Contra Costa Herald

News Of By and For The People of Contra Costa County, California

CHP investigating Monday night shooting on Highway 4 in Bay Point

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From CHP-Contra Costa Facebook Page

Monday night, at approximately 10:00 PM, a shooting occurred on westbound Highway 4 at Bailey Road. While the victim’s vehicle was struck several times, the solo occupant was not injured.

CHP – Contra Costa is actively investigating this shooting with the assistance of Golden Gate Division – Investigative Services Unit.

If you have any information or may have witnessed this event call 1-800-TELL-CHP. We wish to thank the public for contacting us with information in tragic cases such as this.

Voters shrink East Contra Costa Fire board from 9 to 5 in special election

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Low-income housing in the county “stagnates”

By Daniel Borsuk

Voters in the financially challenged East Contra Costa Fire Protection District convincingly decided in a mail ballot election concluded on March 6, to shrink the number of board members from nine appointed directors to five elected directors.

Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors certified the election results as presented by Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters Joseph Canciamilla as a consent item at Tuesday’s supervisors meeting.

Of the 64,351 ballots mailed to registered voters residing in the ECCFPD, county election officials received and tallied 11,772 ballots or 18.29 percent of the total ballots mailed.

Of those ballots returned and counted, 90.46 percent or 10,605 votes were in favor of changing the board from nine chosen board members to five elected directors.  Only 1,119 votes or 9.54 percent of the of the ballots returned wanted to retain the present setup of nine appointed ECCFPD board directors.

Results of the special election means those wanting to serve on the ECCFPD board of directors will have to run for office in the November 6 general election.  Winners will be sworn into office on December 3.

The ECCFPD board presently has four directors appointed by the Brentwood City Council, three directors appointed by the Oakley City Council and two appointed by the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors.

By transitioning to an elected board of five directors, the ECCFPD will be in step with other policymaking boards like the city councils of Brentwood and Oakley and special districts such as park, water and irrigation districts, said ECCFPD Fire Chief Brian Helmick, who oversees the $15 million a year fire district that operates three fire stations and a Marsh Creek station under contract with CalFire from November through April.

There are plans for the fire district to operate as many as nine fire stations.

Historically, the ECCFPD has been hammered with financial mismanagement issues that have hampered its fire effectiveness due to the closure of fire stations and the departure of seasoned firefighters who join fire districts offering better pay and benefit packages.

Under a five-person elected board, Chief Helmick says the district can convey a more consistent and solid financial picture about the ECCPFD than under the current nine member appointed board.

“The election results will bring efficiencies and more effective communications to the general public about the district’s direction,” Helmick told the Herald.  The fire chief said a newly elected board of directors will play a key role in the roll out of the fire district’s new strategic plan.  A consultant is slated to present a mockup of an ECCFPD strategic plan at an April 9 meeting, Helmick said.

“I am excited to see that voters supported the East Contra Costa County Fire Protection District’s plan to move from nine members to five,” said District 3 Board of Supervisor Diane Burgis of Brentwood.  “Nearly 12,000 people cast ballots and over 90 percent of them voted for the district’s initiative.  That level of engagement and confidence shows that the district’s efforts to communicate more actively with residents and to be transparent about the district’s challenges are paying off.  Chief Helmick and the board are making their case to residents and building the right foundation for the future.”

Report:  County Housing for Low and Very Low-Income Residents “Stagnates”

Contra Costa County’s production of new housing units built for families in low-and very low-income categories continues to “stagnate” while permits issued for the construction of above-moderate income housing units continues to soar, a new housing report approved by the Board of Supervisors reveals. CoCoCo 2017 Annual Housing Report

In order to be in compliance with annual housing regulations set by the Association of Bay Area Governments, California Department of Housing and Community Development, and California Office of Planning Research, the Contra Costa County Conservation and Development Department’s annual report prepared by Christine Louie reported, “While the county has made significant progress in achieving gross housing production goals, production of new housing units available to households in low-and-very low income categories continues to stagnate.”

Last year, the report states, the county issued three permits for new units available to low-and very-low income households.  Through the first three years of the current housing cycle only 11 such permits have been issued, constituting 1.2 percent of the total building permits issued for new units.

Discrimination, high land acquisition and construction/development costs are key factors for the county’s low housing production for low and very low-income households.

“Through the first three years of the current housing cycle, the total number of units for which the county has issued building permits is 856 units, which includes 11 low-income units, 14 moderate income units and 721 above-moderate income units,” the county housing report stated.

Last year, the county sponsored a number of subsidized housing programs designed to increase affordable housing.  Among the housing programs the county sponsored were:

  • The issuance $19.5 million in tax-exempt bonds for the rehabilitation of 114 units in unincorporated Bay Point and the city of Richmond.
  • The release of $146.8 million in tax-exempt bonds for construction of 376 new units in the unincorporated community of North Richmond and the cities of El Cerrito and Richmond.
  • The issuance of $100,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds for an 82-unit senior housing project in the city of Pleasant Hill.
  • Providing $625,000 of HOME funds to support rehabilitation of a 14-unit apartment complex in Bay Point.

Neither the supervisors nor general public commented on the annual housing report that was approved as a consent item on the supervisors’ agenda.

Chief Helmick: East Contra Costa Fire’s critical infrastructure update and next steps

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ECCFPD Chief Brian Helmick

Over the past year, the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD) has worked on assuring that we are sustainable, operationally sound, and living within our means. Today, approximately one year into the District’s reorganization, we are beginning to see the fruits of our labor. We have been able to stabilize the District’s staff retention challenges and have started to define better administrative and operational processes. Although the District is not able to provide service levels that adequately protect the community’s residents at this time, we are well on our way to building a solid foundation from which service levels can be efficiently increased when the residents move to provide additional revenue.

While the District continues to stabilize and reinforce our foundation, we also will begin to prepare for growth. The District will start by investing in infrastructure (apparatus, equipment, and stations) in accordance with the District’s equipment and capital improvement plan. Historically (since 2002) the District has not adequately invested in its infrastructure, directing all available funds to attempt to retain a fourth fire station. Unfortunately, a fourth station is not sustainable with our current revenues, and deferred investment in the District’s infrastructure has created many challenges. District assets’ state-of-repair needs to be addressed to assure that ECCFPD is providing services as efficiently as possible now, and also preparing for future growth.

Indulge me for a moment as I explain why investing in infrastructure is vital for ECCFPD to be sustainable and to prepare for future growth.

Let’s start with our stations and how they relate to our service model.

The District currently has three open stations and is running at capacity with three personnel per station, per shift, for a total of nine firefighters on duty at any given time. With this three-station model, it is impossible to provide a high level of service in terms of response times throughout the District. Our system is very dynamic, and its’ limited number of engines are frequently out of the stations on calls. Occasionally, none are available for a new call and service must come from outside the District, so one cannot assume that being close to a fire station assures a rapid response. That means that the best response times are available to those nearest to a District engine at the time of their call because any or all three of our engines may be out of their stations on calls in Marsh Creek / Morgan Territory, Bethel Island, Discovery Bay, Knightsen, Oakley, Byron and/or Brentwood.

Now, imagine if the District were to receive additional revenue that would enable it to open six more stations, allowing it to achieve the recommendations in ECCFPD’s 2016 “Deployment Performance and Headquarters Staffing Adequacy Study” (https://eccfpd.specialdistrict.org/about-the-district). If the District had the budget, as the Fire Chief, I could quickly hire more firefighters. But the unfortunate reality is that the District does not have adequate stations, beyond the three that are currently staffed, to house additional firefighters 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In addition to our three active stations, the District also has five shuttered stations, but none of them can be reopened without massive renovations – or, more likely, complete replacement. The shuttered stations were mostly constructed in the 1950’s and were never intended to operate full-time (24-hours a day, seven days a week). Instead, they were built for volunteer firefighters to gather and respond to emergencies, and to store equipment. For the past 15 years, the District has done everything it could to update the antiquated facilities in an attempt to turn them into livable stations that are suitable for full-time fire department operations. Unfortunately, we have taken them as far as we can, and each of the shuttered stations is at the end of its useful life. Today, these stations are used for storage or sit vacant; unless the buildings are rebuilt, they will never reopen as fire stations. The shuttered stations are in the process of being evaluated to allow the District to determine if the assets will become surplus and sold, or if the stations will be rebuilt. This assessment will be finalized as part of the District’s upcoming Strategic Planning process.

Based on the “Deployment Performance and Headquarters Staffing Adequacy Study”, the District should have four fire stations in Brentwood, three in Oakley, and two in Discovery Bay / Byron, and for the District to continue its contract with Cal Fire to operate the Marsh Creek Station (Sunshine Station). The station locations were identified based on population, growth, and access to main roads to ensure response times are the best possible. The priority and process for opening future stations will be finalized during the District’s upcoming Strategic Planning process. Meanwhile, the District is already working with the cities of Brentwood and Oakley to build new stations now to prepare for future growth.

Second, let’s look at fire-fighting equipment. In addition to having an inadequate number of stations and crews, the District’s equipment is outdated, breaking down, and no longer meets National Fire Service recommended operational standards. Like the stations, during the economic downturn maintenance and replacement of fire engines and equipment was deferred. At this point, the District’s deferred maintenance and replacement practices have caught up with us and are impacting our service.

The District’s three front-line (“first-out”) engines are more than 10 years old and have racked up more than 100,000 miles of service. The fire service industry standards are to transition first-out fire engines to reserve status at either 10 years or 100,000 miles. In addition, most of the equipment on our engines is from 2001 and needs replacing. For example, the District is currently preparing and submitting grants to replace and update the District’s 17-year-old vehicle extrication equipment (“jaws of life”). If received, the grants will allow the District to replace this essential equipment on all three first-out engines, updating the mechanics from the old-fashioned hydraulic hoses hooked up to heavy equipment to modern battery-operated equipment, which is much lighter and faster to operate during rescue situations. The District also is on the look-out for grant opportunities to fund many other types of equipment replacement.

ECCFPD’s current service capacity is not acceptable in the near-term, and is no recipe for long-term success. This is why ECCFPD is in the beginning phases of creating a Strategic Plan that will define the path and cost to meet the response and staffing levels defined by the 2016 Deployment and Staffing Study. As the Fire Chief, I firmly believe that our Fire District is a critical part of our community that cannot be neglected and allowed to fall into disrepair.

To conclude, while the District continues to stabilize and reinforce our foundation, we are beginning to prepare for growth. Once the District’s Strategic plan is finalized, ECCFPD will explore funding options to meet the recommendations as defined by the Strategic Plan and the 2016 Deployment and Staffing Study. The future level of fire protection service will be decided by the voice of the District’s citizens. As ECCFPD moves forward, I will continue to work within our budget to provide the best service levels possible with the funding we have.

Sincerely,

Brian Helmick

Fire Chief, East Contra Costa Fire Protection District

Online entries for the 2018 Contra Costa County Fair now open

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Imagine the thrill of winning a blue ribbon at the Fair for a special talent. Think you own the best pig, bake the most delicious apple pie, made a beautiful quilt, or have an uncanny knack for making crafts? Want to see who’s the best in all of Contra Costa County? Then be sure to enter the Contra Costa County Fair’s competitive exhibits. Entry information is available on the Fair’s website at www.contracostafair.com

It all Happens at the Fair May 17th – May 20th which is sure to be a fun event for children of all ages, with new exhibits & entertainment, the carnival, livestock and the always popular Fair food. Money saving pre-sale tickets will be available starting April 27, and ending May 13.

For additional information visit our website at www.contracostafair.com, call (925) 757-4400 or or like them on Facebook. The Contra Costa County Fair is located at 1201 West 10th Street in Antioch.

ID theft suspect arrested in Discovery Bay Tuesday

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Credit cards and more found with the woman arrested for ID theft, Tuesday, March 20, 2018.

Woman had warrant out of Alameda County

By Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff

In the early morning hours of Tuesday, March 20, 2018, a Deputy Sheriff patrolling Discovery Bay conducted a traffic enforcement stop on the 4000 block of Regatta Drive. The Deputy contacted the female driver and determined she had a $220,000 arrest warrant for identity theft out of Alameda County.

A subsequent search of her vehicle yielded what appeared to be stolen mail, altered checks, numerous suspected stolen gift cards, a stolen laptop, and some official documents that included tax forms and IRS vouchers.

The suspect was booked into the Martinez Detention Facility on forgery and receiving stolen property charges, as well as the arrest warrant. She is identified as 41-year-old Sarah Potter of Hayward. She is being held in lieu of $260,000 bail.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to contact Sheriff’s Office Investigation Division at 925-313-2600. For any tips, email: tips@so.cccounty.us or call 866-846-3592 to leave an anonymous voice message.

Writer concerned East County Fire unable to respond to more than one call at a time

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Guest Commentary by Bryan Scott

An auto accident was reported at 4:05 pm on Tuesday, February 13, 2018, in Oakley.  It was a two-car accident, with one person injured who was subsequently transported to a hospital.  The accident occurred at the intersection of East Cypress Road and Bethel Island Road, in Oakley.

It took nearly 16 minutes for help to arrive (15:58 minutes).

The reason for the lengthy response time is that all resources of the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD), the agency that provides emergency medical and fire services for the area, had responded to another auto accident that was reported at 3:38 pm, 27 minutes earlier.

This prior accident was in Brentwood, at the intersection of Sycamore Ave. and Brentwood Blvd.  All three stations responded to the accident, and four victims were airlifted to area hospitals.

Help for the Oakley accident came from a neighboring fire district, Contra Costa County Fire Protection District (ConFire), as well as the county-contracted ambulance service provider. The two Confire stations nearest to the Oakley accident are in Antioch at 315 W. 10th Street and 196 Bluerock Drive.

According to Google Maps the stations are 10.3 and 11.2 miles away from the accident site, respectively, with normal driving time estimated at 21 and 20 minutes.  Arriving in 15:58 minutes means that flashing lights and a siren take about 20% off the normal driving time.

The nearest ECCFPD fire station to the Oakley accident is located at 540 Ohara Ave. in Oakley.  According to Google Maps it is just 4.2 miles from the accident scene, eight minutes normal driving time by car.  With a siren and flashing lights first reponders might arrive, from the closer fire station, in six minutes and 24 seconds.

The Monthly Operational Report issued by ECCFPD doesn’t list the severity of the injuries suffered in either accident.  An ECCFPD Facebook posting says that four victims of the Brentwood accident were transported to hospital by helicopters, shown in a picture the agency posted.

Consider this:  The human heart beats about 70-times per-minute, and pumps about 5-7 liters of blood per-minute.  It has been estimated that blood makes up 7% of a body’s weight, so for a 150-180 lbs. person there will be 4.7 – 5.5 liters of blood in the body.  Those of us with larger proportions will have more.

In a severe accident a cut to a major artery by glass or a piece of metal can cause blood to be pumped from the body, and rapid death.  Less-severe trauma to the body’s circulatory system would, of course, take longer to cause death.  But without immediate aid to staunch the loss of blood, a traffic accident victim has only minutes to live.  It doesn’t take long to lose four or five liters of blood.

State-mandated funding for ECCFPD is less than $94 per-person, while areas in Central County have funding for the same emergency medical and fire services at $449 and $370 per-person, according to the county’s Local Agency Formation Commission.  This funding allocation rate was set four decades ago, before East County experienced 1,500% residential growth.

Response times throughout the ECCFPD service area exceed municipal and industry goals by a wide amount, and the 115,000 residents are in danger because of this underfunding practice.

The County’s Grand Jury has issued several reports on the situation, a government task force has studied it, and the inadequate service has been noted by consultants, the media, and on a Vasco Road billboard that was erected by concerned citizens.

Oakley City Manager Bryan Montgomery has obstructed efforts to get property tax funding shifted to ECCFPD, so that ECCFPD can do a better job of protecting Oakley’s 40,000-and–growing population.

Like many top government managers, Montgomery wants to protect his agency’s budget.  This is a noble goal, but he is doing so at the expense of Oakley resident safety.

Bryan Scott is Co-Chair of East County Voters for Equal Protection, a non-partisan citizen’s action committee striving to improve funding for the ECCFPD.  He can be reached at scott.bryan@comcast.net, or 925-418-4428.  The group’s Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/EastCountyVoters/.  

Antioch awarded $10 million from state for brackish water desalination plant, will help attract industry to city

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One of only four California cities or water agencies to receive the highly competitive water quality grant

The City of Antioch has announced its award as only one of four California cities or water agencies to receive $10 million in state grant funding to establish a ground-breaking, first-of-its-kind, local brackish water desalination treatment facility. It will allow the City to generate its own clean, safe, quality water. Many prominent cities and water agencies competed for the highly-sought after grants from the State Department of Water Resources to fund drinking water production and other uses. Only Antioch, Santa Barbara, Camarillo and the South Coast Water District were awarded grants for construction of water treatment plants.

“Creating millions of gallons of clean, reliable, quality water will allow our community to protect our city residents and businesses from fluctuating water costs and water shortages in the long-term,” said Mayor Sean Wright.

Brackish water is salt water and fresh water mixed together and found in estuaries. The grant will help defray the total estimated cost of $62 million for the brackish water plant for which the City will continue to pursue other grant funds that could be obtained as soon as this summer. (See related articles, here and here).

“Antioch is leading statewide innovation on these clean water quality and local water control issues,” said City Manager Ron Bernal. “With so many high-profile cities and water agencies competing for these grant awards, I couldn’t be more pleased that our city’s innovation, creativity and leadership was recognized by the awards panel – making our city successful in securing Antioch’s fair share of these state funds.”

The highly competitive state grant from Prop. 1 Water Bond funds, which the voters approved in 2014, will help establish a local, water desalination facility within the city’s current water treatment plant. It will turn salty river water into six million gallons per day of clean drinking water, using a safe, secure, reverse osmosis treatment system and positioning the City as a local and regional clean water provider and statewide innovator.

“Establishing Antioch’s own local water plan allows our city to treat and store our own water locally, expanding our ability to be self-reliant, keep water costs down, and attract industries that need a reliable local water supply,” Wright added.

The clean water that is needed by industry will help attract businesses to locate in the city. While seawater reverse osmosis has a conversion rate of 35 percent to 40 percent, the conversion rate of brackish water could be more than 90 percent, with only 10 percent returning to the river. That will help maximize the use of the City’s rights to river water of as much as 16 million gallons per day.

“This is a tremendous economic development engine which allows Antioch to competitively attract and retain all manner of businesses and industries who need a reliable local water supply,” said Bernal. “Antioch is one of the few communities in the state able to offer this benefit to our residents and business stakeholders.”

Supervisors add North Richmond, Rodeo and Antioch mall area to Federal Opportunity Zone program for special investment

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North Richmond. Courtesy of Google Maps.

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.

Contra Costa Taxpayers Association East announces inaugural meeting March 28

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The Contra Costa Taxpayers Association (“CoCoTax”) is pleased to announce the formation of a new East Contra Costa chapter. To celebrate, CoCoTax East will hold its inaugural public meeting on Wednesday, March 28 with a luncheon meeting at Vic Stewart’s Restaurant at 2270 Balfour Road in Brentwood.

CoCoTax promotes “good government at affordable cost” and is well known as a “tax watchdog” organization. But, according to Jack Weir, CoCoTax President, “CoCoTax is much more than a tax watchdog. Good tax receipts flow from well designed, developed and managed cities and counties. As such, CoCoTax seeks to work with residents, businesses, and local government to grow the tax base and provide for a quality lifestyle for residents through economic development, prudent zoning, and other strategic planning tools.”

The first CoCoTax East meeting will focus on Economic Development in East County and will feature three East County speakers:

Ron Reagan, is owner and President of Reagan Management Services in Brentwood and a member of the Contra Costa Airport Commission; Ron will address the issue of economic growth at and around the Byron Airport.

Gus Vina, Brentwood City Manager will discuss the economic development element of the City’s Strategic Plan.

Kevin Romick, Oakley City Councilman and member of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority board of directors, will highlight Oakley’s development progress and discuss the present and future infrastructure needs and plans in East County.

The luncheon is open to CoCoTax members and the public. People wishing to attend can register online at www.cocotax.org/event-2851592 or by contacting Denise Sheehan at denise@cocotax.org.

The cost to attend is $35; alternately, attendees can attend the luncheon for free by becoming a CoCoTax member for $37.50, a 50% discount on their first year’s membership.

For more information about CoCoTax or the luncheon, please contact Hal Bray at hal.bray@pacbell.net or 925-286-4905.

Reward offered in October murder case of Danville woman near Byron

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Emily Courchesne

By Jimmy Lee, Director of Public Affairs, Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff

A $10,000 reward is being offered by the family of murder victim Emily Courchesne for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect(s) in her killing.

On Friday, October 6, 2017, at about 10:05 AM, Sheriff’s Deputies were dispatched to a “Medical – PD” call at a residence on the 24000 block of Marsh Creek Road in unincorporated Contra Costa County near Byron.

Deputies found Courchesne, a Danville resident, deceased inside the home. Detectives later determined it was a homicide. Detectives believe Courchesne was killed that week sometime between Wednesday evening and Thursday early morning. She had been housesitting at the residence which is on a farm in Byron.

Anyone with any information on this case is asked to contact the Investigation Division at (925) 313-2600 or call the anonymous tip lines at (925) 313-1166 or (866) 846-3592. Tips can also be emailed to: tips@so.cccounty.us.