YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ward Winning News al A pa
Vol. 10, No. 3
Including Nearby Communities
www.thepress.net
Cop oversight debate continues by Dave Roberts Staff Writer Mayor Jim Davis led off Tuesday’s City Council meeting by saying, “I think it’s going to be an exciting year for all of us.” And then the mayor and council were confronted by more excitement than they probably cared for: an intense debate by residents on whether to form a civilian oversight board looking into misconduct by Antioch police officers. Ironically, the very thing that oversight board proponents cited as the reason for needing it – lawsuits filed against the city alleging racial discrimination by police – resulted in the council members declining to even discuss it, let alone place it on the agenda for a vote. Councilman Reggie Moore, who strongly argued in favor of the oversight board when it was first brought to the council’s attention in November, and Councilwoman Mary Rocha, who also indicated support for it, have both been silent since then when the issue has been raised by the public. The other council members have not said anything at all about it. After 19 speakers spent an hour debating the issue only to be met with silence by
January 15, 2010
THIS WEEK
Fit and fabulous
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Photo by Dave Roberts
Council members listen to the debate over the police oversight board, but afterward declined to comment on it. the council, Councilwoman Martha Parsons asked City Attorney Lynn Tracy Nerland to explain their silence. Nerland said that the Brown Act prevents the council from discussing an item that is not on the agenda. “A majority of the council has chosen not to place
the issue of a civilian oversight commission on the agenda because of litigation that has been filed against the city,” she added. The council was in closed session besee Oversight page 16A
Pseudo-seller’s housing market assessed by Dave Roberts Staff Writer It sounds like a contradiction, but strong arguments can be made that the East County housing market is both a seller’s market and a great time to buy. It’s a seller’s market because there is currently a limited supply of houses for sale, prices are no longer in free-fall and many sellers are receiving multiple offers above the asking price in bidding wars. Attractive houses at attractive prices are snapped up in fairly short order by eager buyers. On the other hand, buyers have a lot of things going for them right now: discounts of 50 percent or more on fairly new houses, $6,500-$8,000 federal tax incentives if they buy soon and interest rates near historic lows. “It’s a pseudo-sellers mar-
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Photo by Dave Roberts
Ray Valverde, left, who is looking to buy, talks with Matthew Anderson of Coldwell Banker at an open house Saturday in Brentwood. ket,” said Shawn Beddingfield, broker associate with Coldwell Banker Amaral & Associates. “We went from a buyer’s market two to three years ago to where it switched over the last year to a pseudo-seller’s market. Technically speaking, it’s a seller’s
market. But because prices have come down so far, it’s still a buyer’s market.” It’s definitely a bonanza for bargain hunters, particularly compared to what houses cost just a few years ago. In Brentwood, a five-bedroom In-
What’s up?
verness Court house that sold for $820,000 in 2005 was recently picked up for $365,000. A threebedroom house on Morro Drive in Antioch that sold for $489,000 in 2006 was recently purchased for $182,000. A three-bedroom Discovery Bay house on Merritt Court that sold for $645,000 in 2006 was snapped up for $305,000 last month. In Oakley a four-bedroom house on Puffin Circle selling for $654,000 in 2006 recently went for $270,000. “I think the height of the market was four or five years ago,” said Beddingfield. “It took the first couple years to start trending downward. Two years ago and last year we had the inventory glut. It stabilized in the $500,000s and started coming down. The last 10 months see Market page 9A
Picturesque procurement Our regional park district has been working hard so that lovers of the outdoors can play easy.
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Weathering the ‘Storm’
She’s only 12, but her nickname is a reliable forecast of the pelting punches and cascade of kicks she showers onto her opponents.
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INSIDE Business .............................8A Calendar ..........................19B Classifieds ........................12B Cop Logs ..........................15A Entertainment ................18B Food .................................10B Health, Beauty & Fitness ..1B Milestones ......................... 9B Opinion ...........................14A Sports ...............................17A
Check the community calendar.
Find out about hometown events or post your event for free at www.thepress.net. See page 18B.
FOR MOVIE TIMES SEE PAGE 5A