Council Member-Elect Thorpe not happy contracts extend beyond expiration of Measure C.

Plans afoot to hold oaths of office ceremony for new members on Thursday before regular meeting in December.

By Allen Payton

In an effort to get a variety of items approved before a new council member and possibly a new mayor take their oaths of office in December, the Antioch City Council will deal with an unusually full agenda with 21 items for discussion, including all of the employee contracts up for renewal, during their meeting Tuesday night, November 22nd.

While there’s no doubt that Lamar Thorpe was the top vote-getter in the council race in the November 8th election and will replace Councilwoman Mary Rocha, the race for mayor has not yet been decided. It has most likely been won by Dr. Sean Wright. But with only 129 votes between him and incumbent Antioch Mayor Wade Harper, it’s possible the outcome could change, as thousands of remaining ballots are counted by the County Elections office.

But, instead of waiting for the possibly two new council members to be seated, the current Council will have the opportunity to vote on the five-year contracts for each of the six employee groups that have been participating in negotiations, this year. Those include the contract for the Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3, Antioch Police Officers Association, Antioch police Sworn Management Association, the non-sworn Police Dispatcher Classification salaries, as well as the City’s Confidential and Management Units.

Recent council meeting agendas have been very light in comparison. The October 25th agenda only had three items on it, as did the October 11th agenda. The November 8th agenda was light, as well, with only five items. But, that was on Election Night. In comparison, tonight’s meeting has 19 items for discussion on the agenda.

The mayor and City Manager are the ones who set the council meeting agendas. An email was sent with the following questions: Must all the items on the agenda be decided tonight? Or can some of them wait until the one or two new council members are seated, forming a possible new majority with a different direction for the city, including spending?

As for the employee contracts, shouldn’t those wait to be voted on by the new council? Also, why five years instead of a more reasonable time-frame of three years, with the City facing future deficits and especially since the contracts will extend beyond the expiration of Measure C? Isn’t that part of the problem the City is currently facing, playing catch up, specifically with police hiring, from the six-year, rich contracts approved in 2007 by the Council, at that time? Is the Council not learning from history and repeating the mistakes of the past?

In response, City Manager Steve Duran wrote via email, “The Council asked for a lighter Agenda on election night 11/08 and so now they have to deal with a longer agenda on 11/22. Mayors and Council members are elected for a term of office and it is their duty to do the City’s business for the whole term.”

“It’s up to the sitting City Council if they want to postpone any items, but I would not recommend it and I hope people won’t play politics with things like the labor contracts that this Council, staff and union reps spend months negotiating in good faith,” he added.

Some of the contracts, such as the ones for police, are retroactive to and begin September 1^st or October 1^st of this year. They include such things as holiday pay for this Thursday, Christmas and New Year’s Day, so those contracts are time sensitive.

Only Duran responded to follow-up questions asking was it procrastination or merely a desire to get all the agenda items done at the last minute, with the current council, and what the City’s plan is if Measure C isn’t renewed or if revenues haven’t increased enough to replace those generated by Measure C.

“That will be up to the new City Council,” he wrote. “Measure C will be about $7 million a year.”

Neither Harper, nor any of the other council members responded to any of the same emailed questions.

Thorpe Responds

However, Council Member-Elect Lamar Thorpe and Dr. Sean Wright, who is possibly the next Mayor, received the same questions.

“I don’t know why the council agenda is so loaded,” Thorpe wrote. “However, I have grave concerns about the employee contracts because of the city’s inability to recognize and correct its poor spending decisions.”

“To ensure we’re able to keep city services at adequate levels, employee contracts – especially police contracts – should not extend beyond the expiration of Measure C funding,” he continued. “These contracts should be two or three years long until we can figure out where new revenue will come from.”

Wright did not respond before publication time.

In response to Duran’s comment about Measure C, the following additional questions were asked: So, this council will strap the future council with the responsibility for paying the bill when it comes due? Is that responsible governing?

Why not make the contracts only until the end of Measure C and then base new contracts on it’s renewal or failure or the city’s finances at that time? Doesn’t that make more sense?

Duran responded, “The labor contracts are on the Agenda for tonight. Responding to your questions in email would be a violation of the Brown Act (state open meeting law).”

An email was sent to City Attorney Michael Vigilia’s asking his opinion on that.

Oaths of Office Ceremony and Council Reorganization

Duran was the only one to respond to questions about the idea of scheduling the oaths of office ceremony and council reorganization to Thursday, December 8th instead of the traditional second Tuesday in December, which would be on the 13th.

“The idea is to take the time to recognize any outgoing members and give the new and re-elected officials a night to celebrate with family and friends rather than squeezing the ceremonial stuff between closed session and regular agenda items and it’s best to have our new Council deal with closed session items on the 13th after they are sworn in on the 8^th,” he wrote. “You will notice that we have no closed session items tonight. There is only one regular Council meeting in December and the agenda is not set yet, but anything that cannot wait until January 10th will hit the 12/13th agenda, so it could be a longer than average meeting.”

Follow up questions asking if the council could hold a special meeting either next Tuesday, November 29th or on Tuesday, December 6th to deal with the agenda items planned for December 13th, did not receive a response prior to publication time.

The County Elections office has until December 8th to certify the election. However, County Clerk Joe Canciamilla expects for the ballot count to be completed by Friday, December 2nd. As of last Friday’s update, Wright was leading Harper in the Mayor’s race by 129 votes, with approximately 50,000 ballots left to be counted in the county. How many of those were from Antioch was not known.

 

By Allen Payton

With the latest results from the County Elections office, released on Friday afternoon, November 18th, Dr. Sean Wright’s lead over incumbent Wade Harper in the Antioch Mayor’s race narrowed by another 30 votes to just 129. The difference in votes is less than half a percent.

According to Paul Burgarino, Community Education and Engagement Specialist for the Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder-Elections Department “This update will include the balance of the vote by mail ballots that we received on Election Day at the polls, as well as in the mail through this past Monday. It is expected that this update will add roughly 22,000 votes to our totals.”

According to County Clerk Joe Canciamilla, there are about “50,000 ballots left to count with 32,000 provisional and 25,000 ballot cards for remakes (not full ballots) and probably 8,000 under review.”

“I would not expect much change (in the outcome of the Mayor’s race),” he continued. “This batch was 23,000. So for it to flip would require a massive move.”

“Not all the remakes are full cards and not all provisionals will count,” Canciamilla added.

“Asked if there’s an automatic recount if the difference is less than 1% he responded, “Recounts are not automatic. There is no provision. And it would be very expensive.”

Asked when the next update would be provided, he replied, “Next Wednesday (November 23rd). Then probably nothing until our final on the following Friday (December 2nd).”

The County Elections office has until December 8th to certify the election results. Results in the county can be seen on www.cocovote.us by clicking on the November 8, 2016 Election Results tab.

By Allen Payton

In an unexpected turn of events, the race for Mayor of Antioch between Dr. Sean Wright and incumbent Wade Harper narrowed, Tuesday night, following the latest count of the remaining ballots from last week’s election. As of the last update on Thursday, November 10^th, Wright was in the lead by 229 votes. That lead has shrunk by 70 votes to just 159.

The results, posted at 4:56 p.m. on the County Elections website, www.cocovote.us, shows Wright with 34.78% of the vote to Harper’s 34.21%.

There are still over 100,000 ballots to count in the county. According to County Clerk and Registrar of Voters Joe Canciamilla, they “still have probably another 50,000 after this plus, 32,000 provisionals and 30,000 remakes.”

Remakes, he said are “Damaged ballots that can’t go through the scanners. People have crossed things out torn them, spilled coffee, many changed their minds on props and crossed out and drew arrows.”

“We have staff in teams reviewing, then they have to copy the votes onto a clean ballot so it can be scanned,” Canciamilla continued. “They can also be described as special handling. Very labor intensive.”

He also said the next update will be provided this Friday, November 18th.

After learning of the latest results, some Antioch residents, concerned that Harper may be re-elected, are already discussing starting a recall against him on social media. However, if he does win they will have to wait until Harper has been in office at least 90 days before serving him with a recall petition.

In a comment on Kip Stephens’ post on his Facebook page asking, “How long?” the election results will take to be finalized, Linda Hudson wrote, “Kip I’ll help you get he signatures if Harper wins to have him recalled!”

Stephens responded, “Linda we are already conforming a team for that and you are on it.”

Former council candidate Fred Rouse then wrote, “Add me.”

By Allen Payton

What if they held a protest and almost no one showed up? That’s pretty much what happened at the Antioch Marina between 8:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., Thursday night, November 10th.

Just before 7:00 p.m., Thursday night, a Herald reporter received via text from an acquaintance in Antioch, an ad promoting an anti-Trump protest scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. at 5 Marina Plaza in Antioch, which is the address of the Antioch Marina.

Labeled as “A movement to fight racism, sexism, homophobia and Islamaphobia” with the social media address of #ResistTrump, the “Protest Trump in Antioch” possibly attracted two small groups of individuals. One group made up of about six people who appeared to be in the late teens to late 20’s got out of three cars parked near the entrance to the Antioch Marina parking lot. However, none of them had any protest signs with them, nor were they displaying any hats or shirts indicating any protest of the president-elect.

Four police cars rolled up and officers got out and let the suspected protesters know that the parking lot closed at dusk, as the sign, located right next to where they park, described. However, the parking lot is open to those with boats at the marina. They got back into their cars and drove away.

Another group of about six young people, who appeared the same age as the first group, walked by through the turn-around circle at the end of L Street near the entrances of both the marina and boat launch parking lots. The boat launch parking lot is off limits to everyone except boaters, 24-hours a day. That group just kept walking across the street, onto the crosswalk, and continued heading south on L Street toward the Antioch Police Facility. None of them were carrying protest signs either. So there was no indication they were actually there for a protest.

Two police officers remained until about 8:45 p.m. blocking the entrance to the marina parking lot, leaving enough room for any boaters who might need access. Only two cars drove past during that time. The officers also turned away a few more cars that drove around the circle. As he said he was ordered, the final officer remained at the marina parking lot until 9:00 p.m.

By Allen Payton

In the District 3 race for Contra Costa County Supervisor, East Bay Regional Parks District Director Diane Burgis beat Brentwood City Council Member during Tuesday’s elections by a wide margin of 59.45% to 40.31%.  In the hard fought battle to replace outgoing three-term incumbent Mary Nejedly Piepho, Burgis placed second in the primary behind Barr, but was able to best him in the General Election.

The latest results from the County Elections office, as of Thursday afternoon give the former Oakley Councilwoman 31,287 votes to 21,580 for Barr, a former Liberty Union High School District Board Trustee. There were another 131 write-in votes in the contest. But, as of Wednesday, there were about 180,000 votes left to be counted in the county, according to County Clerk Joe Canciamilla. That represented almost 37% of the vote.

Burgis issued a statement on Veterans Day, Friday, November 11th, offering her thanks for the victory.

“I am honored to have earned the vote—and the trust—of tens of thousands of voters in District Three. I look forward to representing our community as Supervisor for the next four years.

Since this campaign first began, I have had the privilege to meet thousands of our neighbors and community members, and hear their stories as a candidate for Supervisor. I am so grateful to all of those that gave our campaign their time as we sat down at kitchen tables, in offices or on people’s doorsteps.

My heart has grown a few sizes as I have met countless people who are absolutely dedicated to their community. People who are willing to fight for what is right, take time out of their busy day and work diligently to make our County a better place. It gives me great hope for our community.

I am proud of what we have built here in East County and I am committed to helping us meet our potential. I look forward to what we will accomplish, now that the hard work of campaigning begins to transition to the hard work of governing.

I particularly want to thank everyone who has joined my campaign and gave countless hours in serving our community. Including dozens of local leaders, hundreds of dedicated volunteers and our bravest citizens: our sheriffs, firefighters, nurses and police.

Now we must look forward and work together to accomplish our priorities: faster fire and emergency medical response times, more effective community policing, a pristine Delta, a balanced budget, a strong public transportation network and reduced traffic.

I look forward to working with you as we do what we can to improve our community.

Please visit www.dianeburgis.com to sign up for updates. Thank you.”

The County Elections office has until December 8th to certify the election. Burgis will take her seat on the Board of Supervisors following that.

Principal marched with them, Pittsburg Superintendent downplays, Antioch Police Chief wants answers

By Lieutenant Tony Morefield #3320, Antioch Police Watch Commander Patrol Division and Antioch Police Chief Allan Cantando

On Thursday, November 10, 2016, at approximately 10:04 AM, the Antioch Police Department received word from the Pittsburg Police Department of a large (Anti-Trump) protest of approximately 200 to 400 Pittsburg High School Students along with their Principal headed into the City of Antioch. These protestors headed through Century Plaza in Pittsburg and into Antioch on Auto Center Way and Sycamore Drive, causing significant hazard and traffic delays in the area.

They then made their way to the Antioch High School campus in an apparent effort to involve students there. Antioch High was placed on lockdown, but this did not stop the protestors from damaging school property (knocking down fences and kicking over trash cans) before leaving that campus and heading toward Antioch Middle School. Antioch Middle was also placed on lockdown as was Live Oak High School and nearby Fremont Elementary School due to the protest, though the protestors never made it that far.

These Pittsburg High protestors continued to cause havoc on Antioch campuses and in the surrounding neighborhoods for over two hours and 15 Antioch Police Officers were tied up dealing with this protest causing a significant strain on resources. Evening shifts to be called in early. This resulted in numerous priority calls for service in the city having to wait for officers to respond.

Three male juveniles, ages 13, 15 and 17, all Pittsburg residents, were arrested during the protest: one for throwing a dangerous object at a police car, trespassing on school grounds and being a disruptive presence at school, one for inciting a fight with an area resident, trespassing on school grounds and resisting a police officer, and one for assaulting a police officer.

There is no estimate on any damage caused to Antioch High or Antioch Middle School at this time. It appears that very few Antioch students were involved in this incident. Most of the Pittsburg High Students eventually walked back to Century Plaza in Pittsburg and a few were rounded up onto school buses and taken back to their campus.

Chief Cantando Responds, Shares Pittsburg Superintendent’s Message

“In a post on the Antioch Police Department’s Facebook page at about 3:30 p.m., Chief Allan Cantando wrote the following:

“Many of you have inundated our department with inquiry regarding the incident on Century Blvd., Sycamore Dr., and in front of Antioch High School regarding student protestors in our city. Your observations were correct. Today, at approximately 10:00 AM students from Pittsburg High School and Black Diamond High School (in Pittsburg) marched to the City of Antioch and blocked traffic, knocked over garbage cans, assaulted one of our police officers, and trespassed at Antioch High School trying to incite Antioch High School students who were in class. As a result, three Pittsburg students were arrested.

The actions of these students caused the Antioch Unified School District (AUSD) to respond by locking down Antioch High School, Antioch Middle School, Live Oak High School, and Fremont Elementary School. During this incident, these students were accompanied by Pittsburg High School Principal, Todd Whitmire. We are still confirming, but there is some indication that this incident began as a rally at Pittsburg High School.

This incident tied up 15 Antioch Police Officers for approximately 2 hours.

During this incident I was in direct contact with AUSD Superintendent, Stephanie Anello, who immediately took a leadership role in assisting our department. During my conversation with Anello, I requested she contact Pittsburg Unified School District (PUSD) Superintendent Schulze to send an automated message to the Pittsburg students’ parents indicating that their children were off campus, out of the city of Pittsburg, and involved in a protest in Antioch. Approximately two hours later, the following statement was issued by Pittsburg Unified School District Superintendent, Janet Schulze:

‘This Presidential election has been especially emotional. In dealing with differences and moving forward, we have to respect feelings and work in community. Today some of our high school students, like many across the Bay Area and country, organized, via social media, a peaceful protest and walk-out to protest the Presidential election.

The District always prefers to have all students in class, however, we do understand some students are passionate about the recent election.

Our staff and Pittsburg Police Department followed procedures to insure their safety, which is always a top priority. Some of the students returned to the high school and a group of approximately 200 students headed towards Antioch High School. The District informed Antioch High School and sent busses to pick up students outside Antioch High School.

Unfortunately, a small number of the students were unresponsive to directives to return to school and get on the bus. Another group of students decided to walk back to the high school. Those situations will be managed on an individual basis and students will receive appropriate consequences for their behaviors.

At this time, students have returned to school. We appreciate the professionalism and cooperation of the Antioch High School staff and the Antioch Police Department in working with us and the Pittsburg Police Department to insure all students remain safe.’

Although I appreciate the comments made by PUSD Superintendent Schulze, the statement is extremely brief and does not adequately portray the incident. This incident raises serious concerns as it impacted the police services to our Antioch citizens as well as to the Pittsburg Citizens. Because of the impact to the City of Antioch, I will be attending the next PUSD board meeting to ask several questions including:

1. Was there a school or district sanctioned Anti-Trump rally?

2. Did school or district staff encourage the protest?

3. Was school staff aware the students planned on leaving the campus?

4. Were parents aware that their students would be participating in the rally?

5. When students left the campus, were they supervised? If so, by whom?

6. What is the district policy regarding student to staff supervision ratios during off-campus activities?

7. When the students left the campus, when and how were parents informed?

8. If the students were supervised, will the district take disciplinary action against the students who committed criminal acts?

9. What was the schools plan or policy to deal with a child who may be injured during an off campus protest should it occur?

Lastly, I am extremely proud of our officers, AUSD staff, AUSD students, Pittsburg Police Department, and the citizens who patiently waited for us to respond to their calls for service.”

Antioch School District Message to Parents

Anello shared the message sent out to parents, Thursday afternoon, through the auto-dialer from Associate Superintendent for Educational Services, Dr. Adam Clark regarding the incident yesterday.

Good afternoon,

This morning a large number of students from Pittsburg High School walked out of school to protest. These students traveled on foot to Antioch High School and attempted to convince other students to join their protest. Police from Antioch and Pittsburg were there to ensure that all students remained safe. As a precautionary measure, Antioch High, Antioch Middle, Fremont, and Live Oak all locked down for approximately one half hour. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have further questions or concerns.

Thank you,

Adam

Antioch High Principal’s Message

In an email message to school district staff, Antioch High School Principal Louie Rocha thanked his school’s staff and students for how they responded to the situation and reported that some Pittsburg High students made it onto the Antioch campus.

I want to commend our school staff for their collective effort in securing our campus during the School Lockdown. Thanks to the team work of our site safety security, front office staff, teachers, school administrators and students we were able to prevent our students from being in harm’s way of a large number of Pittsburg High School students who walked out of school this morning and attempted to enter our campus.

There was a small group of Pittsburg students who were able to gain access via the Don Richardson Gym entrance. The non-students ran through the PE area and exited out of campus on to 18th Street. The Antioch and Pittsburg Police Departments arrived on site to prevent the non-students from disrupting our school day. We had a small number of AHS students who exited the main entrance gate to join the unruly crowd. However once I informed them that I was going to lock down the school preventing them from re-entering they decided to return to campus without incident. The Pittsburg High School students continued down 18th and G Streets.

The lockdown continued because the non-students returned back to 18th Street in front of our main entrance and were escorted by the Antioch and Police Departments back to L Street in the direction of the city of Pittsburg. At that point, classes were released to their regular school schedule to their 5th period classes or first lunch.

I am proud of the team work demonstrated today and our students conduct when faced with unruly students from another high school. I am looking forward to the Veteran’s Day Holiday, and wish all of you an enjoyable weekend with your family and friends.

Louie Rocha

Principal of Antioch High School

Another Protest in Concord

At approximately 9:00 a.m. a witness reported a seeing a group of protesters walking on the Olivera Road overpass, above Route 242 in Concord, blocking traffic. They appeared to be of high school age and possibly from Mt. Diablo High School, nearby. A short time later, a police officer said the overpass was cleared, as the protesters had reached the other side, near Glenbrook Middle School.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

Dear Editor:

I take pride in knowing that our Democracy has once again allowed the people to exercise their right to vote. I also take pride in the fact that so many people voted for me in this election. Concession statements are hard, but are needed.

I wish congratulations to all the winners of the City of Antioch election. I know the final votes are not in, or certified, but I also know that with such a margin, this time, I will not accomplish the goal of obtaining a seat at the table. It was a well-fought campaign. And I am very proud that we stayed above the fray and respectfully debated and let the people decide the outcome.

I thank the more than 1,700 residents and community members that cast their vote for me in this election. I assure you that I will continue to fight for our needs as a City and as neighbors. I truly appreciate your support.

I thank my family for the support and kind words during the last 18 months of this effort. I love you, and let me assure you that I have used this effort to better myself, and to remember who I am.

Although I am disappointed by the outcome, I am not giving up in my growth and I will continue to be an active citizen in the process of repairing the City that I live in. I sincerely hope you will take similar actions in your Cities so that all communities will tackle today’s challenges.

I am very lucky for the great love and support of my wife Tina Chavez-Rouse. Her never-ending confidence in me, not only in my entire life (we met in High School), but her focused support of me during the last 18 months, has been a gift from God. She spoke up for me, collected signatures, helped me place signs, let us spend our family money, and helped me sculpt my statements.

Finally, to the people who did not vote for me. We have yet to meet. You have yet to hear my words, and get to know me. I think if I work hard, you will know me. And possibly then, we will, together, really take on the challenge of change. Remember, even at our City level, a small local race can change your life. Thank you.

Frederick Rouse

Antioch

By Allen Payton

According to County Clerk-Recorder-Registrar of Voters Joe Canciamilla, there are still about 180,000 ballots to be counted in the county. As of the update Wednesday morning at 1:03 AM on the County Elections website, there were 305,123 ballots that were counted. That means about one-third of the ballots cast in Tuesday’s elections have yet to be counted.

“We have approximately 150,000 ballots in house and are expecting more as we pick up the boxes from the City Clerks, and from the mail-in ballots that can be received until Monday,” Canciamilla responded. “I would estimate that we will ultimately have around 180,000 in total.”

“We are having extra crews in today and tomorrow to process as much of the vote-by-mail that we can and hope to have two updates of the results, tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon,” he continued. “The balance of the ballots will not be completed until next week as we will have to process all of the regular ballots and update our records before we can finish with the provisionals.”

A provisional ballot is one that is turned in at the polls by a voter not voting in their assigned precinct. Those ballots get counted last.

For the latest elections information in the county, visit www.cocovote.us. For state and federal races visit the California Secretary of State’s website at http://vote.sos.ca.gov/.