Contra Costa Herald

By Daniel Borsuk

Feeling the heat from environmentalists, residents, and politicians, Contra Costa County supervisors took the big step Tuesday of picking a solar power plant developer that could potentially help consumers on average cut monthly bills up to 55 percent.

“Our customers pay less than PG&E for our supply, and our supply contains more renewable content,” said Dawn Weisz, chief executive officer of MCE Clean Energy.

On a 4-1 vote, with supervisor Karen Mitchoff of Pleasant Hill casting the lone dissenting vote, Contra Costa supervisors selected San Rafael-based MCE Clean Energy to develop solar power plants preferably in the county’s sprawling northern waterfront area to lower PG&E electric rates for residential and commercial electricity customers.

Mitchoff favored a competing proposal submitted from a freshly minted company called EBCE that Alameda County officials have recently adopted as their solar power plant developer.  “I think that the EBCE program is better for our long-term growth,” Mitchoff said.

Other supervisors were more impressed with MCE’s seven-year track record, financial stability and $25 million in reserves and capability of generating good paying union jobs.

Some 285,000 residents residing in unincorporated Contra Costa County could see electricity rates decline in comparison to PG&E rates.  For a large solar power project generating 5 megawatts per hour, the average monthly bills could potentially decline from $105 per Megawatt Hour (MWH) to $85 per MWH

For Board Chair Federal Glover the selection of MCE Clean Energy could mean the potential development of solar power plants in the Northern Waterfront Area.  He is overseeing a planning study of the 28,000-acre area stretching from Hercules to Oakley that can potentially generate 18,000 jobs in a variety of technical fields by the year 2035.

Glover said he already envisions the development of a battery storage and a call center in parts of the northern waterfront, especially Pittsburg.

“With MCE we will be able to lower rates for consumers and bring jobs and growth to the Northern waterfront area,” Glover said.

Supervisor John Gioia of Richmond said he felt comfortable with the MCE program because of its seven years of experience.  “There is less risk with the MCE choice,” he said.

“This is an historic day,” said Supervisor Candace Andersen of Danville.  “MCE has the established credit rating and reserves.”

Supervisor Diane Burgis of Brentwood favored the MCE proposal based on how it will create “long term jobs” for county residents.  Fifty percent of the jobs created must go to county residents.

“I also hope in the next five to 10 years we’ll become self-sufficient,” Burgis added.

Supervisors listened to a majority of the more than 30 speakers urge them to approve the MCE Clean Energy program over the EBCE program.

Elected officials from Lafayette, Richmond, Walnut Creek, Orinda, San Pablo and  Moraga encourage supervisors to approve the MCE program over the EBCE program.  Those cities have already approved the MCE program over the EBCE program, with Moraga most recently inking a contract with the company.

Richmond Mayor Tom Butt encouraged supervisors to approve MCE as its solar power provider based on the city of Richmond’s experience with the company. “It’s been a very good move for Richmond.  Our residents have been saving millions of dollars,” he said.  MCE has developed two solar power projects worth more than $12 million for the residents of Richmond, he said.

“Join MCE,” urged Moraga City Councilman Dave Trotter. “It’s a better choice.”

Byron resident Steen Larson encouraged supervisors to approve MCE as the solar power contractor.  “MCE is the best choice,” he said.  “This company will fulfill the need for job training and providing the best paying jobs.”

Antioch’s water pump station on the river. Photo courtesy of Kathy Bunton, http://kayakingcaldelta.blogspot.com/

Dating back to 1968 Agreement, due to rerouting of water to the State Water Project

By Allen Payton

On Friday, the City of Antioch announced it has filed a claim with the State of California seeking relief for the Department of Water Resources’ (“DWR”) failure to perform specific key terms of an agreement between the State and Antioch dating from 1968 commonly referred to as the “1968 Agreement”.  The purpose of the 1968 Agreement is to mitigate the impacts of the State Water Project (“SWP”) on the City’s water supply.  The 1968 Agreement requires the DWR to reimburse the City a portion of Antioch’s cost to purchase substitute water when high salinity resulting from the SWP adversely impacts the City’s own water rights.

The key term of the 1968 Agreement at issue in the City’s claim is a clause that requires the DWR to grant Antioch substantially the same terms granted by the DWR to any other entity in the Delta.  This clause is commonly referred to as the “me-too” clause.

In March of 2016, the DWR entered into an Agreement with Contra Costa Water District (“CCWD”) to replace an existing 1967 agreement between the parties similar to the City’s 1968 Agreement.  Antioch contends that this new 2016 agreement grants CCWD substantially more favorable terms than those granted by DWR to Antioch under its present 1968 Agreement triggering the application of the me-too clause.  To date, the DWR has refused to perform the me-too clause granting Antioch terms substantially similar to those it granted to CCWD in 2016.

Additionally, analysis performed both by Antioch and the DWR indicates that the operation of the 2016 Agreement between CCWD and the DWR could potentially result in worsening water quality at Antioch.  These new potential impacts on the City’s water supply are not mitigated by the City’s 1968 Agreement. The DWR has so far refused to negotiate new terms to protect the City from these additional impacts resulting from the new CCWD agreement.  The City’s claim against the DWR includes a demand to mitigate or eliminate any such new adverse impacts to the City’s water supply.

Before city staff treats the water that it sends to customers, it usually pumps the raw water directly from the river. However, in 2015 and 2016 the city was forced to purchase 95% of its raw water from CCWD, because the salt water from the bay had intruded passed the Antioch’s intake water pumps along the river, off of Fulton Shipyard Road, next to the old boat launch. Antioch pays nothing for the water it pumps from the river, according to its pre-1914 riparian rights.

By John Crowder

At their board meeting held on Wednesday, April 12, 2017, the West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD, or District) Board approved a petition from Voices College-Bound Language Academies (Voices, Petitioners) to open a charter school in the District with a dual-immersion program on a 4-1 vote.

Due to the number of parents with children in attendance at their meeting in support of the petition, discussion was moved to an earlier time on the agenda.

Dr. Linda Delgado, WCCUSD Charter Oversight, reported on staff’s review of the Voices petition based on a data review and staff rubric findings focused on six possible reasons for denial.

Delgado reported that petitioners offered an unsound educational program, that Petitioners were demonstrably unable to implement the program and that Petitioners did not provide a reasonably comprehensive description of all required elements.  Specifically, she said staff believed the ratio of English only to Spanish only speakers was problematic, details about curriculum and teaching methods were inadequate, and that there was concern about whether Voices would draw Special Education resources away from the District.   She also said that the proposal called for teachers and staff to be paid significantly less than WCCUSD personnel, and that the proposal failed to address standards for suspensions and expulsions.

Public comments followed Dr. Delgado’s presentation.  About a dozen speakers, mostly Hispanic mothers, spoke in favor of the petition.  Nobody spoke in opposition.  One speaker said, “I am a mother who wants the best for my child,” then pleaded for approval to provide an opportunity for her child that she did not have.

WCCUSD board members asked questions and commented on the petition and the review process.

Board Member Tom Panas asked a series of questions involving staff concerns, remarking, “We respect our staff, at the same time, we want to make sure we’re all agreeing on the facts.”  His questions revealed several discrepancies between the staff assessment and Voices explanations of their program, including a rebuttal to the staff report that Voices had submitted.

Responding to Panas’ questions, Voices spokesperson Frances Teso stated that the one year their other schools had had suspensions, the number suspended was less than 1%, and that expulsions were 0%.  She also said that special education staff and providers would be based locally, and that special needs students were fully included in classrooms, while there was, “no reason to believe” that the proposed school would not participate in the same SELPA that other Voices schools participated in.

With respect to teacher pay, Teso said, “In any given step, we pay $2000 to $5000 more than the District pays the teachers here in West Contra Costa County.”  She went on to describe the benefits package offered to teachers by Voices, along with bonuses, above salary, that their teachers were eligible for.

Board Member Mister Phillips expressed his inclination to support the petition because of the openness and honesty of supporters, the equity of having a Spanish-focused program when the District had recently approved a Mandarin program, and because of concerns over the vetting process used by District staff.  “The process did not go the way that I personally think that it should have gone,” he said, “and there are issues around transparency in the process, there are issues around the board getting accurate information.”  Phillips went on to say that he had asked District staff for a response to the Voices rebuttal, “And that response never came.  I don’t know why it didn’t come, but it didn’t.”  Phillips continued, “Then the last thing is, Voices does appear to get results.”

Board President Elizabeth Block weighed in on the staff report, as well.  “I am very troubled by the number of inaccuracies in this report,” she said.  “And I’m especially troubled, that a Superintendent, who I think is doing good things in our District, approved this report.  I think your (staff’s) presentation raises the question of whether or not you could recognize a good school when you see them.”

Delgado responded by saying that staff was fair in their evaluation.  Emphasizing that charter schools must meet high levels of accountability, she said, “The standards by which we are to judge charter schools are not commensurate with the standards with which we may judge our District schools.  They’re different things.  And good practice in charter school evaluation suggests we hold them to very high standards.”

Board Member Madeline Kronenberg also took issue with the staff report.  “I’m not seeing rock-solid evidence in the staff report.  I just have questions.”  She continued, “Normally I would have great difficulty in going against a staff report.  In this case, it’s not that hard.”

Board Clerk Valerie Cuevas expressed concern about the District meeting the needs of students.  “When I hear parents come and speak, what I’m hearing at the heart of it is, ‘you’re not serving us, so I have to go find an alternative.”  She went on to say that, “Our programs must be failing our students and our parents, because they’re seeking alternatives.  The data’s clear that they’re [Voices] outperforming the District…].  She emphasized the need for the District to stop making excuses about why things couldn’t be done, and start working to improve student outcomes.

Following discussion, the board voted 4-1 to approve the Voices petition for a full five-year term.  Board member Phillips, who had advocated for an approval time of three years, was the lone dissenting vote.

Rendering of the approved apartment project in Bay Point.

By Daniel Borsuk

Two years in the works, a 193-unit apartment development planned near the intersection of Willow Pass Road and Port Chicago Highway in Bay Point should finally break ground next spring, now that the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the $60 million project on Tuesday.

Supervisors listened to Bay Point resident CeCe Valenzuela and several other residents attempt to block the residential development by appealing a County Planning Commission decision granting permission for Meta Corp. to construct the apartment development consisting of eight three-story buildings.

Valenzuela charged the development planned by Meta Corp. will worsen traffic, local schools, air quality, and disrupt tenancy levels.

Valenzuela also criticized the development’s landscape and recreational plans as being inadequate for a development that could accommodate as many at 500 tenants.  The project will have a 25,180-square foot outdoor swimming pool and recreation area.

“This development is overwhelming and very massive” Valenzuela said.  The 193 apartment units would one, two, three, or four bedroom units.   Nineteen units would be set aside for low income tenants.

Development architect Ralph D. Strauss disagreed with Valenzuela saying “The number of people in the units will be professionally managed.”

“This apartment project is the last thing Bay Point needs,” said Bay Point resident Welbon I. Salaam.  “This will impact our local school, worsen an area already with a high crime rate and slow down even more the police response time.”

Bay Point resident Douglas Parker opposed the apartment development based on the fact far more people will live in the apartment units than permitted.  “To suggest that the new apartments will house 2.5 people per unit is a gross under estimate,” he said. “The reality is that these units will house multiple families and overtax any already congested neighborhood.”

“This apartment development will negatively impact three elementary schools and a middle school in the area,” said Bay Point resident Judy Dawson.

In the end, supervisors sided with the developer noting that the high demand for affordable housing in the Bay Area overshadows most other needs including stores, roads, schools and jobs.

During his 17 years on the board, Board Chairman Federal Glover said he has seen a number of potential commercial and residential projects for the Bay Point site come and go, but this apartment development is one he can live with.  “I’m impressed with this development,” Glover said. Glover’s district represents Bay Point.

Supervisor Karen Mitchoff of Pleasant Hill said she’d vote to deny the appeal and vote in favor of the project because the development will not severely impact traffic, there will not be a significant increase in student enrollment at nearby Mt. Diablo Unified School District schools, and most importantly there is a need for more affordable housing.

“We need to push for affordable housing,” she said. “Each community needs to take on its share of housing.”

Supervisor John Gioia of Richmond also called for more affordable housing.

“One of the top issues in the Bay Area is the need for more affordable housing,” he said.  “This development will help contribute to the housing shortage.”

Meta Corp. Senior Vice Present Aaron Mandel said when construction gets underway, he expects the project to generate 500 construction jobs during the construction period.

See the complete agenda item on the project, here.

Sheriff Crime Reports Contract

In other Board action, by a unanimous vote, supervisors approved a two-year $386,173, contract with Admin, Inc. to provide administrative support services for the Sheriff-Coroner.  The contract will allow the Sherriff-Coroner Office to relieve one sworn officer from non-administrative duties, getting crime reports requested by the general public. The contract will be effect from March 1, 2017 to Feb. 28, 2019.

Richard Wasso

Detectives from the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff Investigation Division have arrested 45-year-old Richard James Wasso of Bethel Island for attempted murder and numerous counts of child molestation.

This follows an investigation that started late last month after a report about alleged acts of molestation of a minor was made to the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office. Detectives confirmed the female victim’s allegations and also discovered that Wasso had tried to kill her.

Wasso was arrested yesterday without incident. Wasso is a registered sex offender listed on the California Megan’s Law Website. He was booked into the Martinez Detention Facility on an attempted murder charge and multiple counts of child molestation. He is currently being held in lieu of $7,440,000 bail.

Detectives believe there may be additional victims where Wasso previously lived or spent time in San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Santa Clara Counties. The cities include Manteca, Stockton, Ceres, Modesto, Gilroy and Morgan Hill.

Anyone with any information about Wasso is asked to contact the Special Victims Unit of the Investigation Division at (925) 313-2625. For any tips, call 866-846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message or email: tips@so.cccounty.us.

JB Yancy

The Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff is seeking additional possible victims in a child molestation case. Earlier this year, Detectives arrested 26-year-old JB Yancy following a three-month long investigation.

Alleged acts of molestation against a minor victim in North Richmond were brought to the attention of the Office of the Sheriff in late 2016. Detectives launched an investigation and confirmed the allegations. An arrest warrant was issued for Yancy.

Yancy was booked into the Martinez Detention Facility on multiple counts of child molestation. He is currently being held in lieu of $1,000,000 bail.

Detectives believe there may be additional victims and would like to talk to anyone with any information. Yancy has resided in Vallejo, Richmond, and Fairfield. He approached his victim in a public place.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact the Sexual Assault Unit of the Investigation Division at (925) 313-2625. For any tips, please email: tips@so.cccounty.us or call 866-846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message.

Uncertainty as it relies on 48% of funds from federal government

By Daniel Borsuk

Contra Costa County supervisors took a peek at a proposed $3 billion budget on Tuesday that includes $250,000 to expand a popular health care program for low income citizens, $220,000 to reopen the shuttered Knightsen fire station in the East Contra Costa Fire District, and spend $500,000 for the Northern Waterfront Study Intiative.

Supervisors are scheduled to adopt the new spending plan at its May 9 meeting to replace the current $2.6 billion budget.

During the seven-hour hearing, some supervisors seemed to play the conservative card due to fiscal events that have developed in Washington, D.C. and how federal cuts in health care, education and housing might have a ripple effect at the state and county level.

County Administrator David Twa said the county receives 48 percent of its funds from the federal government so there is concern that funding cuts from Washington will impact county operations if not in the 2017-2018 fiscal year, it could occur in the 2018-2019 fiscal year when the county needs to renegotiate labor contracts with doctors, nurses. and fire fighters.

“This is one of the most difficult budgets to assemble,” Twa told supervisors, “because there is so much uncertainty at the state and federal levels.”

The fiscal uncertainty also affected the supervisors.

Supervisor Karen Mitchoff of Pleasant Hill said she would not approve the proposal for an additional $250,000 to expand the Contra Costa Cares health care program for low income residents.  The county allotment would be matched by the nonprofit organization to help access the health care program to 1,000 residents.   This current fiscal year the county spent $1 million and has proposed $1.25 million for the upcoming 2017-2018 fiscal year.

“There’s a large part of the community that doesn’t understand why we see a part of the undocumented community the way we do, but in this case, I cannot support spending an extra $250,000 for the Contra Costa Cares program,” Mitchoff said.

Mitchoff also raised doubts that Contra Costa Cares has the fundraising capabilities to collect $250,000 to expand the program.  “The hospital is not committed to contributing the $250,000,” she said.

“We’re seeing the rise of people awareness to their right to health care,” said Supervisor Diane Burgis of Brentwood.  She favors the extra funding for the health care program that drew about eight speakers in support of the health care program.  “I’m in support of expanding it,” she said.

Initially supervisors were reluctant in setting aside $220,000 to reopen the Knightsen fire station for fiscal years 2017-2018 and 2018-2019, but eventually caved in to reality that the station needed to opened.  Supervisors are frustrated over the way the ECCFD has managed its financial and business affairs.  The fire district had shuttered the fire station in order to open a new station in Brentwood..

Supervisors also voted 4-0, with Supervisor Candace Andersen absent, to designate $500,000 for the Northern Water Front Study Initiative, a project of Board Chair Federal Glover.  The funding would be spent on data development, parcel identification, engineering, and public outreach.

New Airport Safety Classifications Approved

Supervisors also approved the creation for four Airport Safety Office Classifications at the Byron Airport and Buchanan Field to replace three outdated classifications that should help the county improve the retention rate among safety personnel.  The county has a 60 percent retention rate among 17 personnel assigned to aircraft rescue and firefighting duties.

National Winner from Gale Ranch Middle School will be honored in a ceremony, in partnership with Comcast

WASHINGTON (April 18, 2017) – C‑SPAN and Comcast will visit Gale Ranch Middle School in San Ramon, on Wednesday, April 19 to honor a local winner for C‑SPAN’s annual student video documentary competition, StudentCam. During the visit a C‑SPAN representative will present a StudentCam certificate of merit to Sanjana Ranganathan during a ceremony in front of classmates, teachers and family members to recognize her winning achievement in the national competition and an Honorable Mention prize of $250. The winning video will also be viewed during the congratulatory event.

The 8th Grade student’s topic was entitled, “Clicking Forward.”

StudentCam encourages middle and high school students to think critically about issues that affect our communities and nation. This year, students were asked to create a 5-7 minute video documentary about the topic, “Your Message to Washington: What is the most urgent issue for the new president and Congress to address in 2017?” In response, C‑SPAN received 2,903 video submissions from over 5,600 students in 46 states and Washington, D.C. 150 student and 53 teacher prizes were awarded, totaling $100,000 in prize money. Visit www.studentcam.org to watch all the winning videos for 2017.

“Comcast is honored to partner with C-SPAN on their annual documentary contest, StudentCam, and are happy to congratulate local winner, Sanjana Ranganathan . These next generation documentary filmmakers tackled an issue that was important to them, their community and our nation after a historic election year. Education is important to Comcast, and we applaud C-SPAN as they continue to offer educational opportunities to young leaders to voice their opinions,” said John Gauder, Regional Vice President of Comcast California.

In San Ramon, C‑SPAN programming is provided by Comcast on channel 22, 29; C‑SPAN2 on channel 109; and C‑SPAN3 on channel 110 as a commercial-free public service. All funding for C‑SPAN operations is provided by local TV providers.

About C‑SPAN

Created by the cable TV industry and now in nearly 100 million TV households, C‑SPAN programs three public affairs television networks in both SD and HD; C‑SPAN Radio, heard in Washington, D.C, at 90.1 FM and available as an App (Android, iPhone, Blackberry); and a video-rich website offering live coverage of government events and access to the vast archive of C‑SPAN programming. Visit http://www.c‑span.org/. Visit http://www.c‑span.org for coverage and schedules; like us on Facebook/cspan and follow @cspan on Twitter.

About C‑SPAN Classroom

C‑SPAN Classroom is a free membership service dedicated to supporting educators’ use of C‑SPAN programming and websites in their classes or for research. Members of C‑SPAN Classroom may access free Timely Teachable Videos and video clips for use in the classroom, as well as lesson plans, handouts and ways to connect with other C‑SPAN Classroom members. C‑SPAN Classroom has reached more than 1 million students since its inception in 1987. For more information on C‑SPAN Classroom, visit: http://www.c‑spanclassroom.org/, or follow us on twitter: @CSPAN_Classroom.

About Comcast Corporation

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company with two primary businesses, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable is one of the nation’s largest video, high-speed Internet and phone providers to residential customers under the XFINITY brand and also provides these services to businesses. NBCUniversal operates news, entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations, television station groups, Universal Pictures and Universal Parks and Resorts. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.

Both are expected to turn themselves in, today

Wanted poster from www.northerncaliforniamostwanted.org.

By Allen Payton

The former general manager and PGA golf pro at the now closed Roddy Ranch Golf Club in Antioch, Kevin Fitzgerald, is a wanted fugitive according to the Contra Costa District Attorney’s office. According to the website www.northerncaliforniamostwanted.org, the 46-year-old is “Wanted by the Contra Costa County District Attorney” and that he “conspired to commit loan fraud, file a false police report, commit insurance fraud, divert construction funds and defraud an elder.”

Also wanted for the same charges is Mark Ellis Mattson.

Mark Mattson

The same website states, “Mark Mattson a solar contractor while working at the former Roddy Ranch Golf Course LLC conspired to commit loan fraud, commit insurance fraud, divert construction funds and defraud an elder. Mark Mattson lives in San Diego and may work at San Diego State University as an instructor.”

The “elder” referred to in the charges is Jack Roddy, the owner of the golf course.

When reached for comment, Roddy stated, “Kevin and the other guy are supposed to be turning themselves in, today.”

That other guy is “Mark Mattson, the owner of a solar company,” Roddy said, “He’s under a $750,000 bail, who colluded with Kevin on this. They both have multiple felonies they’re wanted for.”

“They were supposed to turn themselves in, last week, but didn’t do it,” he continued. “They hurt a lot of people. Hurt Donna (Jack’s wife) and me, bad. Hurt a lot of golfers. Just did a lot of damage. But they’re going to pay the price.”

Asked about Roddy’s plans for the 235-acre golf course land, after he shut down the operations last summer, he responded with a laugh, “There are a lot of cattle getting fat up there. It wasn’t working, so we shut it done. We decided to put it back to the way it was.”

Asked if he had anything else to say, Roddy said “I’m going to let the law do my talking. I’ll let the cops and the legal system do their work.”

In 2014, Fitzgerald’s company, Roddy Ranch Golf Management leased the golf course from Roddy’s company Roddy Ranch, LLC. In July, Roddy took back control of the course and brought in Touchstone Golf to operate the course. They discovered the course was financially unable to continue operations.

An email message to golf club members on August 6, 2016 stated, “we have discovered that the golf course is not financially viable as a going concern. This is due to outstanding debts of the previous operator and the high cost of irrigation water for the golf course.” The course was closed on August 11th. (See related article)

Fitzgerald and his family rented a house on Roddy’s personal property, and was a driver of one of the race cars owned by Roddy Ranch Racing, LLC, which competed at the Antioch Speedway inside the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds.

2:13 PM UPDATE – FELONY WARRANTS ISSUED FOR THE ARRESTS OF KEVIN FITZGERALD AND MARK MATTSON (RODDY RANCH FRAUD)

Earlier today, Contra Costa County District Attorney Mark A. Peterson announced that felony arrest warrants have been issued for Kevin Fitzgerald, age 45, of Brentwood, the   former general manager of Roddy Ranch Golf Course, LLC, in Antioch; and for Mark Mattson, age 56, a general contractor residing in Escondido, California.

Both Fitzgerald and Mattson are charged with felony counts of Grand Theft by Embezzlement, Attempted Grand Theft, Diversion of Construction Funds, Insurance Fraud, and Elder Financial Theft. Fitzgerald is also charged with filing a false police report, a misdemeanor. The victims are the Roddy Ranch Golf Course, LLC, and Mr. Jack Roddy, a long-time resident of the county. The charges stem from the abrupt closure of the Roddy Ranch Golf Course in 2016 after it was learned that Fitzgerald had allegedly diverted $200,000 of an $800,000 loan the Roddys had obtained to build a solar project on the golf course property.

Both Fitzgerald and Mattson, the solar contractor, submitted false construction documents to the loan company claiming that solar panels had been purchased and installed on the Golf Course property. This was done so the loan proceeds totaling $699,000 would be released to Mattson. Mattson did purchase and install some solar panels, but, not the 344 panels claimed in the construction documents. Mattson then gave $200,000 to Fitzgerald who used some of the proceeds for the golf course and to continue making the monthly lease payments to the Roddys. Fitzgerald embezzled the rest of the money through large cash withdrawals and transfers to his personal accounts.

In December 2015, Fitzgerald and Mattson attempted to get the remaining $93,000 of the loan money from the lender.  The lender made inquiries with PGE, the City and Antioch, and then with Mrs. Donna Roddy who told them the project wasn’t complete and, in fact, had barely been started.

When the lender refused to pay the remaining $93,000, Fitzgerald damaged the 12 solar panels that had been installed and then filed a false police report claiming the theft of 344 solar panels that were allegedly on the property awaiting installation. These panels had never been purchased.

Fitzgerald filed an insurance claim for the purported vandalism and theft. In April 2016, he received $267,000 as an insurance settlement from Liberty Mutual. Fitzgerald gave Mattson $40,000 of this money, transferred $55,000 to his (Fitzgerald’s) personal checking account. The remainder was used for golf course expenses and to pay “dividends” to five private investors. None of the insurance money was used towards the solar project.

Ultimately, after these series of crimes, the Roddys brought in a professional golf course management company to try to salvage the golf course operation. These attempts proved unsuccessful and the golf course closed in August of 2016.

Arrest Warrants have been issued with a bail set at $775,000 each for Fitzgerald and Mattson. Local law enforcement and the United States Marshal’s Service are attempting to locate and arrest both individuals.

Inquiries concerning this prosecution should be addressed to Deputy District Attorney Dodie Katague of the District Attorney’s Special Operations Unit. He can be reached at (925) 957-2208.

Note: For the purpose of full disclosure, Roddy and Fitzgerald have been long-time, personal friends of the writer of this article.

Contra Costa to launch texting program during state High School Voter Education Weeks

The Contra Costa County Elections Division is launching an easy and convenient way for high school students to register or pre-register to vote.

Starting Monday, all Contra Costa high school students can text their school name to “2Vote” (28683) on their smartphones and receive a reply text with a link to quick look-up tools on the Elections Division website.

The link, which anyone can use, will include a button that allows students who are 18 to register to vote and 16- and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote. It will also include a mock election which asks students to “vote” on some topics, including some high school age specific questions.

“We’re always looking for ways to get high school students more involved and excited about civic life,” said Joe Canciamilla, Contra Costa’s Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters. “Hopefully this tool makes it easier for them to participate and familiarizes them with the voting process.”

The Contra Costa Elections Division is starting the program as part of California’s High School Voter Education Weeks program, which is held from April 17th to 28th.  The program is aimed at promoting civic education on campuses and cultivating lifelong voters and active, engaged citizens.

Superintendents and principals throughout Contra Costa County have expressed enthusiasm in the texting program.

“Civic literacy is a very important aspect of a student’s high school experience. Encouraging voter registration for students through technology is something we fully support,” said Karen Sakata, Contra Costa County Superintendent of Schools.

The Contra Costa Elections Division worked with Georgia-based Global Mobile to develop the service. Contra Costa Election’s high school texting program will be ongoing. County staff and Global Mobile plan to update the mock election questions every few months.

For more information, call 925-335-7805.