Contra Costa Herald

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Guest Commentary – 2016: The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year

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By John W. Whitehead

“What’s past is prologue.” ― William Shakespeare, The Tempest

What a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year this has been.

Endless wars. Toxic politics. Violence. Hunger. Police shootings. Mass shootings. Economic downturns. Political circuses. Senseless tragedies. Loss. Heartache. Intolerance. Prejudice. Hatred. Apathy. Meanness. Cruelty. Poverty. Inhumanity. Greed.

Here’s just a small sampling of what we’ve suffered through in 2016.

After three years of increasingly toxic politics, the ruling oligarchy won and “we the people” lost. The FBI’s investigation of Hillary’s emails ended with a whimper, rather than a bang. FBI director James Comey declared Clinton’s use of a private email server to be careless rather than criminal. Bernie Sanders sparked a movement only to turn into a cheerleader for Hillary Clinton. Clinton won the popular vote but lost the election. Donald Trump won the White House while the American people lost any hope of ending the corporate elite’s grip on the government.

The government declared war on so-called “fake news” while continuing to peddle its own brand of propaganda. President Obama quietly re-upped the National Defense Authorization Act, including a provision that establishes a government agency to purportedly counter propaganda and disinformation.

More people died at the hands of the police. Shootings of unarmed citizens (especially African-Americans) by police claimed more lives than previously estimated, reinforcing concerns about police misconduct and the use of excessive force. Police in Baton Rouge shot Alton Sterling. Police in St. Paul shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop. Ohio police shot 13-year-old Tyre King after the boy pulls out a BB gun. Wisconsin was locked down after protests erupt over a police shooting of a fleeing man. Oklahoma police shot and killed Terence Crutcher during a traffic stop while the man’s hands were raised in the air. North Carolina police killed Keith Lamont Scott, spurring two nights of violent protests. San Diego police killed Alfred Olango after he removed a vape smoking device from his pocket. Los Angeles police shot Carnell Snell Jr. after he fled a vehicle with a paper license plate.

We lost some bright stars this year. Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia’s death left the court deadlocked and his successor up for grabs. Joining the ranks of the notable deceased were Muhammad Ali, David Bowie, Fidel Castro, Leonard Cohen, Carrie Fisher, John Glenn, Merle Haggard, Harper Lee, George Michael, Prince, Nancy Reagan, Janet Reno, Elie Wiesel, and Gene Wilder.

Diseases claimed more lives. The deadly Zika virus spread outwards from Latin America and into the U.S.

The rich got richer. The Panama Papers leak pulled back the curtain on schemes by the wealthy to hide their funds in shell companies.

Free speech was dealt one knock-out punch after another. First Amendment activities were pummeled, punched, kicked, choked, chained and generally gagged all across the country. The reasons for such censorship varied widely from political correctness, safety concerns and bullying to national security and hate crimes but the end result remained the same: the complete eradication of what Benjamin Franklin referred to as the “principal pillar of a free government.”

The debate over equality took many forms. African-Americans boycotted the Oscars over the absence of nominations for people of color, while the Treasury Department announced its decision to replace Andrew Jackson with Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. North Carolina’s debate over transgender bathrooms ignited a nationwide fury. Meanwhile, the U.S. military opened its doors to transgender individuals. A unanimous Supreme Court affirmed a Texas law that counts everyone, not just eligible voters, in determining legislative districts. The nation’s highest court also upheld affirmative action, while declaring a Texas law on abortion clinics to be an unnecessary burden on women.

Environmental concerns were downplayed in favor of corporate interests. Flint, Michigan’s contaminated water was declared a state and federal emergency, while thousands protested the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and its impact on water sources.

Technology rendered Americans vulnerable to threats from government spies, police, hackers and power failures. The Justice Department battled Apple in court over access to its customers’ locked, encrypted iPhones. Microsoft sued the U.S. government over its access to customers’ emails and files without their knowledge. Yahoo confirmed that over half a billion user accounts had been hacked. Police departments across the country continued to use Stingray devices to collect cellphone data in real time, often without a warrant. A six-hour system shutdown resulted in hundreds of Delta flights being cancelled and thousands of people stranded.

Police became even more militarized and weaponized. Despite concerns about the government’s steady transformation of local police into a standing military army, local police agencies continued to acquire weaponry, training and equipment suited for the battlefield. In North Dakota, for instance, police were authorized to acquire and use armed drones. Likewise, the use of SWAT teams for routine policing tasks has increased the danger for police and citizens alike.

Children were hurt. A 17-year-old endangered silverback gorilla was shot preemptively after a 3-year-old child climbed into its zoo enclosure. In Disney World, an alligator snatched a 2-year-old boy off one of the resort’s man-made beaches. A school bus crash in Tennessee killed five children. And police resource officers made schools less safe, with students being arrested, tasered and severely disciplined for minor infractions.

Computers asserted their superiority over their human counterparts, who were easily controlled by bread and circuses. Google’s artificial intelligence program, AlphaGo, defeated its human opponent in a DeepMind Challenge Match. Pokemon Go took the world by storm and turned users into mindless entertainment zombies.

Terrorism took many forms. Brussels was locked down in the wake of terrorist attacks that killed dozens and wounded hundreds. A shootout between a gunman and police wrought havoc on a gay nightclub in Orlando. Terrorists armed with explosives and guns opened fire in Istanbul Airport. A trucker drives into a crowd of revelers on Bastille Day in France. Acts of suspected terrorism take place throughout Germany, including attacks using axes, knives and machetes. Japan undergoes a mass killing when a man armed with a knife targets disabled patients at a care facility. Syria continued to be ravaged by bomb strikes, terrorism and international conflict.

Science crossed into new frontiers. Doctors announced the birth of the first healthy three-parent baby created with DNA from three separate people. Elon Musk outlined his plan to populate Mars.

Tragedies abounded. An Amtrak train derailed outside of Philadelphia. A commuter train crashed through a barrier in New Jersey. Floods in Texas killed nine soldiers stationed at Fort Hood. Heatwaves swept the southwest, fueling wildfires. Flash floods and heavy rain devastated parts of Maryland and Louisiana.

The nanny state went into overdrive. Philadelphia gave the green light to a tax on sugary drinks. The FDA issued guidelines to urge food manufacturers and chain restaurants to reduce salt use.

The government waged a war on cash. Not content to swindle, cheat, scam, and generally defraud Americans by way of wasteful pork barrel legislation, asset forfeiture schemes, and costly stimulus packages, the government and its corporate partners in crime came up with a new scheme to not only scam taxpayers out of what’s left of their paychecks but also make us foot the bill. The government’s war on cash is a concerted campaign to do away with large bills such as $20s, $50s, $100s and shift consumers towards a digital mode of commerce that can easily be monitored, tracked, tabulated, mined for data, hacked, hijacked and confiscated when convenient.

The Deep State reared its ugly head. Comprised of unelected government bureaucrats, corporations, contractors, paper-pushers, and button-pushers who are actually calling the shots behind the scenes, this government within a government is the real reason “we the people” have no real control over our so-called representatives. It’s every facet of a government that is no longer friendly to freedom and is working overtime to trample the Constitution underfoot and render the citizenry powerless in the face of the government’s power grabs, corruption and abusive tactics. These are the key players that drive the shadow government. They are the hidden face of the American police state that has continued past Election Day.

The U.S. military industrial complex—aided by the Obama administration—armed the world while padding its own pockets. According to the Center for International Policy, President Obama has brokered more arms deals than any administration since World War II. For instance, the U.S. agreed to provide Israel with $38 billion in military aid over the next ten years, in exchange for Israel committing to buy U.S. weapons.

Now that’s not to say that 2016 didn’t have its high points, as well, but it’s awfully hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel right now.

Frequently, I receive emails from people urging me to leave the country before the “hammer falls.” However, as I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, there is nowhere in the world to escape from the injustice of tyrants, bullies and petty dictators. As Ronald Reagan recognized back in 1964, “If we lose freedom here, there is no place to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth.”

Let’s not take the mistakes of 2016 into a new year with us. The election is over. The oligarchs remain in power. The police state is marching forward, more powerful than ever. All signs point to business as usual. The game continues to be rigged.

The lesson for those of us in the American police state is simply this: if there is to be any hope for freedom in 2017, it rests with “we the people” engaging in local, grassroots activism that transforms our communities and our government from the ground up.

Let’s get started.

ABOUT JOHN WHITEHEAD

Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His new book Battlefield America: The War on the American People (SelectBooks, 2015) is available online at www.amazon.com. He can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org. Click here to read more of John Whitehead’s commentaries.

Guest Commentary: Single tunnel option not a quick fix for the Delta

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By Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore The Delta

These are not good times for Governor Brown’s Delta Tunnels (WaterFix) proposal.

The twin 40-foot-diameter, 30-mile-long tunnels would harvest Sacramento River water before it flows through the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary. A vast majority of this water would be sent to Big Ag operations like The Wonderful Company in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. It will destroy the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas.

But as the San Francisco Chronicle recently editorialized, “The tunnel project, now marketed to Californians as WaterFix, lacks community trust and political will and is saddled with a $16 billion (and growing) price tag that appears much larger than water agencies are willing to pay.

“Water districts, rural users, and entire cities like San Diego and Santa Monica are starting to question the wisdom or affordability of such a big project that does not deliver one new drop of new water.

“This November, a coalition of conservation and public interest organizations sent a letter to the Obama administration asking them to terminate the proposal so his legacy isn’t dragged down by a financial and environmental nightmare. The groups explain how the next administration will blame the boondoggle on Obama. They will say:

“We inherited the WaterFix from the previous administration and presumed that they knew what they were doing and had fully evaluated the project in good faith when they determined it should go forward.”
As environmental and financial obstacles continue to mount for the proposal, California water policy wonks are now scrambling for a viable Plan B.

The influential Public Policy Institute of California recently took a step back from support for the Twin Tunnels and offered a scaled back, Plan B. In an op-ed for the Sacramento Bee they offer, A Grand Compromise for the Delta.

PPIC now proposes a smaller plan they believe can settle the water wars over the Bay-Delta. Their proposal includes one-tunnel, managing water flows for entire ecosystems not just specific species, strengthening Delta levees, and letting communities tap into tunnel water supplies where local water is salty.

Restore the Delta is certainly encouraged the Public Policy Institute of California has backed down from support for the highly destructive Twin Delta Tunnels proposal. But the scaled-back project the PPIC now proposes is a completely different and new project. Before it can be analyzed, we still need to figure out how much water the Delta needs to maintain ecological health for the communities who live there and the species who depend on a healthy estuary.

The State Water Board’s flow hearings for the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers must be completed before any project can be analyzed.

Independent fishery experts now say that the San Joaquin River needs at least 50 percent unimpaired flows to stop extinction and achieve legally required doubling goals for salmon.

Any new tunnel proposal would, we hope, include a more comprehensive public scoping process so as to include Delta environmental justice communities, made up of hundreds of thousands of residents. We would also hope for a more transparent environmental and economic review process with better science and better public debate than what was put forth for the current Delta Tunnels proposal. CA WaterFix touts hundreds of meetings over the last ten years, but most were never properly noticed to Delta communities for meaningful participation.

If, indeed, support for the Big Twin Tunnels project is fading, let’s kill that proposal once and for all. Californians who voted in 1982 against the Peripheral Canal assumed we had made that decision long ago.

In an era of climate change and shrinking snowpack in the Sierra, less snowmelt means that by the time the expensive Twin Tunnels project would be finished, it may sit empty most of the time. The same may be true for one tunnel.  We don’t know yet.

Instead, we should invest in California’s water future. Southern California already taking the lead on the cutting edge of a water technology. Stormwater harvesting, conservation, water recycling, and groundwater recharging are reducing the need for imported water to the Southland. Many of these ideas can be found in a report titled A Sustainable Water Plan for California by the Environmental Water Caucus.

The Delta Tunnels, even a scaled back version, may not be the best use of limited funds. Let’s kill off the big Delta Tunnels plan once and for all. Then we can redirect those funds to create local jobs that build water sustainability by adding new water into the system. That is the path to provide real security for California’s future.

Originally published by KCET, December 19, 2016. Republished with permission. Commentaries are the opinions of their authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of KCETLink.

Guest Commentary: The time for action in funding East County Fire service is now

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By Bryan Scott

In a 1987 speech President Ronald Reagan said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” The speech was delivered at the Brandenburg Gate of the Berlin Wall, which has now vanished into history.

Today, the people of Brentwood say to Brentwood City Manager Gus Vina, “Mr. Vina, reallocate our taxes.”

Today a public safety crisis exists, a crisis that is well known to the elected leaders and municipal administrators paid to run the cities, special districts and schools within the 249-square mile territory of the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD).

President Reagan made a bold statement; he issued a clear directive to the leader of the USSR.   Even though the Berlin Wall was not in the USSR, everyone knew where policy decisions on the Berlin Wall were made.

A community-proposed solution to our local crisis includes the redistribution of 5.2% of future property taxes. Today about $165 million in property taxes are collected within the territory of the fire district, and in the most recent year property values within Brentwood and Oakley grew by over 8%.

By phasing-in this tax redistribution program over four years each government entity would receive 1.3% less in new property tax funding each year, cumulatively, while at the end of the program the ECCFPD would be funded at about the county average fire district rate, 12%.  This would be a significant improvement over the current 7%.

City Manager Vina’s procedural steps are simple.  The Brentwood City Council needs to hold a public hearing, pass a resolution, and then forward a property tax transfer agreement to Bob Campbell, Contra Costa County Controller.  It is a simple and eloquent procedure, one used by the county to transfer property taxes just a month ago.

Oakley City Manager Bryan Montgomery, County Administrator David Twa and the other special districts of east county can follow the same procedures, outlined in the California Revenue and Taxation Code, Chapter 6, Section 99.02. School districts would transfer operating funds to the fire district to fulfill their obligation to assure the safety of their students, staff and faculty, using a memorandum-of-understanding method.

Using last year’s numbers as a guide this tax redistribution this would add $7.8 million to the fire district’s funding, allowing ECCFPD to permanently staff and operate a total of six fire stations, up from today’s three stations.

City Manager Vina, as well as his Oakley counterpart, City Manager Montgomery, and County Administrator Twa have all objected to the proposal.  They’ve said there are other uses for the money, or that tight budgets make the funds unavailable.

Using last year’s numbers Brentwood’s contribution to this program would be $150,771 per year, $603,059 in total.  Brentwood’s total budget is about $46 million.  Oakley’s contribution would be $36,218 per year, $144,871 in total.  The County’s contribution would be about $300,000 per year, $1.2 million in total, counting all county agencies. The county’s total budget is $1.470 billion.

The question has been raised, which services are to be cut? The answer is none.  Government expenditures, and the services these expenditures provide, will simply grow at a slower rate for four years.  They need not be cut.

The people of Brentwood and Oakley have said “no” to additional taxes for fire and emergency medical services that are provided to the rest of the county out of current property taxes.  It is time to fund an adequate level of essential services using the current taxpayer burden.

“Mr. Vina, reallocate our taxes.”say the people of Brentwood.

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

Payton Perspective: The basic services of government should be funded first, not with special taxes

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payton-perspective-logo-2015When will our elected officials get the message that they need to fund basic services of government, first out of the tax money they already receive, instead of using them to get us to pay for more and higher taxes?

President Lincoln once said, “The legitimate object of government is ‘to do for the people what needs to be done, but which they can not, by individual effort, do at all, or do so well, for themselves’.”

The number one thing fitting that description that we need government to do for “we the people” is to protect our rights – mine from you and yours from me.

So, the first priority of government in America is and always will (or at least should) be public safety, and at the local level, specifically police. In addition, the other aspect of public safety, fire services, should be next on the list, followed by other things we can’t do ourselves or as well ourselves, which are transportation, education, and of course water and sewer service.

Yet, those first four services are what local and state governments use to try to get us to pass another sales, utility or other tax, or a bond issue, which results in higher property taxes. Those services should be paid for out of city, county and state budgets with the money they already get from basic property and sales tax revenue, first.  Then, if we can’t afford to pay for the extra things, we like and want out of the budget, that we can provide for ourselves such as recreation, then our elected and other government officials should ask for special taxes for those items.

It seems for too long they’ve had things backward in this state and at our local level, as well. A perfect example is the recent effort to pass another tax increase for the East County Fire Protection District, that the people just voted down, again. From the ones I’ve spoken with, it appears the elected officials in that district are getting the message, as instead of thinking of a third way to get the voters to give them more money, the officials will work to reallocate the money the cities, county and special districts already receive and reprioritize them to provide the much needed fire service in that part of the county.

It’s time all of our elected officials got the message and recognize that we’re taxed enough already, and they need to reprioritize their budgets to provide us what their government agencies were formed for in the first place, before trying to pay for other things which aren’t a fundamental requirement and don’t need to be provided by our government. I’ll repeat that – our government.

While it may mean fewer city or county services, so be it. That’s what we want and should get. Just like budgets for your home or business, if you don’t have enough to meet the basics – food, clothing, shelter, utilities and medical care – then you don’t take a trip to Tahiti or splurge on anything else.

Again, if we want the extras then ask us for a special tax for those items, instead. Quit using the highest priorities of government to extract more of our hard-earned money that’s dwindling in our pockets. So, meet our needs, first and if there’s extra money left over, then pay for the wants. It’s pretty basic and simple, folks.

Op-Ed: Pittsburg Unified fails students over anti-Trump protest

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By Fernando Navarro

On Thursday, November 10, an incident took place in Pittsburg and Antioch which illustrated a major failing of our public education system.  Hundreds of Pittsburg High School students, apparently protesting the results of the presidential election, walked out of their classes, off campus, and made their way to Antioch. During their journey, some of them committed acts of violence which resulted in three arrests…and a strain on police resources for both cities, as 23 police officers (15 from Antioch and 8 from Pittsburg) had to be called out to deal with the situation.

Statements by some officers indicated that the PHS principal, Todd Whitmire, joined students in the protest.  This has been disputed by Whitmire and Pittsburg Unified School District (PUSD) Superintendent Janet Schulze, who claim Whitmire was with the protesters only to make sure they were safe.

Neither story speaks well of the PUSD leadership.  The first would indicate that PUSD administrators are actively working to incite students away from learning and discourse and toward yelling and violence.  The second would indicate that PUSD administrators have lost control of their school, and that student whims rule the day.

What we witnessed didn’t come out of nowhere, and didn’t come about because the, “election has been especially emotional,” as a statement by Schulze said.  This is the result of years of inept classroom management, which has led to a lack of respect for authority.  It comes about because, as with English and math, students don’t appear to be learning basic civics.

I recently lost my bid for election to the Antioch Unified School District (AUSD) Board of Trustees.  That doesn’t mean I’ll be silent, though.  I’ll continue to advocate for the change that’s needed to turn our schools around and deliver better educational, and life-choice, outcomes for our students.  And I’ll be encouraging parents to educate themselves about school policies, and to make sure their voices are heard.  But I’ll be doing so by speaking and writing in the appropriate forums, not by disrupting traffic, disrupting classes, or by otherwise impinging on the rights of my fellow citizens.

Finally, I applaud Antioch Police Chief Allan Cantando for speaking out about this incident at the PUSD School Board meeting.  I applaud AUSD Superintendent Stephanie Anello and Antioch High School Principal Louis Rocha for taking swift action to prevent similar disruptions in Antioch schools.

Now, let’s all come together to provide our students with the educations they deserve.

Navarro is a member of the Antioch Unified School District Board of Trustees

Guest Commentary: Voters defeat flawed East County fire district tax measures

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By Bryan Scott

A great political victory was won on November 8.  The electorate should be congratulated.

No, not President-Elect Trump’s surprising victory.  I’m referring to the roughly 60% of the voters in Brentwood who voted “No” on Proposition Z, the flawed utility user tax put forth by Brentwood’s City Council.  A similar measure in Oakley received an even greater level of rejection.

Voters in Brentwood and Oakley rejected the tax that was conceived by a self-appointed shadow government “Task Force” comprised of two City Managers, three union leaders, three fire chiefs and the chiefs of staff of two County Supervisors.  This group had no public membership, posted no public agendas or minutes, and refused requests for taxpayer participation.

These government fat cats, most of whom are drawing salaries and benefits costing taxpayers in the range of hundreds of thousands of dollars, felt entitled to reach into the pockets of taxpayers for another general tax.  They used the structural funding problem of the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD) as the justification, even though there was no requirement that the tax money collected would be used for this purpose.

Make no mistake- the ECCFPD desperately needs more money.It receives the lowest property tax allocation percentage of all fire districts in the county, 7%, which is roughly five percent below the county’s average.  San Ramon Valley FPD gets 15%, Moraga-Orinda FPD collects 21%, and Contra Costa FPD receives 14% of ad valorem property taxes.

ECCFPD does an outstanding job with the funding it gets.  Itis probably the most efficient fire district in California, attempting to meet the needs of 110,000 residents spread over 249-square miles.  But a fire district with so little funding cannot provide an adequate level of services.  As a result, people are dying, according fire department officers, and homes are burning down.

Last year property taxes collected within the ECCFPD territory exceeded $153 million.  By state law property taxes are regulated, and their growth is limited.  This is good.

What is bad is that local elected leaders have not gotten on board the effort to adjust where this $153 million goes.  Elected leaders have yet to recognize the injustice of the situation, and openly support reallocation of these public funds in favor of the fire district.

As with all property taxes, this dollar figure will go up as property values increase.  Gus Kramer, Contra Costa County Assessor, sent a letter to the Board of Supervisors on June 30, 2016, telling them that property values within the county had reached a record high of $181.7 billion.  Property values in ECCFPD’s territory increased significantly, with values in Brentwood and Oakley increasing by over 8%.

ECCFPD needs a larger share of these funds.  It is as simple as that. The hard part is to get government entities to give up, forever, part of the property tax revenue growth that is anticipated to come their way.

Residents of East Contra Costa pay the same property tax rate as the residents of Central Contra Costa, and all fire districts are primarily funded with property taxes.  The benefits of California tax laws should apply equally to all citizens.

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution includes the sentence “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

By providing the ECCFPD with only 7% of the ad valorem 1% property tax funding, and allowing emergency response times that are nearly twice as long as in other parts of the county, East County residents are suffering from reduced “privileges or immunities”and unequal “protection of the laws.”

When the allocation rate was set nearly four decades ago there were four volunteer fire districts covering what is now the jurisdiction of ECCFPD, and about 7% of the property taxes collected were spent on fire services.  Today there are over 110,000 residents and the district has unionized firefighters, yet the allocation rate is the same.

The government, at the county and state levels, treatsEast County residents differently than residents of other parts of Contra Costa County.  This is morally wrong.

Bryan Scott is a Brentwood resident and Co-Chair of East County Voters for Equal Protection, a non-partisan citizens action committee whose aim is to improve funding for the ECCFPD.  He can be reached at scott.bryan@comcast.net, or925-418-4428.  The group’s Facebook page is  https://www.facebook.com/EastCountyVoters/.  

Candidate for Supervisor writes to say thank you, asks for support one last time

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Dear Editor:

With Election Day almost here, I’d like to take a moment to say thank you. This campaign has reaffirmed for me how proud I am to live in this community, and it’s the people that make our community so great.

I am very proud of the campaign we ran. My campaign stayed positive throughout the campaign, even when I was being attacked and my record was being distorted. This was a commitment I made to the community when I started the campaign, and I’m proud to have seen it through.

Over the last few months, as well as last spring during the primary election, I have walked door to door across most of the district. I walked so much I actually wore through two pairs of shoes. And by knocking on so many doors and meeting so many in the community I hope you saw firsthand the energy I bring to the job and how involved I would be in the actual community.

It was a pleasure meeting and talking with so many of you, and I learned a lot about the different communities within our community, as well as the daily struggles, the frustrations with policy, and the desire for actual change. Most of all I saw that the learning process is never over, and that there is always a need to be out in the community working directly with the people we serve. This job can’t be done, stuck behind a desk.

And now that the campaign is coming to a close, I’d like to make one last ask for your vote. Representing you at the County would be a privilege, and a partnership that can get results for our community. Thank you.

Steve Barr, Candidate for County Supervisor

Brentwood

Letter writer condemns mailer attacking Burgis’ salary from non-profit

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Dear Editor:

In yesterday’s mail I received an attempt at a smear ad for one of our local candidates for County Supervisor, Diane Burgis. The claim, in bold red font, states that she intends to draw a salary and benefits for that position, paid for by the taxpayers. Does candidate Steve Barr, therefore, intend to forfeit his salary and benefits if elected?

Further, it attempts to slam her for drawing a salary as Executive Director of Friends of Marsh Creek Watershed (FOMCW). She can’t be chastised for drawing a salary for that work, as she is paid with grant funding to organize and mobilize volunteers, engage in community outreach, run successful creek cleanups of our local watershed, and support academy internships for local students. FOMCW saves the County money, especially with the trash cleanups. She has done a fine job linking people of all ages to their local environment and to the scientific community.

I find the ad misleading, lacking integrity, and unprofessional. I hope fellow community members see through the lame attempt by big oil and so-called “criminal prosecutors” to discredit a person who has fought for improved health of our local environment. I doubt these folks from Sacramento have ever organized a community volunteer force like Diane Burgis has.

I’m going to donate more money to FOMCW out of spite for this negative political ad. The community organization has done a fantastic job over the fifteen years I’ve been familiar with it, and it is an honor to continue to support FOMCW as well as Diane Burgis for County Supervisor.

Sincerely,

Spencer Holmes

Brentwood

Piepho writes in support of Burgis for Supervisor

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Dear Editor:

When I made the difficult decision to not seek reelection to the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors, my choice was made easier by the fact that Diane Burgis would make an extraordinary County Supervisor. She is a smart and dedicated public servant, and I have been proud to work with her for many years.

I wanted to take a moment to cut through some of the smear tactics and tell you about the Diane Burgis that I know and trust.

I was surprised to see the recent hit pieces mailed by real estate developers and “Big Oil”/petroleum interests that support Diane’s opponent and attack Diane Burgis. These ridiculous mail pieces accuse Diane of “climbing the ladder.”

Well, – that’s what capable people do – when opportunities arise they move up to greater positions of responsibility and governance. Talented people, such as Diane Burgis, are recruited by the community, and by those leaving office, to carry on the work that must be done in the publics’ best interests.

That is why I asked Diane to run for County Supervisor. She has proven to be a thoughtful, regional leader, one who brings people together to find workable  solutions.

The campaign process is well known as “silly season”. It is to be expected. However, I believe we are beyond the point of telling one of our most respected female leaders that she should stay put and know her place.

I believe Diane will make an excellent County Supervisor. She is talented, compassionate and hardworking. She will work every day to improve our community by reducing traffic, boosting public safety and defending our precious Delta.

Please don’t fall for the dirty tricks. Join me, Sheriff Livingston, District Attorney Mark Peterson, local Firefighters, Deputy Sheriffs and many other community leaders in voting for Diane Burgis for County Supervisor.

Mary Nejedly Piepho

County Supervisor

Discovery Bay

Six Pittsburg business owners write to support Killings for Council

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With Bay Area population shifts towards East County, the City of Pittsburg is poised for revitalization and growth. Yet these opportunities can slip through our fingers without strong leadership and vision. That’s why we support Jelani Killings for Pittsburg City Council.

Jelani believes in outreach and communication. He truly listens and gives attention to our concerns and needs. As local owners here in Pittsburg, Jelani understands that we are invested in our future here and the prosperity of the city.

Jelani’s community investment strategy calls for increasing school partnerships and family-centered programs. It includes infrastructure development to sustain growth and stop the revolving door of businesses coming into and out of Pittsburg.

Jelani has a plan to bring together stakeholders to address job creation, quality of life issues, to streamline permitting processes, and build capacity so that we all win.

Join us in voting for Jelani Killings on November 8th.

Thomas and Svonne Underwood, Railroad Cleaners

Michael Bardales, Tohtal Real Estate

Thomas Evans, West Coast Signs and Banners

Bhupen Amin, Hampton Inn and Suites

Eren, Keaonani, and Michaela Aquino, DIND Apparel

Redd Tha Barber, Redd’s Barber Shop

Vajinder Hira, Mountain Mike’s Pizza