YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 20, No. 23
READ BREAKING NEWS AT WWW.THEPRESS.NET!
Agostini Class of 2018 named Employee of the Year
New Life For Humphrey’s
The Antioch Marina’s iconic Humphrey’s restaurant has new owners and a new name. Page 4
by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
The fingerprints of City of Brentwood accountant Sonia Agostini are all over the agency’s financial documents. And now her hard work has put into her hands a plaque recognizing her as Employee of the Year. “Sonia clearly represents all the core values embraced by our organization,” said City Manager Gus Vina, who noted that she was selected from a pool of employee-submitted nominees. “She’s a very productive member of our city team.” The six-year employee of the Finance Department’s Business Services Division is a behind-the-scenes driver of many of the city’s financial documents, including see Agostini page 34
Election Day Updates
Photo by Tony Kukulich
R
eginald Howard enters the Liberty gym for the Independence High School Class of 2018 commencement ceremony in Brentwood, Tuesday, June 5. To view more photos of the event, visit www.thepress.net/multimedia/ slideshows
Fire district approves balanced budget by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
The East Contra Costa Fire Protection District Board recently approved a balanced preliminary operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year. But it comes with a harsh reality: the agency still doesn’t have adequate resources to serve the area. The fiscal estimate maintains the current three stations and 35 personnel, most of which are tasked with protecting over 114,000 residents and 249 square miles. “We are financially sound
“ We are financially sound with three stations
for 10 years, but we still need to address service levels.
with three stations for 10 years, but we still need to address service levels,” said Fire Chief Brian Helmick. The preliminary budget, expected to be finalized in September, projects that the district will end the 2018-2019 fiscal year with $1.7 million in excess revenue after estimating $16.2 mil-
lion in revenue and $14.5 million in expenses. Also factored in is a $3.2 million operating carryover and $10.2 excess carryover, which includes $6.2 million erroneously left behind when the district transferred its funds and financial operations from the county to the district.
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“We are taking care of all the financial obligations within this budget,” said Helmick, who noted that the district will not touch the $6.2 million until past budget audits are completed. About 96 percent of the organization’s revenue will come from property taxes, which are expected to increase by about 6 percent over the 2017-2018 fiscal year. Meanwhile, personnel costs, accounting for about 72 percent of the agency’s expenses, will jump about 5 percent to $10,513,881. see Budget page 34
EBT Changes
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Electronic benefit transfer users will have some restrictions placed on their cards in June.
Take a look at preliminary results of the statewide primary election. Page 6
Striking It Rich At PBA
Ron Mohr wins PBA50 Northern California Classic at Brentwood’s Harvest Park Bowl. Page 25 Calendar................................35 Classifieds.............................30 Cop Logs................................33 Entertainment.....................10 Food........................................11 Health & Beauty..................17 Milestones............................22 Kid Scoop................................9 Pets.........................................21 Sports.....................................25
Ag Meeting
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Agricultural land-use public meeting to be held in Knightsen.