I am announcing my candidacy for Antioch City Council 2012.

I have been a resident of this diverse Antioch community for over eight years and I truly enjoy living in this City. Antioch has become a stagnant City. We need leadership who has the vision for beneficial growth, thinks outside the box, is transparent and understands the complexities of fiscal responsibility. I bring new ideas, commitment, intensity, integrity, accountability and a strong desire to take on new challenges and find long-term solutions. I will represent all City residents without bias and will involve the community in the decision-making process.

I have a degree in Civil Engineering and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with over 31 years of management experience working for Governmental Agencies. I have worked with various community groups, City Commissions and Boards, City Council and the Mayor’s Office. I have served on my HOA Board for four years and two years as the President. My wife and I were members of United Citizens for Better Neighborhoods (UCBN) since its inception.

My humble priority is to serve the citizens of the City of Antioch with dedication, integrity, fairness, transparency and full accountability. I encourage you to get to know me better by visiting my website www.noelpinto.com and communicate with me at noel@noelpinto.com. It is my privilege to have this opportunity to serve you.

Noel Pinto

Antioch

Dear Editor,

Former Councilman Allen Payton left a few easy assumptions out of his article. Primarily the relationship of the City Clerk to the public, which was never discussed by the Council while they only looked at eliminating one more position. That roll is of a neutral, trusted fiduciary. The Clerk not only registers people to vote, regardless of party, accepts and files all candidate papers, submits ballot issues to the county elections board, send all public notices, prepare agendas and vital to our system of freedom, provide the public with records and document when requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

Even when public requests for information appears to be nothing more than political harassment, the Clerk is still sworn to preform her duties without the influence of Councilmembers, a strong Mayor or a City Manager. The elected Clerk cannot be fired by a City Manager that has already eliminated every other department head in the City.

What this Council has done in an attempt to eliminate the position has been to reduce the salary of an elected position to a paltry amount and instruct that the Clerk herself is to work only one day a week. What better way to reduce or even eliminate the Clerks relationship with the public.

As to the Councils refusal to rename “L” Street, that has been proposed for many years, and even though I might disagree on the renaming of ‘A’ and 2^nd Streets, you missed the one that would have cost “nothing”. Those of us that have been heavily involved in the History of this community and the republishing of the Diary of Rev. Williams Wiggin Smith, ask that Roger’s Point be restored back to the original name of “Smith’s Point” as it had been the long standing homestead of Smith until his death.

As there is currently no signage, other than “Keep Out”, and the property and area are not currently being developed, no signage would have been required at this time and no real cost associated with changing the name. From our records the property was not identified as Roger’s Point until the Rogers family (local insurance agent) took over in mid century.

Although we felt this was a non issue and we had council support, much to our surprise the Mayor felt he needed to ascertain the feeling of the Roger’s family. All the members of the Roger’s family that ever lived there, including their daughter Virginia Rogers Calessesi, have passed away.

This simple issue has exposed this Councils inability to advocate for issues brought from the public. On another issue one councilmember expressed to me that the council believed they needed to wait for the election to allow new council members to have input on an important issue. This was stated to me last March.

I don’t know about the rest of the public but I don’t vote and elect Councilmembers so they can wait 2 years to give the next group input. I elect people to make decisions now, while they are in office. Those that fail to advocate for issues, weather I agree with them or not, and those that fail to make the decisions they were elected to make, will not have my vote in the future.

Elizabeth Rimbault,

Former Mayor Pro Tem and Councilmember

Antioch

Dear Editor:

Sunday’s Contra Costa Times tells us that 400 people thought they were qualified to be city code enforcer but the city only interviewed three of them. And all three of them turned the job down. Why is that? I thought a job with the city was a good deal.

Who wants to come forward and tell us why three qualified people would turn down a job with the city of Antioch?

If council members don’t know perhaps the three applicants will come forth and tell us why they could not accept the job.

Bob Oliver, Antioch

Made up your mind yet about Proposition 29? Consider who is opposed.
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. is one. Another is the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, an outfit that, under the guise of saving mom and pop from being taxed out of their home, succeeded (through Prop 13) in giving big tax breaks to corporations, subverting majority rule on spending measures, and taking away control of taxation from local democratically elected officials.

Harry Stoll

I generally subscribe to Barbara Zivica’s tight-fisted prudence. I, too, pride myself on fiscal integrity. For the record, I, like Barbara, disagreed with extending the Mello-Roos tax, the Antioch sales tax, and the recent water tax in its’ convoluted packaging.

On her recent column, though, regarding Measure J  (renovation of the going on sixty-year Antioch High School, the only school in Contra Costa of that era that has not been restored), Barbara simply barked up the wrong tree as a watchdog.

Even though AHS is sandwiched by stunning Heritage High, college-campus looking Deer Valley, and Pittsburg High, which had a gorgeous makeover keeping its’ old bone structure, I can respectfully differ with Barbara’s opinion that it’s O.K. for our downtown school to stand out like a sore thumb.

Opinion and facts are two things, though. I am not here to argue the ballot merits as the voters will determine whether our kids deserve second rate perimeter security; cracking walls and sidewalks; dark classrooms, outmoded heating, air and technology; an unusable pool and track; and a cafeteria that can’t fit them all in rainy weather. It is the citizens who will decide what an equitable facility would or would not do for downtown morale and property value.

Being, though, that I apparently surprise Barbara in  living one block over in the non-Mello-Roos area, and would, in fact, pay the tax should it pass, I am compelled, as a private citizen, to fact check.

As a soon-to-be sixty-six year old who will start collecting social security June 13th, I, too, would love, both personally and philosophically, to see seniors exempted for the $4.52 per $100,000 assessed value.  Even though it amounts to a tenth or twentieth of what Mello-Roos owners pay, seniors have truly done so much for our community and deserve a break.

Unfortunately, under the law of construction bonds, there is so no such possible exemption. It is simply legally verboten. There seems, then, to be some confusion about the provisions of bonds and parcel taxes, where exemptions can and can not be allowed.

As to the argument that Antioch has properties up the kazoo, I don’t get it. Firstly, precisely because we have received hardship monies to build, the sobering reality is that any properties we sold would be monies given back the state. Secondly, paint this a favorable climate for construction, a dreadful time to sell. Thirdly, even if we were hypothetically able to sell off everything we had, hold nothing for future growth, and be allowed to keep the money, it would be at best a few million rendered, hardly a dime on the dollar of what 21st century modernization will cost.

Fact is, A.U.S.D. has been cut $74 million in state funding over the last four years. Due to the bloodletting, like other districts, we have been given a state exemption on putting away 3% for deferred maintenance and we have stopped putting into long term retirement liability fund.  Plain and simple, there is no golden goose to raid for this remodernization.

Is it true, as has been stated, that we are counting on matching money back from the State? Hoping, of course, but not counting, on it. It would be gravy and no, we never bet the ranch on hypotheticals.

As to the argument that we stopped the last Bond dead in its tracks, leaving some twenty one million dollars unbonded, agreed. Gosh, it feels odd, though, to be criticized for not not taking everything we could have grabbed. Shouldn’t public entities be applauded for  disciplined frugality and turning back money?  We were, in deed, the good stewards we promised to be.

Fact is, we completed most all our list, getting very favorable results from the competitive construction climate.  On top of that we received some $16 million back in saved interest  from the Quality Construction Act. Most of our bonding came in at an incredibly low 2% interest rate. Credit the penny-pinching Scottishness of Tim Forrester, Executive Director of Operations for putting this together.

The loan formulas changed on us and for the small scope of unfinished projects left we would have had to pay $80 to $90 million interest on $20 million bonding. We wisely decided not to.

Unlike my friend Barbara, I was not surprised that the City Council unanimously supported the bond. They, like I, expect that with a mandated build out checklist, a citizens’ oversight committee,  a vigilant administrative team and a fiscally sound Board that has put away $27 million in ending fund balance despite massive state cuts,  we would see the same positive results as Measure C should Measure J Pass. Its all up to the voters.

Walter Ruehlig, Trustee, A.U.S.D.

Dear Editor:

Last week I observed on TV a march, in Oakland, of the Grocery Clerks union. At the end of the news spot a business agent, a.k.a. economic illiterate, announced to his followers that the only thing that keep the major chains from looking like Walmart was a strong local union. It was then as an old, old, old member of the Grocery Clerks union that I realized that the only thing Walmart has going for it IS a strong local grocery clerks union.

When the investors of Raileys, Safeway, Save Mart, etc., realize they can make more money running a cat house we will all be going to Walmart.

Bob Oliver

Antich

Dear Editor:

Dear Editor:

As I was reading the opinion column by Lou Davis (The Way I See It, May, 2012), I had to check the date on the paper to see if this was some kind of April Fools’ joke.  Perhaps before writing such an “opinion”, Mr Davis would like to read and maybe, reread his column before it goes to press.  Yes, Mr Davis, I will agree with you that there are racial divides in this country that I have never seen since the days of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s.  But since when are women in this country considered a different race than men?  You make no mention of any fact about race in this country and instead begin a diatribe against womens’ rights.  On this, the 40th anniversary of Title IX, women must still fight for even the most basic of rights in the workplace.  The last time I checked the figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce, women were still only making a portion of what men were making for doing the same job.  Where is the equality?

In the same paragraph, you mention the “Occupy Wall Street” movement.  To be honest, I don’t agree with the way that they go about things.  Where is the message that we can stand behind to fight this and to find a solution?  And, I don’t agree with the violence that seems to be a part of every rally.  However, they are trying to send a message and to be honest, if I were in there shoes, I would be afraid to be a spokesman for any cause, let alone fighting big business, in this country.  If you are of a certain age, you remember the last ones to stand for a cause that was out of the mainstream and what happened to them.  Martin.  Bobby.  Jack.

Your fixation on demeaning women is deplorable. You make them out to be second class citizens.  Women must fight daily to preserve their rights that are being taken away by a government of old, Caucasian men.  I don’t care what political party they are affiliated with.  Since when does anyone have the right to tell another how to live their life.   As a man of color Mr. Davis, you should understand it better than most of us could ever.

 When it comes to health care, I will always stand up for the working man.  The tone of your article sounds much like the newspapers of the early part of the 20th century.  Perhaps you don’t remember child labor.  Working 6 or 7 day weeks.  No benefits.  That is what the working men and women of this country stood for against repressive business owners and won the freedoms that we take for granted today.  You worry about religious institutions being mandated to cover contraception costs.  OK Mr. Davis, who will pay for the unwanted children? The possible risk to women who can’t afford health care when they are pregnant.  And again, what right does any man have in saying what I may do with my body.  When are the people of this country, who are losing their jobs to overseas competitors, going to stand up and say “Enough is Enough’?

Your rhetoric reminds me of a history class that I took many years ago.  The stand against women or any minority.  The belief in a Supreme Being that will lead us through and will fight our battles as long as we let our leaders tell us what to think.  Allowing any business or government to run over the working men and women and tell them they should be happy with what they are given.  You Mr. Davis, of all people, should be at the front of the line to not think as you are, but to see what is really happening.  You see, the place that I am talking about is not the United States of the 21st century.  It was Germany of the 1930’s.

Keith C. Walters, Antioch