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Attorney Ben Riley of Orinda ranked by Chambers in top 12 I.P. litigators in California
In their 2019 rankings of lawyers around the world, Chambers and Partners identified Ben Riley as one of the 12 top litigators in California in the category of Intellectual Property Litigation: Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets. Riley is a resident of Orinda and a principal of the firm Bartko Zankel Bunzel & Miller, PLC in San Francisco.
For 30 years, the London-based firm of 200 researchers has conducted thousands of interviews to identify the top lawyers and law firms in the world. Chambers requires that any applicant submit a detailed questionnaire about their practice and cases, and list 20 client and colleague references. Then they conducted telephone and email interviews with each of the references.
From those interviews, Chambers published the following comments about him: “Benjamin Riley is ‘very organized, writes beautifully and is great in front of judges,’ report sources, further noting: ‘He’s very bright, quick to grasp technical and legal issues, and he’s very efficient.’ He is an experienced practitioner skilled in handling a broad range of contentious IP matters. He is particularly highlighted for his expertise in trade secret disputes.”
The full ranking may be found here.
Riley serves on the firm’s executive committee and has tried nearly 30 cases to verdict including jury trials, court trials, and complex arbitrations. His practice focuses on Intellectual Property Litigation, including patents, trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks and license disputes. He also has an active practice in Business Litigation, including class action defense, defense of “consumer claims” under the Lanham Act and unfair competition statutes, accounting issues, and real property litigation.
Riley also represents companies in connection with director and officer, securities, fiduciary duty, and internal investigation issues, and obtained a defense verdict in a six-week securities class action jury trial. Finally, Mr. Riley represents private clients and charities in Trust and Estate Litigation.
Riley has lectured and published extensively as to Intellectual Property, Business Litigation, Trust & Estate Litigation, and trial practice skills. He is an expert in commercial arbitration law and procedure and regularly handles important cases before the world’s leading arbitration forums. He also has an active practice as a Mediator for the Northern District of California and for private litigants.
Riley has been honored as a California Lawyer of the Year and as a “Super Lawyer” every year since 2004. He earned a degree in history from Dartmouth in 1979 and his J.D. from U.C. Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law in 1983.
Allen Payton contributed to this report.
Supervisors approve five Verizon small cell wireless facilities in Alamo, Walnut Creek
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Before and After photos of proposed Verizon small cell wireless facility on Horsetrail Court in Alamo. Photo from Powerpoint presentation.
More appeals expected
By Daniel Borsuk
Over a volley of citizen complaints about potential neighborhood blight and health cancer risks concerns linked to Verizon Wireless’ plans to install five small cell wireless facilities on PG&E poles in bucolic unincorporated Alamo and Walnut Creek residential locations, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors unanimously upheld the county Zoning Administrator’s and Planning Commission’s rulings approving the telecommunication corporation’s requests on Tuesday, Feb. 26.
According to the staff report for agenda item, “On December 21, 2018, Ms. Alice Lee filed an appeal with the Department of Conservation and Development, Community Development Division, over the decision of the County Planning Commission to deny the appeal and uphold the decision of the County Zoning Administrator to approve the Wireless Facilities Access Permit. Ms. Alice Lee submitted a revised appeal letter on December 24, 2018.”
With Supervisor Diane Burgis of Brentwood absent from the meeting because she was recuperating from successful heart surgery on Monday, supervisors voted 4-0 to sustain favorable county zoning administrator and planning commission rulings on Verizon Cell Wireless’ requests to install five small wireless cell facilities in the right-of-way of 401 Horsetrail Court, 1524 Alamo Way, 184 Creekdale Road, 1955 Meadow Road and 20 Francesca Way, but threw in a carrot that might sway residents to feel more comfortable about Verizon Wireless installing the antennas. (See PowerPoint presentation, here).
Board Vice Chair Candace Andersen, who represents the unincorporated Alamo and Walnut Creek areas where Verizon Wireless plans to install the cell wireless facilities, each valued at an estimated $200,000, recommended that Verizon Wireless mail to affected homeowners living nearby the five proposed wireless cell antennas to be offered free, independently conducted, in-home health tests. Verizon Wireless will pick up the costs for the health tests.
Verizon Wireless attorney Paul Albritton said the communications company would agree with Supervisor Andersen’s in-home health test request. Other supervisors also approved Andersen’s proposal. Albritton said residents must live within 300 feet of a proposed small cell wireless antenna. He said the offer will be valid for one year.
Even with the in-home health inspection provision, one Alamo resident, Ruth Strong, who lives with her aged mother near a PG&E pole that is slated to have one of the Verizon Wireless antennas installed directly across from her mother’s bedroom window, told supervisors, “I don’t trust them (i.e. Verizon Wireless) from coming into my house.”
Dr. Alice Lee, one of the five appellants, told the Contra Costa Herald it is too early to tell what course of action she and other appellants might pursue. Dr. Lee said Verizon Wireless has plans to install as many as an additional 87 small cell wireless antennas on PG&E poles in unincorporated areas including Alamo, Walnut Creek, and Orinda. “There will be other carriers. There will be more towers,” she told supervisors.
Supervisor Karen Mitchoff of Pleasant Hill said it is difficult for counties to overturn requests of telecommunication communication companies requesting to install new equipment such as small cell wireless facilities on existing PG&E poles because of the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996 that has been amended numerous times. California counties and cities are contesting certain aspects of Telecommunications Act in the Supreme Court because the federal law supersedes local or state law.
Among consent item supervisors approved without comment from the public, were:
Hazardous Materials Response Vehicle Funding
Spending $1.3 million from the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District budget to buy a Type I Hazardous Materials Response Vehicle that will be owned and operated by the county fire district. The acquisition of a new Type I Hazardous Material Response Vehicle will allow the fire district to own and operate its own vehicle. Since the formation of the county’s Hazardous Materials Team in 2016, the team has operated a vehicle on loan from the California Office of Emergency Services. That vehicle was recently out of service for over 30 days while it received warranty related repairs in Sacramento. That compromised the Contra Costa County team’s ability to respond to hazardous response incidents. Buying this vehicle will permit the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District to respond to future hazardous material response incidents.
Emerging Aeronautical Technologies to Be Promoted at County Airports
Supervisors permitted County Airports Director Keith Freitas to promote and market Buchanan Field and Byron Airport as testing locations for emerging aeronautical and aeronautical related technologies. There will be no financial cost to the county general fund associated with the promotion and marketing campaign. Airport staff and any county counsel staff time will be charged to the Airport Enterprise Fund.
Kirker Pass Road Truck Lane Funding
Supervisors awarded a $14,153,763 contract to Granite Rock Company to construct the Kirker Pass Road Northbound Truck Climbing Lane project. Construction is set to begin this summer to add a truck lane on Kirker Pass Road from the Concord Pavilion to Hess Road. The addition of the lane is designed to reduce accidents caused by trucks traveling up Kirker Pass Road. Other contractors and their bids at the Jan. 22 disclosure were: Bay Cities Paving & Grading, Inc., $14,886,666; Ghilotti Construction Company, Inc., $15,225,077. 60; Gordon N. Ball, Inc. $15,528,038.20; Flatiron West, Inc. $15,528,038.20; Granite Construction Co, $16, 073, 185.10; O.C. Jones & Sons, Inc. $16,073, 788 and DeSilva Gates Construction, $17,500,000.
Waterfront Initiative Funding
Supervisors approved the new funding allocations of $142,500 to implement approved Northern Waterfront initiatives planned for 2019-2020. Those expenditures included $50,000 for the Hercules site exploration for bioscience, $12,000 for a May forum, $10,000 for State Lands/Crockett waterfront access, $70,000 for collaborative marketing and a marketing video. Supervisors had budgeted $500,000 in 2017 to cover Northern Waterfront Economic Development Initiative projects. Since the initiative’s launch, the only expenditure since then has been the $263,000 to consultant contracts or grant match.
Paying Additional $11,000 to Winchester for Sheriff’s Department Ammunition
Supervisors agreed to pay an additional $11,000 to buy Winchester ammunition for the Office of the Sheriff because after more than 20 years, Winchester has changed its ammunition distributor in Northern California from Adamson Police Products to Dooley Enterprises. In 2017, the Office of the Sheriff executed a new purchase order with Dooley Enterprises as the new Winchester ammunition distributor to meet future training and duty ammunition demands. As a result of the change in the purchase order. the county will have paid $411,000, not $400,000 for the purchase of ammunition for the period of July 1, 2017 through June 30, 2019.
To see the entire meeting agenda, click here.
Owner of senior placement services earns awards, opens care home in Antioch
By Allen Payton
The owner of Pacific Senior Care Services, an elder care placement agency, Kelly Gonzales has decided to open her own independent living home in Antioch.
“It’s a project for the community, focusing on the needs of Antioch residents with limited income, looking for a stable place and some care,” she said. “It will open on January 15th.”
The independent living facility for adults will be staffed by a certified nurse assistant who will be providing some care as needed. The home offers four bedrooms.
Gonzales launched Pacific Senior Care Services LLC in 2014 to help seniors and families by providing a resource to make the right choices, while offering many services for the senior community.
Her company won the 2018 Spectrum Award for excellence in customer service and earned a rating of five out of five stars. The coveted service award was presented City Beat News.
Also, Gonzales was honored with another award at the beginning of 2018 from Global Health and Pharma News, as the Best Senior Care Services Provider 2018 – San Francisco Bay
“It’s impossible for me to forget all the extraordinary people who have played a role in my life since we opened Pacific Senior Care Services,” she said. “I want to thank each one for helping me pursue this project, and giving me the support and guidance to make this vision come true. I am so honored, humble and grateful.”
For more information about the company, visit www.pacificseniorcareservices.net.
Supervisors add North Richmond, Rodeo and Antioch mall area to Federal Opportunity Zone program for special investment
Part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017
By Dan Borsuk
In a potential bid to receive federal Treasury Department aid for economically stagnating pockets of the county, Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors added the Somersville Towne Center mall area, Rodeo and tracts in the North Richmond area to the Federal Opportunity Zone program on Tuesday. Without hearing comments from the public, the supervisors unanimously voted to add the three census tracts to the county’s recommendation to the new Federal Opportunity Zone program.
Opportunity Zones are a new community development program established by Congress in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 to encourage long-term investments in low-income urban and rural communities nationwide. The program provides a tax incentive for investors to re-invest their unrealized capital gains into Opportunity Funds that are dedicated to investing into Opportunity Zones designated by the governors of every U.S. state and territory. (Read more about how the Opportunity Zones program works, as well as its history and community of supporters.)
According to their website, the Economic Innovation Group originally developed the concept in 2015 to help address the persistent poverty and uneven recovery that have left too many American communities behind. The idea has since been championed by a wide-ranging coalition of investors, entrepreneurs, community developers, economists, and other stakeholders.
Prior to the board’s action, the Contra Costa County Conservation and Development Department said the state had identified 11 tracts in the county that qualified for the Federal Opportunity Zone Program. Those tracts either have poverty rates of more than 20 percent or median incomes below 80 percent of state or metropolitan areas. Those areas include the cities of Richmond, San Pablo, Pittsburg, Concord, Antioch and the unincorporated areas of Bay Point and North Richmond.
The county had a deadline of Thursday, March 15 to submit its Opportunity Zone recommendation to the state.
However, there is the possibility the Federal Opportunity Zone Program may not kick into effect in either Contra Costa County or in the Golden State, said Amalia Cunningham of the Contra Costa County Conservation and Development Department.
“Private Investment Opportunity Zones would be eligible for lower federal capital gain tax,” Cunningham informed supervisors. “This is the only identified incentive. There is no dedicated funding for the program nor has the state announced it will participate by lowering state capital gains tax for investment in Opportunity Zones.”
District 3 Supervisor Diane Burgis of Brentwood recommended that the area around the Somersville Towne Center in Antioch be added to the county Opportunity Zone Program based on a decline in economic activity in the area.
“We will be working with the city of Antioch on this proposal to include the Somersville area in the county Opportunity Zone proposal to the state,” said Cunningham.
The recommendation to add Rodeo came from District 5 Supervisor Federal Glover of Pittsburg and District 1 Supervisor John Gioia of Richmond recommended several tracts in North Richmond.
If the federal requirements are not enough to potentially squash the program, bureaucratic oversight might kill the program. Cunningham told supervisors the county is under a tight deadline to submit an application, along with public comments.
“States have been given an abbreviated timeline from the federal government to submit their tracts. The state’s draft list was made public on March 2 and local agencies comments are due by March 15,” she said.
Supervisor Mitchoff Faces June 5 Opponent
Supervisor Karen Mitchoff of Concord will face clinical psychologist Harmesh Kumar, 59, in a June 5 election for the District 4 board seat.
Kumar, who had unsuccessfully run for the Concord City Council in 2012 and recently withdrew plans to run for governor, said he wants to serve on the board of supervisors because “I want the people to win.” He told the Contra Costa Herald the existing board of supervisors are “against the poor.” He said Mitchoff and other supervisors represent the interests of the bureaucrats, not those of the people.
“I’m looking forward to a spirited debate on the issues facing District 4,” Mitchoff briefly told the Herald about her opponent and upcoming reelection.
Mitchoff has served on the board of supervisors since January 2011.
District 1 Supervisor John Gioia of Richmond, who is also up for reelection, but will not face an opponent since no one filed papers to run against the attorney on the filing deadline, Friday, March, 9.
Supervisors endorsed on a 5-0 consent action, state Senator Mike McGuire’s (D-North Bay) Senate Bill 833 that would create a red alert emergency system to issue and coordinate alerts following an evacuation order and requires the red alert system to incorporate a variety of notification resources.
Senator McGuire authored the bill in the aftermath of the massive wildfires that killed 40 persons, destroyed 6,000 houses and charred 170,000 acres in Lake, Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties.
Anti-Smoking Ordinance Passes
Supervisors also unanimously approved without public comment an ordinance banning smoking in approximately 10,000 dwelling units in unincorporated Contra Costa County. The ordinance will go into effect July 1, 2019 when county health officials are expected to have completed an education program informing landlords and tenants about the anti-smoking law.
Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill and the Alameda County Emergency Operations Center were selected by the supervisors in a consent action item as alternative temporary county seats for Contra Costa County “in the event of war or enemy caused disaster or the imminence of such disasters.”
Allen Payton contributed to this report.
Supervisors increase fees by 150% for non-franchised solid waste haulers
Approve purchase of five new fire trucks for Con-Fire
By Daniel Borsuk
Without a whimper of a protest from a non-franchised solid waste hauler, Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to make it costly to operate a business in the county.
At the request of District 1 Supervisor John Gioia, supervisors agreed to raise the performance bond to $50,000 from $20,000 even though at one point the supervisor from Richmond attempted to press on the need to lift up the performance bond as much as $100,000.
In addition to paying for the annual performance bond, anyone conducting business as a non-franchise waste hauler in the county would have to pay $229 for an annual permit per vehicle and meet other rules the Contra Costa County Health Services Department has developed.
Independent trash hauling operators would also be subject to annual inspections and would have to adhere to other rules county supervisors established in an ordinance passed last November.
The non-franchised waste haulers ordinance is set to go be enforced in March. County officials are uncertain how many non-franchise trash haulers there are in the county because they work undercover in warehouses and illegally dump loads usually under the cloak of darkness and in out-of-the-way unincorporated parts of the county.
“I’ve been working on this issue in North Richmond for 20 years, and if they (i.e. homeowners) can hire someone to haul their trash for $20 versus $70 they’ll do it for $20,” said Gioia. “The question is whether we are setting the bar too low.”
The supervisor contends his District 1 in West county and District 5 in East County represented by supervisor Federal Glover tend to be hit the hardest by non-franchised solid waste haulers who illegally dump trash in unincorporated areas thereby forcing the county to spend thousands of dollars to clean up sites.
“If you make it too expensive, “warned Supervisor Candace Andersen, whose District 2 gets perhaps the least amount of trash illegally dumped by non-franchised haulers, “there will be more of a need for haulers to resort to the black market.”
District 3 Supervisor Diane Burgis, who has observed hundreds of paint cans litter Marsh Creek Road, commented, “These people can do a lot of damage with one load. Twenty thousand dollars for a performance bond is nothing. I’d like to set it higher. “
At the suggestion of Board Chair and District 4 Supervisor Karen Mitchoff, Gioia and other supervisors agreed the $50,000 performance bond would be a good start to assess independent trash haulers not affiliated with either of the two major trash haulers, Republic Services and Mt. Diablo Resource Recovery. Both companies played key roles in compelling the supervisors to approve the ordinance last year.
District 5 Supervisor Federal Glover of Pittsburg said the problem of trash dumped by non-franchised haulers on vacant lots is a countywide problem, not mainly an East and West county issue. While he supports raising the performance bond to $50,000, he said the board of supervisors needs to be proactive and needs to monitor how the non-franchised trash haulers respond to the new ordinance.
Board chairperson Mitchoff requested that Marilyn Underwood of the Contra Costa Health Services Department, the department enforcing the ordinance, to give the board a progress report in March once the ordinance becomes enforced.
Fire District to Acquire 5 New Trucks
The Contra Costa Fire Protection District will add sorely needed new fire equipment with the supervisors 5-0 consent action approval to buy five new fire engines from Golden State Fire Apparatus Inc. at a price tag not to exceed $4.6 million. The new vehicles will be delivered to the CCFPD in January 2019.
Supervisors voted to acquire four Type I fire engines and one 100-foot aerial ladder truck from Golden State Fire Apparatus to help alleviate an aging fleet of 35 Type I engines with an average age of 9.3 years per vehicle. All engines that are more than 10 years old, Fire Chief Jeff Carman reported, have more than 100,000 miles. Four Type I engines targeted for replacement each have more than 125,000 miles. One engine sustained a catastrophic motor failure while responding to a state mutual aid response in Southern California this fall.
The new aerial apparatus truck will be the fire district’s 10th ladder truck.
The county has arranged a 10-year lease agreement through PNC Equipment Financial LLC worth an amount not to exceed $4.6 million with annual payments of $460,000 at an annual interest rate of 3.5 percent.
Martinez selected as top-10 finalist for $500,000 prize from Small Business Revolution – Main Street TV series
Help them win the award
Main Street Martinez and the City of Martinez are proud to announce that Martinez has been selected as a top-10 finalist for Season 3 of the Small Business Revolution – Main Street television series.
After considering thousands of downtowns across the country, Deluxe Corporation chose Martinez as one of the 10 communities that will compete for a chance to win $500,000 for downtown revitalization. Follow the contest and find more information at MyMartinez.org.
You can help Martinez win this award by sharing photos, stories, and anecdotes about what you love about Downtown Martinez on Facebook (@smallbizrev), Twitter (@smbizrevolution), and Instagram (@smallbusinessrevolution). Use the hashtag #MyMartinez.
Martinez residents, businesses owners, and other stakeholders are encouraged to welcome Deluxe representatives at a special Get to Know Martinez event on Friday, January 5, 2018 from 6pm-8pm at the Veterans Hall, 930 Ward Street in Martinez.
“Main Street Martinez supports the City’s efforts to make economic development a top priority,” said Main Street Martinez Executive Director Leanne Peterson. “We are delighted to spearhead this effort and partner with the City to make the case that downtown’s history and architecture combined with its new energy and momentum make it the perfect choice for Season 3 of the Small Business Revolution – Main Street.”
The competition is part of the highly acclaimed series: Small Business Revolution – Main Street. Get a sneak peek at what could be in store for Martinez by watching the first two seasons at SmallBusinessRevolution.org, Hulu, or YouTube. The hosts are Amanda Brinkman (with Deluxe and on Forbes’ Communication Council) and Robert Herjavec (entrepreneur and former host of Dragon’s Den and Shark Tank). They bring with them a crew of experts to help individual business owners and Main Street districts find their paths to success.
Deluxe representatives will visit nine other downtowns in early 2018 before narrowing the list to five finalists who will compete in a nationwide vote. The winner will be announced in late February.
Please come to the Get to Know Martinez event on Friday, January 5, 2018 from 6pm-8pm at the Veterans Hall, 930 Ward St, Martinez and let these folks get to know the authentic Martinez.
East County Realtors provide Christmas gifts for foster children, checks to local charities
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Christmas gifts for foster children in Antioch schools from the Delta Realtors Community Service Foundation surround the tree at the Delta Association of Realtors Christmas lunch on Thursday, Dec. 8, 2017.
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Joann Mass of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Oakley thanks DRCS Foundation Chairman Dan Barnes for the donation, as other foundation board members look on.
By Allen Payton
During the annual Delta Association of Realtors Christmas party, the organization’s Delta Realtors Community Service Foundation presented checks to East County charities and gifts for local, foster children in Antioch schools.
A check for $1,000 was donated to St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Oakley for their food pantry
“It all goes to some really nice, nice families,” said Joann Mass of St. Anthony’s. “All we can do is say thank you.”
Donations were also provided to the Antioch Senior Center, An Elderly Wish Foundation, Don Brown Shelter, Brentwood Community Chest, and the Golden Hills Community Church Community Outreach Center in Antioch.
The Christmas gifts were provided to Antioch Unified School District’s Student Support Services for “27 foster children who are Antioch school students living in five group homes, four in Antioch and one in Pittsburg,” said Mayra Preciado, Counselor and Foster Liaison. “They’re now receiving a Christmas.”
She was joined by Director Bob Sanchez, Homeless Liaison Trina Tuel and Intervention Services Coordinator Dineen Burdick.
“We keep the money local. That’s what we’ve been focusing on” said Realtors foundation chairman Dan Barnes, of the Berkshire Hathaway real estate office in Brentwood.
The other foundation board members are Leonard Briones, Laura Agdanowski, Anthony Silva, Cathleen Griebling, Patti Shaner and Margaret Hurtado.
For more information about the Delta Association of Realtors visit their website at www.deltaaor.com.
Orinda company opens 19th senior living facility in Antioch, offers Club-Med like experience
Working to make every day “magical,” a pioneer in senior assisted living
By Allen Payton
Opening their 19th location with their acquisition of the former Cypress Meadows Assisted Living facility in Antioch, Agemark Senior Living Communities of Orinda has renamed it TreVista Antioch and is bringing a new approach of a Club Med-like experience for seniors to East County.
The 10-acre campus is “not a skilled nursing facility,” but offers “both assisted living and memory care to enhance the lives of our residents,” said Senior Care Consultant Amanda Stewart.
She mentioned “many changes are happening, including a new water feature, a new theater,” making the place “more resident friendly and focused.”
They’re part of “a multimillion dollar renovation project that will truly establish TreVista Antioch as the Bay Area’s premier senior living community,” according to their website,
When asked why they chose Antioch, Agemark co-founder and CEO Richard Westin said, “There are a lot of people who need our services in town.”
The Orinda-based company is a pioneer in senior assisted living having introduced the type of facilities to the market.
“We’ve been doing this for 35 years,” Westin explained. “When we first began nobody knew what assisted living was. In the 1980’s it was educating the public.”
The only options were retirement homes of up to six beds or convalescent homes.
“The concept of vibrant, assisted living for people whose average age is 87 didn’t exist other than a convalescent home which was really no place that anyone wanted to go to,” he stated. “It gave senior housing a steep road to climb, because of the significantly, negative reputation that convalescent hospitals had. They (seniors) were just being stored, because people couldn’t take care of them at home.
“The world has changed,” Westin said. “We recognize every one of our residents has a story to tell and wisdom to provide the next generation. There are wonderful opportunities that assisted living provides that didn’t previously exist, that allows people to thrive.”
Agemark does things differently than other facilities. According to their website, their mission and the “Promise” includes the following: “It is our mission, privilege and responsibility to provide the kind of care we want for our own loved ones, fostering a healthy body, agile mind and joyful spirit. We promise to ‘Nurture and grow our communities and the people who work and live in them,’ ‘Actively listen, constantly innovate, and serve with pride and joy,’ and ‘Empower and encourage staff to respond to residents and their families with compassion and respect.’”
“My background is Club Med,” Westin (who said he is unrelated to the hotel chain of the same name) shared. “I used to teach sailing in the summer and skiing in the winter in Europe. I was the first American to ever work for Club Med. It started in 1954 and I started working for them in 1961 at age 20.”
“I didn’t realize at the time I wasn’t teaching people to sail and ski,” he continued. “I myself was learning the hospitality business and 55 years later I’m able to provide a Club Med-like experience for 87-year-olds.”
“First it was for 20-year-olds now it’s for 80-year-olds,” Westin said with a laugh. “Fun is fun. Dancing and going to the zoo, high school and semi-professional sporting events, depending on the location.”
“Engaging with kindergartners and older folks in meaningful activities is really a valuable thing,” he added.
Westin then shared his philosophy of how the facilities operate, with the goal of making every day magical for their residents
“Whenever you say ‘good-night’ to one of our residents it may in fact be ‘good-bye’. So, it is our responsibility to make sure that their previous day was magical,” he stated. “And if we can do that every day we will have made a difference in the lives of the people we take care of and will have accomplished our goal.”
“I’m passionate about what I do,” Westin continued. “At 76 I get up every day and I’m delighted to go to work because I care about the wellbeing of our residents and their families because I know they’re going through a difficult time. We don’t just get a resident we get a family. They never need to call because we’re always ready to show them a clean, happy environment.”
Westin shared about an experience one of their facilities offered to a resident who had never been to a game of her favorite major league baseball team. She got to throw out the first pitch, meet the players after the game and was greeted with a
“We try to do that all the time,” he shared
They’re going through the approval process for six additional locations all in California.
It’s a family run business.
“My son (Forrest) is my business partner and it’s great,” he added.
His partner Jesse Pittore is retired but his son Michael Pittore, a graduate of De La Salle High – who was part of the football team that kept their winning streak going to 101 games – is also part of the ownership team.
“So, we have the two younger generation and me,” Westin shared. “And if I’m healthy I plan to work another 20 years.”
TreVista is located at 3950 Lone Tree Way across the street from Sutter Delta Medical Center. For more information call (925) 329-6296 or visit www.trevista-antioch.com.
Holiday FUN(draiser) in Downtown Richmond Thursday, Dec. 7
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