‘I don’t think we’ve seen the worst of it yet’

By Chris Campos Staff Writer

MARTINEZ The legal quagmire sparked by revelations of racial texts at the Antioch Police Department has begun to hit the county budget. And the cost will not be cheap.

Calling it a “watershed moment” for the county, Public Defender Ellen McDonnell told the Board of Supervisors that she will be looking to add staff to handle the added load on her office.

“I don’t think we’ve seen the worst of it yet,” McDonnell said Monday.

District Attorney Dian Becton told the board Monday during budget presentations that she will be seeking to add four new attorneys to her staff to start reviewing past cases submitted by the Antioch

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Police Department.

Becton told supervisors that a minimum of 800 cases will have to be reexamined for incidents of implied bias. “Even completed convictions must be investigated,” Becton emphasized. She said “It will take several years to process all the cases involved in the scandal… They’re (Antioch police) costing us money.”

McDonnell earlier told the Antioch City Council. “We can’t downplay this issue. This isn’t a few officers. We’ve reviewed there are 45 officers on these text chains that are disclosed thus far. Fortyfive Antioch police officers, 16 of them are in leadership roles. There’s an internal affairs officer that’s part of these texts, showing once again the police cannot police themselves.”

The investigation into the Antioch police followed an investigation into the

Due to difficulties in recruitment, retention, and normal turnover, the following nine departments are maintaining vacancy factors totaling $101.5 million: Health Services, Sheriff-Coroner, Employment and Human Services, District Attorney, County Clerk-Recorder, Probation, Public Defender, Animal Services, and Assessor.

General purpose revenue for 2023-24 totals $725.1 million, an increase of 9.3% over the prior year budget of $663.6 million. Of the major revenue sources, property taxes are the largest category and total $496.9 million, based on an assumed 4% growth over current year projected collections.

The next largest sources are Measure X sales tax at $118.2 million, interest income at $30 million, and sales and use taxes at $22.2 million.

Clashes

Council to take a five-minute recess during the April 25 meeting. The topic of discussion at the time had been two items on the consent calendar.

The contested items related to a purchase order for police-related software and one for the approval of a contract for construction of a sound wall along a portion of Highway 4 adjacent to Livorno Street south of Carrara Street.

Oerlemans had requested the two items be pulled for discussion at the same time. Councilmember Jovita Mendoza had moved to adopt the items except for items C-1 and C-3, which were proclamations. Vice Mayor Susannah Meyer seconded Mendoza’s motion nearly simultaneously with Oerlemans’ request, which can be seen at the 2-hour-and-43-minute mark of the recorded meeting on the city’s website. Mendoza then amended her motion to not include those items, once again

Pittsburg police department after the D.A.’s office received a tip in September, 2021 that one of its officers was involved in illegal activities that also included other Pittsburg and Antioch officers, according to the East Bay Times. Part of that illegal activity reported was officers abusing the use of prescription testosterone supplements and submitting falsified college records.

Through two reports that have been released by the county D.A. office – one an overall report from all of texts that were sent from 2019 through early 2021 and one solely from an investigation into actions taken during a felony criminal case during that time – the police officers mentioned in the report were frequently saying racist remarks about suspects they were either investigating or took into custody. They also poked fun at suspects who they physically abused, sending photos of them in the hospital.

The findings of the investigation could compromise thousands of cases, possibly overturning them due to the racist nature of the texts, according to the report by the district attorney that says that the findings “documents potential dishonesty, perjury, abuse of authority, and the violation of individual’s civil rights.” Defense attorneys in cases involving the Antioch officers could use the racist texts as evidence of their bias in making arrests.

Sheriff David Livingston, giving his quarterly Oversight Report to the supervisors Monday, said “This type of activity is unacceptable at the Sheriff’s Department. We do hold people accountable. I’m pretty confident that this wouldn’t happen here.”

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The recommended budget is structurally balanced. However, the following items are potential pressures to the recommended spending plan:

• Persistent high inflation and economic uncertainty;

• Unanticipated impacts from the governor’s May revised budget proposal and shortfalls in federal allocations;

• Decreasing county revenue growth;

• Disallowed FEMA reimbursement related to COVID-19; being seconded by Meyer. Council approved it unanimously.

Interest income is projected to be received close to double in 2022-23 of what is budgeted for 2023-24; this is as a result of increases in interest rates. Only $725.1 million of the $5.515 billion 2023-24 recommended budget is funded with general purpose revenues. The majority of the budget ($2.876 billion) is funded from state and federal revenues.

The confusion came when Bryant tried to move on to the business items part of the meeting without having discussed them. “The motion on the floor was not pulling them,” he explained.

After Oerlemans asked why the two items were not going to be discussed, Assistant City Attorney Katherine Wisinski was asked to explain the process.

“The mayor read out the motion as only pulling C-1 and C-3,” she said. “That was confirmed as the motion and a vote was taken on that motion.”

Councilmember Pa’tanisha Pierson explained that she had only voted on the motion because she was under the impression the items requested by Oerlemans would also be pulled. Wisinski explained that Bryant had read back the motion as he understood it – which did not include Oerlemans’ request – and that was what had been approved.

• Labor contract negotiations for agreements expiring June 30, 2023;

• Limited qualified workforce to fill job vacancies For more information: https://www.contracosta. ca.gov/4664/Board-Meeting-Agendas-and-Videos To comment, visit www.thepress.net

“You don’t understand anything,” Oerlemans interjected when Bryant attempted to speak. “I am disgusted with the ability for you to push something forward to make it appear that it’s a fair and judicial way of handling an item on a council where we’re supposed to be heard.”

Oerlemans called Bryant’s actions garbage and characterized them as pathetic, pushing away his microphone. It was at this point that Oerlemans exited the chamber, causing the recess.

Following the recess, the council moved into discussion, with the help of the assistant city attorney, of a reconsideration of item C-14. The reconsideration was approved 3-2, with Meyer and Mendoza in dissent. Oerlemans requested the item be discussed as part of the May 9 meeting of the city council.

“It’s 5 years, what’s another two weeks?” Oerlemans asked after Mendoza pointed out that the sound wall project had been in development for years.

“I’m ready to just get it done,” Mendoza replied. “These poor residents have been put through the wringer.”

Meyer asked Assistant City Manager Darin Gale how many times the council had already committed to the project. Gale did not have an exact number. But he said it had been at least five times and that the consent item had been to award a contract.

“Enough please,” Bryant said as Mendoza and Oerlemans began to argue over the item again, with Mendoza accusing Oerlemans and Pierson of trying to kill the project altogether. “We have committed that we are going to behave professionally up here. There will be times when things are very emotional, but I have confidence in every one of you that you can behave yourselves with respect, selfrespect and professionalism because our residents are owed that from us.”

Ultimately, the vote on whether or not to approve a contract for the sound wall project was moved to the May 9 council meeting in a 3-2 vote with Meyer and Mendoza dissenting.

Other items discussed included the unanimous approval of an agenda item that would allow developers to build duet units on any lot in a subdivision and a unanimous decision to allow for speakers to be given five minutes for public comments rather than three.

The full city council meeting can be watched online at https://bit.ly/3LuMd1p The exchange between Oerlemans and Bryant begins around the 2-hour-and52-minute mark.

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