Contra Costa Herald

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

Nov. Planning Workshop ideal time for Brentwood Council to discuss, take action on fire district funding

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By Bryan Scott

The Brentwood City Council has an opportunity coming up, an opportunity to take actions that will improve the safety of the over 60,000 current, and future, city residents.

East County is suffering from a dire public safety emergency due to the underfunding of the regional fire district, the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD).  The district once had as many as eight stations, but now there are only three, with nine firefighters on duty at any time.

This meager force serves a region of over 249 square-miles, with over 115,000 residents.

Brentwood is conducting a Strategic Planning Workshop/Special City Council Meeting on November 16 and 17 at the Community Center, 35 Oak Street.   Contact Diane Williams, Executive Assistant, City Manager’s Office, at dwilliams@brentwoodca.gov for the agenda and further details.

At this workshop the Council will be working on the city’s Strategic Plan.  The current Strategic Plan includes six Focus Areas, with 19 Goals under these focus areas.  Focus Areas include Infrastructure, Economic Development, Land Use Planning, Community and Neighborhood Services, Fiscal Stability and Operational Management, and Public Safety.

It is during the Public Safety discussions that the City Council can take action to improve the safety of all city residents by deciding to move forward with the investigation and acquisition of additional ambulance hours, through an addendum to the existing County ambulance contract.

The City’s General Plan, which sets the vision for Brentwood, specifies that all emergency calls receive a three-to-five-minute response.  Due to budget cuts and fire station closures the 90% response times provided by ECCPFD for Brentwood are about ten minutes, according to ECCFPD’s September Operations Report.

The global standards agency for the fire services industry is the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).  After considerable scientific research their NFPA 1710 Standard suggests response times of four or five minutes.

The City Council recognizes the problem.  Earlier this year a Council Fire and Medical Services Ad Hoc Committee recommended that the City spend over $1 million per year for three years to keep a fourth fire station open.  During March and April this Committee worked to move this proposal forward, getting ECCFPD Board approval for the action.

But bowing to a request from the firefighters’ union, and other political pressures, on April 25 the City Council reversed itself.  The issue died without a motion.

The previous Strategic Planning Workshop was held in September, 2015.  That session, too, was held over several days at the Community Center, and the first topic discussed was funding for the fire district.  The Council agreed to set aside $1 million to investigate the situation and do something.

While there has been extensive investigation in the intervening years, nothing has been done to alter the structural funding problem that puts ECCFPD at the lowest allocation rate of all fire districts in the County, even though East County is experiencing the greatest residential and commercial growth.

Residents of Brentwood and East County will have an opportunity to speak at the beginning of the Workshop.  Prior to the Workshop residents should contact their City Council, by phone, by email, or by letter, and tell them that Public Safety ought to be the number one priority of local government.

Yes, engaging with regional transportation partners is important, but is it more important than saving lives?

Yes, maintaining and operating parks, trails and recreation facilities is important, but is it as important as getting an ambulance to a heart attack victim, in time to save a life?

Brentwood residents should make their opinions heard.

The City Council needs to fund an increase in ambulance hours.

It’s what they were elected to do.

Scott is a Brentwood resident and Co-Chair of East County Voters for Equal Protection, a non-partisan citizens 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/.

Writer says Frazier again gets ‘F’ on taxes

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Editor:

You can thank Assemblyman Jim Frazier for that pain at the pump you’re feeling now that gas is an extra 12 cents per gallon.

Frazier and his fellow Democrats in Sacramento raised taxes $52 billion annually, including a 12 cents/gallon gas tax hike, 20 cents/gallon diesel gas tax hike and a $25-$175 vehicle fee increase. The average household will be paying an extra $600 a year.

Frazier not only voted for the tax-hike legislation, but sponsored his own version of the tax-hike bill, Assembly Bill 1. So it’s no surprise that Frazier once again received an “F” on his legislative report card from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. He voted in favor of taxpayer interests only 16 percent of the time on 22 tax bills in 2017.

This makes the fifth year in a row that Frazier, whose campaign slogan is “People before politics,” has received an “F” from HJTA for putting politics before people when it comes to their taxes.

Unfortunately, Frazier is not alone – a record 79 legislators flunked the tax scorecard. “By approving major new burdens on middle class taxpayers, the current crop of Sacramento lawmakers is exhibiting an outright hostility to the taxpayers who pay the state’s bills,” said HJTA President Jon Coupal.

How bad is the hostility? State lawmakers this year proposed $373.4 billion in higher annual taxes and fees, according to the California Tax Foundation. That’s nearly $200 billion more than the total taxes and fees annually collected by state government.

When will it end? Only when taxpayers decide they’ve had enough and stop sending taxaholics like Frazier to represent them in Sacramento.

Dave Roberts

Oakley

Guest Commentary: East County Fire Board accepts coverage failure in present, future service levels

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By Bryan Scott

Residents of Eastern Contra Costa County are being poorly served by local politics.  It is as clear as the nose on your face, to use a hackneyed cliché, and was illustrated earlier this month at the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD) Board meeting.

During the month of September ECCFPD had no resources to respond to emergency calls for a total of 16 hours and 33 minutes, it was revealed at the Board of Directors meeting on September 2.

According to the Operational Update, delivered to the Board by Interim Battalion Chief Ross Macumber, six calls came in during this period, and all were calls for medical assistance.

“Sixteen hours and 33 minutes without coverage, that’s a new record for the district,” said Director Joe Young.

Joel Bryant, ECCFPD Board President and Brentwood Vice Mayor, also commented on the situation.

“It’s a bad situation that we’re in,” he said, referring to September’s lengthy time period when 114,000 residents were without ECCFPD fire and emergency medical services coverage.

Six 9-1-1 calls came in during the period when ECCFPD was unresponsive, and all were for medical assistance.  Responses to the calls came from Contra Costa County Fire Protection District (ConFire) and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire).

The Operational Update does not indicate the locations where these first responders came from, or how long it took to arrive on scene at these medical emergencies.  What impact this delayed response time had on each of the medical outcomes was also not included in the report.

Fire and emergency medical services in East County are funded at just $94 per person, while residents in central parts of the county have the same services funded at rates of $370 and $449 per person, according to a June 2016, LAFCO report. Funds are distributed to government entities based on state law.

The fire district’s low funding rate has caused ECCFPD to cut staff and close fire stations at a time when East County is experiencing significant residential and commercial growth.

A government Task Force and the CCC Grand Jury have both reported extensively on the funding crisis, while Assembly Member Jim Frazier has called the situation a “public safety emergency.”

One solution to the problem is the reallocation of currently collected property taxes.  A recent memorandum prepared by ECCFPD legal counsel outlined the history of other such state-directed funding changes, and found no legal barriers.

But would the Directors of ECCFPD the support such a solution?

All nine members of the Board are appointed by other government agencies that would lose funds, should a reallocation effort be implemented.  Two Board members, President Joel Bryant and newly-appointed Director Susan Morgan, serve on the legislative bodies of other government agencies which receive property tax funds.

President Bryant is the Vice Mayor of the agency that appointed him to the fire board, the City of Brentwood.  And Director Morgan, appointed to the fire board by Oakley, is President of the Ironhouse Sanitary District Board of Directors.

Any funds reallocated to the fire district would come from these, and other, government agencies.  Is there a conflict of interest here?

For six hours and 36 minutes on the Labor Day Holiday, Monday, September 4, when four emergency calls came in, the ECCFPD service area of 249 square-miles was without ECCFPD coverage.

And yet at the October ECCFPD Board meeting, over two and one-half hours in duration, no discussion of ways to improve funding took place.

Just how interested in improving district funding is this Board?

Brentwood resident Bryan Scott is Co-Chair of East County Voters for Equal Protection, a non-partisan citizens 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/.  

Writer opposes community choice energy, warns people to not be fooled

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Editor:

Don’t be fooled by “green energy” or “renewable energy” groups like Marin Clean Energy and others. It’s simple economics. When you add “middle men” in to the mix, you add additional costs because you’ve not created any more customers nor produced any electricity. Not only that but their “Renewable Energy Credit” system is deceiving. Get the facts. It’s not easy but here it is. These are the facts.

Community Choice Aggregates (CCA’S) including Marin Clean Energy (MCE) are unwilling OR unable to sign the Power Purchase Agreements necessary to generate the renewable power needed by the State to reach our Renewable Portfolio Standards goals (RPS).  In fact, there are currently several solar projects that have been fully approved, permitted (with Project Labor Agreements (PLA’s)) that have not begun construction because nobody is signing the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).  PG&E and the other Utilities, including public utilities like SMUD, have already bought all the power they need to meet the 2020 requirement of 33% RPS.

But the CCAs are NOT signing these agreements.

If we don’t build these projects now, as a State, we lose the benefit of the Federal tax credits (set to reduce to 10% in 2019) which means power costs go up.  It also means that MCE rates will go up noticeably while PG&E’s will remain moderate because of all the cheap long-term contracts they have signed the last 5 years.  MCE signed some of these, but the term is 3-5 years, not 15-20.

There was also a big conversation at the California Energy Commission about the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA*), which is the cost sharing mechanism that the CCAs are supposed to pay to compensate PG&E for the power PG&E bought under long term contracts for its customers that the CCAs have stolen.  Everybody, including the President of the CPUC, acknowledged that this PCIA is not accurately apportioning that cost.  PG&E showed that MCE is paying only 65% of what it owes every month.  That means you and I are subsidizing MCE customers.

*The PCIA ensures that the customers who remain with the utility do not end up taking on the long-term financial obligations the utility incurred on behalf of now-departed customers. Examples of such financial obligations include utility expenditures to build power plants and, more commonly, long-term power purchase contracts with independent power producers.

MCE and the other CCAs will have significantly higher rates (as much as 25%) than there rates today.  This means some customers will leave and threaten the ability of CCAs to operate.  Plus, their promises of cleaner energy are being proven false.

Michael DuPray

Oakley

Writer wants police to deal with Antifa, other radical groups that terrorize, injure, vandalize

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Editor:

The disguised and masked Antifa, other radical groups, and individuals must be dealt with immediately by the police when they appear to just terrorize, injure, vandalize, and overall break the existing laws.

They arrive united in purpose, similarly disguised, and with covered faces so they won’t be identified. Our California Penal Code laws clearly make it illegal to; Conspire together (PC 182), Wearing  Mask Or Disguise (PC 185), Assault (PC 240), Batter (PC 242), Assault With A Deadly Weapon (PC 245), to Terrorize/Threaten (PC 422 and/or 11411), Riot (PC 404), Incite To Riot (PC 404.6), Rout (PC 406), Unlawfully Assemble (PC 407), Participating In Rout Or Unlawful Assembly (408), Public Disturbance (PC 415), Threatening With Weapon (PC 417), Vandalize, Damage Or Destroy (PC 594), and so on.

And, it’s unlawful also for the police to willfully not suppress a Riot or Route (PC 410). In addition, any of their superiors who order them to not take action are guilty also.

So, the answer to all of their lawlessness is quite simple. Just enforce the laws immediately and shortly these things will cease considerably. There is your answer.

Ralph A. Hernandez

Antioch

Contra Costa Young Democrats blast Trump Administration for ending DACA program

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Nearly one million people across the country to face deportation unless Congress acts

On Tuesday, Sept. 5, the Trump Administration announced the end of DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. This compassionate program allowed undocumented children and youth brought to America the opportunity to pursue the American Dream. These strivers are our friends, classmates, coworkers and community members who don’t have any other place they call home.

“We must fight to preserve and expand the American Dream,” said Jonathan Bash, President of the Contra Costa Young Democrats. “DACA has provided an opportunity for nearly one million children across the country to come out of the shadows and participate fully and freely in American society. To see their legal status ripped away is heartbreaking.

“We urge the Republican-led Congress to pass permanent legislation that will rescind this cruel decision by Donald Trump. We also call on all California state and local officials to announce their support for Dreamers, and resist any efforts by the federal government to target our law-abiding immigrant population.”

The DACA program was never presented as a permanent solution, but it was a way to protect deserving residents who have not called any other nation their home. Local Democrats, including the Contra Costa Young Democrats, believe that this move is a senselessly destructive action delivered by a xenophobic and divisive president who should have instead demonstrated care and compassion.

“Immigrants are America’s past, present and future. We cannot let fear and prejudice become the law of the land. The Contra Costa Young Democrats stand with our immigrant brothers and sisters, and will continue fighting on their behalf.”

McNerney asked to oppose bill to gut restaurant menu health labeling requirements

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By Colin Schwartz, Nutrition Policy Associate,  Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI)

On Friday, Aug. 25, Food and Drug Commissioner Scott Gottlieb made it clear that calorie labels on menus are here to stay for all Americans. As Politico put it, “In the era of President Donald Trump’s war on regulations, one Obama-era rule — menu labeling — appears to be surviving.”

Unfortunately, a bill (H.R. 772) is working its way through Congress that would gut these menu labeling requirements, and undo recent progress toward giving Californians the information they need to make healthy choices about what to eat and what to feed their families. Now that the Trump Administration has affirmed it won’t delay menu labeling any further, it’s time for Congress to abandon this misguided effort. We are asking Rep. Jerry McNerney, who represents portions of Eastern Contra Costa County in the House of Representatives, to take a strong stand for informed consumer choice by opposing H.R. 772.

California’s adult and childhood obesity rates have steadily increased every decade since 1990, despite having the fifth lowest adult obesity rate in our nation. The rate also varies by community – currently, 77 percent of Latino adults are obese or overweight. California’s Department of Health Care Services has recognized that despite California’s best efforts, “obesity is clearly a significant driver of health problems and healthcare costs.”

Every Californian should have the information they want and need to choose healthy food for their families. Unfortunately, Congress is intent on curbing the freedom of consumers by denying them basic information about what they are ordering in restaurants. They also seem set on undoing California’s progress by scuttling the menu labeling law through the so-called Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act (H.R. 772). – Please see the comparison chart by the CSPI below. This bill ignores the reality that our nation’s top 50 restaurant chains have already committed to empowering consumers by including calorie counts at their locations across the country. Additionally, an independent economic analysis already found that the FDA’s decision to delay the enactment of the rule by one-year could already cost consumers an astounding $15 for every $1 saved by industry. Now imagine the damage H.R. 772 could have on consumers and our economy if signed into law.

This bill is contrary to Californians’ preferences. California passed the first state menu labeling law in our nation in 2008 to support and protect consumer choice. Since the signing of the legislation, California-based chains from California Pizza Kitchen to Taco Bell have shown that menu labeling can be accomplished without sacrificing customer satisfaction.

As Adam Russell of Santa Cruz, CA wrote in response to the FDA delaying implementation of the final menu labeling rule: “People deserve to be able to make informed choices.”

We all must remain vigilant not just about congressional efforts, but the FDA’s final guidance on the menu labeling rule later this year to ensure that the consumer-choice spirit of the rule remains intact. Unfortunately, anti-consumer industry groups and some corporate interests are lobbying Congress hard and against public will to deny Americans choice on a host of critical nutrition issues, including this one. It will only get worse now that the FDA didn’t decide in their favor.

The bill is moving quickly. It has already passed out of the House Energy and Commerce Committee with Rep. McNerney voting in favor of it and is headed to the House floor (and possibly to the Senate) for a vote, possibly this or next week.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has been providing advice and advocacy toward a healthier food system since its founding in 1971. They publish Nutrition Action Healthletter and NutritionAction.com and lead action across the country on nutrition, food safety, and health.

Guest Commentary: Even with “found money” fire district is a local emergency

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By Bryan Scott

The announcement of the recent discovery of $6.2 million of taxpayer money by the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD) is yet another indication of the structural under-funding problem that has plagued the fire district for years.

Over six million dollars of operating funds, enough to run two fire stations for a year each, simply fell through the cracks of the fire district’s bookkeeping efforts.

The underlying cause of this calamity is that the ECCFPD, both management and Board of Directors, failed to competently run a fire district.  The fire district failed to keep track of the public’s money.

It is clear that appropriate accounting oversight has not been in place.  It is not enough that the volunteer firefighter-turned-Fire Chief took on these chores, helped by an Administrative Assistant and a volunteer Board of Directors Finance Committee.

With the closing of fire stations, the increasing visibility of unfunded liabilities to retirees, and the cutting back on services to the public, the fire district management and oversight Board funneled all available funds towards firefighters.  They failed to realize that it takes more than firefighters to run a fire district.

It takes someone to keep track of a very complex set of accounting books, too.

And, to add insult to injury, the public was treated to an August 11 article in the Brentwood Press entitled, “Unanswered fire calls increase in July,” emphasizing the failure of government leadership.

According to the story, the residents of the ECCFPD service area were without a responsive fire department for 15 hours during July. During this time thirty-one 9-1-1 calls received no response from ECCFPD.

The residents of Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Knightsen, Bethel Island and the surrounding areas have an increased likelihood of death and injury, and homes and property are at increased risk, because of government’s failure.

The Grand Jury of Contra Costa County states this fact in its June Report 1706, “Funding the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District.”

As far back as 2015, two years ago, a government task force called the fire and emergency medical services level “inadequate.”

The Fire Chief needs to declare a “Local Emergency” under the California Emergency Services Act.  Our California Legislature wrote this law as a tool for public servants when they find themselves is a situation where they are unable to provide adequate public services.

An area of 249 square-miles of Eastern Contra Costa County is clearly in a “Local Emergency” situation, experiencing conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property.  These conditions are beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of ECCFPD, and require the forces of other government agencies.

In addition to this elevated risk to life and property, area property owners are beginning to be hit with increased insurance premiums.  Some homeowners are seeing insurance premiums increase by 200% from just a few years ago.

It is time our Sacramento legislative representatives, Assembly Member Jim Frazier and State Senator Steve Glazer, change the property tax allocation rate so that East County fire services are funded at a rate that’s comparable to other parts of the county.

Call or email Assembly Member Frazier and State Senator Glazer and tell them to fix this problem.

Adequate funding for fire and emergency services needs to be provided before more people die, and more homes burn down.

Brentwood resident Bryan Scott is Co-Chair of East County Voters for Equal Protection, a non-partisan citizens 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/.  

Writer supports increase in funding for Alzheimer’s research

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Dear Editor:

The Alzheimer’s Association estimates there are more than five million Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease and more than 15 million Alzheimer’s caregivers. As an Alzheimer’s Ambassador, it is my honor to represent them to our elected officials – Congressman Jerry McNerney and Assemblyman Jim Frazier.

In California, over 630,000 people live with Alzheimer’s dementia, over 19,000 in Contra Costa County.  Since 2000, deaths from Alzheimer’s dementia have increased 186%, making it the fifth leading cause of death in the state. And, we’re spending $3.464B in Medicaid caring for people with Alzheimer’s and other dementias.  Today, Alzheimer’s dementia is the only disease that we can’t prevent, cure or even slow its progression.

Gladys Jarvie, my mother-in-law, suffered for years with Alzheimer’s dementia. This funny, sharp, loving woman was oh-so-slowly consumed by Alzheimer’s dementia and eventually lost her life.

The Alzheimer’s Association’s most recent study predicts that by 2025, 840,000 Californians 65 and older will have Alzheimer’s dementia – that’s a 33% increase. Plus, the report predicts that Medicaid costs will increase even faster at 47%.

We need to support research to find a cure.  That’s why I am urging Congressman Jerry McNerney to support a $414 million increase for federal Alzheimer’s research funding for FY2018.

It is only through adequate funding and a strong implementation of the National Plan to Address Alzheimer’s Disease that we will meet our goal of preventing and effectively treating Alzheimer’s by 2025.

To learn more about this disease and how you can help combat it, please visit alz.org.

Pamela Jarvie

Discovery Bay

Stand Down on the Delta 2017 organizer thanks volunteers

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Volunteers assist veterans during a visit by Assemblyman Jim Frazier (center) during the 2017 Stand Down on the Delta at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds, Aug. 11-14. Photos by Genevieve Mann

Dear Editor:

Delta Veterans Group would like to thank all of the volunteers that served for Stand Down on the Delta, 2017.

With your help, our community was able to provide services for over 260 veterans and their families.

Over 1,150 volunteers came together over 10 days to set-up, serve and tear-down our encampment. Over 5,800 meals were served in just four days.

Veterans received much needed supportive services, medical services, dental care, vision care, and mental health services.  We also had barbers, beauticians, entertainment, spiritual guidance and much more over the four days.  Plus – their animals were cared for onsite by C.A.R.T. – the Contra Costa County Animal Rescue Team.

We were also able to take over 40 veterans fishing on our Delta Shoreline…and yes, they caught a lot of fish…The largest fish was caught by a female veteran for the second Stand Down in a row…

All of this could not have happened without you – the volunteer.

Respectfully,

Gerald JR Wilson, President/Executive Director, Delta Veterans Group – Stand Down on the Delta