A New Direction for East Contra Costa Fire Protection District

The East Contra Costa County Fire Protection District was formed in 2002 through the consolidation of East Diablo Fire District, Oakley-Knightsen Fire District and Bethel Island Fire District. East County Fire District serves the cities of Brentwood and Oakley, as well as the unincorporated areas of Bethel Island, Byron, Discovery Bay, Knightsen, and Marsh Creek-Morgan Territory. Responsible for an area of some 250 square miles, the District is the second largest fire service in the County.

Wednesday night the new Board of Directors for the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District (ECCFPD) held their first meeting. This special district was formally controlled by the Board of Supervisors. The meeting was largely procedural in nature. The new board was sworn in, a President (Erick Stonebarger), Vice President (Kevin Romick) and Clerk (Hugh Henderson) were selected, an attorney was approved, a permanent day and time for future board meetings were selected and District policies were approved.

Meetings will be held the first Monday on the month, starting at 6:30 at the Oakley City Council Chambers

Oakley representatives
Jim Frazier
Kevin Romick
Pat Anderson

Brentwood representatives
Bob Brockman
Bob Taylor
Chris Becnel
Erick Stonebarger

County representatives
Chris Finetti
Robert Kenny

The evening ended with a brief overview of the District. The district runs on a fiscal year. The 2009/2010 budget is $12,283,005 with property tax revenues of $10,575,355 (down 17% from last year due to declining property values). The remaining $1,707,650 comes from district reserves. Fire services are funded with property taxes, the 1% of the assessed value that we all pay. If you live in Oakley $0.06 of every dollar in property taxes is spent on fire. In Brentwood the amount increases to $0.07. However, if you in live in Antioch its $0.15, in Pittsburg its $0.16, in Concord its $0.13, Walnut Creek is $0.14 and in San Ramon its $0.13. These amounts vary across communities as a result of an archaic allocation scheme developed in 1978 with the passage of Prop 13.

The District’s staff consists of 55 full-time employees. The sworn permanent staff includes 53 full-time equivalents (FTEs), and the civilian staff is composed of two FTEs. Staffing is assigned by station with a two- person fire crew except the Oakley and downtown Brentwood station, which have 3-person crews. It provides fire suppression (structural, vehicle, and vegetation fires) and prevention, rescue, initial hazardous materials response, fire inspection, education and Basic Life Support (BLS) for medical emergencies until AMR, a privately-owned ambulance company, arrives to provide Advanced Life Support (ALS) and ambulance transport services.

East Contra Costa Fire operates 8 fire stations (plus one CAL-FIRE Contracted fire station) that are located strategically throughout the District to provide an average emergency driving response time of about six minutes. Two of these stations are relatively new. The Oakley station will be rebuilt on O’Hara this year. Four other stations were constructed in the 1950’s and 60’s for a part time volunteer fire dept. The Bethel Island station has been condemned.

The challenges ahead are many. The District lacks adequate revenue to provide urban staffing levels in the urban areas, and relies in most areas on two-person crews. The District lacks paramedic staffing. Financing is not adequate for administrative staff to complete all demands for management and fire prevention functions. The District economizes on expenses by understaffing urban fire stations and administrative functions, by using on-call personnel to supplement staffing, and by paying salaries that are substantially lower than in other fire departments in the County.

 

Some Super Bowl Ads You May Have Missed

 

Snow Expected on Tuesday for Elevations Above 2500 Feet

A cold storm system will drop in from the north and bring snow showers to elevations above 2500 feet especially for locations south of San Francisco Bay. In addition small hail can be expected with some of the stronger showers. Winter weather advisory in effect from 6 am to 10 pm pst Tuesday above 2500 feet. The National Weather Service in the San Francisco Bay Area has issued a winter weather advisory above 2500 feet for snow accumulations, which is in effect from 6 am to 10 pm pst Tuesday. * * snow accumulations: 2-3 inches for elevations 2500 to 3000 feet. 3-7 inches for elevations above 3000 feet. Snow may also mix with rain down to 2000 feet at times. * Timing: snow will begin Tuesday morning and continue into Tuesday evening. * Wind: northwesterly winds of 10 to 20 mph can be expected with gusts to 30 mph possible with the strongest showers. The strongest winds are expected Tuesday afternoon and evening. * Locations include: Diablo range, Santa Cruz mountains, Santa Lucia mountains, and the mountains of San Benito county. * Impacts: snow along with possible small hail and gusty winds will make conditions hazardous for travelers and those planning outdoor activities.

 

The Nacho Ladies Review – Crazy Hearts

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall, James Keane (II), Anna Felix
Drama, Musical/Performing Arts and Adaptation
1 hr. 51 min.
Rated: R for language and brief sexuality.

Bad Blake is a broken-down, hard-living country music singer who’s had way too many marriages, far too many years on the road and one too many drinks way too many times. And yet, Bad can’t help but reach for salvation with the help of Jean, a journalist who discovers the real man behind the musician. As he struggles down the road of redemption, Bad learns the hard way just how tough life can be on one man’s crazy heart. Yahoo Movie Review

Mary’s Review – I loved this movie. I loved this old country music guy. I can see why Jeff Bridges is up for an Oscar. This was a great character for him to play. He was an imperfect man with a lot of self loathing but a kind heart underneath his gruff exterior. This to me was a very complex character even though he was the old cliché of an old honkey tonk country singer, you liked him anyway. Every person you may meet in life has a story to tell and this guy was no exception. Not every movie has to have a big story to be good. This is a perfect example of that. Try and catch if you can. Oh and by the way they did there own signing in this movie too. I will give this movie 3 nachos and Jeff you get an extra jalapeño you old salty dog……

 

The Nacho Ladies Review – Dear John

Starring: Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried, Richard Jenkins, Henry Thomas, D.J. Cotrona
Drama, Romance and Adaptation
1 hr. 42 min.
Rated: PG-13 for some sensuality and violence.

A soldier home on leave falls for a conservative college girl. Instead of returning home to her, he reenlists after the attacks on September 11th, 2001. Time and distance begin to take a toll on the young lovers. Yahoo Movie Review

Mary’s Review – This movie was better than I expected! I was even pleasantly surprised that Channing Taylor actually was believable. Every movie that I have seen him in was terrible. We always thought of him (my girlfriend, Zulema, my daughters and me) as a gorgeous man that could not act! So this being said he must have been honing his craft a bit! I will be looking forward to seeing more of him. I hope it isn’t a fluke. I will give this movie 2 nachos and a jalapeno…….and ladies don’t forget the hankies this one will pull at your heart strings!

 

Sunday Reading – 2/07/10

The following links are just news items and opinions that pass my desk throughout the week. I don’t necessarily support or advocate any of the items, they are just interesting reads.

Effort underway to suspend California’s global-warming law – Supporters say they have “solid commitments” of nearly $600,000 to pay signature gatherers for a November initiative aimed at delaying curbs on the greenhouse gas emissions of power plants and factories until the state’s unemployment rate drops.

Microsoft Plans Massive Patch Tuesday Security Update – Microsoft is planning to release 13 security bulletins Feb. 9 as part of this month’s Patch Tuesday. Five of the 13 bulletins are rated critical, seven are rated important and one is rated moderate.

Next in Line for a Bailout: Social Security – Don’t look now. But even as the bank bailout is winding down, another huge bailout is starting, this time for the Social Security system. A report from the Congressional Budget Office shows that for the first time in 25 years, Social Security is taking in less in taxes than it is spending on benefits.

Credibility is what’s really melting – Take the disappearing Himalayan glaciers. Turns out that ‘research’ was idle speculation.

IRS to Buy 60 Shotguns – The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) intends to purchase sixty Remington Model 870 Police RAMAC #24587 12 gauge pump-action shotguns for the Criminal Investigation Division

A Federal Budget That Insults All Budgets – The last time federal spending actually lessened year over year was a slight $300 million decline in 1965. This includes every available combination of presidents and congresses, although the slowest growth generally occurs during periods of gridlock.

Class War How public servants became our masters – In April 2008, The Orange County Register published a bombshell of an investigation about a license plate program for California government workers and their families.

Housing Red Flags Ignored – One of the nation’s biggest mortgage industry players repeatedly warned the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and other bank regulators during the housing bubble that the U.S. faced an imminent housing crash.

Ultimate Toyota Recall Guide - Recalls happen all the time in the auto industry. Some are glitches that affect things like window switches, radio buttons and seat recliners.

Wind energy job growth isn’t blowing anyone away – America’s wind energy industry enjoyed a banner year in 2009, thanks largely to tax credits and other incentives packed into the $787-billion economic stimulus bill. But even though a record 10,000 megawatts of new generating capacity came on line, few jobs were created overall and wind power manufacturing employment, in particular, fell — a setback for President Obama’s pledge to create millions of green jobs.

Dan Walters: California GOP race turns nasty and exciting – The Republican duel for governor turned nasty – and thus became much more interesting – Monday when Steve Poizner accused rival Meg Whitman of using threats and bribes to get him out of the race, and her campaign questioned Poizner’s mental health.

Rising FHA default rate foreshadows a crush of foreclosures – About 9.1 percent of FHA borrowers had missed at least three payments as of December, up from 6.5 percent a year ago, the agency’s figures show…If the trend continues and the FHA’s cash reserves are exhausted, the federal government would automatically use taxpayer money to cover the losses

Spray-on liquid glass is about to revolutionize almost everything – Spray-on liquid glass is transparent, non-toxic, and can protect virtually any surface against almost any damage from hazards such as water, UV radiation, dirt, heat, and bacterial infections. The coating is also flexible and breathable, which makes it suitable for use on an enormous array of products.

Kindle, iPad, MacMillan, and the Death of a Business Model - If you visited Amazon.com this weekend, hoping to buy a book that happened to have been published by MacMillan, you got a rude surprise. You couldn’t do it.

Browsers can leave a unique trail on the Web, privacy group says – The Electronic Frontier Foundation has created an online tool that details the wealth of information a Web browser reveals, which can pose privacy concerns when used to profile users.

N.L. Premier Williams set to have heart surgery in U.S. -
Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams will undergo heart surgery later this week in the United States…Mr. Williams’ decision to leave Canada for the surgery has raised eyebrows over his apparent shunning of Canada’s health-care system.

Virginia Senate bills say no to requiring health insurance – Virginia’s Democratic-controlled state Senate passed measures Monday that would make it illegal to require individuals to purchase health insurance, a direct challenge to the party’s efforts in Washington to reform health care.

UN climate panel shamed by bogus rainforest claim – A STARTLING report by the United Nations climate watchdog that global warming might wipe out 40% of the Amazon rainforest was based on an unsubstantiated claim by green campaigners who had little scientific expertise.

More than 1,200 tiny quakes hit Yellowstone Park, but jitters are few – Over eight days, more than 1,270 mostly tiny earthquakes have struck between Old Faithful and West Yellowstone. The strongest dozen or so have ranged between magnitudes 3.0 and 3.8. That’s strong enough to feel – barely. The vast majority have been too weak to be felt even nearby.

 

Upcoming Events

• February 9, 2010, City Council Meeting
• February 15, 2010, Presidents’ Day, City Hall Closed, limited service available
• February 17, 2010, Public Forum, RE: Land Use, Oakley City Hall
• February 19, 2010, Furlough Friday, City Hall Closed, limited services available
• February 23, 2010, City Council Meeting
• March 6, 2010, 9:00 am, Assemblymember Joan Buchannan Free Pancake Breakfast, The White House, 204 Second Street, Oakley
• March 19, 2010, Furlough Friday, City Hall Closed, limited services available
• March 20, 2010, 9:00 am, Assemblymember Joan Buchannan Free Pancake Breakfast for Seniors, The White House, 204 Second Street, Oakley
• April 22, 2010, Assemblymember Joan Buchannan Open House introducing her satellite office located at Oakley City Hall

 

Concord City Council to consider certification of the Final EIR for Naval Weapons Station

The Concord City Council, sitting as the Local Reuse Authority, will consider certification of the Final EIR and adoption of the Preferred Alternative (Clustered Villages) as the Reuse Plan alternative to be forwarded to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Navy for the Concord Naval Weapons Station. Consideration and comments from the public will be taken at the Council’s regularly scheduled meetings February 9 and February 23, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

The community planning process for the reuse of the 5,028-acre site began in 2006. In January 2009, after 36 public meetings and community workshops, the City Council designated the Clustered Villages Alternative as the Preferred Reuse Plan for the site. The Final Environmental Impact Report was released last month.

The February 9 meeting will be held in the City Council Chamber at Civic Center, 1950 Parkside Drive. At this meeting, the City Council will hear a staff report on the Final EIR, Findings of Fact and Overriding Considerations on significant and unavoidable impacts and take public comment. (See the following links to related documents)

Staff Report
Summary of Findings
Mitigation Monitoring & Reporting Program

No action is anticipated by the Council at the February 9 meeting. Once comments have been taken, the meeting will be continued to the Council meeting on February 23.

The February 23 meeting will be held at the Concord Senior Center, 2727 Parkside Circle. Council action to certify the Final EIR and adopt the Reuse Plan is anticipated at this meeting.

All documents being considered as part of this action are available on the Reuse Project website at http://www.concordreuseproject.org/. Printed copies are available for review at the Concord Public Library. A compact disc containing all related documents can be obtained at the Reuse Project Office at 1950 Parkside Dr., Bldg. A, or by calling Pamela Laperchia at (925) 671-3001.

Contact Michael Wright, Director of Community Reuse Planning, with questions at michael.wright@ci.concord.ca.us or (925) 671-3019.

 

BNSF Stimulus Package Proposal

The City of Oakley’s Public Works Staff met with representatives of the BNSF Railroad, Caltrans, and the California Public Utilities Commission regarding a pending application for Federal stimulus dollars. BNSF is proposing to double track their line from roughly the Vintage Parkway overpass west to Fulton Shipyard in Antioch. A similar project was completed about a decade ago from Vintage Parkway east to the Knightsen area. BNSF has requested $33 million for the roughly 4.5 mile project. According to the representatives the project is not for capacity, but rather to increase efficiency. The project received its environmental clearance through an EIR that was circulated several years ago. That process included several local meetings. If all goes as planned, construction could begin in June and would last approximately 18 months. The project will add a second bridge over Bridgehead Road, and the new bridge will accommodate a future four lane road widening. The existing bridge is not being touched for the double tracking project. Staff will keep in contact with the project team to monitor status and coordinate public outreach.

 

6.0 Earthquake offshore Northern California

At 12:20 PM Pacific Standard Time on February 4, an earthquake with preliminary magnitude 6.0 occurred 50 miles/80 Km southwest of Eureka, California.

The magnitude is such that a tsunami IS NOT EXPECTED. However, in coastal areas of intense shaking, locally generated tsunamis can be triggered by underwater landslides

56 km (35 miles) WNW (282°) from Petrolia, CA
59 km (36 miles) WSW (254°) from Ferndale, CA
68 km (42 miles) WSW (256°) from Fortuna, CA
76 km (47 miles) WSW (239°) from Eureka, CA
363 km (225 miles) NW (306°) from Sacramento, CA

View Larger Map

 

City of Oakley Downtown Specific Plan Presentation and Discussion

The City of Oakley invites you to come join Staff and fellow downtown business and commercial property owners for a presentation and discussion of the Oakley Downtown Specific Plan. The Specific Plan has been in the works for over 10 years when a Task Force was established and conducted workshops to discuss revitalization strategies. Today, it has evolved into a full-fledged specific plan including land use and revitalization strategies, capital improvements, and development standards and design guidelines for new construction and redevelopment. This meeting, to hold a presentation and discussion, was requested by your City Council during the Specific Plan’s Environmental Impact Report public hearing held in October of 2009. The City of Oakley values its Business Community and looks forward to meeting and hearing from you.

Meeting Time: Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at 6:30pm

Meeting Location: City of Oakley City Council Chambers located at 3231 Main Street, Oakley, CA 94561

 

More Census Information

Importance of the Census
As you probably know, the success of the Census determines federal funding levels for the next ten years. Census data is used to determine the allocation of over $400 Billion in Federal funds. It is estimated that in California, state and local government will loose approximately $12,000 for each person that does not fill out the Census form. To put it in perspective, a quick calculation based on Contra Costa County’s and the City of Richmond’s population indicates that for every 1% of the population that is not counted, we will miss out on $120,000,000 and $12,000,000 respectively. Given the severe budget situation in our local and state governments, we need to make every effort to make sure EVERYONE is counted. There are a number of programs that use the Census population to allocation funds, including Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, transportation funds, and school funds.

Census data is also used to determine the number of Congressional representative California will have the House of Representatives. In 1990, California lost a congress seat due to a Census under count. In 2000, the State and local agencies worked to reach the hardest to count populations and a seat was regained. We hope to build on the success of the 2000 Census to ensure we are appropriately represented at the national level.

Of course, we use Census data for a multitude of other projects including business plan development, grant applications, planning for our schools, roads, and churches. The data that is collected this year will be our base population for the next ten years, so it is important that we get it right.

The Plan
We also have some good news! The California Complete Count committee has allocated a portion of its funds directly to counties with a significant number of Hard to Count populations. Contra Costa is among the counties that will receive funds. It is anticipated that we will receive up to $23,000. The turnaround for a draft plan was very quick, so we prepared a spending plan based on the input we received at the workshops. The following outlines our proposed outreach plan.

1) Feb 6th from 9:00 am to 11:00 am at Delta View Golf Club located at 2242 Golf Club Rd in Pittsburg
You can RSVP for either of this event by contacting me (Kristine) at (925) 343-4371 or on our website at http://www.cococensus.org/

2) Mini-grants – The bulk of our funds will be provided to community organizations, cities, faith community, and others that work directly with hard to count populations. Grants up to $1,500 will be provided to organization or collaboration hosting Census Outreach events. We are encouraging events to be organized around the State Census Day on March 20th. Ideas for community events include a health fair, a neighborhood BBQ, or a music concert. Funds may not be used towards food, capital investments such as computers/fax machines, etc, or administrative costs. Grant applications will be announced soon via this email list and on our website at www.cococensus.org. We will also be hosting grant workshops in each of the three regions where you can get your questions answered. We will also provide information about the Census, the timeline, and how you can assist others. As always, please feel free to contact me (Kristine) if you have any questions. ($15,000 @ $5,000 per region)

3) PSA – A portion of our funds will be used to tape and air Public Service Announcement on CCTV and distributed to the other local media. We will do the PSA in both English and Spanish. ($2,500 – Countywide)

4) Homeless Incentives – The homeless and transient population is one of the most difficult populations to reach. The funds will be used to purchase supplies and incentives to better reach the homeless populations ($1,000 – Countywide)

5) Discretionary Funds – We have about $1,500 left over for incidentals, copies, printing, etc that may come up. We want to be prepared to participate in events and opportunities as they arise.

Please mark you calendar for any of the following events that you may be interested in:
February 6th – East County Faith Leaders Breakfast in Pittsburg at Delta View Golf Club (2242 Golf Club Rd, Pittsburg) from 9:00 am to 11:00 am. Please pass along to your favorite East County faith leader
Feb 9 – Central County Grant Workshop and Census Training – A workshop geared to Community Based organizations to hear about the mini-grants available, Census Day on March 20th, and resources and information about helping clients fill out the Census form, if needed. Time is 10 am until noon and the place is to be determined at this time
Feb 10 – West County Grant Workshop and Census Training – A workshop geared to Community Based organizations to hear about the mini-grants available, Census Day on March 20th, and resources and information about helping clients fill out the Census form, if needed. Time is 10 am until noon and the place is to be determined at this time
Feb11 – East County Grant Workshop and Census Training – A workshop geared to Community Based organizations to hear about the mini-grants available, Census Day on March 20th, and resources and information about helping clients fill out the Census form, if needed. Time is 10 am until noon and the place is to be determined at this time
Feb 17th – East County Grant Writing Workshop – District V Supervisor is sponsoring a workshop to provide grant writing tools, resources, and tips to nonprofit. We will also be in attendance to provide information and resources about our mini-grant application as well as the importance of the Census
Mid-March – Census forms mailed
March 20th – Statewide Census Day! Start planning an event to promote the Census in your community!
April 1st – “Census Day”

I will be updating http://www.cococensus.org/ on a regular basis between now and Census Day, so please visit it often to get updates. I will also be sending weekly updates to this email list so everyone is in the loop about Census 2010 activities.

We would love to speak at an event, meeting, or gathering if your organization is interested in more Census information. Please contact me to set up an event with your organization.

Looking forward to working with you in the next couple of months. The Census website will have a real-time counter that will report the number of mail responses received by Census Tracts, so it will be fun to see the outcome of our outreach efforts in real time.

I am always available to answer any questions that you may have or provide whatever assistance I can

Thank you, Kristine

Kristine Solseng
Senior GIS Planner
Contra Costa County
Department of Conservation and Development
651 Pine St, 4th Floor – North Wing
Martinez, CA 94553
(925) 313-4371
ksols@cd.cccounty.us

 

Oakley to Improve Recycling Efforts

It seems that every year we produce more garbage than the year before. There are times when one large garbage can just won’t suffice. It also seems that that the products we buy have a built in obsolesces that make it easier and sometimes cheaper to throw it away and purchase it again when it breaks or malfunctions.

We are not only producing more garbage, but, we are running out of places to put it. There are not many communities clamoring to place the next landfill in their jurisdiction. Aside from the assault on a number of our senses, sight and smell to come to mind, the issue of potential ground, water and air pollution associated with landfills make site location more difficult.

Concerned with these issues California, in 1989, passed Assembly Bill (AB) 939 – the Integrated Waste Management Act. The first thing this bill did was to create CA Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB). Not only a new layer of bureaucracy but more acronyms were added to the garbage collection lexicon.

AB 393 also mandated local governments to limit the amount of garbage going to landfills. The goals were set at 25% by 1995 and 50% by 2000. The CIWMB would determine how well the program was progressing by looking at a base year of waste normally disposed of into landfills to determine the amount of garbage actually being eliminated. To help slow down the amount of garbage being sent to landfills each city was required to create an Integrated Waste Management Plan (IWMP) that looked at recycling programs, purchasing of recycled products and waste minimization.

In 2001 Oakley joined with Contra Costa County and the Ironhouse Sanitary District to form the Contra Costa/Ironhouse/Oakley Regional Agency (RA) for the purpose of maximizing the effort to meet the goals set by the state. These goals have been met. However, programs to assist residents in this ongoing effort are below expectations. In December of 2009 the Solid Waste Franchise was transferred from Ironhouse to the City essentially ending the RA. This separation requires the City to prepare and submit a new IWMP to CalRecycle, the successor to the CIWMB.

This planning document will have:

• A Source Reduction and Recycling Element (SRRE). The SRRE outlines the City’s plan for meeting and maintaining the 50 percent mandate. The SRRE requires specific components that identifies solid waste generation within the City and identifies source reduction, recycling, composting, and educational programs the City currently implements and will implement that demonstrate quantitative source reduction efforts.
• A Household Hazardous Waste Element (HHWE). The HHWE outlines the City’s plan for the safe collection, recycling, treatment and disposal of household generated hazardous waste. A HHW is a material that can cause harm to human health or the environment through its reactivity, flammability, corrosivity, or toxicity. The following are examples of some common types of HHW:

Household cleaners
Pesticides
Car batteries
Wood preservatives
Auto and furniture polish
Pesticides
Automotive products
Adhesives and sealants
Paints and coatings
Photographic chemicals
Pool chemicals
Motor oil
Anti-freeze

• A Non-Disposal Facility Element. The NDFE lists all permitted solid waste facilities, other than landfills and transformation or incineration facilities, which will be needed to implement the SRRE. A non-disposal facility is defined as a facility that recovers for reuse or recycling a minimum of five percent (5%) of the total volume of material received by the facility. The NDFE identifies all existing and proposed non-disposal facilities to be used by a jurisdiction to support programs to achieve the waste diversion mandates. Examples of non-disposal facilities are transfer stations and composting facilities.

In March of this year the final plan will come to the Council for approval.

 

Sunday Reading – 1/31/10

The following links are just news items and opinions that pass my desk throughout the week. I don’t necessarily support or advocate any of the items, they are just interesting reads. 

Climategate: NOAA and NASA Complicit in Data Manipulation – Recent revelations from the Climategate emails, originating from the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, showed how all the data centers — most notably NOAA and NASA — conspired in the manipulation of global temperature records to suggest that temperatures in the 20th century rose faster than they actually did.

Rains notwithstanding, state drought isn’t over – The question now gurgles up from every storm drain and creek in California: Is the drought over? The simple answer is no. The reasons why are not so simple.

Toll hikes approved for Bay Area bridges – The long, painful process of considering toll increases for the Bay Area’s state-owned bridges ended Wednesday when the Bay Area Toll Authority bumped the cost of crossing the Bay Bridge to $6 during commute hours, and the price for driving across the other six bridges to $5.

California wine sales drop – California wine shipments dropped in 2009 for the first time in 16 years as major U.S. wine companies looked overseas for the cheap wines that cash-strapped consumers increasingly crave.

Stimulus price tag soars; jobless rate rises - The economic stimulus bill’s price tag has risen to $862 billion, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday — a $75 billion jump that’s a result in part to the fact that, despite the spending, joblessness has risen and the government is paying out more than expected on unemployment benefits.

Single-Payer Plan Is Politics, Not Policy – Here’s all anyone needs to know about the chances of passing single-payer health insurance in California this year:

California mortgage defaults drop 24.3% – The number of homes entering the first stage of foreclosure fell in the fourth quarter compared with the previous quarter, MDA DataQuick says — a sign that banks are working with delinquent borrowers

Assemblyman Tom Torlakson recovering from heart troubles – Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, an avid fitness buff and triathlete who’s running for state schools chief, is recovering from heart surgery after suffering from chest pains Tuesday while jogging.

3 in 10 Californians identify with the Tea Party; a third still don’t believe Obama’s birth certificate - A new Field Poll out this afternoon finds that 28% of the state’s voters identify with that protest movement while nearly two-thirds already know about them.

Lawmakers cold on Obama’s freeze – The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the government’s official fiscal scorekeeper, said Tuesday that the government faces a “daunting” fiscal future. The 2010 federal budget deficit will be $1.35 trillion, nearly as large as last year’s record $1.4 trillion budget shortfall, and deficits will average $600 billion over the next decade, according to CBO’s budget outlook

An Economic Time Bomb – Government spending has already hugely increased, and so has the size and scope of government, but next year there will also be substantial tax increases for a great many Americans. The first reason will be the expiration of the Bush tax cuts .

Public’s Priorities for 2010: Economy, Jobs, Terrorism – Strengthening the nation’s economy and improving the job situation continue to top the list. And, in the wake of the failed Christmas Day terrorist attack on a Detroit-bound airliner, defending the country from future terrorist attacks also remains a top priority.

Baja smugglers’ use of boats rising rapidly – Smugglers are also taking their human cargo as far as 25 miles out to sea, crossing open ocean in small fishing boats called pangas — 20- to 30-foot wooden craft that are not sturdy enough for such voyages.

Scientists envision monster storm for California – In the scenario, the storm system forms in the Pacific and slams into the West Coast with hurricane-force winds, hitting Southern California the hardest. After more than a week of ferocious weather, the system stalls for a few days. Another storm brews offshore and this time pummels Northern California.

California inmate release plan begins – The state’s controversial plan to reduce its prison population by 6,500 inmates over the next year begins today, with victims and law enforcement groups once again warning it will increase crime.

Glacier scientist: I knew data hadn’t been verified - The scientist behind the bogus claim in a Nobel Prize-winning UN report that Himalayan glaciers will have melted by 2035 last night admitted it was included purely to put political pressure on world leaders.

Public Employee Unions Are Sinking California - A 2008 state commission pegged California’s unfunded pension liability at $63.5 billion, which will be amortized over several decades. That liability, released before the precipitous drop in stock-market and real-estate values, certainly will soar.

 

Trace Adkins sings Till the Last Shot’s Fired with the West Point Cadet Glee Club

Las Vegas, 5 April 2009. Trace Adkins sings Till the Last Shot’s Fired with the West Point Cadet Glee Club  

The mission of the Wounded Warrior Project is to honor and empower wounded warriors; to raise awareness and enlist the public’s aid for the needs of severely injured service men and women; to help severely injured service members aid and assist each other; and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet the needs of severely injured service members.

 

Get Trained for a Green Job

 

The Urban Limit Line

Mankind has been migrating to the suburbs forever. The modern notion of suburbs — a community in an outlying section of a city — was found to be evident as early as the 6th century BC in Babylon. In ancient Greece, the economic interdependence between the city and the agricultural communities surrounding it was given political definition by the formation of the city-state.

Cicero, the 1st century Roman orator and statesmen, refers to suburbani; large country estates just outside Rome. In England, the rich who owned weekend villas outside London gradually transferred their main residences there and the middle class soon followed. By the middle of the 19th century, the exodus of population from metropolitan London confirmed the popular preference for suburban living.

Leaping across the Atlantic, the first steam ferry linked Brooklyn and Manhattan with viable transportation, making Brooklyn America’s first suburb in 1814. The advent of the ferry allowed the residents of Brooklyn, many whom worked in Manhattan, to escape the city center and gave birth to a commuting suburb.

Still, at the beginning of the 20th century the United States was predominately a rural nation. However, events were in motion to change that fact. Mechanization in agriculture, the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl years triggered the first mass migration of the rural poor to the cities.

In the decades following World War II the population of the United States underwent a second mass migration, this time from the cities to the suburbs. American troops returned home after the war to start new lives and begin new families. Home building had been at a standstill before and during the war causing an extreme housing shortage. Between 1946 and 1964, 76.4 million babies were born. One might say, the baby boom stimulated the housing boom. In any event, over 13 million homes went up from 1948 to 1958, about a house every minute. Most of these new homes were affordable, cookie-cuter houses fashioned after the successful developments of William J Levitt.

Levitt bought thousands of acres of land outside the cities of New York and Philadelphia and created planned communities called Levittown during the 40’s and 50’s. The first such Levittown, comprising a total of 17,500 houses, was built on what had been a Long Island, New York potato farm. Subsequent developments in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and Florida soon followed.

Other developers took note and housing tracks blossomed from the earth where crops had been grown before. There were houses for almost everybody, ranging from eight-bedroom mansions in Greenwich, Connecticut on two-acre plots of ground to little copy-cat stucco boxes five feet apart in Daly City, California.

Levitt, though, was the first and the master. Five years after he began, his company would construct homes with such assembly-line speed, that they were able to raise as many as 40 houses a day. With a down payment of $200 (for the returning G.I., it was often no down payment or closing costs only), and paying $63 a month (including taxes) couples could purchase a new, appliance-laden, $10,000 Cape Cod-style home in the suburbs. The rush to the “burbs” was in full force: an extraordinary, unparalleled event.

However, the phenomenon of the post-war suburban life could never have succeeded were it not for the automobile and the modern highway. Automobile registration rose from 26 million in 1945 to over forty million in 1950. No-car families became one-car families, then two-car families, which spurred other industries. In a ten-year period starting in 1948, 4,000 drive-in theaters with playgrounds and laundromats were in use. There were drive-in restaurants, grand shopping centers and finally shopping malls. The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, the largest public works expenditure in U.S. history, authorized $24.8 billion dollars to build 41,000 miles of interstate highways over 13 years. This new freedom of the road allowed people to move further away for their place of work.

Fearing an onslaught of homes and roads the residents of Contra Costa County approved Measure ‘C’ in 1990. One of the major elements of the Measure was the Contra Costa 65/35 Land Preservation Plan. This Plan ensures that urban development in the County is limited to no more than 35% of the land and that at least 65% of all land shall be preserved for agriculture, open space, wetlands, parks and other non-urban uses. To enforce the Land Preservation Plan an Urban Limit Line (ULL) was established in 1991. The ULL identifies the outer edges of urban development in Contra Costa County and is a land use and growth management policy, designed to preserve agriculture land and open space by specifying a “line in the land” around an urban area outside of which development is prevented or discouraged.

In positioning the initial ULL the County used many factors to determine where its placement would be, such as soil types, existing open spaces, parks and other recreation areas. Lands with a slope greater than 26 percent; wetlands and other areas deemed not suitable for development (lack of water, lack of infrastructure, too far from existing urban areas, potential environmental damage and other such factors).

The ULL is used by the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) as a tool when considering incorporation or annexation of land located inside or outside the ULL. However, location of land within the Urban Limit Line provides no guarantee that the land may be developed. If land is developed within the Urban Limit Line, even then, a substantial portion of this land shall be retained for open space, parks and recreational uses.

 

Looking to Create Safe Routes to Schools

In October of 2007, Orchard Park Elementary, the first and only kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school in the Antioch Unified School District held its dedication ceremony. Orchard Park School is within the Antioch Unified School District and serves students from both Antioch and Oakley. It is located on Live Oak Ave. a two lane unimproved road in Oakley. Unfortunately there are no sidewalks or walking paths on Live Oak and students are forced to walk or bike on the sides of the road.

A quick reminder here: Everyone in Oakley living west of Empire is in the Antioch School District and within the Mello-Roos boundaries. If your home was built before 1988 or if the builder paid off the bonds and included it in the price of your new home you will not see a Mello-Roos line item on your property tax bill. The Antioch Area Public Facilities Financing Agency (“AAPFFA”) is a joint powers authority established by the Antioch Unified School District (AUSD) and the City of Antioch. The AAPFFA formed the CFD 1989-1 for the purposes of financing the building of school facilities and a City park. Five elementary schools, two middle schools, one high school and a 100 acre community park, all in Antioch, were built with this money.

Unfortunately Orchard Park was not built with Mello-Roos dollars. It was constructed under a “hardship status”. The School Facility Financial Hardship Program provides 100 percent State funding when districts are unable to meet the matching share requirements of the School Facility Program

It is common sense and prudent policy for a School District to coordinate with the city or county where it is building a school to make sure there are safe pedestrian routes to the schools. However, in this case State funding guidelines restrict expenditures to on-site and directly adjacent frontage improvements, so there were no off-site pathways or trails providing access for pedestrians or bicyclists. When the school opened in 2007 it was only serving K-3 grade levels and there were few children walking or biking to school. As the grade levels increased more children began to walk and bike to school exasperating the problem.

Looking to resolve the issue the staffs from the City of Oakley, AUSD, and the Orchard Park School and the Orchard Park School’s Parent’s Club have been searching for ways to remedy the situation. A number of ideas have been implemented including; enhanced striping and new signage, an educational campaign for students and parents is being developed. The ultimate solution, paved pathways to provide the safe path to school has also been identified. Initial cost estimates for the project is $150,000. Unfortunately neither the City or the School District have funds in their budget’s to pay for the project, so the group has set out to identify possible funding sources.

Last year the City applied for a grant from the Safe Routes to School program but was denied. This year City staff is working with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). MTC has a grant program to improve pedestrian/bicycle projects throughout the County. The goals of the program are to reduce injuries and fatalities and to encourage increased walking and bicycling. Staff has submitted a preliminary application for the pathway project and received favorable feedback, but the program has been very competitive in the past. On Tuesday night the City Council adopted a resolution of Local Support for filing the application and stating the assurance to complete the project. The application is due by January 28, so with a little luck hopefully MTC will make the correct decision.

 

The Water Pirates

“The Water Pirates is the first of many videos that explain why it is critical to defeat the water bond that will be on California’s November ballot. The $11 billion dollar measure is a pork-filled, naked power grab that will enrich a small group of wealthy powerful interests at the expense of an already bankrupt California – and that’s just for starters. If it passes, it will kill The Delta and be the end for the biggest and most important estuary in North and South America, San Francisco Bay.

Stop the water pirates! They are working hard to make publicly owned water their privately held asset. It’s happening now and the pirates need to be stopped! Watch and share this video.

Vote NO on the water bond. Together, we can make what is wrong, right again.”

 

Oakley Applies for Grants to Improve Parks

In November of 2006, California voters approved Proposition 84. The $5.4 billion bond measure provides funding to ensure the availability of safe drinking water, improve local water supply reliability, strengthen flood protection, and preserve California’s natural landscapes, including parks, lakes, rivers, beaches, bays, ocean and coastline. The proposition also set aside money for a grant program for the development of new parks and/or renovation of existing parks. The City of Oakley is eligible to apply for these grants and plans to do so. City staff has proposed that Oakley file grant applications for the refurbishment of Crockett Park, the completion of the second phase of Holly Creek Park and the Nunn-Wilson Park. The City Council has approved a resolution of support for each grant as required by the application process. The applications are due by April 1, 2010. The minimum grant request is $100,000 and the maximum is $5 million. The program does not require any local matching funds.

Crockett Park – This park, located on the west side of Empire, is one of the original parks built in Oakley and it receives a substantial amount of use. The park still has the original playground equipment, and the basketball and tennis courts are showing signs of wear and cracking and are in need of resurfacing. The tennis court was recently closed for use due to safety concerns. Staff is proposing that the grant application include funds to replace the playground equipment and surface, and resurface and upgrade the basketball and tennis courts. The cost for the renovations has been estimated to be $173,000.

Holly Creek Park – This park is situated in the Holly Creek development just south of Oakley Road and west of Empire. The first phase of the park includes turf, landscaping and play equipment. It was completed several years ago and is well used. Staff is proposing to improve the remaining 3.7 acres with turf to accommodate soccer and baseball use. The cost for this expansion has been estimated to be $1,110,000.

Nunn-Wilson Park – This Park is on the south side of Laurel Road on the edge of the Laurel Crest neighborhood. Phase one, built a couple of years ago, includes play equipment, a basketball court, adult fitness equipment and a water feature play area. Staff is proposing improving the remaining 7 acres with a parking lot, baseball backstop, soccer field size turf area, and a restroom. The cost for this expansion has been estimated to be $1,764,000.