YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ward Winning News al A pa
Vol. 9, No. 31
Including Nearby Communities
www.thepress.net
Budget cuts spare cops for now by Dave Roberts Staff Writer
Anthony Cox was among a small group of Antioch residents outside City Hall Tuesday waving signs and encouraging passing motorists to honk if they support the police. They were concerned that the City Council later that night might lay off police officers to plug the city’s budget deficit. Cox said he wanted to show his support for the thin blue line “because of all of the crime we have in the city. I don’t think we need to lay off.” The council’s budget actions turned out to be good news for police supporters because no officer layoffs were announced. But there was bad news for people who use the Antioch Library, enjoy swimming at Prewett Water Park, participate in city recreation programs and attend plays put on by Hapgood Theatre. Perhaps the worst news, however, is that after city officials have cut to the bone with about $10 million in reductions to match reduced property and sales tax revenue, they still face another $2 million in cuts due
Photo by Dave Roberts
Anthony Cox, foreground, and a half-dozen other Antioch residents demonstrate their support for the police before Tuesday’s City Council meeting. in large part to the state government borrowing $1.6 million in property taxes for the next three years. “That’s like a – bam – right in our stomachs. We don’t know where we will get that money from,” Assistant City Manager Arlene Mornick told the council, adding that they have time to figure out where to get
that money, because the state takeaway won’t go into effect until December. There were no easy choices on what to cut, but one of the more contentious issues was the decision to reduce the funding that’s been keeping the Antioch Library open 52 hours per week. Instead, the hours will be
cut to 35 per week beginning in October, saving the city $100,000 in the next year. Councilman Reggie Moore was vociferous in his opposition to cutting library hours, comparing it to turning away a hungry child begging for something to eat. “It’s the heart and soul of this community, providing opportunities to our youth and seniors that they otherwise would not have,” said Moore. “I know these are tough budgetary times, but I cannot in good conscience cut the hours. It’s incumbent on this august body to keep the hours. It’s unconscionable that we would sit here and take away something that provides hope and opportunity, a safe haven, a place to learn and grow and intermingle.” But Mayor Jim Davis and the other council members voted to cut the hours. “I agree with you on a majority of what you said,” Davis said to Moore. “But a solvent city is more important at this time.” He added that the hours could be restored when the economy and tax revenue pick up, hopefully in the see Budget page 14A
Protesters float an idea to the capital by Ruth Roberts Staff Writer
Photo by Richard Wisdom
Bill Worrell, left, Sportsman Yacht Club Commodore Steve Martinez and Roger Mammon are just a few of the participants in the upcoming Million Boat Float. The event is designed to bring awareness to the state’s proposed water-diversion canal.
Bruce Connelley believes in the concept of Power to the People, and he’s counting on the popular credo of the 1960s to make a difference in 2009. “There is a spirit in America today that some cynics think has died; that complacency is the norm nowadays, but I don’t believe it,” said the Oakley city councilman. “I don’t believe it at all.” And he’s set on proving it with an event called The Million Boat Float, a two-day assemblance designed to draw attention to the state’s proposed construction of a $40 billion alternate-conveyance system that many believe is a thinly veiled move toward a peripheral canal. “The goal (of the event) is to wake people up to what is happening in the Delta,” said Connelley. “The idea is to bring national attention to the issue because no one is listening to us,
the stakeholders.” The proposed canal, which proponents say is designed to improve water quality and habitat conditions in the Delta, has the backing of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and is the centerpiece of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, whose goal is to secure a canal under the Endangered Species Act. California voters rejected a similar peripheral canal proposal in 1982, but this time around, state administrators claim they don’t need voter approval. So with apparently no governmental input at the local level, residents such as Connelley fear a lack of transparency and little chance of a raising a voice in the process. “It comes down to this: other elected officials from local and federal levels have tried to work with the government to work it out,” said Connelley. “But it hasn’t worked that way. It’s all been a charade.” see Protesters page 14A
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July 31, 2009
THIS WEEK
Class back in session
See how your local district ran the gauntlet of that exciting and challenging first day of school.
Page 8A
They’d rather bee quilting A time-honored tradition will be renewed when the Antioch Historical Society Museum hosts the virtuosos of needle and thread.
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Blowin’ the doors off
Don’t let the Midget Lite designation fool you. These cars are big performers driven by heavy-duty dudes.
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INSIDE Back to School ..................8A Calendar ..........................23B Classifieds .......................... 8B Entertainment ................12B Health & Beauty .............11B Milestones ......................... 7B Opinion ...........................13A Sports ................................. 1B WebExtras! ....................... 1B
FOR MOVIE TIMES SEE PAGE 5A