By Allen Payton, Publisher

The field of candidates is set in races for Antioch Mayor, Council, Clerk and Treasurer in the November election. Following are the candidates for each office in the order that they appear in the list from the County Elections website, as well as their self-chosen ballot designations and other information

Mayor

Gary Agopian, Antioch City Councilmember, Real Estate Agent and former Antioch School Board member for four years.

Wade Harper, Police Lieutenant/Vice-Mayor, who served two years on the Antioch School Board, appointed to fill the seat of the late Joyce Seelinger, then was elected in 2010 to the City Council. He works for the City of Tracy

Donald P. “Don” Freitas, Retired Environmental Manager, worked for the county for 30 years, is Antioch’s former Mayor from 2000-2008 and Councilman from 1998 to 2000, and represented Antioch on the Contra Costa Water District Board for 16 years.

Michael Anthony Leon, Marketing Manager for a heating and air conditioning company who is a newcomer to Antioch politics. He describes himself as a “regular Joe” or “Joe the Plumber” type who was encouraged to run by his neighbors after he was featured on Channel 4 news for helping get rid of squatters and some problem Section 8 tenants from his neighborhood.

Council

Noel Pinto, Manager, he’s the Director of Parking and Enforcement for the City of Oakland with a background in engineering.

Monica Wilson, College Dean Assistant, she’s the Executive Assistant to the Dean of Student Life for Mills College in Oakland., is a member of the Antioch Economic Development Commission, Vice Chair of the Contra Costa County Democratic Party Central Committee, is the Treasurer for the California Democratic Party Women’s Caucus, and serves as the staff adviser to the Feminist Democrats (Fem Dems), the Mills College Democratic Club.

James D. Davis “Jim”, Mayor/Banker, he chose not to run for reelection as mayor but for council, instead. He was first elected to the council in 1998 and works as a Vice President for Bank of the West.

Mary Helen Rocha, Councilmember / Community Liaison, she has served on the council and as Mayor off and on, and as an Antioch School Board Trustee for the past 30 plus years. This will be her final time running, win or lose.

Walter Ruehlig, Employment Training Director, he is currently an Antioch School Board Trustee, where he has served for two terms.

Clerk

Arne Simonsen, Retired Master Chief in the Navy, but also retired Antioch small business owner of Simonsen Mechanical and a former Antioch City Councilman for two terms.

Argentina Davila-Luevano, Social Worker, who has a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work with a Specialty in Child Welfare. But right now she’s the President and CEO of the California LULAC Institute also known as CLI, a 501c3 nonprofit organization. She does social work when she handles case management for families through CLI.

Treasurer

Donna Conley, Incumbent, she is running unopposed.

As a reminder, this Thursday October 4th from 7 PM – 9 PM at Antioch City Hall in the City Council Chambers, the Antioch Chamber of Commerce will be hosting a candidates’ debate for the Antioch Mayor and Antioch City Council.

The City Council candidates will debate from 7 PM- 8 PM followed by the Antioch Mayor debate from 8 PM – 9 PM.

Candidates will each have two opportunities to rebut their opponents during the debate, which should add some excitement to the format.

The Chamber apologizes but the League of Women Voters will not be participating in the debate, as was published previously, due to a difference in formats for the event.

“Come out and listen to your future leaders so that you can make an educated decision in November,” encourages Dr. Sean Wright, Executive Director of the Chamber.

Take Back Antioch (TBA) is hosting a non-partisan forum on Saturday, October 20, 2012 to allow citizens to meet and learn about the candidates running for mayor and city council of Antioch.  The forum will be held from 9:00 am to 11:30 am at the El Campanil Theatre, located at 602 W. Second Street, in the Rivertown area of Antioch.  .

Questions will be determined in advance, based on the most popular questions submitted on TBA’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/TakeBackAntioch), and will cover a variety of topics, including:

·Crime and police staffing

·Blight and graffiti

·Volunteerism

·Downtown/waterfront revitalization

·Economic development

Questions with the most “likes” on TBA’s Facebook page will be asked by a panel of volunteers, and each candidate will be allowed to answer the questions within a preset time limit.  If time allows, candidates will be able to answer questions directly from the public.

For further information, or to find out how you can help, please visit the Take Back Antioch Facebook page: www.facebook.com/TakeBackAntioch or email TBA at info@takebackantioch.com.

Over Troubled Waters, a documentary about the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, will premiere in Antioch on Tuesday, October 2, at the El Campanil Theatre. Following the screening will be a question and answer session with water policy advocates. Over Troubled Waters will be the centerpiece of a public education effort to stop the building of peripheral tunnels.

In this visually rich documentary, Ed Begley Jr. narrates the story of how the people of the Delta are fighting to protect the region they love and to encourage saner, sustainable water policies for all the people of California.

“This is our chance to tell the real Delta story,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta, which produced the documentary. “This film reveals how powerful forces are using fear of flooding and earthquakes to make a case for transforming a unique, beautiful, productive region into a permanent way station for water going somewhere else. They are trying to shore up an outdated water system with a massive, multi-billion dollar water transfer project that Californians will be paying for decades.”

It should be noted that, Over Troubled Waters has been designated as a participant in this year’s 9th Annual Artivist Film Festival to be held November 1-4 in Hollywood, California. “ARTIVIST” is the only Film Festival dedicated to ‘Raising Awareness for Human Rights, Children’s Advocacy, Environmental Preservation, and Animal Advocacy through International Films’. In 2012, the UNITED NATIONS officially accepted the Artivist Collective, Inc., producer of the annual Artivist Film Festival and Artivist Awards, as an NGO member of the United Nations Department of Public Information (UN-DPI). For more information go to www.Artivist.com.

Tickets are sponsored by Assembly candidate Jim Frazier. For information on additional screenings, go to http://overtroubledwaters.org/buy-tickets/.

What: Over Troubled Waters
Film screening: 7:00 p.m.
Where: El Campanil Theatre, 604 W. 2nd Street, Antioch
When: Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Who: Water advocates, Delta residents, including farmers and fishermen

On Sunday, September 30, 2012, Ricky Gill and other Congressional candidates from Northern California gathered at California State University Sacramento for a forum hosted by a leading Asian-American public affairs association and the NAACP, among many other organizations.

Congressional candidates Kim Vann and Congressman John Garamendi attended from the 3rd District, as did Ami Bera and Congressman Dan Lungren from the 7th District. Assembly candidates Peter Tateishi and Ken Cooley attended from the 8th District, as did Tony Amador and Richard Pan from the 9th District.

While Gill gladly participated in the forum, Jerry McNerney was notably absent. In fact, the 9th Congressional District was the only race in which one candidate attended while the other skipped out.

As KCRA reported, “Democratic incumbent Jerry McNerney was a no-show.” Not only that — according to KCRA, McNerney’s office also failed to respond to inquiries regarding the Congressman’s whereabouts.

So, where was McNerney? After all, his Congressional colleagues weren’t too busy to attend. And McNerney himself wasn’t too busy to send out multiple fundraising emails on Sunday, the last day of the campaign finance period.

“Perhaps McNerney has become the quintessential Washington insider, too busy to meet with voters but always available for a lobbyist or high-dollar donor,” Colin Hunter of the Ricky Gill campaign said. “Back in 2006, McNerney lambasted his incumbent opponent for allegedly skipping a candidates’ forum in favor of a fundraiser.“

“Or perhaps McNerney simply was delayed while pretending to move from Pleasanton to Stockton via the treacherous Altamont Pass,” he added. “In any case, local voters suffered — a consistent theme of McNerney’s tenure in Congress.”

Meeting gives residents opportunity to address city council candidates.

The Commons at Dallas Ranch will host a “Meet the Antioch City Council Candidates” Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday, October 2, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. at The Commons at Dallas Ranch, 4751 Dallas Ranch Road, Antioch.

The Commons at Dallas Ranch, the premier Independent, Assisted, and Memory Care Senior Community in Antioch will welcome the Antioch City Council Candidates for a Town Hall Meeting. During the town hall meeting, each candidate will be given the opportunity to present a brief introduction of themselves and their election platform. The candidate presentations will be followed by a question and answer period by the moderator and the audience.

“This is an opportunity for our residents and the community to have the opportunity to ask questions and hear first hand what the candidates bring to the table.” “We are honored to host the event.” says Dina Osakue, Community Relations Director at The Commons.

For more information or to submit questions for the candidates, contact Dina Osakue at (925) 754-7772.

Editor,
I would like to apologize to the citizens of Antioch for the misrepresentation which took place in a political advertisement published in the Antioch Herald last week.

A photograph of Walter Ruehlig who is running for City Council, was published standing alongside Rudy Fernandez and Michael Manalac. The photograph was taken in front of the grotto at St. Ignatius of Antioch Catholic Church and the endorsement alongside the photograph gives the impression that Mr. Ruehlig is being endorsed by the Catholic Church, St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish,and the Filipino-American Society. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

The photograph and endorsement were done without permission and the publishing of this advertisement was very unfortunate. It is an indication of poor judgment that reflects upon the qualifications of the candidate.

Again, my apologies to all those who were offended by this ad.

Father Robert Rien, Parochial Administrator, St. Ignatius of Antioch Parish

By Allen Payton, Publisher

The Antioch School Board by a unanimous vote at their July 25 meeting decided to try again in November to pass a bond measure to fund improvements at Antioch High School. That follows the failure of Measure J in June – by just 31 votes.

The 58-year-old school needs $56.5 million in upgrades, according to the amount of the bonds that will be floated if the measure is approved. It requires 55% voter approval to pass.

Unlike Measure J which included improvements at other school district campuses and facilities, Measure B, as it will appear on the November ballot, focuses all its funds on improving Antioch High.

“The funds will be spent on a new cafeteria, Career Center, library, administrative offices, renovations and remodeling to support the academy and linked learning program,” shared Antioch School Board Trustee Joy Motts.

There will also be upgrades in technology, as well as improvements to the athletic facilities, including a new field and all-weather track.

“We have 1955 plumbing and electrical,” Motts stated. “We have one of the last cinder tracks at a high school in Northern California.”

“Antioch High has strong bones. We’re going to keep all the old brick,” she added. “We’re hoping we can make it happen, this time. The need is dire. The school has done its job for 58 years and it’s in need of a serious upgrade.”

Trustee Claire Smith, who was first elected in 1995 and faces reelection, this year said “Antioch High is in need of renovation, that’s for sure and it’s going to be up to the people.”

When asked why the district hadn’t set aside funds to improve the school over the years, she replied “Actually we have spent money on that school all along – the maintenance, the upkeep, the new roof. But after 60 years there are just things that need to be done that the budget can’t afford.”

The official language on Measure B in the ballot pamphlet is as follows:

To modernize Antioch High School by renovating classrooms including science and computer labs, improving critical safety and security systems, building a library and cafeteria, upgrading athletic facilities, replacing inefficient building systems, and improving student access to classroom technology, shall School Facilities Improvement District No. 1 of Antioch Unified School District issue $56.5 million in construction bonds at legal interest rates with funds monitored by an Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee with no funds spent on Administrators?

A pro-Measure B website has been set up for more information at www.YesonBondB.com.