Dear Editor:

Some one is lying.

There was an interesting article in a newspaper recently about BART wanting to put a tax on us for new cars. Why weren’t they factored into Capital Improvements?

Every meeting I have attended, BART Board Member Joel Keller has said the 40-plus years the people of Antioch and East County have paid into BART has gone into running the system, not building the system out to us. Now they say they need new cars so they want to tax us AGAIN. Who is lying to us?

It is more likely all the money we have paid into BART has gone for ridiculous wages, pensions and Board Member perks. I say no more money until they stop lying and throwing e-BART at us. We want to see the books, and they need to show us where our money has gone.

Martin Fernandez

Recent massive fish kills at the water project pumps in the south Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta highlight the folly of H.R. 1837, Congressman Devin Nunes’s resolution to guarantee water supplies to the west side of the San Joaquin Valley.

Nunes’s San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act would undo years of efforts to balance Delta restoration with water supply reliability and to restore the San Joaquin River.

Said Delta farmer Brett Baker, “H.R. 1837 is an end run around California’s water rights laws. It puts junior rights holders ahead of Delta agriculture, Indian tribes, and fish. Forget public trust protections.”

Recovery of the West Coast’s recreational and commercial fishing industries is threatened by operation of federal and state water projects, which create conditions hostile to fish. Since last week, close to three million Sacramento splittails as well as hundreds of endangered spring-run chinook salmon have died as export pumping continued, despite the fact that reservoirs are full.

Export contractors have refused to pay for fish screens at the pumps.

Nunes argues that federal endangered species protections have cost tens of thousands of jobs in impoverished San Joaquin Valley communities. But research by Dr. Jeffrey Michael of the University of the Pacific’s Business Forecasting Center has shown conclusively that San Joaquin Valley job losses are lower than claimed and have been driven by the housing construction collapse.

Unemployment in San Joaquin Valley communities like Mendota and Firebaugh has risen dramatically since water project deliveries for desert agriculture began in the 1960s. “These communities have been impoverished for decades regardless of how much water has been available,” said Restore the Delta’s Jane Wagner-Tyack. “Now their suffering is being used to justify actions that will destroy jobs in other parts of the state.”

Even with pumping restrictions to protect salmon and other species, average exports from the Delta are now similar to what they were in the 1980s and 1990s. Several years of dramatic increases in pumping during the past decade have driven some species of fish to the brink of extinction.

Millions of tax dollars have been spent on scientific reviews confirming the adverse effects of project over-pumping.

Restore the Delta is a broad-based coalition including Delta farmers, environmentalists, fishermen, business leaders, and concerned citizens. Restore the Delta advocates for a more comprehensive and thoughtful approach to address the state’s water needs, including projects that safeguard the Bay, the Delta, the environment, and the people of California.

On Tuesday, May 24th, the Antioch City council will authorize sending their response to a recent Grand Jury Report addressing salary and benefits provided to members of the Antioch City Council and maintenance of city vehicles and usage by city employees.

The Grand Jury report, which was sent to the City Manager, stated, that eight of the 19 cities spent more than the county-wide average of $39,377 for salary and meeting fees: The cities are: Antioch, Concord, Danville, Hercules, Martinez, Richmond, San Pablo and San Ramon. It was recommended that these cities consider whether it would be appropriate to implement reductions of salary and meeting fee expenditures to bring them in line with other cities.

It was also recommended by the Grand Jury that the policy of paying health care insurance costs for Council members should be reviewed to determine whether this practice is appropriate. Cities that pay health insurance benefits to council members are: Antioch, Brentwood, Concord, Danville, Hercules, Martinez, Pinole, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill, Richmond, San Pablo and San Ramon.

Additionally, it was pointed out that pension benefits, with potential long term financial implements for the agency, are provided to Council members in 12 cities: Antioch, Brentwood, Clayton, Concord, Danville, El Cerrito, Hercules, Martinez, Pleasant Hill, San Pablo, San Ramon and Walnut Creek.

Council is mandated to respond to the Grand Jury report by stating one of the following actions in respect to each finding: Respondent agrees with finding, disagrees with finding or partially agrees with finding.

The motion before council in regard to salary and meeting fees states that the city partially agrees with the finding but questions the value of a simple mathematical average for cities with varying populations e.g. cities with less than 35,000 in population compared to cities of 75,000 to 150,000, pointing out increases in compensation are limited to 5% each calendar year and must be approved by council pursuant to an ordinance in open session.

To increase transparency, the City will combine these policies into a single document that addresses all Council compensation and benefits and include that document in its annual budget review.

In regard to health care benefits provided to council, council agrees that it does provide benefits and understands the long term financial implications which is why the city includes these benefits as part of the City’s overall pension liability reported annually in the City’s financial statements. In the future, Council will review its policy of pension or deferred compensation for Council members.

In regard to maintenance and usage of city vehicles, the city’s response is that it City utilizes a fleet maintenance management software system and has implemented a practice of permitting city vehicles to be taken home for the purpose of standby call outs and emergency operational needs. Present, no take home vehicles are being driven more than 15 miles from the location where the employee would report to work.

I am of the belief that, although council members deserve some compensation for their service, the City should not pay members health care insurance costs, pension or deferred benefits. What say you?

Life should always have such ‘problems.’ After the dust was settled on the recent Antioch Community Center build out at Prewett Park, 1.7 million dollars is left in the kitty. For that, thank the competitive bidding process in a moribund construction climate. $26 million was allocated but only $24 million spent. Next step, then, what to do with the windfall? For sure, we will work diligently to try and leverage the remainder with grants and matching corporate funds.

Count Antioch, by the way, as historically having hit bingo twice on Mello Roos construction. The bond payoff was originally projected to end by roughly 2026, but the first phase, the completion of Deer Valley High, Dallas Ranch and Black Diamond Middle, and five elementary schools met with both better than expected interest rates and likewise favorable state matching funds. Dallas Ranch, for example, a $29 million construction project, received 9.2 million dollars back from the state.

I am proud to say that I and the Board majority stuck to our fiscally prudent guns. It voted to use that manna from heaven returned for the schools not to do additional city projects at Prewett but, instead, to pay down the debt early, leaving a 2016 date. The question, with some, then arises as to why we don’t use this latest boon to even further accelerate the Bond payoff. Legalities and voter commitments step into the picture, though, and inhibit our overriding a mandate.

In 1989 the voters agreed to tax themselves on this special property tax.The commitment was to build the eight schools and to spend 50 million dollars on city capital improvement at Prewett. The City had a Master Plan that envisioned a water park, library, hiking trails, community center and so forth. It is the City Council decision what to build; the Mello-Roos Citizen Advisory Board merely has oversight over the allocated budget expenditures.

So where do we now sit? Unarguably, we’ve got 8 gorgeous schools, a water park and now the recent amphitheatre, city hall kiosk, community room, gymnasium, library annex, preschool classrooms, technology center, police substation, and burrowing owl habitat.

For perspective, let me share last week’s tour of a film crew from CBS-Channel 5. I am pleased to say the reception was enthusiastic. The reporter remarked on the natural beauty of the facility, which sublimely blends into the hills, and a liveliness which she expressed that she rarely sees at other community centers.

Indeed, Prewett was abuzz with activity that day and is already proving itself a valued community hub. As the real estate market starts to rebound, it is our hope that this civic touchstone will attract buyers to the area and positively affect prices.

Fact is, we have most of what was originally schemed. Granted, there is no lake or garden walking trails; nor is there, yet, the grand 30,000 square-foot library we hoped for. That, though, may be a blessing as staffing such a facility would have been a pickle given current times. As offset, we have built the facility so that potential add-on will be easy. When the state gets back on its feet they will invariably restart long deferred library construction, which, historically, they pay 2/3 costs of. Remember, we lost sponsoring by a hair’s breadth and should be next in line for funding come future go around.

Though we can’t dictate what to do with the money, the Mello-Roos Board eagerly wants to share citizen input with the City Fathers. To date, some ideas circulated include athletic turf fields, a BMX Park, doggie park, expanded library extension, electronic marquee, lazy river pool feature, and nature trails.

We intend to structure varied public feedback opportunities and welcome you to our next meeting July 11th, 7 p.m., at 510 G Street. You can also drop a note by City Hall or the Community Center or e-mail me at walter.ruehlig@gmail.com.

The Community Center adds another crown jewel to Antioch, alongside the likes of the Black Diamond Mines, San Joaquin River, El Campanil Theatre, and the Antioch Historical Museum. The next jewel in the tiara will be an occasion to further rejoice.

Walter Ruehlig
President, Antioch Mello Roos Citizen’s Advisory Board

I just read a column written by Samuel Walton and Michelle Romero, dated February 15, 2011 and published in an independent, Southern California newspaper, the Pasadena/San Gabriel Valley Journal, regarding this year’s redistricting process and felt it necessary to respond to the vitriolic diatribe.

The commentary contained some seriously egregious, fallacious allegations, full of fear tactics. For example, one statement made is: “State legislatures in many states have used redistricting to minimize and/or deny racial and ethnic minorities their right to representation. They do this by drawing lines through a given community to disable that group’s collective voting power, or by packing them into as few districts as possible to ensure their voice is small in Sacramento and Washington. In these cases, we end up not much better off than when we didn’t have the right to vote at all.”

While that may have happened in the past in other states, and perhaps might still, unfortunately be happening this year, can the writers cite when the last time it was done in California?

The writers then stated “In California, Propositions 11 and 20 recognized the abuses by the California Legislature and reassigned the responsibility for legislative and congressional redistricting to an independent Citizens Redistricting Commission.”

That was not the reason those propositions were written. It was because of the gaming by the Democrat majority over the Republican minority and all other minor parties in this state, to gerrymander districts to pack as many Republicans into as few districts as possible to ensure their voice is small in Sacramento and Washington.

For example, the 1981 redistricting process, Bruce Cain, the U.C. Berkeley professor and co-owner of Q2, the contractor that the Commission hired this year, (although he was specifically required to be separated from his partner, Karin MacDonald, and prevented from being involved in their company’s work during the process), was brought in by the Democrat leadership to draw lines to minimize the number of Republicans in the State Legislature.

It was only in 1991 that we had a fair redistricting, in the time I’ve been voting. That was because Governor Wilson, whether you like him or not, vetoed the Democrats’ gerrymandered redistricting plan and the responsibility to redraw the new district lines was handed off to three retired judges know as “the Three Masters”.

But, then the Democrats in the legislature drew some seriously gerrymandered districts again, in 2001 and Governor Grey Davis signed it into law. Just look at the current map of State Assembly, State Senate and Congressional districts. They’re ridiculous in their shapes, with one that looks like a seahorse and others like a Rorschach test.

Prop’s 11 and 20 are all about letting the people choose their representatives, not the other way around and the Commission agrees. They all nodded their heads in agreement when I made that statement at their hearing on February 26 in Sacramento. Yes, the criteria in Prop 11 contains the criteria that the new districts “Comply with Federal Voting Rights Act” , which ranks second in order, that’s only one of six criteria, which also includes (in rank order): 1. Equal Population, 3. District Contiguity, 4. Keep cities, communities and neighborhoods intact as much as possible, 5. Compactness, 6. Nesting (applies to State Assembly inside Senate Districts).

The column then made an even more outlandish, fear-based statement: “Think about what might happen to our communities if we were to be silenced again. If low and moderate income voters were silenced, politicians could stop funding public education, affordable housing, or social services altogether.”

In California? Does anyone seriously believe that?

Then the icing on the cake was the writers’ statement: “Or imagine what could happen to Latinos if their communities were divided and their votes no longer counted. We could have an Arizona-style ‘papers please’ law in a heartbeat, turning anyone who looks ‘foreign’ into second-class citizens. Or perhaps politicians’ pandering to public fear would have them all put into concentration camps. That may sound far-fetched, but it actually happened to Japanese Americans during World War II.”

Like they say during the “Weekend Update” segment of Saturday Night Live – Really? I mean really? In California, where no racial group has a majority?

As a member of my local NAACP branch, I recognize there are still challenges facing both the black community and other racial minorities, today that need watchdogs and vigilance. But what was written in that column is not the kind of baseless argument that’s needed to rally those of us concerned about fair representation, and equal rights and opportunity. Providing people with the facts, not false fear, is the way to responsibly get people involved.

So, be involved in the redistricting process, this year, to ensure the number one voting principle of our democratic republic is respected, and that is “one person, one vote” which is why equal population is the top criteria in the process. But, let’s also ensure the VRA is respected as well as the rest of the criteria from the propositions that we the people passed.

For more information, please read the RedistrictingCA Pocket Guide which can be downloaded from their site at http://www.redistrictingca.org/more-info/ It’s published by an Alliance of non-profit organizations funded by The James Irvine Foundation to ensure the 2011 redistricting is fair and inclusive. The 12 organizations are: Asian Pacific American Legal Center, California Common Cause, California NAACP, Center for Governmental Studies, Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy, League of Women Voters of California, Los Angeles Urban League, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund, Rose Institute of State and Local Government, Statewide Database at Berkeley, and the Greenlining Institute.

To read the entire column, click here.

For more information on the state redistricting process visit www.wedrawthelines.com.

Allen Payton, Publisher

Chairman, Contra Costa Citizens Redistricting Task Force

With budget cuts hitting hard in our ever so humble economy, there are hard decisions out there that need to be made. The toughest decision facing Deer Valley High is not whether they should have a bigger gym or a larger pool – it is whether they should have two principals or one.

Scott Bergerhouse has been nice enough to step up and say, “I understand that this is a budget year and I have faith in the school board that they will know what they were doing.” Scott is confident that they will make their decision not only based on the budget, but what will benefit the bigger picture of Deer Valley’s future.

According to many supporting parents of the two-principal model, Deer Valley has made tremendous progress since 2007 when Scott Bergerhouse and Clarence Isadore came on board. With over 2,700 students making up the student body, two principals just made sense. Campus authority became more visible and children felt safer and more eager to attend school, stay in class and care about their education.

By returning to a one-principal high school Deer Valley will face a transition in which the majority of the parents will be displeased with the decision, but when it comes to money there really is no other alternative.

While it is very important to maintain a system that works, it is also important to keep lights on and maintain the building that is being occupied by so many students. The decision is not easy and many factors will be taken into account to reach a final conclusion. Whether Deer Valley has one principal or two, the children’s safety and education will not be compromised.

According to Wendi Aghily, the CSEA Union has agreed to union concessions in order to work with the budget. This decision may be just what Antioch needs in these hard economic times.

Tami Berrera

April 14th was a memorable day at Deer Valley High where allegedly five teachers and two staff members have been assaulted on campus by students this year, four of the assaults occurring this semester.

Posted comments on a local online forum written by parents/teachers/teacher relatives, etc. state that on April 14 fights broke out in different areas of the high school campus after lunch, one involving multiple kids assaulting one boy. When a teacher jumped in to stop the assault, the teacher was hit and kicked by students, as was another teacher who also responded to the incident. Ultimately Co-Principal Clarence Isadore successfully intervened.

Concerned about the assaults and the fact that they could occur again in the near future, I emailed the district office for information. I subsequently received a reply from Tony Shah, Director, Student Support Services acknowledging, “On April 14th, we did have an incident in which an isolated fight escalated to a large number of students becoming involved. Due to federal privacy rights laws, I am unable to provide you with specific information about either the incident on the disciplinary consequences. I can assure you each student involved in the incident was appropriately assigned consequences in accordance to our current discipline policy and education code.”

I wonder if AUSD reported the assaults to the Antioch Police Department?

Mr. Shah also informed me that parents receive a copy of the district’s discipline policy, and teachers and staff have received “I Understand” training conducted by the Tools For Schools educational consulting firm. The “I Understand” website states that its training program will reduce tardies, absences, detentions, suspensions, too many referrals to the principal’s office and address parent involvement and school safety.

Wonder how well it’s working overall. It doesn’t appear to have been effective in regard to school safety. Perhaps the district should seek a refund. Educational consulting programs are controversial because they’re expensive, and taxpayers wonder why they’re necessary since there are sufficient administrators downtown to properly oversee and run the district.

Antioch’s teachers have been complaining about lack of safety since 2009 when former Superintendent Dr. Deborah Sims changed discipline policy. Teachers alleged that the new lax discipline policy, which led to a signification reduction in appropriate suspensions and expulsions, was meant to improve the district’s public image, and that by keeping such students on campus the district was able to maximize state funding, which is tied to average daily attendance figures.

Having received a copy of the Student and Parent/Guardian Handbook from Mr. Shah I checked the section in regard to the district’s suspension and expulsion process. Basically it states that, except where suspension for a first offense is warranted in accordance with law, suspension shall be imposed only when other means of correction fail to bring about proper conduct.

Expulsion is an action taken by the Board for severe or prolonged breaches of discipline by a student. Except for single acts of a grave nature, expulsion shall be used only when there is a history of misconduct, or other forms of discipline, including suspension, have failed to bring about proper conduct, or when the student’s presence causes a continuing danger to self or others.

My verdict is in – the students involved in the April 14th incident or any other incident in which a teacher or staff member has been aggressively defied or assaulted should be expelled immediately and a report taken in this regard by the Antioch Police Department.

The change from a two-principal to one principal administration at Deer Valley High is is a sound financial and management decision by the board.

The student numbers do not support this luxury as enrollment has dropped to around 2,700. Antioch High has about the same number and is doing well as a one principal school. A good administrator with a strong support staff can run an effective educational campus. Very few school districts in the state operate with this dual model.

I salute Dr. Gill and the Antioch School Board for making the tough decisions.

I would hope that this “outraged” group against the change would direct their efforts by lobbying the State Legislature in restoring a budget that will ensure no cuts, no shortened school year, no P.E., Arts, Music cuts, librarians and nurses restored, etc.

Richard Asadoorian