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County to close youth Ranch The Orin Allen Youth Rehabilitation Center in Byron, also called the Byron Ranch, will close over the next 90 days following a vote by the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors.
By Chris Campos Staff Writer
MARTINEZ The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to close the Orin Allen Youth Rehabilitation Center in Byron over the next 90 days. Also known as the Byron Ranch, the facility at 4491 Bixler Road was opened in March 1960 as a treatment center for delinquent adolescents. The first unit of the 50-acre Ranch had a capacity of 21 wards. The newest dormitory was added in 1999 bringing the total capacity to 100 residents. Residents are limited to male youth who have been committed by the Juvenile Court; 12 are housed there now. Calls for its closure began years ago, riding a wave of reform efforts among juvenile justice activists as well as questions about the cost of upgrading and maintaining the deterioting facility. The proposed 2023 budget for
to designate a local facility for the detention of young people who, prior to this year, would have been sent to a state youth prison. Also, county District Attorney Diana Becton has announced her intention to close the county’s 290-bed John A. Davis Juvenile Hall, a minimum-security detention facility for juvenile offenders, which sits mostly empty. However, the final decision on the Hall’s fu-
“ I assure you, we have it pretty tame
OAKLEY The City Council on Tuesday, Oct. 25, approved the Golden Oaks Subdivision, which will allow eight single-family homes to be built on a 2-acre lot at 4960 Fuschia Way abutting the south end of the Police Department parking lot. The approval also clears the way for an extension of West Ruby Street to the intersection of Wildcat Way and Fuschia Way. The city staff report urging its approval reported, “One of the main attributes of the project is the connectivity it pro-
around here.
vides between West Ruby Street and Wildcat Way. Connectivity would not only allow for more efficient Police Department access to different areas of the City, but also other east/west emergency access. The connectivity would also benefit members of the public by providing more direct access to Oakley Elementary School and its park area for students, parents, and
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City Attorney Derek Cole park visitors, to the Civic Center and park, and to other local businesses along Main Street.” Police Chief Paul Beard had personally appeared to ask the council to approve the plans. A group of neighbors in the area had organized to oppose the subdivision. Led by Stan O’Leary, they wrote a letter to the council offering an alternative plan, one that had been
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see Council page 18A
see Vote page 18A
see Ranch page 18A
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Staff Writer
by Jake Menez
praised by Mayor Randy Pope. But the option failed to gain traction with the council. Council member George Fuller and others called for a detailed plan to slow down traffic, or a “calming” plan, which staff produced and amended to the plans. The subdivision was approved unanimously. In another major approval, the City Council voted 5-0 to award a $9.1 million contract to R&R Pacific Construction Inc. for the widening and improvement of the East Cypress Road corridor. City staff reported that
ture lies with the Board of Supervisors. But saddled with an expensive property to keep running, the chief of the county Probation Department, Esa Ehmen-Krause has noted that the ranch had a recidivism rate of 76.9 percent for 2021 and a declining population. Another critical consider-
Oakley Council OKs downtown subdivision By Chris Campos
What to know before voting REGIONAL Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8. Here is a rundown of local elections and polling places for Brentwood, Oakley and Antioch. Brentwood: Brentwood residents will vote this year for new council members for District 2 and District 4, with neither incumbent running for reelection. The District 2 candidates are Patanisha Davis Pierson, Mark Duke, Sinziana Todor and Brayden Haena. Candidates for District 4 are Holley BishopLopez, Tony Oerlemans and Jacob Singh. A video of the Brentwood candidate forum on Oct. 12 can be viewed at https://bit.ly/3DRC3Fh Voters will also have a chance to vote on Measure Q, which would redefine open space in the city’s General Plan and its approach to development of open spaces. The text of the measure reads, “Shall the voters adopt the Measure Amending the General Plan to Create a New Open Space Overlay, Apply the Overlay to Designated Areas, and Prohibit More Intensive Uses Without a Vote of the People, Subject to Certain Exceptions?” There are seven polling locations in Brentwood for residents to vote in person: • Adams Middle School, • Brentwood Community Center
Photo by Melissa van Ruiten
the Ranch is $6.5 million with deferred maintenance costs piling up to $5.5 million. The biggest impact on the juvenile justice system came with the 2020 passage of Senate Bill 823 that required the state’s youth prisons to shut down by June 30, 2023, and stopped allowing counties to send youth to the state Department of Juvenile Justice as of July 1, 2021. The state’s 58 counties had
November 4, 2022
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