Proposed new congressional district map for Antioch and far East County

By Allen Payton, Publisher

The California Citizens Redistricting Commission released their first draft maps of state legislative, congressional and Board of Equalization district maps during a press conference on Friday, June 10 and no one was completely pleased. That could mean they probably did something right.

It could mean most of Antioch and far East County will get new representation in Washington, D.C., because the proposed maps include Antioch in a northern San Joaquin County congressional district where no member of Congress currently lives.

While leaving most of the cities and communities in Contra Costa County whole, they split the county into four congressional districts, four Assembly districts and three State Senate Districts. The congressional districts must be equal in population of either 702,904 or 702,905 (since the state’s total population of 37,253,956 isn’t evenly divisable by 53). But a one percent (1%) deviation has been allowed by the Commission for the Assembly districts (which have an equal population of 465,675) and State Senate districts (which have an equal population of 931,349).

The proposed congressional district map combines Antioch, Oakley, Brentwood, Discovery Bay, Bethel Island, Knightsen and Byron in Contra Costa County, with Mountain House, Stockton, Lathrop, Lodi and most of the rest of the communities in San Joaquin County to the north, connecting the two areas by Highways 4 and 12. Just like the current congressional districts, the line is split at the Antioch-Pittsburg city limits, except for a small section of Antioch, in the southwest part of the city, with a population of about 4,800 residents, that was cut off from the rest of the city along Somersville Road.

In order to recombine that area with the rest of the city, other parts of the proposed district need to move into an adjacent district. If it’s not the same district from where the population was transferred, then a domino effect takes place and changes to multiple districts must be done by the mappers.

The good news is, following the press conference, a variety of the Commissioners stated that if the population shifts can be made and the districts remain balanced (that is equal in population), then they will consider alternative maps. So changes to the proposed maps are still possible, before the Commission must make its final decision by August 15.

The proposed State Assembly map for Antioch.

The proposed State Assembly district map keeps Antioch with Pittsburg and Bay Point, as well as combines it with Brentwood, Concord, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, Pacheco and Clayton. However it splits off Oakley, Discovery Bay and the other far East County communities and combines them in a district with Galt in Sacramento County, Lodi in San Joaquin County, most of Solano County, plus Woodland and Willows in Yolo County.

Nesting is the final criteria on the list in Proposition 11, which the voters passed in 2008 that created the commission and gave it the responsibility for redrawing the state legislative district lines (Proposition 20, which voters passed last November, added the congressional districts to the commission’s process). That places two Assembly districts inside a State Senate district, since there are 80 Assembly districts and 40 Senate districts.

The Commission’s proposed map takes the Assembly district in which Antioch was placed and combines it with the adjacent district which includes Lamorinda, Walnut Creek, the San Ramon Valley and the Tri Valley cities of Dublin, Pleasanton and Livermore in Eastern Alameda County.

The proposed State Senate district for Antioch and most of Contra Costa County.

The Commission will hold hearings in the Bay Area and Northern California over the next two weeks, in Stockton, San Jose, San Francisco and Sacramento to receive input on the draft maps. They will then direct their consultants to draw the 2nd draft maps for which they’ll receive written and emailed input before deciding on the final maps.  For more information visit the Commission’s website at www.wedrawthelines.com.

On June 15 at 1:40 p.m. a two-year-old boy was upstairs watching TV with two of his older siblings, one of whom is 18 years old, in a home in the 5600 block of Plumbridge Way.

At some point the toddler leaned against an open window/screen and fell to the driveway below. The child was flown to Children’s Hospital in Oakland and was in surgery at the time of this writing. His condition is very serious. This appears to be a tragic accident and is currently under investigation.

As of 8 a.m. on June 16 the child was in stable condition with a fractured skull. No foul play is suspected.

Station agent on duty and restrooms open only 4 hours/day, no escalators

By Dave Roberts

Smile – you’re on eBART camera. Antioch’s leaders did not get their wish to have escalators in the Hillcrest eBART Station when it opens in four years. But they will get no fewer than 38 cameras in and around the station to deter criminal activity.

Antioch’s City Council had threatened in December to oppose the station planned at Hillcrest Avenue and Highway 4 if it does not include station agents, restrooms and escalators. That threat was made by Councilman Brian Kalinowski, backed strongly by former Mayor Don Freitas and not questioned or contradicted by other council members.

But there was nary a discouraging word from city leaders at Tuesday night’s council meeting when eBART Project Manager Rick Rattay showed the council an updated station plan that provides space for future escalators but does not include the escalators themselves.

Whether escalators will later be provided will depend on whether there is adequate ridership to justify the expense, according to a staff report. However, the station and platform will each have an elevator for the disabled.

The end-of-the-line eBART terminal will include a station agent. But he will be on site for only four hours each day – two hours during the peak morning commute and two for the afternoon peak. The station will also include restrooms, but they will be open only for the four hours per day that the station agent is on the job to monitor and service them.

The council’s opposition in December to a scaled-down Hillcrest Station was led by Kalinowski, who said, “It has to be the full option, and we see what the bids reveal and move from there,” he said. “If it can’t be included in the bid document, I direct city staff to bring back to the City Council a resolution to request the BART Board to not approve the bid to go out. At the end of the day if the project and facility doesn’t meet the needs of the city of Antioch, then it’s the wrong project for Antioch and it should not be a project built in Antioch.”

Freitas also blasted the scaled-down Hillcrest plan at the December meeting: “I cannot believe at this stage we are talking about a station agent, an escalator and a bathroom. It just boggles my mind. The concept of eBART is that we would always, always, always build the extension to classic BART standards – and in the interim we would have the eBART standard. So to see a design that doesn’t have some of the basic components of a station is absolutely unbelievable and, frankly, unacceptable. This council should say ‘no.’

“I’m just appalled that this is the type of discussion that we are having. These elements are basic to a station. We’ve all been to a city park after an event when the bathrooms are closed and they smell like urine. This station should not smell like urine. And there is a safety issue. You want to see a station agent that you can run to if there is an emergency. Having something 10 miles away (at the Pittsburg/Bay Point BART Station) on congested Highway 4 is not going to make it. This council should say ‘hell no’ to this project unless these elements are in the overall bid.”

But neither Kalinowski nor Freitas were at Tuesday’s council meeting. The other council members did not voice opposition to the lack of escalators and restriction of station agents and restrooms to just four hours per day.

Mayor Jim Davis did ask several questions about security at the station, which will be on a BART police patrol beat that includes the Pittsburg/Bay Point Station and the North Concord Station. That means that the nearest BART officer could be 14 congested highway miles away when needed at Hillcrest. Davis was assured that Antioch police would be notified in case of an emergency.

Council members were also comfortable with the station’s security plan, which includes:

· Thirty-eight cameras that can be monitored at the BART Police Dispatch Center in Oakland, the Hillcrest Station Police Room and the eBART Central Control and Maintenance Facility, which is a half-mile from the station. Fifteen cameras will be in the station, 15 on the platform in the median of Highway 4, six in the parking lot and one in each elevator.

· Ten courtesy phones, including five in the station, three on the platform and one in each elevator.

· Five emergency call boxes in the parking lot (which provides 1,000 spaces).

· Additional BART police patrol in the evening.

· An unsworn community service officer patrolling during the day when the station agent is not on site.

· A public address system in the station and on the platform that can be used to warn criminals or would-be criminals that they are being monitored. Passengers will also see themselves on a large monitor as they enter the station.

“I was initially skeptical about some of the issues,” said Councilman Gary Agopian. “I’m very pleased we received a listening ear. The outgrowth is an improved plan. ‘Safe and clean’ is the mantra every day when the station is open. That will improve the possibility of the station being used. We will have a nice widened highway out there. It would be great to have less cars on it. That would be the goal.”

In other action at Tuesday’s meeting, the council:

· Recognized Dozier-Libbey Medical High School for receiving the California Distinguished School Award.

· Learned that there will be two free housing workshops on June 25 – from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. a loan modification clinic at Black Diamond Middle School, and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. a home buyer seminar in the City Council chambers. Call 779-6138 for more information.

· Learned that there will be a Fourth of July parade this year beginning at 10 a.m. at Second and E streets in downtown Antioch, but no fireworks. For more information call Walter Ruehlig at 756-7628 or e-mail walter.ruehlig@gmail.com or antiochjuly4th@yahoo.com. Applications to participate in the parade are at antiocherald.com and art4antioch.com.

· Approved an urban water plan that ensures an adequate water supply in the city for the next 20 years.

300 Poles Downed Since Beginning of the Year!

A report on the CBS Channel 5 news website, yesterday, stated that copper thieves have hit PG&E hard in Antioch this year.  For the story, click here.

The story even made Matt Drudge’s national news website, at www.drudgereport.com with the headline “Copper Thieves Knock Down 300 Utility Poles In CA Town…“

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) are widening State Route 4 (SR-4) through Pittsburg and Antioch. As part of this construction work, the contractor for the Loveridge Road project will close all lanes on west bound SR-4 between Somersville Road and Loveridge Road on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights, June 6, through June 9, between 10:00 p.m. and 3:30 a.m.

Due to the inclement weather this week an additional night will be required to complete this work. The contractor will close all lanes on west bound SR-4 between Somersville Road and Loveridge Road on Friday night, June 10, between 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. This work is to ensure public and crew safety while crews work to open the new traffic lanes between Somersville Road and Century Boulevard.

• The detour for this closure will be as follows: motorists will be directed off SR-4 at Somersville Road/Auto Center Drive, left on Somersville Road, continue on to Auto Center Drive, left on Tenth Street, left on Loveridge Road, right on California Avenue, and left on west bound SR-4. Work may be rescheduled if there is inclement weather.

As part of this construction work, the on-ramp to west bound SR-4 from Somersville Road will be closed on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights, June 6, through June 9, between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. Due to the inclement weather this week an additional night will be required to complete this work. The on-ramp to west bound SR-4 from Somersville Road will be closed on Friday night, June 10, from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.

• The detour for this closure will be as follows: motorists will either drive south on Somersville Road, right on Delta Fair Boulevard, continue on to Leland Road, right on Loveridge Road, left on California Avenue, and left on west bound SR-4, or they will drive north on Somersville Road, continue on to Auto Center Drive, left on Tenth Street, left on Loveridge Road, right on California Avenue, and left on west bound SR-4.

TRAFFIC ADVISORY
Motorists are advised to expect delays and allow extra time for their commute. Please drive with caution through the detours and leave a safe traveling distance between your vehicle and the vehicle ahead of you. 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 web site at: http://widensr4.org.

BART has partnered with Google and top transit agencies from around the world to bring real time transit information to a new beta service called Google Live Transit Updates.

Riders can now see BART real time departures and service advisories everywhere Google provides BART schedules, including Google Maps, Google Maps for Mobile and Google Place Pages.

“Now when you Google your directions with the ‘by public transit’ option on Google Maps, you are able to see the real time departure information for BART trains, in addition to the suggested routes, which makes taking public transportation even easier and more efficient.” BART Board President Bob Franklin said.

BART was part of an international partnership of transit agencies from Boston, Madrid, Portland, San Diego and Torino that created a standard, lightweight way to describe real time arrivals and service advisories for use in this project. The resulting real time specification is built to work with the General Transit Feed Specification, which was originally developed for Google Transit in 2006.

“We’ve created a new data specification for sharing real time information. For now it’s powering Live Transit Updates, but in the future it can be used by even more innovative services,” BART Website Manager Timothy Moore said.

In 2007, BART became one of the first transit agencies in the country to provide standardized data for use in third-party apps and website. BART pioneered an open data strategy that powers more than three dozen apps and has served as a model for other transit agencies across the country.

After evaluating the beta release of Live Transit Updates, BART will open up this newest real time data feed to drive even more innovative third-party apps, websites, kiosks, navigation and location-based services.

Remember: this is a beta release, so for best BART information anywhere use the BART website (bart.gov) or BART’s mobile site (m.bart.gov). We also have on-demand SMS (bart.gov/sms) and subscription-based email/SMS services (bart.gov/alerts).

Majority of riders want wider aisles in Fleet of the Future

By MELISSA JORDAN
BART Senior Web Producer

A large majority of riders are telling BART they would give up 2 inches of seat width in exchange for wider aisles. The wider aisles are designed to make it easier for customers on crowded trains to get to the train doors to exit. Wider aisles also will make the new cars more spacious and comfortable for standees during peak periods.

BART is hosting seat labs to gather public input on the project to replace its entire fleet of train cars, the oldest in the nation, with the Fleet of the Future. BART invites you to tour a mobile, interactive seat lab where you can try out new train car seating designs and give feedback on Saturday, June 18, 11 am – 3 pm at Prewett Family Park and Community Center, 4701 Lone Tree Way, Antioch, in the parking lot (adjacent to the water park).

“It’s totally OK to get a little bit closer if it means more space to accommodate people,” Carrie Harvilla, a BART rider who toured a seat lab Thursday in Union City, said as she filled out a survey.

BART’s current seats, at 22 inches, are among the widest of any transit system.

In a recent seat lab controlled for random sampling, about 90% of those surveyed said they found 20-inch-wide seats acceptable. Those customers picked wider aisles at the expense of slightly narrower seats, which would still be fairly wide relative to others in the industry. “I prefer the width of the current seats, but I understand that there are tradeoffs to be made,” Christian Schultz, another visitor to the Union City seat lab, added.

A design with wider aisles could make it easier for people to get on and off trains efficiently, with the potential to get trains in and out of stations more quickly. Another benefit would be better accommodation for people with disabilities. Robin Guild, who toured the seat lab in Union City and who uses a wheelchair, said wider aisles would make things easier for him.

Other findings of the controlled sample were that 63% preferred forward-facing to sideways seats; 97% found 27 inches of legroom acceptable (compared to 29 inches currently); and respondents rated cleanliness at 6.28 and comfort at 4.88 on a scale with 1 being “not at all important” and 7 being “very important.”

Armrests were a toss-up with 49% preferring no armrests and 36% wanting armrests, within the margin of error making it about equal. Download the complete survey results.

The results of the randomized sample will be tracked against results coming in from a series of demonstrations for the general public, featuring a mini version of the seat lab. The mini version of the survey includes questions about seat width; armrests; accommodations for bikes, luggage ands strollers; passenger information; seat materials; and other design ideas.

ACCOMMODATING DIFFERENT NEEDS

At Thursday’s event in Union City, rider Michael Jordan said that accommodating people with disabilities should be a priority. “There’s got to be access to available seating near the doors,” he said, suggesting more prominent signage of the notice that seats must be given up for people with disabilities. “The signs now are too small,” he said.

Anna Sanchez was thinking about needs of parents as she pushed her baby in a stroller down the seat lab aisles while her two older children, ages 10 and 8, helped fill out the survey. “We ride BART every day, Monday through Friday,” she said. “I wanted them to come out and see this because they’ll be riding BART when these new trains get here.” The seat labs are just one of the ways BART is gathering public input.

MORE SEAT LABS SCHEDULED

Six seat labs for the general public have now been completed — one each in San Francisco, Pittsburg, Richmond, Union City and two in Oakland. Five more are planned by the end of June to complete the calendar — at Dublin/Pleasanton, Pleasant Hill, South San Francisco and tentatively one for Antioch and another in San Francisco. (See bart.gov/cars for the schedule.) Surveys from the general public labs will be analyzed and added to the mix.

In addition, BART is collecting email feedback, with more than 1,000 comments already received from the public. (Submit yours here). The general public seat labs already have collected around 1000 surveys. Earlier versions of the seat lab sought comments from groups of riders with specific concerns, such as riders with disabilities, senior citizens and bicyclists. Another version was the controlled sample described above.

The feedback will be shared with industrial designers, who will use it to come up with three renderings that incorporate the most-requested features and try to balance tradeoffs for the best possible interior design. Then, later this summer, there will be another round of public input on those three models. Based on that public input, BART will give design guidance to the company that ultimately will build the train cars. Five builders have submitted proposals for the job.

Sign up to receive updates on the Fleet of the Future, or submit your feedback, at www.bart.gov/cars.