Dear Editor,

During this time of high unemployment, very high cost of gas, food, utilities and an uncertain economy, it does not make sense for the City of Antioch to raise its sales taxes. The City will be creating another burden on residents already struggling to maintain a reasonable standard of living. Increasing the sales tax will not be a guaranteed reliable, steady stream of revenue. During low economic activity, City revenues decrease and the probability of more lay-offs of City employees remain a threat. New businesses would not view higher sales taxes as an incentive to locate in Antioch. We must attract more businesses, and in turn bring more jobs into the City.

Antioch must increase the number of Police Officers and Community Service Officers to address the crime that negatively impacts our quality of life. Code enforcement activity has to be increased to address blight.

Antioch needs a steady stream of revenue and I submit that since all businesses pay a license fee in order to do business in Antioch – then, non-owner occupied rental property dwellings should be included in this fee paying structure.  Rental property owners are running a business and it makes sense that the City should collect a license fee from them. This would be a reliable, steady stream of income that would provide an estimated $2.5 million per year based on a fee of $20.00 per unit, per month on approximately 11,000 rental units in this City.

Two initiatives have been proposed as potential ballot measures for this November 2013. One is a ½ cent sales tax increase and the other is the $20.00 per month, per unit business license fee.

Antioch voters; for a steady stream of funds for the City of Antioch, funding that will not be subject to a decrease/increase of sales taxes – please say “Yes” to a business license fee on non-owner occupied rental properties.

Marie Livingston, Antioch

In a report to Council dated May 7th, Jim Jakel, City Manager and Lynn Tracy Nerland, City Attorney state that staff has recommended Council place a one half cent sales tax measure on the November 2013 ballot with a 10 year sunset, subject to annual independent audit and a Citizens’ Oversight Committee.

According to a recent Antioch voter survey the measure would read “RESTORING CITY SERVICES SALES TAX. To fund all city services including increasing police staffing, improving neighborhood police patrols and 911 emergency response, fixing potholes and maintaining local streets, sidewalks and medians, restoring code enforcement and cleaning up abandoned property. Shall the City of Antioch adopt a (SAMPLE) one-half cent (SAMPLE B) three-quarter cent sales tax, expiring in ten years, with mandatory annual audits and independent citizens’ oversight, and for local Antioch use only?”

The argument for the ballot measure is that the city is operating at a 40% staffing reduction (resulting in an increase in the City’s overall Part 1 crime and a decrease in code enforcement services), is experiencing decreasing management salaries and employee work hours through furloughs and reduced overtime, increased employee contributions towards retirement costs and drastically reduced medical after retirement benefits for new employees, eliminated employee cost of living increases for the period of 2009 to 2011, reducing supply and equipment costs and deferring vehicle and equipment maintenance and reducing funding and services at the Animal Shelter and Recreation programs.

Although the Fiscal Year 2012/13 budget may close in the black, next year the City is projected to spend $3.6M more than it is receiving in revenues, forcing the City to tap reserves. The deficit spending is projected to increase to $4.7M in Fiscal Year 2015, resulting in almost no reserves/no fund balance. (The Government Finance Officers Association recommends have a fund balance equal to at lease two months worth of operating expenditure.)

In actuality, the City is contemplating putting two revenue measures on the November 2013 ballot, a sales tax and a business license tax for residential rental properties. The report to Council states that the measures would be general tax measures whose passage could create additional funding to the Council’s stated priorities of public safety, community beautification/code enforcement and economic development.

I see a few problems with the sales tax measure. First is that a telephone survey of Antioch voters states the most important problem facing Antioch today is crime/drugs/violence and that respondents feel less safe than they did two years ago. A general tax measure, which only requires a majority vote, does not assure that the revenue will be spent on public safety. That folks is exactly why a City of Antioch sales tax measure failed to pass in 2010.

Nor is a sales tax increase likely to increase sales tax revenues in Antioch. In fact, just the opposite. Folks won’t “shop Antioch” if it costs more to do so. That’s just common sense.

Dear Editor

This Sunday marks the 21st anniversary of “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome,” a silly name the CDC gave two doctors up in Lake Tahoe back in the 80’s, when 10 – 20% of the town of Incline Village became ill with the “flu” that has lasted now nearly 30 years. I know, I am one of those people lucky enough to still be alive to contact you (please see below).

Three decades later… yet no treatment, diagnostic marker; nor cure!

Please help us bring insight into our cause! An estimated 4 million Americans suffer every second, of every day… alone! Over 21 million worldwide!

The rest of the world however has other names: Natural Killer Cell Syndrome, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis: My-muscle, Algic-pain, Encephalo-brain,Myel-spinal cord & Itis-inflammation, etc… Then, we have Gulf War Illness and Lyme Disease too! It’s a big weekend for so many of us and our families that have done nothing to deserve living in hell.

Really appreciate you taking the time to view this!

Laura A Snow (Slatten)
Livermore, CA

CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME/MYALGIC
ENCEPHALOMYELITIS AWARENESS POEM

Imagine a pain so severe that nothing is of comfort.
Unable to sleep; as bones dive through your skin,
with every toss & turn.

Imagine waking up, not being able to walk.
So tired; you’re unable to speak, nor comprehend.
Everything hurts!

Imagine no one believes!
Relying on your own ability from one moment to
the next, is no longer your option.

Imagine having the flu for twenty years.
Enjoying life’s pleasures only once or twice a year;
when you are able to fake it!

Imagine a life robbed; each day gets dimmer.
Days turn to night. And, the fog like the Bay sets in –
never clearing the way…

Imagine a world where there is no one around, but you…
in your bed with only your thoughts & memories;
of who you once were.

Imagine your only joy in life is an occasional phone call,
or the UPS man stopping by for a signature.

Imagine taking a shower, and feeling as though you
accomplished a new worlds record. Then, calling it a day.

Imagine a life filled with so much pain; tears just roll down
your face. A life without comfort. A life filled with fear.

Imagine living in your head,
because it’s the only place you can walk to…
besides; you’ll never get lost on your way back.

Imagine watching the world pass by,
without so much as a glance…
Youth turns it’s back; while life passes in the night.

Imagine having to ignore all of this,
so you don’t concern the only ones
that are still left to care. God Bless you!

Imagine being 35,
and still “looking good” so you are told,
but that doesn’t change a thing.

Imagine being ME!
or the millions of others who suffer daily with
CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME

How long must we suffer?

© L A SNOW
Retired in 1996, at the age of 33, as a Designer, Inventor and co-owner of a Publishing company (record & magazine) Still suffers from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME, since 1984. And, remains fully disabled at this time.

By Barbara Zivica

Last year Governor Brown’s Prop. 30, which received 55% approval, increased the state sales tax from 7.25 to 7.5% but if you think you’re taxed to the max now, just wait.

State lawmakers are contemplating ballot measures in Alameda and Contra Costa County asking voters to again double the county transportation sales tax from a half cent to one cent. ( The current rate in Contra Costa is a half cent and was last renewed by voters in 2004 (Measure J). Ironically, neither Alameda or Contra Costa County can seek a sales tax increase because doing so would put some cities about the current sales tax cap set by the state. Not to worry, however, a legislator has, of course, already introduced a bill exempting Alameda and Contra Costa County from the cap through 2020.

Nor do I doubt that Chief Daryl Louder of the Contra Costa Fire Dept., who is retiring soon, will persuade the Board of Supervisors, who will soon be voting on a budget proposal that includes the closure of two more fire stations, to endorse another Contra Costa Fire District parcel tax ballot measure. Last year’s attempt failed. Note, however, that plans for building a new fire station in Lafayette and Orinda are moving ahead.

Here at home in Antioch, our City Council has been busily trying to ramp up support for two revenue ballot measures e.g. a sales tax increase and a business license tax which would apply to rental housing despite seeing strong sales tax growth and a rebounding housing market. According to the City Finance Director current fiscal year projections indicate a healthy fund balance of almost $8.5M, significantly higher than the adopted FY13 budget, equating to an unassigned fund balance of 20.94% which exceeds the fund balance policy target of 15%.

According to the City Finance Director, the city wants more money because “FY14 presents new challenges for the City Council to begin to address as costs of goods and services are beginning to rise and salary increases begin to take effect in the current fiscal year.”

As I pointed out before, this didn’t stop council from restoring more lucrative pension benefits or defer payments from the Antioch Golf Corporation for two construction loans e.g. a $222,165 parking lot improvement loan and a clubhouse construction loan of $900,000 until after they repay an ABAG loan. Council also approved utilizing current funding for construction of a restroom facility at the Marina Boat Launch Facility which proved to be more costly than anticipated. The city will seek an additional $245,000 in grant funding from the state Dept. of Boating and Waterways which might not be forthcoming.

Additionally, Council hired a few consultants e.g. Stacey McLaughlin of Mountaintop Insight to assist in “team building and governance training” and Michael Bernick, who, I was informed, handles a range of issues for the City related to transportation and land use planning grants and other funding opportunities, to work with the Antioch Chamber of Commerce on a micro loan program called Kiva Zip.

Kiva.org., founded in 2005 and headquartered in San Francisco, is a non profit organization that allows people to make interest free loans via the Internet to people in developing countries. Kiva launched a more direct peer to peer micro lending platform, called Kiva Zip in 2012. Currently Kiva Zip borrowers do not pay any interest or fees. Kiva Zip is considered an experimental platform, and offers loans in the United States and in Kenya. Sean Wright, the chamber’s chairman, said he was told there isn’t another chamber or municipality trying to use Kiva Zip although private firms and nonprofits use the program. The City of Antioch should not be participant in this endeavor.

I believe it’s time Antioch leaders thought outside the box when it comes to improving our public safety.

One way to do that is to contract with private security firms at a much lower cost per person. Many of their employees are retired police officers and former military personnel and have some level of training. Make them Reserve Officers so they can carry a gun, drive a police car and respond, not just report a crime. Instead of $120,000 a year we could get an officer on the street for about $50,000.

As the Council considers which way to increase revenue to the city to afford to hire the additional police personnel we need – as we are down to staffing levels as they were in 1995 during my first year on the City Council, to which we added 19 officers in the following three years – they need to find a way to provide an increased level of service for less money.

The additional presence in the community of officers patrolling neighborhoods, shopping centers and streets will help drive down crime.

That was the intent when I first proposed the Volunteers In Public Safety when I was on the Council. While the current VIPS do a good job in the areas they’ve been assigned, they don’t patrol in police cars as I was hoping, and therefore don’t provide the same police presence that would serve as a deterrent to crime.

I’ve been told this idea of contracting to private security firms is ahead of it’s time. Perhaps so. But, I believe it must be considered and the City should be innovative and find a way to implement it.

The Council, working with Chief Allan Cantando, can set training standards that the private security employees would have to meet.

In addition, the City should implement a vetting process that would evaluate qualified private contractors before selecting, “approved” vendors. Selection criteria would include, licensing, training, minimum insurance coverage, pending/prior civil action, past experience in similar scope of duty, etc.

Qualified security contactors could augment the police by handling all “B” priority calls such as, alarm response, prisoner transports, suspicious persons calls, trespassing, loitering, vandalism reports and any other quality of life issues that negatively impact our community.

Private security firms currently patrol City parks and provide campus safety at several schools in the Antioch district. Their mere presence alone at these venues has affected significant reductions in police service calls and allowed the police to focus their efforts on more critical issues elsewhere in the City.

The Council should study this option, before putting whatever tax measure they plan to place on the November ballot, in order to reduce the total amount of the tax.

Antioch should and must be a leader in finding lower cost, creative ways to reduce crime, and now. We can’t wait for any more increases to violent crime, robberies of our residents, homes or businesses. The time to act is now.

The Antioch City Council deserves kudos for moving the Fourth of July event from tier three to tier two in their official hierarchy of community support. This means that though the City still will not be the fiscal sponsoring agent, nor an equal paying partner, fortuitiously, they will not bill for event planning time. The only city billing will be for real and clearly extra costs; i.e., extra police manpower, public service workers, lost safety cones and the like.  

By Barbara Zivica

I didn’t have a problem when, earlier this month, Council agreed to provide $77,000 in 20 year, no interest loans to help the Antioch Youth Sports Complex, Antioch Babe Ruth League and Antioch Historical Society to tap their own wells. However, because loans from an Enterprise find can NOT be forgiven, the non profits will need to fundraise or pursue grant money to repay the loans. I wish them luck.

On the other hand, I’m unhappy that Council, who recently amended signed contract agreements with the Antioch Police Officer Association etc. to restore more lucrative pension benefits and will soon will be asking voters to pass two revenue ballot measures, has decided to maintain the prioritization of the payment of the $5,080,000 ABAG loan due 7/1/31 by the Antioch Golf Corporation Board of Directors, Payment on the loan is about $250,000 annually. The Council continues to defer payments to the city for two construction loans e.g. a parking lot improvement loan in the amount of $222,165 and a clubhouse construction loan of $900,000 until after the ABAG loan payments are current and there are sufficient revenues available over operational expenses annually to pay the ABAG loan and the two construction loans to the City.

As for the Marina Boat Launching Facility, the City, who has had problems repaying the state’s Dept. of Boating and Waterways (DWB) $6.3 million loan since the get go, is again having problems completing improvements.

The original plans called for four launch lanes, restrooms, a bait shop, fish-cleaning facilities and a lighted walkway. When money ran short, the city debated limiting the project to just three lanes with no public restrooms but upon receiving a second grant of $495,000 in 2012 from DBW decided to complete the project as originally planned. However, when bids were received in February, two of the four received had to be rejected because they failed to meet the minimum work requirements of a General Contractor by not performing at least 50% of the contracted work with their own forces and an unexpected problem arose – the considerable cost associated with construction and installation of the restroom/bait shop.

Staff recommended that all bids be rejected and the project re-bid with the restroom/bait shop structure designated as a “Speciality Item” and its value not be included in the calculation of the General Contractors percentage of work. Staff additionally recommended Council unitize current funding for construction of the restroom facility and approve a resolution authorizing submission of another grant application to DBW for $245,000 to enable installation of a third boarding float.

Will this project ever be completed? Perhaps, when a new city manager is hired.

As for the new city manager search, I’m displeased that, although three written quotes are typically required when recruiting for a new city manager, proposals were only solicited from two firms – Peckham and McKenney and Roberts Consulting. Additionally, City Mgr. Jakel was given sole authorization to execute a contract with Peckham & McKenney because he stated he has had favorable experience with them in regard to other City Department Head recruitments. (The firm’s proposal states they have conducted more City Manager searches within the past few years than any of their competition, including the City of Moraga (only Contra Costa city listed) and the infamous City of Bell, CA.

The last time Antioch needed a city manager, Council selected the recruiter and when not pleased with the candidates chosen by the recruiting firm, Councilman Arne Simonsen brought up Jim Jakel’s name and said he might be available. Council asked Simonsen to call him ASAP. He came, he interviewed and was hired on an unanimous vote

The Antioch City Council’s been busy lately holding a number of special meetings to discuss future tax measures and the selection of a new City Manager.

In regard to the proposed sales tax and business license tax ballot measures for the November 2013 ballot, it’s important to note the wording in the March 20th memo from Jim Jakel, City Manager and Lynn Tracy Nerland, City Attorney, specifically this quote “although these measures would be general taxes requiring a majority vote of the electorate, it is expected that passage of the revenue measures would create additional funding that would be budgeted for the Council’s stated priorities of increasing Police Department and Code Enforcement staffing.”

It’s the old shell game folks, similar to Antioch’s 2010 Measure P which failed to pass, opponents stating it would have a negative impact on local business and cautioning the money, which would go into the city’s general fund, could be used for any purpose.

The reason Council is hesitant to put a dedicated police tax measure on the ballot is because it would require 2/3 voter approval to pass. Passage would be difficult because we’re dealing with a difficult and uncertain economy (check out all the vacant store sites). Also, as of April 1st, we’re having to pay an additional quarter cent statewide sales tax (Prop. 30 passed by voters in November.) and in July we’re also going to be hit with a statewide gasoline tax increase which will make California’s gas tax the highest in the nation.

As for the proposed business license tax, the report states “council consensus was to freeze the gross receipts tax on most businesses for a period of time and to keep the tax provisions simple and fair in applying to all entities conducting business in Antioch. To that end, it was clear that the rentals of single family residences (e.g. houses, townhouses, condos, duplexes etc.) are a business being conducted in Antioch. Just as apartments currently pay a gross receipts business license tax, rentals of single family residences should also pay a business license tax.”