Says Public Safety Is Number One Priority of Local Government, Pledges to Fight for Funding

By Allen Payton, Publisher

After a hard-fought, vitriolic campaign, underdog candidate Mark Peterson, a 25-year deputy district attorney, 15-year Concord councilman and three-time mayor, won by an 18% margin in November and was sworn in as Contra Costa County’s new District Attorney, yesterday to an overflow room filled with deputy district attorneys, judges, law enforcement personnel, elected officials including Congressman John Garamendi as well as many supporters.

After speeches by one of his court-room opponents in the Public Defender’s office, David Headley, former council colleague and now State Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, former Concord Mayor and Retired General Dan Helix, Sr., as well as Appeals Court Judge Mark Simons, the 52-year-old Peterson was given the oath of office by Contra Costa Superior Court Judge John Kennedy and then had his turn at the podium.

He gave a gracious speech, speaking to those in the DA’s office who supported him, as well as those who didn’t, as well as in the Public Defender’s office and on the bench, and thanked the Concord Police Officers Association and Contra Costa Firefighters who supported him in his campaign. Peterson also recognized, his opponents Dan O’Malley and Elle Fallahat, who were given a round of applause.

“We were never enemies. We were political opponents,” Peterson said. “We were colleagues then. We are colleagues, today.”

Peterson also introduced and thanked his wife Penny, daughters, one of whom did led the Pledge of Allegiance, and one who sang the National Anthem, and parents (it was his mother’s 81^st birthday), who he credited for teaching him the value of hard work, which he applied during his campaign and it paid off.

“My parents are great heroes to me. They were missionaries in a small town in Alaska …where I was fortunate enough to grow up,” he stated.

Peterson then asked and answered the question, “how did I get here?”

He also thanked the Seeno and Garaventa families, who supported his campaigns, financially.

He quoted President George Washington, who said, “The administration of justice is the firmest pillar of government.”

He acknowledged the seven new Deputy DA’s he had the privilege of swearing in, earlier in the day.

He mentioned lists of individuals in both the DA’s and Public Defender’s offices, as well as judges he appeared before, and the court staff who have had an impact on him and his career.

“Each one of those is a part of who I am, today,” he said. “Each one of those cases has helped influence who I am today.”

“And I know the criminal justice system is not a perfect system,” Peterson added. “But it’s an inherently a very, very good system and the system works because everyone in this room who’s a part of it does such a great job. And of course we have a Court of Appeals here to tell us when we’re wrong. (To laughter). And hopefully we don’t do it too often.”

He then recognized the DA’s office, including the 85 Deputy DA’s, the 25 investigative staff and the over 40 support staff and had them stand, which they did to applause.

“We have an excellent staff,” Peterson acknowledged. “I know during these last couple of years that we’ve had some bad publicity and we’ve had challenges in our office and there’s things we want to improve and want to work on and make better. But we have an excellent office. We do a very good job protecting this community.”

“The people in our office are committed to public safety and committed to keeping our community safe,” he added.

“So each one of you has contributed to who I am. Each one of you has shaped the perspective I bring to the District Attorney’s office. So in a very really sense each one of you will be helping me in lead that office.”

“So when I screw up it’s your fault,” Peterson joked. “ Not really. I hope that doesn’t happen. I really do mean that each one of you is part of me leading this office.”

He mentioned his service on the Concord City Council and the successes in reducing crime by over 40% and adding 29 police officers to the department.

“I’m very proud of that relationship. I think I learned a great deal from it and it was a privilege to serve in that capacity,” Peterson shared. “Although I was mayor and you might think I got a little prideful, I take the job seriously, but I don’t take my job too seriously.”

He then read some responses and one letter he framed which he received after he proposed fast food restaurants post calories next to a list of food items on the wall, so people can know.

A note from his staff said, a man had called to voice his opinion and said “he’d rather see the I.Q. of those running for office posted on election night, so he would know if he’s voting for a moron or not.”

Peterson said, “I got a big kick out of that so I framed it and it hang in my office. So I will take my job seriously, but I hopefully won’t take myself too seriously.”

He then touched on budget concerns the county and his department currently face.

“I know these are tough economic times. I pledge to work with the county to look for ways to save money,” Peterson exclaimed.

“But I want to remind everyone that the number one priority in local government is public safety. I pledge to work collaboratively with the Board of Supervisors,” he stated. “The Board has a difficult task ahead of them. I will fight for funding. I have a responsibility, a duty to represent every citizen, every voter in every city and every unincorporated area of this county.”

“I promise to speak professionally, but forcefully for those citizens and voters,” Peterson said. “Our office is understaffed and underfunded. I believe we must look for structural changes to the county budget.”

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Newly elected Antioch School Board Trustees Gary Hack and Joy Motts will be given their oaths of office, tonight at an earlier than normal board meeting. The meeting will begin at 5 p.m. for the ceremonies followed by a brief reception, according to board President Claire Smith. The board will say farewell to outgoing trustee Teri Lynn Shaw, who was not reelected, last month.

The board will then go into closed session at 5:45 p.m. followed by its regular meeting beginning at 7 pm.

The meetings of the school board are held in the chambers at the district offices, 710 G Street, in historic downtown Rivertown.

To see the meeting agenda, visit www.antioch.k12.ca.us.

 

Agopian, Motts Widened their Leads

County Clerk and Registrar of Voters Steve Weir has announced that the November election has been certified and provided the final numbers in the two close races in Antioch.

Gary Agopian came in second, winning one of the two seats up for grabs in the Antioch City Council race. His 7,795 votes beat third place finisher (and former Councilman) Arne Simonsen by 157 votes, who ended with 7,638. The first place finisher was Wade Harper, who had 9,228 votes (or 24 percent of the vote).

Councilman Reggie Moore lost his bid for re-election to a second term, coming in fourth with 18 percent of the vote. He was followed by Councilwoman Martha Parsons, who was appointed to the council two years ago and received just under 17 percent.

In the Antioch School Board race, Joy Motts won one of the two available seats, expanding her winning margin to 252 votes over John “Jack” Yeager. Motts had 6,525 votes to 6,273 for Yeager (Motts had led by only four votes on election night). Coming in first in the crowded, eight-candidate field is Gary Hack with 6,853 votes. Teri Lynn Shaw failed to win re-election to a second term, finishing fourth with 13 percent of the vote.

The City Council is expected to accept the election results and seat Agopian and Harper as new Council members at tonight’s meeting. Ceremonies begin at 6 p.m. in the council chambers, 300 H Street, Antioch.

For final details on all candidates and races in the county visit www.CoCoVote.us.

Final Results Expected Today 

As of 12:30 p.m. today “the county has 18,000 provisional ballots left to count, and Antioch will have a fair number of those,” said County Clerk/Registrar of Voters Steve Weir.

Weir was asked if the outstanding ballots could have an effect on the outcome of the City Council election, which currently shows a spread of 153 votes between second-place finisher Gary Agopian and third-place Arne Simonsen.

He replied, “They can’t overcome that. Simonsen was doing better in the mail-in ballots. It will help whoever was doing better on Election Day.”

When asked if he would request a recount, Simonsen, who is vacationing in Scotland, gave this statement, “True that the race between Gary Agopian and I is probably the closest in the county. I trust the work of the County Elections office and will live with the results, as we accomplished the goal of replacing the two incumbents.”

He added, “I’d be shocked if the final results changed anything.”

Weir said, “We hope to have the final update posted this afternoon. So look for it.”

To see the election results, please visit www.CoCoVote.us.

Harper & Hack in First for Council, School Board; Second Places Still Too Close to Call

By Allen Payton, Publisher

As of Wednesday afternoon, November 10, the Contra Costa County Elections Office reported Wade Harper was still in first place in the race for Antioch City Council, while Gary Agopian had widened his lead over third-place finisher Arne Simonsen from 70 votes to 150.

In the Antioch School Board race, Gary Hack had a commanding lead for first place, while Joy Motts, also expanded her lead to 150 votes from just four votes on election night, over third-place finisher John “Jack” Yeager.

Over 5,000 additional votes were added to the total in the council race, since the total counted through last Tuesday, November 2. Harper had 8,617 votes, Agopian had 7,368 and Simonsen had 7,218 votes. Councilman Reggie Moore was in fourth place with 6,456 votes and Councilwoman Martha Parsons had 5,953.

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The following is the ballot pamphlet argument supporting the proposed half-cent sales tax increase in Antioch.

Antioch is struggling to maintain the services that protect our quality of life and keep our city safe. State takeaways of local money, combined with declining home values and decreased consumer spending have seriously impacted the city’s main sources of revenue – property and sales taxes.

The city continues to look at other ways to increase revenue, including working with public employees to obtain further voluntary pay and benefit concessions. However, this financial crisis is severe. In the last two years the city has cut $13 million and still faces a $4 million deficit. Twenty-five percent of the workforce has been eliminated, remaining staff has voluntarily cut their pay and benefits by $2.8 million and city hall is closed on Fridays.

Positions at the police department are left unfilled and there are 20 fewer police officers on duty than there were two years ago.

If we are to preserve our safe neighborhoods, additional funding is needed to prevent further police layoffs and to maintain police patrols and 911 response times.

Other city services that contribute to our quality of life also need additional funding, including fixing potholes and maintaining local streets and sidewalks and enforcing city codes to clean up abandoned properties.

This measure will provide a stable source of funding for these vital services and not one dollar can be taken by the state.

This measure also has strong accountability provisions, including an annual audit and a citizen oversight committee, to ensure the money is being spent as promised. And the measure will expire in eight years.

This measure will bring stable revenue that cannot be taken away by the state, has strong citizen oversight of spending and an annual audit. In order to maintain our police services and emergency response times and keep our community safe, please vote Yes.

The following is the ballot pamphlet argument against the proposed half-cent sales tax increase in Antioch.

Vote NO to increasing Antioch sales tax beyond the current record levels.

The tax dollars would NOT be dedicated to police services and public safety, the number one priority among citizens, but go to the general fund. The tax would not add police but “hopefully” allow a break even next year. It will NOT solve the crisis.

The proposed oversight is not binding and cannot legally be modified at a later time.

While all Californians have seen many increases in service fees and taxes, Antioch leaders have:

• Raised water rates a total of 60 percent
• Raised sewer rates a total of 30 percent
• Allowed garbage rates to climb 26 percent this year.

Logic and history tells us a local sales tax would negatively impact Antioch businesses and still not produce the income projected. It’s wrong to ask for more tax dollars at a time when so many families and businesses are struggling financially.

Economic development, business retention, reducing the city business permit process, constant budget reviews, pension reforms and contracting out more city services will help solve our fiscal crisis.

Vote NO to this tax increase. It is the wrong solution at the wrong time.