Contra Costa Herald

Photo courtesy of MTC.

Program usage surged 23 percent last month

For drivers frustrated with a long, grueling commute, it’s never been a better time to look into vanpooling, thanks to the new Bay Area Vanpool Program, which provides direct subsidies to both new and existing vanpools.  A $9.5 million commitment approved by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) in July 2018 allows qualifying vanpools that rent their vehicles through Commute With Enterprise, a service of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, to reduce the cost of their van rates by $350 a month, initially for the next five years.

More than 500 commute vanpools currently operate in the nine-county Bay Area, and MTC hopes the subsidy will grow the fleet to more than 800 vans over the next several years. The first Bay Area Vanpool Program subsidies were distributed in November 2018 to 71 separate vanpools, a number that rose last month to 88 vanpools.

“Vanpooling is a good option for commuters traveling 20 miles or more each way and who have pretty regular schedules,” said Megan Nangle, program manager for MTC’s Bay Area Vanpool Program. “More and more people are needing to commute farther given the Bay Area housing market, so vanpooling is becoming a good choice for more commuters.”

A vanpool typically consists of seven to 15 people commuting to and from home to work; often with two or three participants sharing the driving. If the vanpool includes seven people, the Bay Area Vanpool Program subsidy would average $50 per person per month. Participants can use pretax dollars to pay for the remainder of their vanpool expenses, further reducing the cost of their shared commute.

“Offering employees the ability to pay vanpool costs with pre-tax dollars is a way employers can comply with the Bay Area’s Commuter Benefits Program,” said Eric Pop, air quality specialist with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. The Bay Area Commuter Benefits Program requires employers with 50 or more employees in the Bay Area to provide some type of commuter benefit to their workforce — be it transit or vanpool subsidies, shuttles to transit, or the ability to pay transit and vanpool costs with pre-tax dollars.

“Before these subsidies, a person’s vanpool cost typically would be around $150 a month, with the price varying by how far they commute, the number of people in the vanpool and the rental cost of the vehicle,” said Nangle, MTC’s vanpool program coordinator. “Between these new subsidies and the longstanding tax benefits, vanpooling is going to be a really cost-effective option for commuters traveling long distances.”

Vanpool driver Beth Russel, who commutes daily between Vacaville and Richmond, praised the merits of vanpooling. “With the added vanpool subsidy, our folks are happier than ever and now saving more than 60 percent off their commute costs of driving alone. There are only a few simple requirements to qualify for the program. Tracking our ridership and fuel costs is something we did anyway, and Enterprise has made it easy to track that information online now. It’s that simple to save even more money now on our daily commute, help reduce road congestion, build relationships with fellow van members and know that we are doing our part in making our planet a little bit greener.”

Commuters who do not already have a group with which to vanpool can learn how to join a vanpool or start a new one by visiting https://511.org/carpool-vanpool/vanpool/overview.

Vanpools can apply for the Bay Area Vanpool Program subsidies on the Enterprise site at https://www.commutewithenterprise.com/en/partners/mtc.html. The program is funded by MTC with federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) transportation dollars and a grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. The Commission selected Enterprise as the program vendor through a competitive process.

MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.

Approve funds for inoperable RV removal, Marsh Creek Corridor Trail study

By Daniel Borsuk

Five years in the making, Contra Costa County’s ambitious Northern Waterfront Strategic Action Plan might be nearing the end of the long, grueling planning road.  Or is it? NWEDI Strategic Action Plan BOS 1-22-19

Supervisors on Tuesday waved the green flag for planners to begin what can be a challenging negotiating process of collecting Memorandums of Understanding from seven cities – Antioch, Brentwood, Concord, Hercules, Martinez, Oakley, and Pittsburg – that stand to financially benefit from potential economic development along Contra Costa County’s northern waterfront stretching from Hercules to Brentwood.

County planners aim to present the MOU’s to the supervisors by this summer.

After conducting more than 200 community meetings on the action plan, consultant Gary Craft told supervisors while the “Northern Waterfront Strategic Action Plan is not cast in concrete,” he encouraged the supervisors to take action on the Strategic Action Plan, a piece of advice supervisors heeded and approved when they authorized county planning officials to begin talks with officials of the seven cities along the Sacramento River.

Should the cities and county sign off on the MOUs, over time the long dormant northern waterfront could potentially spawn an economic renaissance [n an area that once was a major region known for its ship building, steel, sugar. canning, and paper manufacturing heydays.  Thousands of new, clean tech-oriented jobs would emerge, creating a new and steady tax base for local and county government.

Five industries would be targeted under the Northern Waterfront Strategic Action Plan, according to Craft.  Those industries are biomedical, advanced transportation technology, advanced manufacturing, clean technologies, and food processing/agribusiness.

Most speakers were in favor of the waterfront plan’s findings, with the exception of Caltrans retiree Doug Sibley of Martinez who wondered about how the plan would fulfill the public transportation needs for new businesses coming to the waterfront. He queried if county planners were trying to use the existing Caltrain service that runs through the waterfront area from Martinez to Pittsburg for future public transportation development as the Northern Waterfront plan matures. No one from the county planning department answered his question.

“You must now get the MOUs from the cities of Pittsburg, Antioch, Oakley, Brentwood, Concord, Martinez, and Hercules, “urged Kristin Connelly, President and Chief Executive Officer of the East Bay Leadership Council, a nonprofit organization that endorses the waterfront plan.

District 5 Supervisor Federal Glover, who is credited for jump-starting the waterfront plan in 2014, said “I wanted this process to be totally transparent.  I wanted this process completed five years ago, but I realized it would require studies inclusive or our actions.”

“I appreciate the report you have done,” District 3 Supervisor Diane Burgis of Brentwood said.  “Now the cities have to come together.  Transportation is an issue.  Housing is important.  We will move forward with the plan. “

Approve $150,000 for Removal of Inoperable RVs

In other business, supervisors unanimously approved the expenditure of $150,000 of general funds to remove abandoned recreational vehicles that are a joint problem handled by the County Department of Conservation and Development and the Sheriff’s Department.  The DCD has authority to tow when an  RV is located on private property and the Sheriff has authority when it is in the right of way.

It is estimated that each abandoned RV that is removed will cost the county about $3,000 to remove from public streets.

Board Chair John Gioia of Richmond and District 5 Supervisor Federal Glover of Pittsburg requested the $150,000 expenditure.

District 4 Supervisor Karen Mitchoff of Pleasant Hill commented on the issue saying, “I am seeing more of these abandoned vehicles in my area.  I want a report to show how many have been removed in a year.”

It is assumed the 50,000 abandoned RV’s will have been removed and the $150,000 fund will have been exhausted in about a year’s time.

Approve $299,735 for Marsh Creek Corridor Trail Study

Supervisors also approved a Department of Conservation and Development request to grant a $299,735 contract with the planning firm of Fehr & Peers to develop a Marsh Creek Corridor Multi-Use Trail Study. The contract would study ways to develop a 13-mile long multi-use trail through the Marsh Creek corridor aligned with Marsh Creek Road between the cities of Clayton and Brentwood.

The contract’s funding is a collaborative effort of cities of Brentwood and Clayton, the East Bay Regional Park District, Contra Costa Transportation Authority, County Flood Control District, Contra Costa County Health Services Department, East Contra Costa Habitat Conservancy, and non-governmental organizations and advocacy groups including Save Mount Diablo, John Marsh Historic Trust, Delta Peddlers and Bike East Bay.

Photo of suspect detained by a Hercules Police Officer on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2018. Photos by Hercules PD.

The SUV stolen in Clayton.

From Hercules Police Facebook Page

On Tuesday afternoon, Jan. 15, 2019, Hercules Officers responded to a shop lifting in progress at The Home Depot, four subjects being belligerent inside the store were seen taking some gloves.

In the grand scheme of things taking some gloves seems fairly minor, but upon contacting the four suspects the Officers determined they were in a car that had been stolen out of Clayton that morning, and being driven by a suspect, Joshua Leslie Vieth (44 years old from Pittsburg) who had three outstanding warrants for prior auto thefts.

When Officers respond to a call, even something that seems minor, they do not make assumptions. A stolen pair of gloves resulted in a car thief going to jail, but more importantly a theft victim getting their car back.

While Officers never assume a shoplifting call will end in a stolen car arrest, they always assume it could and treat each call as such.

This caper is another example of how out of town thieves are targeting our town, are being arrested over and over, and are being put back out on the streets to re-victimize our community. We will continue to proactively enforce our laws and send them to jail regardless of the outcome.

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

District Attorney Diana Becton announces today that the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office will launch a second Community Academy class this March. The goal of the academy will be to strengthen community relations and provide residents a better understanding of our criminal justice system.

The academy is free and is open to residents who live or work in Contra Costa County. Individuals must complete an application and background check when they apply. Residents can access an application on our website or residents may also apply in-person at one of our offices at the following locations:

• 900 Ward Street, Martinez, CA 94553
• 10 Douglas Drive Suite 130, Martinez, CA 94553
• 100 37th St. Rm 220, Richmond, CA 94805

Residents can submit the applications to the attention of Janet Era. Applicants may also email DA-CommunityAcademy@contracostada.org with their completed application. The application period ends on February 11, 2019.

The Community Academy will be made up of at least 20 residents of Contra Costa County for a 12-week course held at the DA’s Office in downtown Martinez, 900 Ward Street from 5:30-7:30 p.m. every Wednesday starting March 6, 2019. The Community Academy, which is similar to Citizens’ Academies hosted by many law enforcement agencies, is the only academy of its kind at a District Attorney’s Office in Northern California.

The academy helps underscore the office’s commitment to engaging and educating residents of Contra Costa County. Admitted applicants can expect to learn how cases are filed, the different types of crimes our office investigates and prosecutes, and the work we do not only prosecuting cases but also the community outreach efforts underway to prevent crime and to support children, parents and crime victims.

Presenters for the academy will include deputy district attorneys, investigators, victim advocates, support staff, community-based organizations and justice partners. The comprehensive overview by our office will allow residents to get an in-depth examination and review of the criminal justice system in our community.

BART is making major schedule changes beginning February 11th to accommodate Measure RR funded improvements to our infrastructure to keep BART safe and reliable. Projects to upgrade our electrical power system in downtown San Francisco and the Transbay Tube Seismic Retrofit require adjustments to our schedules. The Fleet of the Future roll out is also allowing us to expand some service and run longer trains.

Riders are encouraged to check before you go. Download the official BART app or check the Trip Planner to see how these changes impact your trip.

Weekday Changes

To retrofit the Transbay Tube, we need to open at 5am on weekdays- that’s one hour later. Visit www.bart.gov/earlybirdexpress for bus service alternatives during the 4am hour. We will also be single-tracking trains through the Tube on weeknights for this project. Impacts from this project include:

• Weekdays after 9pm, trains will run every 24 minutes instead of 20 because of single tracking.
• On Friday evenings, trains will be added to the schedule after 8pm to the Green, Red, and Yellow lines to reduce wait times and increase capacity.
• The first train from Daly City (5:03 am) to Antioch will skip from MacArthur directly to Pittsburg/Bay Point. The train will not pick up or drop off passengers between these stations. The next train from Daly City (5:11 am) will make all stops.

·         Weekday service improvements include:

• New direct Millbrae to SFO service on weekdays from 6:30 am to 9 pm every 30 minutes.
• Early morning/late-evening trains will now be longer.
• A Fleet of the Future train will run as part of the schedule on each transbay line and some trains will be lengthened thanks to the arrival of the new fleet.
• We are adding an additional Yellow Line train to the morning commute and we will extend one late afternoon train from Pleasant Hill to Pittsburg Bay Point.
• New Richmond-Daly City (Red) and Warm Springs-Daly City (Green) trains on Friday evenings at select times.

Sunday Changes

To upgrade the electrical power system in Downtown San Francisco from 8am-6pm, we need to single track trains in San Francisco on some Sundays. We will maintain 20-minute headways, but impacts include:

• For the most part, only one line (the Antioch/Yellow Line) will provide service through the Transbay Tube (some direct Red and Green line trains will be part of the schedule at select times).
• Sunday service changes vary week to week and riders are encouraged to check the Trip Planner or the official BART app before each trip to see the service plan.
• Dublin/Pleasanton/Blue Line service will operate between Dublin/Pleasanton and MacArthur.
• All Lake Merritt-Dublin/Warm Springs Transbay riders must transfer at 12^th Station—go downstairs one level.
• All Millbrae riders must transfer to/from a San Francisco/Antioch train at SFO.

·         Sunday service improvements include:

• Yellow Line passengers transferring to an East Bay line should transfer at MacArthur and will now have increased service with both a Blue and Orange Line train depending on destination.
• Additional trains/train length will be added to the Orange/Richmond/Warm Springs service.
• New direct Red and Green line trains added to the schedule on Sundays at select times.

There are no changes to Saturday service.

Check Before You Go

The new schedule has been loaded into the Trip Planner on bart.gov as well as the official BART app. Select a date Feb. 11th and beyond to see how these changes impact your trip. 

Sunday riders are encouraged to check the Trip Planner or the app before each trip as it varies week by week based on single tracking weekends.

The extra Friday service will be reflected in the Trip Planner and in Real Time Departures.  However, these extra trains are not listed in the Schedule by Station or Schedule by Line sections of bart.gov or the printed brochures. 

Sunday’s new Red and Green line trains will be reflected in the Trip Planner, and Schedules by Station, Schedules by Line and Real Time Departures. They are not listed in the printed brochures because they vary week by week.

Sunday Service Map:  Millbrae Shuttle Service weekdays and Saturday

Event will provide local federal workers and residents with resources and information

Rep. Mark DeSaulnier

Today, Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11) announced that he will host an emergency town hall on the partial federal government shutdown this Saturday, January 19th at 2:00 p.m. in Lafayette.

The shutdown has left 37,000 hardworking California families without a paycheck, increased wait times at airports and jeopardized air safety, closed our national parks, put tax returns at risk, and put millions of families at risk of losing or seeing reduced food assistance.

This emergency town hall will serve as an opportunity to provide residents and federal workers with the latest on the Trump Shutdown. Additionally, local organizations will be on hand to assist federal workers or those who may be impacted by the shutdown. This will be Congressman DeSaulnier’s 75th town hall and mobile district office hour since coming to Congress four years ago.

Lafayette Town Hall
Special Topic: Trump Shutdown
Saturday, January 19, 2019
2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Stanley Middle School
3455 School Street
Lafayette, CA 94549
Doors Open at 1:30 p.m.

Note: This town hall was previously scheduled for Wednesday, January 23rd, but was moved to accommodate a change in the House voting schedule caused by the shutdown.

This event is open to the public, press, and photographers. Please RSVP by visiting https://desaulnier.house.gov/town-hall-rsvp or calling (925) 933-2660. To request ADA accommodations, translation services, or for more information, contact Congressman DeSaulnier’s office in either Richmond or Walnut Creek.

Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Joni Hramoto swore into office Supervisors John Gioia as Chair and Candace Andersen as Vice Chair of the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, January 15, 2019 as Supervisor Federal Glover looks on. Photo by Daniel Borsuk.

By Daniel Borsuk

Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Joni Hramoto swore into office Contra Costa County Supervisors John Gioia of Richmond as Chair and Candace Andersen of Danville as Vice Chair of the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. Both were unanimously elected to their posts.

Gioia, who was reelected last November to his fifth four-year term, aims to reduce health care costs for county employees, reinstitute the children’s report card that before 2007 focused on children outcomes and development strategies, and to introduce an asthma medical program for disadvantaged youth.  Gioia, who last year was board vice chair, replaces District 4 Supervisor Karen Mitchoff of Pleasant Hill.

Mitchoff, who said she read 67 books during a busy  personally tragic year where she lost her 62-year-old brother Gerald Mitchoff in a South Lake Tahoe shooting incident in June, saw the county maintain its  AAA Moody’s bond rating, began construction of a new $100 million county administration building and new $30 million emergency communications building both in Martinez , and helped usher voter passage of the cannabis sales tax measure  in November.

Richard P. Stephenson

Due to the investigation by the Martinez Police Department, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office charged 50-year-old Martinez resident Richard P. Stephenson with two felonies for embezzlement and two misdemeanor charges of possessing a controlled substance. 

The embezzlement charges relate to

Stephenson stealing controlled substances belonging to the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District in order to support his personal drug addiction. 

An arrest warrant in the amount of $50,000 was issued on January 9, 2019.  Stephenson was arraigned at the Contra Costa County Superior Courthouse on January 10, 2019, the next court date is February 26th.

The charges filed against Richard Stephenson include:

• Count 1, Embezzlement by Public or Private Officer – Felony
• Count 2, Embezzlement by Clerk, Agent or Servant – Felony
• Count 3, Possession of Fentanyl – Misdemeanor
• Count 4, Possession of Midazolam – Misdemeanor

Case information: People v. Richard Paul Stephenson, Docket Number 01-188454-3

Rep. Mark DeSaulnier

Hopes other financial institutions will follow suit during government shutdown

Washington, DC – Today, Thursday, January 10, 2019, on the eve of over 800,000 federal workers missing their regularly scheduled paychecks due to the government shutdown, Congressman Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11) sent a letter to the Consumer Bankers Association, the Credit Union National Association, and the Mortgage Bankers Association recognizing credit unions for offering interest-free loans to federal workers. The letter also highlights DeSaulnier’s hope that other financial institutions will follow suit.

“Several credit unions across the country have begun offering interest-free loans to impacted federal workers. I applaud these organizations for prioritizing customer well-being and am certain that this will be of great assistance to countless workers and families,” wrote DeSaulnier.

If the government shutdown continues into tomorrow, January 11th, over 800,000 federal workers will miss their scheduled paychecks, and the impact will be felt across the country. Eighty-five percent of the federal workforce resides outside of the District of Columbia. For instance, in California over 37,000 federal workers and their families will miss a paycheck.

“There are opportunities to prevent potentially catastrophic consequences for millions of Americans through cooperation and compassion. I will continue to work in Congress to re-open the government and ensure public employees and contractors are paid, and I appreciate those companies that are stepping up to help during this difficult time,” DeSaulnier continued.

Full text of the letters can be found here.

Contra Costa residents with unwanted prescription medicines can safely dispose of them at 27 CVS Pharmacy locations in the county thanks to new, secure drop boxes added through the county’s Safe Drug Disposal Ordinance.

The ordinance, passed in 2016, requires pharmaceutical drug manufacturers to provide collection services for unused drugs, to protect the environment and prevent accidental poisonings or intentional misuse of drugs such as prescription opioids.

“Safe storage and disposal of medications is one of the easiest and most important ways that each of us can help turn our county’s opioid abuse epidemic around,” said April Rovero, founder of the National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse and Chair of the Contra Costa County MEDS Coalition.
The drop-box service is free, secure and confidential. The medications can be disposed of at the sites even if they weren’t purchased at CVS. Most medications are accepted in their original containers or in sealed bags. Drugs and packaging placed in drop boxes will be safely destroyed. In addition to CVS Pharmacy locations, 10 Kaiser facilities in Contra Costa also have the drop boxes.

“This new medication disposal program will help save both lives and our environment by making appropriate disposal as easy as stopping by a nearby CVS Pharmacy or Kaiser Permanente,” said Contra Costa County Supervisor Diane Burgis.

“We are pleased to work with the County to help provide access to safe medication disposal sites in Contra Costa County as part of our company’s commitment to helping prevent and address prescription opioid abuse and misuse,” said Tom Davis, R.Ph., Vice President, Professional Services, CVS Pharmacy.

Visit cchealth.org/safe-drug-disposal for more information about the ordinance and a link to a searchable database of Contra Costa locations with drop boxes.