Contra Costa Herald

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

Assemblywoman Baker takes oath for second term, declines perks

By Leave a Comment

Assemblywoman Baker takes oath of office for second term on Monday, December 5, 2016. Photo courtesy of Catharine Baker.

Assemblywoman Baker takes oath of office for second term on Monday, December 5, 2016. Photo courtesy of Catharine Baker.

Will continue practice of declining state-issued vehicle and per diem perks

SACRAMENTO – Assemblywoman Catharine Baker (R-San Ramon) took the oath of office on Monday, December 5 and was sworn in as the representative for the 16th Assembly District in the California Legislature. This is Baker’s second term in office. Today she vowed to continue her independent and bipartisan approach to address the important issues before our State.

“It is an honor to continue to serve the 16th Assembly District in our Legislature and provide a strong voice for the needs of our community,” said Baker. “Over the next two years, I will continue the work I began in my first term, focusing on real results, not partisan bickering, to achieve solutions that will help improve the quality of life for all Californians. Our district expects no less.”

Baker added, “My very first act will be to continue the practice I adopted in my first term, of declining both the state-issued vehicle and per diem perks for Members. I want to start my term of service by giving back to the taxpayers and constituents who elected me to office.”

“Thank you, AD16, for this honor and for entrusting me with the responsibility of serving our community. I will work hard each and every day to deserve it,” she continued. “As we begin this new legislative session, I remain committed to working across the aisle — with a focus on real results, not partisan politics — to improve the quality of life for all Californians.”

On November 8, 2016, Catharine Baker was re-elected to represent the 16th Assembly District. Baker focuses her efforts on improving our education system, our transportation and water infrastructure, public safety and fiscal discipline, with an emphasis on bipartisan collaboration. In her first term she had nine bipartisan bills signed by the Governor in each of these areas.

The 16th Assembly District includes the communities of Alamo, Danville, Dublin, Lafayette, Livermore, Moraga, Orinda, Pleasanton, San Ramon, and Walnut Creek.

 

Contra Costa DA Peterson reaches agreement with FPPC to pay $45,000 fine for personal use of campaign funds

By 1 Comment

Mark Peterson, courtesy of CCCDA's office.

Mark Peterson, courtesy of CCCDA’s office.

Contra Costa County District Attorney Mark Peterson announced on Monday that he had reached an agreement with the Enforcement Division of the Fair Political Practices Commission regarding use of campaign funds during 2011-2015.  The Enforcement Division will present the agreement to the Commission for its approval on December 15, 2016.

Following is his statement on the matter:

“I served as the treasurer of my own campaign committee from 2011 until 2015, after which I hired a professional paid treasurer. During that five-year period, I borrowed, in increments, a total of $66,373 from the Mark Peterson for District Attorney 2014 Committee.   I used the funds to pay for day-to-day expenses, like meals, gas, cell phone bills, and other personal expenses.  I considered the money a loan, kept track of those expenses at all times, made periodic repayments, and over time, repaid the Committee in full.

In 2015, the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) contacted me about a routine audit. In response, I hired a professional treasurer and immediately contacted the Enforcement Division of the FPPC to make them aware of the expenditures and my plan to address my error.  I cooperated fully and provided my contemporaneous records regarding the expenditures and reimbursements for their review, as well as all of the underlying documents.

The FPPC Enforcement Division has noted: ‘To his credit, upon learning of the FTB audit Peterson contacted the Enforcement Division, admitted his violations and fully cooperated with the investigation.’

It is with disappointment and regret that I acknowledge the mistakes I made regarding my campaign financing account.  As a result of these mistakes, I have agreed to pay the Fair Political Practices Commission a $45,000 administrative fine.

Although I have fully reimbursed the Committee for all of the personal expenditures, I make no excuses.

I am humbled and embarrassed by my mistakes, for which I take full responsibility, and I apologize for my regrettable errors.”

Mark Peterson, Contra Costa County District Attorney

In a further comment on the issue he said, “This matter is still under consideration by the FPPC, so this is the only public comment I am making on the matter.”

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

By 8 Comments

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.

Antioch man appointed to Contra Costa Community College Board to fill the late John Nejedly’s Ward IV seat

By Leave a Comment

Gary Walker-Roberts in a screenshot from a video on the CCCCD website.

Gary Walker-Roberts in a screenshot from a video on the CCCCD website.

MARTINEZ, CA – At their November 29, 2016, special meeting, the Contra Costa Community College District Governing Board unanimously approved the provisional appointment of Gary Walker-Roberts of Antioch to represent Ward IV.  This appointment, in accordance with California Education Code 5091, is being made due to the vacancy created by the unfortunate passing of Governing Board member John T. Nejedly last month. Ward IV includes the communities of Blackhawk, Byron, Danville, Diablo, Discovery Bay, San Ramon, and parts of Alamo, Antioch, Brentwood, Clayton, and Concord.

Walker-Roberts will be seated at the next regular Governing Board meeting on Wednesday, December 14, 2016, beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Walker-Roberts is an alum of Los Medanos College where he graduated Suma Cum Laude in 2013 with an A.A. in Behavioral Science and Social Science. Then he graduated again from LMC with an A.A. in Arts & Humanities in 2015. He served on the community college board as a student trustee this past school year, was student body president of LMC in 2014-15, student representative to the United Faculty, and was instrumental in the formation and opening of the Veterans Resource Center at LMC, earlier this year.

Walker-Roberts also graduated Cum Laude with a B.A. degree in Ethnic Studies: Gender & Sexuality from Cal State East Bay in 2015 and with a Masters degree in English from Arizona State University, this year.

His public service has included working on Antioch Councilwoman Monica Wilson’s reelection campaign, this year and as a volunteer and mentor for foster youth with Contra Costa County Children & Family Services.

With his application, Walker-Roberts submitted letters of support from both Wilson and State Assemblyman Jim Frazier.

He works in retail as a Fragrance Expert/Trainer for Louis Vuitton, USA in San Francisco and has worked in the field of skin care and cosmetics since 2005.

When reached for comment, Walker-Roberts said, “I’m looking forward to serving Ward IV from East Contra Costa County all the way around Mt. Diablo to southern Contra Costa County. I appreciate that the trustees feel I can handle the position of trustee.”

Asked what his plans are in the new position, he stated, “I want to continue to represent under-represented minority students’ needs and also continue to develop the Veterans Resource Centers throughout the district. We’re working with the Sentinels of Freedom to open one at each of the three college campuses.”

Other applicants considered for the provisional appointment were non-profit manager and educator Carl Nichols, litigation attorney Jerome Pandell and barber college owner Frank Quattro, all of Danville, and Director of the STEM-Workforce Initiative of the Contra Costa Economic Partnership, April Treece of Clayton. To see the application from and letters of support for each candidate, click here.

Unless a petition calling for a special election, containing a sufficient number of signatures, is filed in the Office of County Superintendent of Schools within 30 days of the date of the provisional appointment, the provisional appointment shall become an effective appointment until the next regularly scheduled election for Governing Board members in November 2018.

For more details on the petition process, visit the District website at www.4cd.edu.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

Antioch Mayor’s race only one in county “too close to call” as Wright’s lead slips to 102 votes over Harper

By Leave a Comment

From the Contra Costa Elections website, CoCoVote.us.

From the Contra Costa Elections website, www.cocovote.us.

By Allen Payton

According to the Contra Costa County Elections website, as of 10:43 am, Wednesday, November 23dr, Dr. Sean Wright maintains his lead in the race for Mayor of Antioch. But it has shrunk to just 102 votes or .34% of the vote over incumbent Mayor Wade Harper. There are  “approximately 8,500 ballots to be repaired and 28,000 provisionals county wide,” said County Clerk & Registrar of Voters Joe Canciamilla. The final vote count is expected to be completed by Friday, December 2nd.

“I can call all the races right now in the county except for Antioch Mayor,” he continued. “We’re down to ballots that have come in at different times. Ballots with mistakes could have come in at any time. Provisional ballots tend to come in late, generally on Election Day.”

“There are two different trends happening,” Canciamilla explained.” If you look at Election Day results, Sean does better. So I would have to think he does better with provisionals. But I don’t know how many are from Antioch.

There are roughly 607,000 registered voters in the county. We had 442,000 who have cast a ballot. We had a turnout of almost 73%. So a rough number is 11% of the provisionals come from Antioch. Those should theoretically trend in Sean’s favor.”

“All the other races are callable with the exception of Antioch,” he stated. “It is the election that will represent the slogan that ‘every vote does count.’ Every vote could impact the final outcome and it could go either way, right now.”

He was asked how many ballots had been counted since the last update.

“I believe in that batch it was 9,200 ballots that were counted,” Canciamilla responded. “If you extrapolate the traditional line you get to the point where Wade wins. But that doesn’t take into account the Election Day trend which favored Sean. But we’re at the point where there’s no clear, consistent trend that would allow us to make anything close to a valid projection. It’s going to be slogging through and counting them one by one, now.”

“We have multiple sets of eyes looking at each ballot,” he added.

He was then asked if representatives of each campaign can be there to oversee the counting.

“We always welcome observers,” he replied. “Each ballot has to be handled one at a time, and they get handled by multiple people and it just takes time.”

Asked if observers can challenge ballots, he said, “No. The law doesn’t allow observers to challenge an individual ballot, an individual signature match. You can raise issues and they’re entitled to an explanation.”

“At this stage there are very few ballots like that,” Canciamilla continued. “That’s usually over voter registration where it’s a question of if someone is registered or not. This is about whether people have drawn an arrow or crossed something out. If there’s a mistake or a double vote on one item we don’t throw out the whole ballot.”

He was then asked when will the ballot count be completed.

“We anticipate we will have our final unofficial count by next Friday (December 2nd),” he shared. “Then we’ll certify it by the 6th for the presidential election and until the 8th for everything else.”

“Then it goes to the Board of Supervisors on the 13th for their acceptance,” Canciamilla explained. “It will be done that morning.”

Asked about when oaths of office ceremonies could be held, he responded, “We advised the cities, and the school and special districts early on. I sent them a letter that due to the complexity of the ballot, we anticipate requiring the full 30 days to certify the election. So don’t plan on swearing in their folks early, like the week before.”

Asked when is the soonest new officials can be sworn in Canciamilla said, “That night (December 13th) is fine. It doesn’t have to be accepted by the Board to put it on the agenda. You just won’t have the actual OK from the Supervisors. It doesn’t have anything to do with the notice stuff. It’s not up to them to certify the election. Just accept the results.”

He was then asked about recounts.

“There are time frames for people to request recounts,” he stated. “If it gets close enough to where it becomes an issue we will sit down with the candidates and the City to figure something out. The reality is…recounts can be very expensive.”

“The goal is we want people to be comfortable with the results and they’re fair,” Canciamilla added. “This is an unusual circumstance.”

“Of all the races on the ballot, right now this is the only race too close for me to feel comfortable calling,” he reiterated.

For more election results, visit www.cocovote.us.

Tickets available for Presidential inauguration through your Member of Congress

By Leave a Comment

The 2017 Presidential Inauguration will take place on Friday, January 20th in Washington, DC.

The offices of Members of Congress are now accepting requests from residents of each of their districts in California to attend the Inauguration ceremony on the National Mall.  As you consider making a request, please keep in mind that available tickets are in outdoor, open-air standing sections and, due to security barriers, ticket holders will have to walk several blocks to the National Mall.

The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC) is currently planning the swearing-in ceremonies for the next president on January 20, 2017. The JCCIC and the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) will finalize these plans in December 2016 and January 2017. Historically, the Presidential Inaugural Committee has distributed tickets to members of Congress to provide constituents close access to the swearing in ceremony. The JCCIC anticipates the PIC will continue this practice.

Each office will receive a limited number of tickets, which will be distributed through a lottery system.  If you are selected, you will be notified with more specific details regarding ticket pick-up and logistics for the day of the Inauguration.

Tickets are limited to two per party, and may not be redistributed or sold for any reason.  You are responsible for picking up your ticket if you are the head of the reservation, as well as your lodging and transportation to and from Washington, DC, along with any other associated travel expenses.

To request tickets from Congressman Jerry McNerney for those who live in the 9th District, please complete the online form on the Congressman’s website by clicking here: https://mcnerney.house.gov/Inauguration.

For those who are represented by Congressman Mark DeSaulnier in the 11th District you must call his Washington, D.C. office at (202) 225-2095.

Those residents in Martinez represented by Congressman Mike Thompson in the 5th District must send an email to mikethompson.inauguration@mail.house.gov by December 9th with participants’ first and last names, addresses, the requested number of tickets, a good contact email address, and phone number for the party, and any questions you may have. You will receive an email confirming your request within three business days.

Finally, those who live in San Ramon in Congressman Eric Swalwell’s 15th District, they need to contact his staff assistant Art Motta at art.motta@mail.house.gov.

As January approaches, please check this website for updates on ticket requests and other useful information for visiting Washington, DC.  The following websites also provide useful information about the Inaugural Ceremonies and associated events.

The 2017 Presidential Inauguration Official Webpage: http://www.inaugural.senate.gov/

The Department of Defense Presidential Inauguration Information Webpage: http://www.inauguralsupport.mdw.army.mil/

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

By Leave a Comment

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/.  

Burgis beats Barr for Supervisor in District 3, thanks community

By Leave a Comment

Diane Burgis

Diane Burgis

By Allen Payton

In the District 3 race for Contra Costa County Supervisor, East Bay Regional Parks District Director Diane Burgis beat Brentwood City Council Member during Tuesday’s elections by a wide margin of 59.45% to 40.31%.  In the hard fought battle to replace outgoing three-term incumbent Mary Nejedly Piepho, Burgis placed second in the primary behind Barr, but was able to best him in the General Election.

The latest results from the County Elections office, as of Thursday afternoon give the former Oakley Councilwoman 31,287 votes to 21,580 for Barr, a former Liberty Union High School District Board Trustee. There were another 131 write-in votes in the contest. But, as of Wednesday, there were about 180,000 votes left to be counted in the county, according to County Clerk Joe Canciamilla. That represented almost 37% of the vote.

Burgis issued a statement on Veterans Day, Friday, November 11th, offering her thanks for the victory.

“I am honored to have earned the vote—and the trust—of tens of thousands of voters in District Three. I look forward to representing our community as Supervisor for the next four years.

Since this campaign first began, I have had the privilege to meet thousands of our neighbors and community members, and hear their stories as a candidate for Supervisor. I am so grateful to all of those that gave our campaign their time as we sat down at kitchen tables, in offices or on people’s doorsteps.

My heart has grown a few sizes as I have met countless people who are absolutely dedicated to their community. People who are willing to fight for what is right, take time out of their busy day and work diligently to make our County a better place. It gives me great hope for our community.

I am proud of what we have built here in East County and I am committed to helping us meet our potential. I look forward to what we will accomplish, now that the hard work of campaigning begins to transition to the hard work of governing.

I particularly want to thank everyone who has joined my campaign and gave countless hours in serving our community. Including dozens of local leaders, hundreds of dedicated volunteers and our bravest citizens: our sheriffs, firefighters, nurses and police.

Now we must look forward and work together to accomplish our priorities: faster fire and emergency medical response times, more effective community policing, a pristine Delta, a balanced budget, a strong public transportation network and reduced traffic.

I look forward to working with you as we do what we can to improve our community.

Please visit www.dianeburgis.com to sign up for updates. Thank you.”

The County Elections office has until December 10th to certify the election. Burgis will take her seat on the Board of Supervisors following that.

Pittsburg High students arrested during anti-Trump protest in Antioch, four schools on lock-down

By Leave a Comment

Principal marched with them, Pittsburg Superintendent downplays, Antioch Police Chief wants answers

By Lieutenant Tony Morefield #3320, Antioch Police Watch Commander Patrol Division and Antioch Police Chief Allan Cantando

On Thursday, November 10, 2016, at approximately 10:04 AM, the Antioch Police Department received word from the Pittsburg Police Department of a large (Anti-Trump) protest of approximately 200 to 400 Pittsburg High School Students along with their Principal headed into the City of Antioch. These protestors headed through Century Plaza in Pittsburg and into Antioch on Auto Center Way and Sycamore Drive, causing significant hazard and traffic delays in the area.

They then made their way to the Antioch High School campus in an apparent effort to involve students there. Antioch High was placed on lockdown, but this did not stop the protestors from damaging school property (knocking down fences and kicking over trash cans) before leaving that campus and heading toward Antioch Middle School. Antioch Middle was also placed on lockdown as was Live Oak High School and nearby Fremont Elementary School due to the protest, though the protestors never made it that far.

These Pittsburg High protestors continued to cause havoc on Antioch campuses and in the surrounding neighborhoods for over two hours and 15 Antioch Police Officers were tied up dealing with this protest causing a significant strain on resources. Evening shifts to be called in early. This resulted in numerous priority calls for service in the city having to wait for officers to respond.

Three male juveniles, ages 13, 15 and 17, all Pittsburg residents, were arrested during the protest: one for throwing a dangerous object at a police car, trespassing on school grounds and being a disruptive presence at school, one for inciting a fight with an area resident, trespassing on school grounds and resisting a police officer, and one for assaulting a police officer.

There is no estimate on any damage caused to Antioch High or Antioch Middle School at this time. It appears that very few Antioch students were involved in this incident. Most of the Pittsburg High Students eventually walked back to Century Plaza in Pittsburg and a few were rounded up onto school buses and taken back to their campus.

Chief Cantando Responds, Shares Pittsburg Superintendent’s Message

“In a post on the Antioch Police Department’s Facebook page at about 3:30 p.m., Chief Allan Cantando wrote the following:

“Many of you have inundated our department with inquiry regarding the incident on Century Blvd., Sycamore Dr., and in front of Antioch High School regarding student protestors in our city. Your observations were correct. Today, at approximately 10:00 AM students from Pittsburg High School and Black Diamond High School (in Pittsburg) marched to the City of Antioch and blocked traffic, knocked over garbage cans, assaulted one of our police officers, and trespassed at Antioch High School trying to incite Antioch High School students who were in class. As a result, three Pittsburg students were arrested.

The actions of these students caused the Antioch Unified School District (AUSD) to respond by locking down Antioch High School, Antioch Middle School, Live Oak High School, and Fremont Elementary School. During this incident, these students were accompanied by Pittsburg High School Principal, Todd Whitmire. We are still confirming, but there is some indication that this incident began as a rally at Pittsburg High School.

This incident tied up 15 Antioch Police Officers for approximately 2 hours.

During this incident I was in direct contact with AUSD Superintendent, Stephanie Anello, who immediately took a leadership role in assisting our department. During my conversation with Anello, I requested she contact Pittsburg Unified School District (PUSD) Superintendent Schulze to send an automated message to the Pittsburg students’ parents indicating that their children were off campus, out of the city of Pittsburg, and involved in a protest in Antioch. Approximately two hours later, the following statement was issued by Pittsburg Unified School District Superintendent, Janet Schulze:

‘This Presidential election has been especially emotional. In dealing with differences and moving forward, we have to respect feelings and work in community. Today some of our high school students, like many across the Bay Area and country, organized, via social media, a peaceful protest and walk-out to protest the Presidential election.

The District always prefers to have all students in class, however, we do understand some students are passionate about the recent election.

Our staff and Pittsburg Police Department followed procedures to insure their safety, which is always a top priority. Some of the students returned to the high school and a group of approximately 200 students headed towards Antioch High School. The District informed Antioch High School and sent busses to pick up students outside Antioch High School.

Unfortunately, a small number of the students were unresponsive to directives to return to school and get on the bus. Another group of students decided to walk back to the high school. Those situations will be managed on an individual basis and students will receive appropriate consequences for their behaviors.

At this time, students have returned to school. We appreciate the professionalism and cooperation of the Antioch High School staff and the Antioch Police Department in working with us and the Pittsburg Police Department to insure all students remain safe.’

Although I appreciate the comments made by PUSD Superintendent Schulze, the statement is extremely brief and does not adequately portray the incident. This incident raises serious concerns as it impacted the police services to our Antioch citizens as well as to the Pittsburg Citizens. Because of the impact to the City of Antioch, I will be attending the next PUSD board meeting to ask several questions including:

  1. Was there a school or district sanctioned Anti-Trump rally?
  2. Did school or district staff encourage the protest?
  3. Was school staff aware the students planned on leaving the campus?
  4. Were parents aware that their students would be participating in the rally?
  5. When students left the campus, were they supervised? If so, by whom?
  6. What is the district policy regarding student to staff supervision ratios during off-campus activities?
  7. When the students left the campus, when and how were parents informed?
  8. If the students were supervised, will the district take disciplinary action against the students who committed criminal acts?
  9. What was the schools plan or policy to deal with a child who may be injured during an off campus protest should it occur?

Lastly, I am extremely proud of our officers, AUSD staff, AUSD students, Pittsburg Police Department, and the citizens who patiently waited for us to respond to their calls for service.”

Antioch School District Message to Parents

Anello shared the message sent out to parents, Thursday afternoon, through the auto-dialer from Associate Superintendent for Educational Services, Dr. Adam Clark regarding the incident yesterday.

Good afternoon,

This morning a large number of students from Pittsburg High School walked out of school to protest. These students traveled on foot to Antioch High School and attempted to convince other students to join their protest. Police from Antioch and Pittsburg were there to ensure that all students remained safe. As a precautionary measure, Antioch High, Antioch Middle, Fremont, and Live Oak all locked down for approximately one half hour. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have further questions or concerns.

Thank you,

Adam

Antioch High Principal’s Message

In an email message to school district staff, Antioch High School Principal Louie Rocha thanked his school’s staff and students for how they responded to the situation and reported that some Pittsburg High students made it onto the Antioch campus.

I want to commend our school staff for their collective effort in securing our campus during the School Lockdown. Thanks to the team work of our site safety security, front office staff, teachers, school administrators and students we were able to prevent our students from being in harm’s way of a large number of Pittsburg High School students who walked out of school this morning and attempted to enter our campus.

There was a small group of Pittsburg students who were able to gain access via the Don Richardson Gym entrance. The non-students ran through the PE area and exited out of campus on to 18th Street. The Antioch and Pittsburg Police Departments arrived on site to prevent the non-students from disrupting our school day. We had a small number of AHS students who exited the main entrance gate to join the unruly crowd. However once I informed them that I was going to lock down the school preventing them from re-entering they decided to return to campus without incident. The Pittsburg High School students continued down 18th and G Streets.

The lockdown continued because the non-students returned back to 18th Street in front of our main entrance and were escorted by the Antioch and Police Departments back to L Street in the direction of the city of Pittsburg. At that point, classes were released to their regular school schedule to their 5th period classes or first lunch.

I am proud of the team work demonstrated today and our students conduct when faced with unruly students from another high school. I am looking forward to the Veteran’s Day Holiday, and wish all of you an enjoyable weekend with your family and friends.

Louie Rocha

Principal of Antioch High School

Simultaneous Protest in Concord

At approximately 9:00 a.m. a witness reported a seeing a group of protesters walking on the Olivera Road overpass, above Route 242 in Concord, blocking traffic. They appeared to be of high school age, and possible students from Mt. Diablo High School, nearby. A short time later, a police officer said the overpass was cleared, as the protesters had reached the other side, near Glenbrook Middle School.

Allen Payton contributed to this report.

County Elections office still has about a third of the ballots left to count from Tuesday night

By Leave a Comment

By Allen Payton

According to County Clerk-Recorder-Registrar of Voters Joe Canciamilla, there are still about 180,000 ballots left to be counted in the county. As of the update Wednesday morning at 1:03 AM on the County Elections website, there were 305,123 ballots that were counted. That means about one-third of the ballots cast in Tuesday’s elections have yet to be counted.

“We have approximately 150,000 ballots in house and are expecting more as we pick up the boxes from the City Clerks, and from the mail-in ballots that can be received until Monday,” Canciamilla responded. “I would estimate that we will ultimately have around 180,000 in total.”

“We are having extra crews in today and tomorrow to process as much of the vote-by-mail that we can and hope to have two updates of the results, tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon,” he continued. “The balance of the ballots will not be completed until next week as we will have to process all of the regular ballots and update our records before we can finish with the provisionals.”

A provisional ballot is one that is turned in at the polls by a voter not voting in their assigned precinct. Those ballots get counted last.

For the latest elections information in the county, visit www.cocovote.us. For state and federal races visit the California Secretary of State’s website at http://vote.sos.ca.gov/.