Contra Costa Herald

Supervisors Gioia, Glover support her efforts

By Scott Alonso, Public Information Officer, Office of the District Attorney, Contra Costa County 

Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton. From CCC website.

On Tuesday, Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton issued the following statement regarding the status of Contra Costa County’s Juvenile Hall and the Orin Allen Youth Rehabilitation Facility.

“These are historic times and we have an opportunity and a responsibility to re-imagine our justice system so that our youth have a greater chance to lead successful and enriching lives.

I am forming a Reimagine Youth Justice Task Force, which will include county departmental and community representatives, that will study and make recommendations on the most effective ways to invest in our justice involved youth through restorative, community-based solutions, with an initial focus on developing an effective process for closing Juvenile Hall.

Youth crime has been on a steady decline over the last twenty years, reinforcing the conclusion that moving away from youth incarceration is in the best interest of rehabilitation, public safety, and fiscal responsibility. Research has shown that youth can be better treated and rehabilitated in community contexts where they can retain ties to family, school, and their community. Programming and services which are based in the home or in the community are more successful at holding youth accountable and positively changing behavior than institutional settings.

Despite the steep decline in youth crime and consequent reduction in numbers of incarcerated youth, the money invested into the operation of youth prisons has not been reduced accordingly. Data shows that the average cost per incarcerated child in Contra Costa Juvenile Hall skyrocketing to over $473,000 per year.

The Reimagine Youth Justice Task Force will make explicit recommendations for financial investments in community-based services for youth instead of investing in youth prisons which have proven to result in worse outcomes for our children and families. Such an approach will allow for critical re-investments in basic needs such as housing, mental health services, and workforce development as well as support the creation of alternatives to incarcerating children in locked facilities.

In the meantime, we should pause and not take any actions to close the Orin Allen Youth Rehabilitation Facility until the Task Force has made its recommendations to the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors.

This transition is urgent. The Task Force should finish its efforts by the end of this year and make evidence-based recommendations for the process to close Juvenile Hall to the Board of Supervisors in January 2021. The Task Force will present a proposed timeline and transition process for closing Juvenile Hall and will identify alternative investments for our public dollars into community-based services and programming for youth. Implementing these recommendations will create a safer community and help youth get on the right track in their lives.”

“I support District Attorney Becton’s efforts to reimagine youth justice in our County,” said District 1 Supervisor John Gioia. “We need to move away from institutionalization of young people and instead invest in community based restorative justice solutions which make us safer and are more fiscally responsible.”

“I applaud District Attorney Diana Becton’s effort to examine restorative justice alternatives to simply incarcerating our county’s youth,” District 5 Supervisor Federal Glover said. “The factors that lead young people to run afoul of the law are as varied as the youth themselves. In many cases a service-oriented approach will achieve much more in rehabilitating and helping them to become productive members of our community.”

By Scott Alonso, Public Information Officer, Office of the District Attorney, Contra Costa County 

Paul Fielder.

On Wednesday July 29, 2020, Paul Fielder, a 60-year-old resident of Suisun City, California pleaded guilty to charges he sexually abused a minor under the age of 14. As a result of his guilty plea, Fielder was sentenced to 15 years in state prison and lifetime sex offender registration. Fielder was taken into custody on July 11, 2019 and has remained in custody since his arrest. The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Bryan Tierney. (See related article)

The charges are a result of an investigation by the Walnut Creek Police Department, in conjunction with the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and Homeland Security Investigations. On July 11, 2019, Fielder was arrested by Walnut Creek Police Detectives and Federal Agents when he arrived at a location to meet a minor to engage in sex. The investigation revealed Fielder had been sexually abusing a minor for several years. A search warrant was also served at his residence in Suisun City in Solano County.

Investigators learned Fielder had previously coached youth sports in Solano County and worked for at least one high school as a campus supervisor.

The investigation was conducted by a multi-agency Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which is managed by the San Jose Police Department. In Contra Costa County, detectives and investigators from the Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, Martinez, San Ramon, Concord and Moraga Police Departments, the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office, United States Secret Service, Homeland Security Investigations, the Contra Costa County Probation Department, and inspectors from the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office participate in the task force.

Parents are encouraged to discuss online safety with their children, and can visit the website www.kidsmartz.org or our website for further information.

Case information: People v. Paul Ruben Fielder, Docket Number 05-192507-2

House-passed legislation includes McNerney-sponsored provisions

Rep. Jerry McNerney

Stockton, CA – Included in the $1.3 trillion spending package recently passed by the House of Representatives are a number of key provisions championed by Congressman Jerry McNerney (CA-09) to tackle the climate crisis in addition to addressing the stability and modernization of America’s energy and water systems.

Among the funding secured by the Congressman are several national projects, including:

• funding for the Department of Energy (DOE) to bolster their work to combat the climate crisis, including through robust investments in grid modernization and security;
• funding for continued cloud aerosol research through the DOE, which will provide useful information for our carbon reduction plans, and for continued research through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to study atmospheric climate intervention modeling and technologies;
• and funding to strengthen our water infrastructure and for authorized flood and storm damage reduction, navigation, and environmental restoration projects.

Congressman McNerney also secured increased funding for operation and maintenance of the Port of Stockton to help the port ensure that its shipping channel – which is also the largest flood conveyance channel to the Delta – continues to be operational for navigation purposes.

“Climate change is accelerating and poses a growing threat to our country and the world,” said Congressman McNerney. “That is why I secured funding in this bill to ensure that federal agencies work to prepare for the climate crisis, including through research into carbon reduction and water sustainability, and to address regional issues facing our community such as flooding and annual maintenance dredging at the Port of Stockton.”

Additionally, the legislation includes an amendment from the Congressman which would direct DOE’s Energy Information Administration (EIA) to gather more robust analysis and data collection from EIA’s commercial and residential surveys – specifically with regards to water consumption – and would make water consumption data for commercial buildings publicly available and broken out by principal building activity and region.

Rep. McNerney proudly serves the constituents of California’s 9th Congressional District that includes portions of San Joaquin, Contra Costa, and Sacramento Counties. For more information on Rep. McNerney’s work, follow him on Facebook and on Twitter @RepMcNerney.

Contra Costa Community College Board Ward 5 candidate Fernando Sandoval from his Facebook page on July 14, 2020 and Delores Huerta from DeloresHuerta.org.

By Doreen Moreno

Community leader Fernando Sandoval is honored to announce the endorsement of Dolores Huerta, American labor leader and civil rights activist who, with Cesar Chavez, co-founded the United Farm Workers Union. Dolores Huerta, Founder of the Dolores Huerta Foundation for Community Organizing, leads the endorsement list of elected officials, community leaders, small business owners, and college faculty, staff and students in supporting him for Trustee of the Contra Costa Community College District Board for Ward 5.

Huerta is one of the century’s most powerful and respected labor movement leader who has received numerous awards for her trailblazing leadership, including being inducted into the California Hall of Fame in 2013 and receiving the country’s highest civilian honor in the United States, the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2012.

“Fernando Sandoval’s humble beginnings in the migrant camps of Isleton along the Sacramento River to his low-income childhood in East County to his career achievements as a technology and finance advisor to prestigious banking companies worldwide is a perfect example of the perseverance and contributions individuals from labor backgrounds provide our communities and this nation everyday,” said Dolores Huerta.

Huerta adds, “His personal upbringing gives him an understanding of both the barriers and benefits of how a quality education can open doors of opportunity to good paying jobs and the economic contributions to our families and the greater economy. Fernando’s experiences position him to be a bold leader with a vision and a strong voice for all students in the community college system to be prepared as the future workforce for reigniting our post pandemic economy.”

Sandoval added “I am deeply honored to have the endorsement of international labor leader Dolores Huerta who has given tirelessly of herself for over 60 years to advocate for worker’s rights and fair wages, for equality for women and LGBQT rights and for public policies that provide fair employment standards and access to quality health and education for our diverse communities and future leaders.”

In alignment with Huerta’s legacy, Sandoval has been continuously serving East County communities and the students in various roles, such as an advisory member of the Contra Costa Community College District’s committee on diversity, inclusion and equal employment opportunities.  He also Chaired the Bond Oversight Committee for modernization of schools at Pittsburg Unified School District (PUSD). Fernando has also organized mentoring, tutoring and motivational workshops for students at Los Medanos College and high schools throughout the area. This year he was recognized for his service by receiving the 2020 Cesar Chavez Award for Exemplary Community Service by Los Medanos College.

Fernando Sandoval is a published author of his memoir, “From Tortilla Chips to Computer Chips” that highlights his upbringing in a hard-working immigrant family, his experience in the U.S. Navy and Vietnam War and his career as a finance and technology management strategy advisor to top banking institutions worldwide.

From www.arcgis.com.

For more information about Fernando Sandoval for Contra Costa Community College District Board of Trustees, Ward 5, contact fernando4collegetrustee@gmail.com. Sandoval is challenging two-term incumbent Greg Enholm for the second time. He ran in 2016 but lost with 39.75% of the vote to Enholm’s 59.82% . Ward 5 includes the communities or cities of Clyde, Bay Point, Pittsburg, Oakley, Bethel Island, Knightsen, most of Antioch and Discovery Bay, and portions of Brentwood and Concord.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

By Josh Green, Media Specialist, U.S. Census Bureau

Festively decorated cars and bikes will roll through Concord August 6 to raise awareness about the safety and importance of the 2020 Census in those neighborhoods that still have many households that have not responded. The neighborhoods were selected because they have a high proportion of “hard-to-count” communities, which are populations that are historically undercounted in the census.

During the shelter-in-place months that everyone has endured, the caravans have been a fun, effective and socially distant way to remind people that they can still respond to the Census until September 30 using one of three methods: online at my2020census.gov, by phone at 844-330-2020, or using a paper questionnaire received in the mail.

In a week the biggest Census operation – called “Non-response Follow-up” (NRFU) – gets underway August 11. That’s when 500,000 census takers across the country fan out in thousands of neighborhoods to make sure every person gets counted. Households that self-respond do not get a visit from a census taker.

During the weeks leading up to NRFU the Census will focus on getting the self-response rate as high as possible in every part of the Bay Area.

The Census is reminding everyone that:

1. It is not too late for families to get counted online, by phone, or by mail. Anyone can go to my2020census.gov to self-respond.
2. Every person counts, no matter what their documentation status, nationality or location.
3. Participating local city officials and nonprofit partners want to see their cities and counties get a complete and accurate account.
4. Everyone should come out on their doorsteps with a mask to wave hello and support the 2020 Census!

Dear Editor:

I am writing in response to the recent Op Ed by Jon Coupal and Ernest Dronenberg about Prop 15, the Schools and Communities Funding Act of 2020. Prop 15 will, in fact, preserve all the protections that the 1978 Prop 13 provided to homeowners. And Prop 15 will preserve those property tax protections for Homeowners, Renters, Agricultural properties, and Small Business owners. Prop 15 will only reassess large commercial properties, currently assessed at over $3 million. The rest of the country regularly reassesses commercial properties. I’m sure our county assessors are capable of this work as they did it for many years before 1978.

Mr. Coupal and Mr. Dronenberg did not mention that Prop 15 will close a loophole that presently allows commercial properties to change ownership without being reassessed at their purchase price. When we homeowners purchase property, we have no such avoidance loophole. This loophole has allowed commercial properties to go under-assessed for many years. When this loophole is closed and reassessments are in place, Prop 15 will bring an annual revenue of an estimated $350 million to Contra Costa County.

This is money, that before 1978, the county collected almost equally from homeowners and commercial properties to pay for schools, libraries, street maintenance, local parks, and first responders. Now homeowners pay 72% of these costs.

It is important to note Prop 15 supports small businesses by allowing them to write off 100% of business personal property purchases. Large commercial businesses get to write off $500,000. of these purchases annually.

Prop 15 is about everyone paying their fair share to benefit our communities and our schools. Passing Proposition 15 will help California recover from years of under-investment. Now is the time to reinvest in our future and pass Prop 15.

Sincerely,

Carol Murota

Lafayette, CA

Change affects less than 25% of Contra Costa voters; polling places will be available

By Scott Konopasek, Assistant Registrar of Voters, Contra Costa County

For more than 560,000 vote-by-mail voters in Contra Costa County, voting will look the same as it always has. For the 160,000 voters who have not previously voted by mail, the November voting experience may be new.

To make sure these voters know they will receive a ballot in the mail and to help them successfully cast their votes, the Elections Division is reaching out with an informative direct mail piece this week. Voters who traditionally vote by mail will not receive the notification.

Voters receiving this mailing can update their signature on file by signing and returning the postage paid postcard.

According to Elections Office staff, there will also be approximately 120 polling places for those who want to vote in person. The locations have not been finalized as of  yet. Even the mandatory vote-by-mail precincts will have them, which they don’t usually do.

“While very few ballots are not counted because of unmatched signatures, we want voters to update their signature we have on file, if they believe their signature has changed.” said Debi Cooper, Clerk-Recorder-Registrar. “We want to be sure every ballot can be counted.”

Because ballots are mailed to a voter’s residence address, all voters should check their registration status and address on the County’s website www.cocovote.us or on the Secretary of State’s website www.sos.ca.gov to ensure they receive their ballot. Ballots are not forwardable.

Voters who wish to follow the status of their vote can track their ballot through the process by signing up for notifications at www.wheresmyballot.sos.ca.gov.

Detailed information on the vote by mail process in Contra Costa County can be found at https://www.cocovote.us/registration-and-voting-options/how-vote-by-mail-works/.

“I voted” stickers will be included with every vote by mail ballot for this election and return postage is already paid. Voters may also return their ballots at ballot drop boxes located throughout the County.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

The gun, multiple high-capacity magazines and ammunition found with the suspect on July 31, 2020. Photo by PPD.

Site of homeless program praised by Governor Newsom during June 30 press conference at the location

By Pittsburg Police Department

Motel 6 in Pittsburg. Photo by Motel 6.

On Thursday, July 30, 2020, Pittsburg officers responded to Motel 6 at 2101 Loveridge Road in Pittsburg, for  the report of a kidnapping during which the suspect, “pistol whipped” the female victim with a handgun causing a significant injury, threatened to kill her son, etc. The suspect was positively identified by the victim and Motel 6 cameras. The suspect in the Motel 6 incident was also found to have an active felony warrant for a similar pistol whip incident that occurred in the City of Oakland days prior. Furthermore, the suspect had just recently been released from prison and was on active parole for prior violent felonies convictions.

The motel was the site for a press conference by Governor Gavin Newsom about the state’s Project Roomkey and new Project Homekey programs on June 30. (See related article) UPDATE: However, according to Contra Costa Health Services spokesperson Kim McCarl, the program does not include the entire motel, and the victim and suspect involved in the incident, which occurred in the other building, were not part of it.

On Friday, July 31, Pittsburg officers were patrolling the area where the suspect was believed to frequent. Officers located the suspect exiting the same vehicle he was driving during the Motel 6 incident. The suspect fled from the vehicle on foot, a perimeter was established and a short time later he was apprehended without incident. The vehicle was searched, and the above pictured firearm was located inside along with multiple high-capacity magazines and ammunition. The suspect was transported to jail on multiple different charges. -P375

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors is seeking an individual to serve on the Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) as Public Representative on behalf of the County. The individual selected for this position must live in the unincorporated area of the County, be available to attend committee meetings on the 4th Wednesday of every month at 6:00 pm, normally held at the CCTA offices located at 2999 Oak Road, Suite 100, Walnut Creek, have the ability to review CAC agenda packets, and develop input on agenda items beforehand. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, meetings presently occur via videoconference. The individual will serve a four-year term in a volunteer capacity and be eligible for reimbursement for travel expenses.

The CCTA Citizen Advisory Committee reviews transportation programs and plans throughout the County (https://ccta.net/about-us/#what-we-do), with the objective of advising and providing recommendations to the CCTA Board of Directors. This includes transportation projects and programs funded by the county half-cent transportation sales tax (“Measure J”) (https://ccta.net/2018/10/17/measure-j), which CCTA oversees. CCTA maintains its standing CAC in order to provide citizen perspective, participation, and involvement in the Measure J-funded and voter-approved Transportation Expenditure Plan and Growth Management Program. The CAC members have an opportunity to learn about and influence transportation and growth issues within Contra Costa County and in other jurisdictions through scheduled presentations by transportation experts, advocates, and CCTA staff.

The deadline to apply is August 31, 2020. For more information on this position, please call (925) 674-7822. To apply, visit the Contra Costa County Boards and Commissions website at www.contracosta.ca.gov/6408, or download an application at www.contracosta.ca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/6433. Applicants can fax the completed form to the attention of Robert Sarmiento at (925) 674-7250.

“This blatant manipulation of the ballot label as well as the title and summary is in direct contravention of the Attorney General’s fiduciary duty to prepare impartial ballot material.” – Jon Coupal, President of Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association

Today, July 29, 2020, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association filed a lawsuit against California Attorney General Xavier Becerra for his abject failure to produce impartial ballot material related to Proposition 15, the “split roll” attack that seeks the partial repeal of Proposition 13.

Past criticism of Becerra’s bias has been vocal but has now reached a crescendo. Just this past week, editorial boards and columnists have lambasted Becerra. In fact, the specific deficiencies of Prop 15’s ballot label as well as the title and summary are well identified in the media reports themselves:

• ​ ​“The ballot title on Prop. 15 begins by stating that it ‘increases funding sources for public schools, community colleges and local government services.’ It would do so, it states, by ‘changing tax assessment – not raisingtaxes-on commercial and industrial property.” (John Diaz, California attorney general loads language on 2 November measures, The S.F. Chronicle, July 26, 2020, https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/diaz/article/California-attorney-general-loads-language-on-2-15434094.php, emphasis in original.)
• ​ ​“The title and summary of Proposition 15 are not only tilted toward one side,​ ​they are less than fully accurate. Property in California is not taxed on ‘purchase price.’ It’s taxed on fair market value at the time of purchase, adjusted annually, for inflation with increases capped at 2 percent per year… To say property is currently taxed on ‘purchase price’ conveys an impression that property taxes do not rise at all, which is misleading in a way that favors the measure’s proponents who seek to raise taxes. It’s also misleading, if not completely false, to state that​ ​Proposition 15 ‘increases funding sources.’ It doesn’t add new sources, it increases taxes on existing sources: businesses in California.” (The Editorial Board, Editorial: Biased ballot measure titles and summaries distort our democracy, Southern California News Group + Bay Area News Group, July 22, 2020, https://www.ocregister.com/2020/07/22/biased-ballot-measure-titles​-​and-summaries-distort-our-democracy/.)
• ​  ​“California Attorney General Xavier Becerra has once again written a biased ballot title and summary, which deliberately misleads voters about Prop. 15…” “The attorney general contorts the English language to avoid using the word ‘tax.’ Unfortunately, he can’t call Prop 15 a revenue increase, since, as the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office says, some rural governments could lose money if Prop 15 passes.” (Katy Grimes, Prop. 15: Messy Title, Feud With Signer, and Ironic Zuckerberg Contributions, California Globe, July 27, 2020, https://californiaglobe.com/section-2/prop-15-messy-title-feud-with-signer-and-ironic-zuckerberg-contributions/.)
• ​  ​“Rather than simply describe Proposition 15 for what it does, Becerra’s official title summarizes it this way: ‘Increases funding for public schools, community colleges, and local government services by changing tax assessment of commercial and industrial property.'” (Dan Walters, Becerra slants two ballot measure titles, CALmatters, July 27, 2020, “https://calmatters.org/commentary/dan-walters/2020/07/california-becerra-partisan-ballot-measure-titles/.)

“This blatant manipulation of the ballot label as well as the title and summary is in direct contravention of the Attorney General’s fiduciary duty to prepare impartial ballot material,” said Jon Coupal, President of Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

California voters are entitled by law to “a true and impartial statement of the purpose of the measure in such language that the ballot title and summary shall neither be an argument, nor be likely to create prejudice, for or against the proposed measure.” Instead, Attorney General Becerra has bowed to the political power of special interests who seek to hide from the voters that the measure they have put on the ballot is the biggest property tax increase in California history.