Fuller ‘distressed’ by mutual aid policy

By Chris Campos Staff Writer

OAKLEY City Council member George Fuller has become known for his “contrarian” approach to city issues. On Tuesday night, Fuller made some pointed comments aimed at the neighbor up north. The hot button he pushed was police “mutual aid.”

The retired former Los Angeles police officer described his experience attending the NAACP East County Martin Luther King Day Prayer Breakfast in Pittsburg on Monday, Jan. 16.

Fuller told his colleagues of how he presented Oakley’s first proclamation celebrating MLK Day. What followed caused him to be “seriously distressed,” he said.

Fuller quoted Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe as saying, “Some cities just give proclamations but the city of Antioch means it.”

Fuller continued quoting Thorpe as saying, “We’ve put restrictions on our police use-of-control holds, that they now have a commission to oversee their police, and it has been so effective that the murder rate in the city is half what it was before. And they have no problem with the police because he implemented this…”

“He went on to say that there are now three Black council members on the City Council and he is going to make sure that this agenda is carried out. And the

City

Council

people who tried to get him recalled will be sorry.”

Fuller added, “My concern is ... three Black council members are going to receive personal admin assistants, the other two will not. Now we stay on our side and we’re very happy. What I’m concerned about is that we have a (police) mutual aid agreement with the city of Antioch….I want to discuss what we can do to protect our officers… Our officers are professional. They’re trained. They recognize systemic racism. I don’t want our officers to go out there and find themselves in trouble. I don’t want to end an Oakley officer’s career by going up there from page 1A

Brentwood resident Phillip Arnold Jr. and his granddaughter to the lectern to receive the proclamation.

“Every time we’ve spoken, I’ve learned something new about you, about your history, about your contributions to Brentwood and beyond,” Meyer said while presenting the proclamation. “The things that Mr. Arnold has done to promote social justice and racial equity are beyond what anyone here could really understand.”

Arnold quipped that he was perhaps the only Brentwood resident older than the city itself, without divulging his age, before thanking the council for recognition of his efforts.

Then the City Council pivoted into the single public hearing item on the agenda: a two-year extension of the tentative subdivision map for the Cowell Ranch development project that was first approved in 2018. The

Drive-through from page 1A the buffer condition insisted, “Our residents are looking for protection” from the noise and exhaust from vehicle lines at drive-through sites.

On the other side, councilmember George Fuller emphasized, “We’re denying people’s use of their own land.”

Representatives from Albertsons, the corporate owner of Safeway, also appeared before the Council to argue against the ordinance. Seth Furnam, a real estate representative, touted recent constructions of Bay Area Safeways showing off pictures of their gas pumps and large buildings.

Safeway has long considered build - project, located south of Vineyards Parkway and east of Miwok Avenue, is the second phase of the Trilogy’s Barcelona active-adult, single-family, duplex residential neighborhood that already calls for 72 units on the opposite side of Marsh Creek Road. The extension was approved by a 4-1 vote with Jovita Mendoza dissenting.

Discussion of the mid-year budget and General Plan dominated the back half of the meeting, yielding the most promise in terms of developments residents could expect to see in the future. Topics touched on included potential restaurants coming to the area, such as Chick-Fil-A and Jollibee, and other resident-focused projects like the addition of pickleball courts to Creekside Park on Claremont Drive. Parks Manager Aaron Wanden said the courts could be expected to open as soon as April or May.

“I think I just heard screaming and dancing and yell- ing a new store along Laurel Road and O’Hara Avenue.

Debate among the council members also led to Fuller to again question a conflict of interest issue with Cole and other lawyers in his law firm that are involved in another drive-through lawsuit against the city.

Councilmember Hugh Henderson made the suggestion that the council hold off on any decision until the pending legal action is resolved. His motion passed 5-0. Williams expressed her frustration, “I hate that this has taken so long.”

City Manager Josh McMurray also delivered a report on the status of to help save lives in the city of Antioch.”

Fuller ended by saying, …I was heading for a meeting with (City Manager) Josh McMurray and I was stepping out my front door and there was a person, not necessarily a person of color, who seemed to have a gun, so I called 911 and officers arrived and took care of it.” He then asked McMurray to include discussion of mutual aid at the next council meeting on police staffing levels.

On Wednesday, McMurray released a statement with Police Chief Paul Beard: “The Oakley Police Department has always adhered to police department policy when it comes to how to handle outside assistance to other agencies. In part, our policy reads ‘It is the policy of the Oakley Police Department to promptly respond to requests for assistance by other law enforcement agencies, subject to available resources and consistent with the applicable laws and policies of this department. Officers may respond to a request for emergency assistance, however, they shall notify a supervisor of their activity as soon as practicable.’ With that being said the Oakley Police Department has never taken a stance of cutting off aid to the Antioch Police Department, or any other department. I am an anti crime and pro police person. Part of being pro police means I support officers as a whole. We will always follow our policy and assist any department in need of our services.” To comment, visit www.thepress.net ing,” Bryant joked, adding that the status of the courts is one of the most frequent inquiries the council receives. Jan. 31 will see more parks and recreation developments kick off as the first community outreach meeting will be held that day for the future Sand Creek Sports Complex. The meeting would give residents a chance to voice their opinions on various design elements, such as grass versus artificial turf.

Other future items for the council to discuss in greater detail include the purchase of six unmanned aircrafts for the police department and for staff to look into whether or not a vacant building in the Streets of Brentwood shopping complex, formerly an REI retail location, could potentially be used as a youth development center.

The full council meeting can be watched online at https://bit.ly/3kGKZWT

To comment, visit www.thepress.net replacing the city’s cramped public library at Freedom High School.

A contractor from Management Partners offered their proposals for various ways to take a “public-private” approach combining a for-profit developing housing plan to fund a public development improvement project – in this case, a new library.

McMurray noted, “It’s a long process and we’ve got a lot of study to go through.” Several library proponents also lobbied the council to get behind the new report. Lorena Campos of the Friends of the Oakley Library group, and Allison McKee, the county librarian, touted a similar project that is proceeding in Bay Point for a new 100,000-square-foot county public library branch, one that may end up costing nearly $20 million to finish.

McMurray also noted that financing solutions for their project are far from complete.

In other council action:

• A property owner’s appeal to the council over a $250 fireworks fine was rejected;

• It accepted the completion of the $75,000 repair of the Senior Center roof.

For more information: https:// www.ci.oakley.ca.us/

To comment, visit www.thepress.net