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YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 8, No. 12
DBPOA recall up in the air by Ruth Roberts Staff Writer
The president of the Discovery Bay Property Owners Association (DBPOA) has said the board would formally address a petition to recall six of the board’s seven directors, but so far the only response has been silence. “My understanding is that we are supposed to get a written response from our attorney acknowledging the recall, but as far as I know that has not been done,” said DBPOA Secretary Bobbi Nugent, the only member of the board not named in the recall. DBPOA President Dominic Carano said he and the board would address the recall effort at a meeting on March 3. “We have a letter going out (to the petitioners) acknowledging the recall,” Carano told the Press on March 2, but to date no letter has been forthcom-
ing. Repeated calls this week to Carano were not returned. Sandee Visitin, one of the signers of the recall petition, is frustrated by the board’s lack of response. “Since they said they were advised to do this (respond) by their attorney, we asked for written confirmation of this,” said Visitin, who added that the group has not received any correspondence from the board or its attorney. A coalition of property owners filed a petition with the board on Feb. 3, asking for the recall of six of its members, for among other things, mandating membership in what some believe is an illegal association. Those mentioned in the recall are Carano, Jack Parker, Dave Ciruli, Omar Hindiyeh, Peter Barlacq and Shirley Tilton. Since the Feb. 3 petition, Barlacq has resigned, leaving a vacancy on the
Magenta magnificence
Photo by Ger Erickson
he vernal equinox – astronomical spring – arrives tomorrow at 10:32 a.m., and our wet winter has set the table for an extravagant banquet of wildflowers flooding meadows and hills with the sights and scents of the new season. The red-maids above were captured on the Oak Savannah Trail at Los Vaqueros Watershed.
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2010 Census more than a head count Staff Writer
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau
The 2010 Census should have arrived in your mailbox this week. Filling out the 10-question form will help bring millions of dollars to East County to help fund public works projects and education programs for public schools.
Online Now!
Have you sent in your 2010 Census questionnaire yet? More than 120 million households received Census forms this week, and the U.S. Census Bureau is encouraging everyone to respond as soon as possible. The Census takes place every 10 years, as it has since 1790, to get a head count of the nation’s population, but since the number of a state’s representatives in Congress is determined by its population, Census data is also used to determine that crucial figure. The other function of the Census is to guide government agencies in the allocation of more than $400 billion in federal funds to state and local governments.
www.thepress.net Your Hometown Web Site
March 19, 2010
This Week Gobbler gang struts its stuff
A passel of plucky poultry rambled unruffled through a local neigborhood. Page 3A
see Recall page 8A
by Samie Hartley
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Using Census data, money is distributed to communities across the country to fund public works projects, enhance education, provide additional emergency services and retrofit hospitals. Money is also given to state and local governments to build and fix roadways. On a broader scale, the Census serves as a snapshot of America, spotting economic and social trends. Brentwood resident Roland Fernandez, a Census partnership assistant based out of the Contra Costa County Census headquarters in Concord, said the motto of this year’s Census is “it’s easy, it’s safe and it’s important.” According to Fernandez, each person in Contra Costa County who participates in the Census will bring $11,450 in funding for local pro-
Housing update go to news/WebExtras!
New statistics offer an inside look at the state of home sales in East County.
grams. “If 100 people return the form, that’s more than a million dollars in funding to be used in the county. So the more people who participate, the more money we’ll get to support our local programs.” Fernandez added that filling out the Census form is required by the Constitution. Thursday, April 1, is Census Day. In a perfect world, the Census Bureau will have received all of the Census forms by then, but chances are, as with the last Census in 2000, more than 40 million households will fail to respond. In 2000, Contra Costa County recorded a participant rate of 75 percent, while California’s was see Census page 8A
The past comes alive The East Contra Costa Historical Museum opens its doors to a new season, offering history you can handle. Page 7A
Diocesan dreadnaught
Immaculate Heart of Mary’s fourth-graders wove through the opposition and took home the Division A trophy. Page 4B
Plus: Calendar ............................ 19B Classifieds ......................... 13B Entertainment ................... 9B Food .................................... 10B Health & Beauty ................ 8B Opinion ..............................10A Sports ................................... 1B
FOR MOVIE TIMES SEE PAGE 5A
Water widening Consigned to cash go to news/press releases
Environmental reports for the Los Vaqueros expansion are in the books.
go to multimedia/videos
Folks get needed money for uneeded stuff at Yesterday’s Treasure.