Alex John Astorga

Candidate for Antioch City Council, District 4

Owner, Napravit Incorporated

Top Issues:  

1. Antioch Police Department – we need to foster a trust relationship and reimagine public safety for the 21st Century.
2. Housing and Zoning creating a sense of community
3. How can we best position Antioch as we emerge from the pandemic?

1. 1. What kind of businesses/jobs?
   2. How do we encourage diversity hire?
2. Jobs and training

Accomplishments: I am most proud of my unpaid work.

1. Volunteered for 2, yearlong phase 2 drug efficacy trials.
2. Volunteered for LGBT community outreach
3. Planted trees in El Segundo, CA
4. As an IT Project Manager, I delivered a construction project for AAA (CSAA).

What I bring to the table: I am an IT Project Manager and worked for the City Palo Alto for over four years. I understand enterprise applications and how to utilize them to provide City services effectively.

As a Project Manager, I understand budgets and can effectively prioritize the tasks to achieve the goal. My budgeting experience spans City, County, Federal governments, and global corporations and small businesses.

Facebook Page – alexastorga4antioch

YouTube – alexastorga4antioch

Instagram – alexastorga4antioch

Alexastorga4antioch@gmail.com

(925) 776-4383

Size 9.5

Editor’s Note: Astorga was the only candidate who responded to a joke the Herald included in the email asking for their profiles, photos and shoe size.

Dear Editor:

I am proud to endorse Jim Davis for another four-year term as Treasurer of the City of Antioch. Jim is a class act. He is dignified, professional, knows money and city governance. I first met him 11 years ago when he was working in the banking industry and sharing his expertise in the role of Antioch’s Mayor. I know him to be smart, honorable and able to connect with people across all levels of the government and the community.

Perhaps the one memory of Jim which stands out most to me when it comes to his commitment to the people of Antioch, is high-level meetings we attended in Washington DC advocating for funding and legislation which supported the economic growth of East Contra Costa.

What I know of Jim, I believe he is the best candidate to serve in the role of Treasurer and help Antioch move forward securing opportunities and addressing challenges for the finances of Contra Costa County’s second-largest city.

Angela Lowrey

Oakley, CA

Antwon Webster Sr.

Candidate for Antioch City Council, District 3

Member, Antioch Board of Administrative Appeals since June 2019.

Global Logistics Coordinator, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers

Top Issues:

• Safety and Crime Reduction: Funding our Police Officers and Supporting Community Policing Efforts
• Economic Development: Business development training and capital to support the growth and stability of our local industry and small businesses.
• Transparent Government: Fostering transparent government through increased clarity about decision-making and resident education on how our tax dollars are spent.
• Youth Development Outreach: Focusing on the future of Antioch through the development of youth outreach programs.

Top Accomplishments:

• $2 Million Delta Project Turbine Replacement: Provided budget and timeline management for replacement of a $1.5 Million hydroelectric turbine. Remained under cost, and on time.
• COVID-19 Temporary Emergency Hospitals: Working under pressure, and time constraints, provide an itemized list of cost and availability of equipment required to outfit a temporary COVID-19 hospital rooms for 3 different locations in Northern California.
• Established a Forward Economic Development Association with the sole purpose of informing and improving the practical well-being of under-resourced, businesses, communities and economies.

AntwonWebster.com

(925) 204-5482

Antwon@AntwonWebster.com

Lori Ogorchock

Elected to the Antioch City Council in 2014

Small Businessperson/Realtor

I have a big heart and genuinely care about people; and once I set my mind to doing something, I won’t give up.  Your trust in me has enabled us to    accomplish many things together.

• COVID-19 Assistance for Seniors – Whether it’s delivering meals, providing resource information, or leading a team of volunteers to clean/repair seniors’ homes … WE MUST continue to protect Antioch’s seniors.
• More Police, not Less – Since being elected, we’ve hired 20 additional police officers. Crime is down. Chokeholds are banned, but we need to do better. I support body cams for every officer, NOT “defunding the police.” I’m proud to be supported by our Antioch Police Officers.
• Helping Victims of Domestic Abuse – Together we celebrated the opening of Antioch’s Family Justice Center, where victims of domestic violence, elderly abuse and human trafficking can get hands-on help/support.
• First to Stand Up – I marched with Black Lives Matter, organized Antioch’s first women’s march for equality, brought Antioch’s first Veterans’ Memorial Banners to honor our fallen servicemembers.

I am here to serve you and am honored to be working on your behalf.

Ogorchock@comcast.net

Cell (925) 628-7764

https://www.loriogorchock.net/

 

Editor:

It is very important that I make myself clear.  Regardless of the fact that there are photos of me on early positive flyers supporting Sean Wright’s campaign, before the attack flyers against Lamar Thorpe  were designed and distributed, I had shifted my support to Gabriel Makinano for Mayor and here is why.

Back a few years ago when many of us in the community were trying to find a better way forward for our youth of all race and ethnic groups, I met  a young man named Gabriel Makinano who had the same mission and passion as the rest of us and aligned  and partnered his organization with the Youth Intervention Network team.

Most of you know about the work YIN was able to accomplish with youth who were struggling  and it was recognized by the United Nations and Attorney General Eric Holder after we saw the first 100 youth of all colors and economic status who finished the initiative go from a 1.0 GPA to an average of 3.5 and go to college after graduation.

This city was united with our police department, beginning with Chief Jim Hyde, and later Chief Allan Cantando, and now Chief Tammany Brooks. Over 300 residents of all racial backgrounds spent a full 40 hours with our Northern Irish team and then went through background checks to work with families.

During all of this, Gabe and his team were strong participants, allies and partners. He and his organization have and continue to make a tremendous contribution to our youth and our community.

Gabriel Makinano is loving and humble, and will be an amazing mayor

Iris Archuleta, JD

Antioch

Nichole Gardner for Antioch City Council-District 3

Founder & Director, Facing Homelessness in Antioch and LMCHD Board Administrative Assistant

Top Issues: Homelessness and Affordable Housing, Cleaning up blight and City beautification, and increase high-quality youth programs to keep kids out of trouble.

Top Accomplishments: Fought for the establishment of public health measures to deal with homeless encampments like porta-potties, dumpsters, and sharp   dispensers. Coordinated community clean-ups throughout the city including homeless encampments and shopping centers. Launched after school events that focused on anti-bullying.

www.nicholeforantioch.com

Facebook.com/nicholegardner forcitycouncil2020

Phone:925.414.4222

n.gardner4antiochcitycouncil@gmail.com

Instagram: nichole_gardner4citycouncil

Editor:

Ward 5 of the Community College Board needs change – Enholm must go!

Ward 5 of the Contra Costa Community College District, including Bay Point, Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Knightsen and Bethel Island, is badly in need of new leadership. The current Trustee for this area, Greg Enholm, has engaged in poor decisions, erratic behavior, and unethical acts that have not served the District, Los Medanos College in particular, very well.

This is not new, but enough is enough.

When the Board of Trustees approved in a 4-1 vote the building of the new Campus located in Brentwood, on donated land, with an approved Bond Measure E in 2014, Enholm continued to oppose its construction. An alternative site would have taken years for approval adding costs for acquisition of land and increased taxes. The new campus was needed as the existing leased building in a retail district of Brentwood was over-capacity. In 2016 Enholm also recommended the residents of the nearby Trilogy community sue the District to keep its construction at bay.

This opposition caused numerous delays, added hundreds of thousands of dollars to the cost due to litigation, and for a time imperiled the use of the approved Bond as expenditures needed to begin within an approved time. Covid-19 has impacted its opening, but the students will be served well by this new educational facility.

Especially troubling has been allegations of multiple ethics violations by Enholm that have recently come to light. He has not denied the allegations. The allegations were found to be true by an investigator of the District which included inappropriately trying to get a friend re-classified to be considered for a top-level position as well as ghost-writing an email to the District. As part of the investigation it was noted that Enholm went directly to the Chancellor to ask him to reconsider his friend for the position even though the person was already deemed to be unqualified for the position.

Of late, with the District facing challenges due to COVID-19, he also voted to terminate upper-level district managers, ignoring numerous requests from faculty and classified staff to reconsider that decision. Enholm has stopped listening to the faculty, staff, and his constituents and has engaged in recent actions that have put our District’s financial future at risk.

It is time for new leadership on the Contra Costa Community College District Board: Elect Fernando Sandoval.

Valerie T Lopez

Pittsburg

 

Claims Wright is “out of touch”…“with Antioch’s values” because of positions on issues his political party has taken, not him; Thorpe admits one attack was incomplete, referring to it as “A small error…”

By Allen Payton

During the continued battle for votes , in an email sent out on Saturday, October 10, Antioch Councilman Lamar Thorpe, a candidate for mayor, attacked Mayor Sean Wright giving misleading statements about two of Wright’s votes on the council, and injected more partisan politics into the race for the non-partisan position.

Following is the portion of Thorpe’s email that includes the attacks on Wright.

Date: October 10, 2020 at 7:39:46 AM PDT

Subject: WOW! Republican Endorsements…
Reply-To: Lamar Thorpe for Mayor! <lamar@lamarthorpe.com>

At the bottom of Thorpe’s email it reads, Paid for by Lamar Thorpe, Antioch Mayor 2020  FPPC: 1432877

Thorpe’s email refers to a postcard Wright’s campaign mailed to Democrat voters in Antioch the previous week with endorsements by local, registered Democrats with the words, “Mayor Sean Wright Shares OUR VALUES”.

Thorpe’s email reads about Wright, “WOW!!! Last week TRUMP REPUBLICAN candidates like my opponent Mayor Sean Wright wanted you to believe they were Democrats. They are not. Although I’m not surprised, he did vote against my police reform proposal, voted against housing homeless families, voted against cannabis retailing and manufacturing, and the list goes on.”

Thorpe admits the latter attack on Wright’s votes on cannabis businesses was incomplete, saying it was “A small error on my part.”

While Wright voted against forming the Cannabis Business Overlay Districts on May 22, 2018, then again on June 26, 2018 (see related articles, here and here), he voted for all four cannabis businesses that have applied for permits in Antioch. Wright voted with three other council members in favor of the first cannabis retail store in the city on April 23, 2019, located on W. 10th Street, with only Councilmember Lori Ogorchock opposing. (See related article) Then he, along with the rest of the council members voted for another retail cannabis store on W. 10th Street on June 25, 2019. (See related article) Wright also voted for a cannabis business on Wilbur Avenue which was approved by the city council on Sept. 10, 2019 on a 4-1 vote with only Councilmember Lori Ogorchock opposing. That location includes cannabis cultivation, manufacturing, dispensary and delivery. (See related article)

Regarding the police reform proposals, while Wright didn’t support Thorpe’s two-councilmember ad hoc committee on police reform, whose meetings could be held in secret and not required to follow the state’s open meeting laws, Wright supported having all five council members participate in forums on police reform and race relations in Antioch. Thorpe and fellow Councilmember Monica Wilson opposed that, and Thorpe went silent for the remainder of the council meeting when asked for his input and ideas on and who to include in the forums. (See related article)

Earlier this year, Thorpe proposed 13 reforms for the police department, including those that are part of the 8 Can’t Wait national effort, five of which, according to Police Chief T Brooks, that have been or are already being implemented. (See related article) Thorpe’s own press release about it admits two of the 8 Can’t Wait reforms are “already an Antioch policy”. (See related article) In addition, the first of the eight, “Ban police use of chokeholds and strangleholds, including the carotid restraint”, was recently banned statewide by the governor signing into law a bill on the issue.

The attack, while misleading, is accurate because the vote on forming the ad-hoc committee did include Thorpe’s five reform proposals. However, Wright did not support approving any of them before receiving input from the public through the forums.

Thorpe Explains, Admits to Incomplete Information

When asked about his email and why it contained information that was clearly false, Thorpe responded in an email clarifying his accusations.

“Sean did vote against my police reform proposal,” he wrote. “My proposal to establish a police reform ad-hoc (committee) was very clear and specific and was voted down in a 3/2 vote. Following is a quote from my press release, which you have cited on multiple occasions: ‘At the Tuesday, June 9, 2020, Antioch Council meeting, Councilmember Thorpe will call for the formation of a City Council Ad-Hoc Committee on Police Reforms to be composed of council members, legal advisers, police leaders, police union representatives, and community advocates. The role of the committee will be to examine potential long-term reforms in the following areas: 1. Demilitarize our local police 2. Increase police accountability 3. Improved police hiring practices 4. Excessive use of force 5. Budget appropriations.’ Here is the vote: https://www.antiochca.gov/government/city-council-meetings/06-18-20/”

“On June 18, 2020, the council majority opted for a ‘larger conversation’ that is now called ‘Bridging the Gap’ and seems to be rooted in the idea of police-community relations,” Thorpe explained. “Please note, after almost five months, no larger conversation has taken place because of the bureaucratic process, which we could have bypassed with my police reform proposal to establish an ad-hoc.”

“In terms of cannabis retailing and manufacturing, I’m talking about policy, not applications, Sean did vote against the cannabis policy and zoning overlay. I should have included the word ‘policy’, ‘legislation’, ‘proposal’ or ‘ordinance’ following that phrase. I did use these phrases on my website and campaign material. A small error on my part.”

“Here is the meeting where he voted no and specifically attributed his ‘No’ vote to cannabis retailing: https://www.antiochca.gov/government/city-council-meetings/05-22-18/,” Thorpe shared. “The Herald reported about it here: http://antiochherald.com/2018/05/22-ah03/”

“Had we moved in the direction Mayor Wright recommended, the council would not have been able to consider the cannabis retail applications that followed,” he stated. “These retailers have resulted in the creation of high wage jobs, over $1 million in new city revenue, thousands of dollars to support local nonprofits like Beat the Streets, and additional revenue for the police department.”

“We were in a rush to get that out and I should have included that information,” Thorpe added about the email message.

Attempts to reach Wright for comment were unsuccessful prior to publication. Please check back later for any updates to this report.