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East County leaders must step up to the plate to fix fire, emergency services
Although I usually don’t respond to calls from unknown phone numbers, I did happen to answer a call several days ago. It turned out to be another survey regarding ECCFPD, our East Contra Costa Fire Protection District.
The district board is getting us ready for the fix the fire chief was alluding to at the Brentwood Council meeting a few nights ago. The gist of the call was to seek community feedback about a special assessment in an upcoming mail ballot to be sent to every property owner within our fire district, including Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, Byron, Knightsen and Bethel Island. The special assessment will run for 15 years. When calculated for my residence, $432.18 will be added to my property tax bill each year to resolve the fire district’s revenue problems.
By now, we should all be aware of the lack of adequate fire and emergency services provided to the 120,000 residents living in the
Guest comment
Think of your local workforce first Editor:
The Oakley City Council and city manager should all be ashamed of themselves after patting themselves on the back at the CC Logic Center-Amazon groundbreaking. They were either clueless, stupid or asleep at the wheel.
They totally forgot about the thousands of East County building trades men and women who would have loved to work on this project. They turned their backs on local hire and apprenticeship opportunities with East County’s
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249-square-mile area within the fire district’s jurisdiction. The revenue problems inherited by the current chief have left us with only three stations and nine firefighters, unable to meet national standards for response times.
The lack of sufficient revenue today is the result of tax allocations set by law almost 40 years ago, without any provision for updating the allocations as needs changed. In 2002, the county consolidated the three volunteer fire departments in East County into a single, paid firefighter district, ECCFPD, as the jurisdiction went from a primarily rural area to communities with exploding populations and housing developments, accompanied by growing businesses.
With all due respect to the chief and our firefighters, this proposed taxpayer assessment to resolve ECCFPD’s dire revenue situation is not the solution. The last three efforts to turn to the taxpayers for relief each failed. The message from the taxpayers is simple: we are taxed enough. NO MORE NEW TAXES! Public safety is government’s highest priority and should be adequately
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Future Build program. Even worse, they forgot about our men and women from the military who depend on the Helmets to Hardhats program for good paying construction jobs. But they didn’t have a problem giving the developer and general contractor from Missouri (a right-to-work-for-less state) the red carpet treatment.
The sad part is I think the city council and manager were so desperate for anything that they would have even approved a brothel if it would generate tax dollars. Hopefully, in the future, they will all take the time to look out for all citizens and local jobs! Greg Feere
Antioch
City of Brentwood
City Manager and City Council City Hall 150 City Park Way Brentwood, CA 94513 Phone: 925-516-5440 www.brentwoodca.gov
City of Antioch
City Manager and City Council City Hall 3rd and H streets Antioch, CA 94509 Phone: 925-779-7000 www.ci.antioch.ca.us
City of Oakley
City Manager and City Council City Hall 3231 Main St. Oakley, CA 94561 Phone: 925-625-7000 www.ci.oakley.ca.us
Town of Discovery Bay
Town Manager and Community Services District 1800 Willow Lake Road Discovery Bay, CA 94505 Phone: 925-634-1131 www.todb.ca.gov
provided with the taxes government already receives. Fund the needs of the community first, then the wants.
Legislators and government officials in a position to fix the problem have refused to act over the years, as the situation worsens. The cities of Brentwood and Oakley account for more than 88% of the population within ECCFPD’s jurisdiction, while the remaining 12% of the fire district’s population lives in the unincorporated communities of East County.
A nonpartisan citizens’ petition to bring the issue to the fall ballot in Brentwood, requiring Brentwood to spend additional funds from growth in sales and property taxes — not new taxes — was forced to be suspended when there could be no more signature-gathering because of COVID-19 mandates. Likewise, the petition for Oakley, which was planned to follow the Brentwood petition, was stymied.
The Brentwood Council could have decided to take the bold step to put the petition on the ballot, as is, or fine-tune it to meet any legal requirements, and thus, let its citizens decide how they want their tax money used.
But Brentwood leaders have not chosen to do so, citing uncertainty in the budget outlook, as a result of the economic impact due to COVID-19. That’s understandable but not acceptable. Faced with the same economic outlook, are the taxpayers in a better position to shoulder the load with increased taxes? Once again, nothing is done, and public safety suffers. Our government entities are responsible for sorting out needs and wants, yet fail to make the hard decisions they were elected to make.
It’s way past the time for the leaders of Brentwood, Oakley and Contra Costa County to step up to the plate and fix the issue of inadequate fire and emergency services in East Contra Costa County, once and for all, with a permanent, guaranteed, sustainable solution.
In the meantime, if you get a survey call from American Directions Research Group (279-399-2101), you might want to answer and give them your thoughts on the subject. Patricia Ziobro
Brentwood
GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
County Supervisor, Dist. III Diane Burgis
3361 Walnut Blvd., Ste. 140 Brentwood, CA 94513 Phone: 925-252-4500 Fax: 925-240-7261 dist3@bos.cccounty.us
County Supervisor, Dist. V Federal D. Glover
190 E 4th St. Pittsburg, CA 94565 Phone: 925-608-4200 Fax: 925-427-8142 district5@bos.cccounty.us
State Sen. Steve Glazer Seventh Senate District
Capitol Office: State Capitol, Room 4082 Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone: 916-651-4007 District Office: 420 West Third St. Antioch, CA 94509 Phone: 925-258-1176 Fax: 925-258-9982 Cell: 925-963-1611 http://sd07.senate.ca.gov
Assemblymember Jim Frazier 11th Assembly District
Capitol Office: P.O. Box 942849 Sacramento, CA 94249 Phone: 916-319-2011 District Office: 150 City Park Way Brentwood, CA 94513 Phone: 925-513-0411 Fax: 925-513-3511 www.asmdc.org/members/ a11
Gov. Gavin Newsom
State Capitol, Suite 1173 Sacramento, CA 95814 Phone: 916-445-2841 Fax: 916-558-3160 www.gov.ca.gov
U.S. Rep. Jerry McNerney 9th Congressional District
Washington, DC Office: 2265 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515 Phone: 202-225-1947 Fax: 202-225-4060 Antioch Office: 4703 Lone Tree Way Antioch, CA 94531 Phone: 925-754-0716 Fax: 925-754-0728 www.mcnerney.house.gov
Gov. Gavin Newsom submitted his 2020-21 May revision budget proposal to the Legislature — a plan aimed to close the budget gap of more than $54 billion brought on by the COVID-19 recession.
“COVID-19 has caused California and economies across the country to confront a steep and unprecedented economic crisis — facing massive job losses and revenue shortfalls,” Newsom said. “Our budget today reflects that emergency. We are proposing a budget to fund our most essential priorities — public health, public safety and public education — and to support workers and small businesses as we restart our economy. But difficult decisions lie ahead. With shared sacrifice and the resilient spirit that makes California great, I am confident we will emerge stronger from this crisis in the years ahead.”
The May revision calls to cancel new initiatives proposed in the governor’s budget, cancel and reduce spending included in the 2019 Budget Act, draw down reserves, borrow from special funds, temporarily increase revenues and make government more efficient. The budget will show that the most painful cuts will only be triggered if the federal government does not pass an aid package that helps states and local governments.
The proposal responds to the economic and revenue changes since January, when prudent fiscal management was reflected in a multiyear balanced budget plan with a $5.6 billion surplus and record reserve levels. The rapid onset of the COVID-19 recession in California has resulted in more than 4 million unemployment claims being filed since mid-March, the unemployment rate is now projected to be 18% for the year, and there is a $41 billion drop in revenues compared to January’s forecast. With a higher demand for social safety-net services increasing state costs, the $54.3 billion deficit is more than three times the size of the record $16 billion set aside in the state’s Rainy Day Fund.
Protecting public health, safety and education
The May revision proposes $44.9 billion in General Fund support for schools and community colleges and $6 billion in additional federal funds to supplement state funding. To address the decline in the constitutionally required funding for schools and community colleges resulting from the COVID-19 recession, the May revision proposes to reallocate $2.3 billion in funds previously dedicated to paying down schools’ unfunded liability to CalSTRS and CalPERS to instead pay the school employers’ retirement contributions. It also proposes a new obligation of 1.5% of state appropriation limit revenues starting in 2020-21 to avoid a permanent decline in school funding that grows to $4.6 billion in additional funding for schools and community colleges by 2023-24.
The May revision prioritizes $4.4 billion in federal funding to address learning loss and equity issues exacerbated by the COVID-19 school closures this spring. These funds will be used by districts to run summer programs and other programs that address equity gaps that were widened during the school closures. These funds will also be used to make necessary modifications so that schools are prepared to reopen in the fall and help support parents’ ability to work. The May revision also preserves the number of state-funded child care slots and expands access to child care for first responders.
The May revision preserves community college free tuition waivers and maintains Cal Grants for college students, including the grants for students with dependent children established last year. Many workers return to higher education and job training after losing a job; continuing this initiative will prioritize affordability and access to these programs. Supporting Californians facing hardships
With the COVID-19 recession hitting harder on families living paycheck to paycheck, the May revision prioritizes funding for direct payments to families, children, seniors and persons with disabilities. It maintains the newly expanded earned income tax credit, which targets one billion dollars in financial relief to working families whose annual incomes are below $30,000 – and including a $1,000 credit for those families with children under the age of 6. It maintains grant levels for families and individuals supported by the CalWORKs and SSI/SSP programs. It prioritizes funding to maintain current eligibility for critical health care services in both Medi-Cal and the expanded subsidies offered through the Covered California marketplace for Californians with incomes between 400% and 600% of the federal poverty level. It estimates unemployment insurance benefits in 2020-21 will be $43.8 billion – 650% higher than the $5.8 billion estimated in the gover
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Gov. Gavin Newsom
nor’s budget.
The May revision also targets $3.8 billion in federal funds to protect public health and safety. It proposes $1.3 billion to counties for public health, behavioral health and other health and human services programs; and proposes $450 million to cities to support homeless individuals. State government savings and efficiency
In addition to baseline reductions in state programs, savings in employee compensation are also necessary in the absence of federal funds. Negotiations will commence or continue with the state’s collective bargaining units to achieve reduced pay of approximately 10%. The May revision includes a provision to impose reductions if the state cannot reach an agreement. In addition, nearly all state operations will be reduced over the next two years, and nonessential contracts, purchases and travel have already been suspended.
The COVID-19 pandemic has required an unprecedented shift to telework for state government that has allowed state managers, led by the Government Operations Agency, to rethink their business processes. This transformation will result in expanded longterm telework strategies, reconfigured office space, reduced leased space, and flexible work schedules for employees when possible. The Administration also continues working with state departments in delivering more government services online – including expansion of the Department of Motor Vehicles’ virtual office visits pilot to other departments and agencies with more face-to-face interactions with Californians. Job creation, economic recovery
Given the critical role of small business in California’s economy, the May revision proposes an augmentation of $50 million for a total increase of $100 million to the small business loan guarantee program to fill gaps in available federal assistance. This increase will be leveraged to access existing private lending capacity and philanthropy to provide necessary capital to restart California small businesses. To support innovation and the creation of new businesses, the May revision retains January proposals to support new business creation by exempting first-year businesses from the $800 minimum franchise tax.
For more information, visit www. ebudget.ca.gov.
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