on the council, argued that sacrifices need to be made in tight budgetary times.

“180 days ago we were looking bankruptcy right in the face,” he said. “Although the pressure valve has been released some, it’s no joke. (It) doesn’t seem like a lot of money. But it’s these kinds of exceptions that get made and occur in Sacramento on a grander scale is why the wheels have fallen off.

“How do you take away from the General Fund when we have already done all of the cuts that we have done? How do we fund that group when we have not historically done that for other groups? This is not the place and time to be taking from the General Fund for nonprofit organizations that are not the responsibility for the city proper.”

City Manager Jim Jakel, earlier in the budget discussion, reminded the council of the city’s skeletal staffing situation while acknowledging that things appear to have bottomed out. “I have been able to breathe again for the first time in 18 months,” he said. “We have work to do. I’m unhappy to be where we are right now. We are so far from where we would need to be and the community would like us to be.”

In other business, the council:
• Applauded Jakel’s announcement that he has hired interim Police Chief Allan Cantando to be the city’s new police chief, replacing Jim Hyde, who retired earlier in the year.
• Was informed by Walter Ruehlig, who is leading the planning for the 4th of July celebration, that so far there are about 40 entries in the parade, which will start at 10 a.m. at Second and E streets.
• Watched a demonstration of the police department’s new online crime reporting system that is expected to recoup its $12,000 cost in three to four months and provide timelier and more accurate data.
• Approved the annual landscape and lighting assessments. It includes $713,000 from the city’s operating budget, which has been decreased from the $1.3 million the city was contributing several years ago due to lower maintenance landscaping.
• Approved a request by Meritage Homes to reduce the size of some of the homes that will be built at Hillcrest Avenue and Hidden Glen Drive.

As part of the Highway 4 construction work, the contractor for the Somersville Road project will be closing the existing eastbound off-ramp to southbound Somersville Road.

Motorists will be directed to the existing eastbound off-ramp for northbound Somersville Road/Auto Center Drive. The ramp has been modified to accommodate both the northbound and southbound Somersville traffic. At the end of the ramp, motorists will turn left to go south on Somersville Road or right to go north on Somersville Road and Auto Center Drive.

This temporary configuration will be in place for several months while crews construct the new permanent eastbound off ramp. The switch will take place on Thursday, July 7 sometime after 10 p.m.

The potential restoration of the Roswell Butler Hard House, a federal and state historical site, may be determined at the Antioch City Council meeting on July 12. “Friends of the Hard House,” a nonprofit group, has requested ownership of the property for restoration to the house’s original beauty.

This summer on the weekend there will be minor delays on the Pittsburg/Bay Point line due to track maintenance.

BART’s best estimate is that passengers traveling northbound on the Pittsburg/Bay Point line will experience a 15-to-20-minute delay during the hours work is being performed. Passengers traveling southbound may experience a 5-minute delay due to single-tracking.

Please see the schedule below for work hours. BART recommend sthat you adjust your travel plans accordingly to take into account these delays.
June 25-27
Start: 7:30 am Saturday
End: 4:00 am Monday

July 01-04, 10-13, 22-25
Start: 9:00 pm Friday
End: 4:00 am Monday

July 29-August 1, August 05-08, 12-15, 19-22, 26-29
Start: 9:00 pm Friday
End: 4:00 am Monday

BART thanks you for your patience during this important maintenance work and apologizes for the inconvenience.

The Antioch Police Department is proud to announce it will be providing a new online police reporting option for the public. This web-based reporting system will allow the public to file certain incident types (thefts, vehicle burglary, lost property, hit & run, graffiti, vandalisms, identity theft etc.) over the internet at their convenience.

The Antioch Police Department expects this internet-based reporting service to be very popular among citizens who have come to expect police services to be provided immediately and conveniently online.

The service will allow the public to file a report at a time that is best for them without having to wait for an officer to respond or call them back. The public will be able to print a temporary copy of the report upon submitting the report. The report will be reviewed by police personnel and once approved the filing person will receive an email with a copy of the report attached without cost.

The report will transfer into the Antioch Police Departments Records Management System and receive the same investigation and statistical analysis ability as if the report had been filed by a police officer.

This web-based reporting option will allow officers more time to address community needs while keeping pace with the public expectancy to complete services via the internet.

The Antioch Police Department will be using the Desk Officer Online Reporting System from San Ramon-based software company Coplogic, Inc. (www.Coplogic.com).

The web based crime reporting service is available at the City of Antioch Police Department Web Site at http://www.ci.antioch.ca.us/CityGov/Police/

Today the Assembly Labor and Employment Committee passed SB 575, which is sponsored by Sen. Mark DeSaulnier, who represents the Seventh Senate District, which includes Antioch and most of Contra Costa County. The bill is designed to eliminate loopholes in the state’s smokefree workplace law.

While once the leader in protecting workers from the toxic effects of secondhand smoke, California has fallen far behind, according to DeSaulnier. Because of loopholes, thousands of California workers and patrons of certain businesses continue to be exposed to secondhand smoke.

“It is time to bring California’s once ground-breaking smokefree workplace law into the 21st Century,” said DeSaulnier. “Twenty-five states have surpassed California’s law and we should be ashamed. This bill will bring us up to par with other states”

SB 575 would remove the current exemptions in the smokefree workplace law that allow smoking in certain areas of a hotel/motel lobby and meeting and banquet rooms, warehouses, break rooms, businesses with five or fewer employees, owner-operated businesses and other specified locations.

“Secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death in United States,” said Senator Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord). “Californians go to work to earn an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work, not to breathe in toxic air. Yet, one in seven members of the workforce continues to be exposed to secondhand smoke at work. This bill helps assure a healthy workplace for all Californians.”

This bill is co-sponsored by the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association, and the Health Officers Association of California. It will next be sent to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for consideration.

The condition of Antioch’s 616 miles of roadway was dropped to “fair” this year in a Bay Area annual pothole survey. The latest rating of 69 (out of a possible 100) places Antioch pretty much in the middle of the pack in the Bay Area. But it dropped the city out of a “good” rating of 70, which Antioch had for the previous three years.

The Bay Area jurisdiction with the highest-ranked pavement in 2010 is Brentwood, with a score of 86. This is the third straight year that this city in eastern Contra Costa County has finished at the top of the regional list. Brentwood’s 2010 score was a one-point improvement over its 2009 score of 85.

PCI scores of 90 or higher are considered “excellent.” These are newly built or resurfaced streets that show little or no distress. Pavement with a PCI score in the 80 to 89 range is characterized as “very good,” and shows only slight or moderate distress, requiring mostly preventive maintenance. The “good” category ranges from 70 to 79, while streets with PCI scores in the “fair” (60-69) range are becoming worn to the point where rehabilitation may be needed
to prevent rapid deterioration. Because major repairs cost five to 10 times more than routine maintenance, these streets are at an especially critical stage.

The condition of pavement on the Bay Area’s 42,500 lane-miles of local streets and roads is only fair at best, with the typical stretch of asphalt showing serious wear and likely to require rehabilitation soon. Data released today by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) puts the region’s 2010
pavement condition index (PCI) score at 66 out of a maximum possible 100 points, as computed on a three-year moving average basis. This is unchanged from the 2009 reading, and is within two points of readings going back to 2006, leaving the region mired in a mediocre-quality range.

The 2010 pavement assessment is contained in a new MTC report on the region’s streets and roads. Titled “The Pothole Report: Can the Bay Area Have Better Roads?”, the report supplements the agency’s annual jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction ranking of the PCI scores of the Bay Area’s nine counties and 101 cities with a handy primer on the cost and life-cycle of pavement.

The report looks at some of the key factors that affect the condition of our roads, and catalogs the persistent and daunting challenges that confront public works departments in the region, including a serious need for greater funding. On a somewhat brighter note, The Pothole Report spotlights trends and technologies that make it possible to imagine a future where roads are not only smoother, but also safer and greener.

“The report documents the difficulties we face in maintaining our pavement, and identifies some promising new approaches,” said MTC Chair and San Mateo County Supervisor Adrienne Tissier. “That’s why we subtitled the report with a question. For a while now, the Bay Area has barely been holding its ground in terms of pavement quality. Clearly, we could do a better job. Whether we take the necessary steps is up to us as a region.”

The Bay Area locality with the lowest-ranked pavement in 2010 was the Solano County city of Rio Vista, which had a PCI score of 42, down three points from its ranking in 2009. Near the bottom is Orinda with a rating of 49.

MTC’s new Pothole Report is available online at www.mtc.ca.gov/library/pothole_report/. The report contains 2010 pavement conditions (based on the latest three-year moving averages) for all Bay Area counties and cities, as well as conditions for prior years.

On June 20 at 2:23 p.m. police responded to an accident in the 3700 block of Gentrytown Drive involving a vehicle that had been parked on an incline and in neutral.

A 68-year-old Antioch man had pulled the emergency brake release thinking it was the hood release, and the vehicle began rolling backwards. While trying to stop the vehicle’s movement the victim fell and was run over by the front tire of the vehicle. He sustained life-threatening injuries and was airlifted to a local hospital where he was later pronounced deceased.

Police are withholding his name at this time.