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Bryant ready for new role
by Aly Brown Staff Writer
low- or moderate-income household with documented proof of COVID-19-related financial distress. Meanwhile, nonprofit ECHO Housing will apply its $600,000 toward tenant/landlord counseling and related legal services for COVID-19-affected tenant households. It’s expected that the funds will allow the organization to quickly subcontract with nonprofit legal services provider Centro Legal de la Raza and fund four to six attorneys and one to two paralegals for that organization.
BRENTWOOD City officials and project planners are calling upon the community to provide feedback on a hopeful job-generating project prior to bringing plans before the council in January. The feedback will help narrow down the four current design concepts to two with regard to developing the The Innovation Center @ Brentwood — an area already zoned for the development of offices and high-density housing. The area takes up about 400 acres along Highway 4, between Old Sand Creek Road and Lone Tree Way. Currently a collection of farms and retail development make up the site, and housing development is planned to border the edges of the project area. The project aims to attract employers and bring more jobs to the housing-rich, jobs-poor community of East County. During its second of three planned Town Hall presentations on Nov. 18, the project’s consultant team — ELS Architecture and Urban Design — provided a recap of the project’s objectives, current constraints, urban design strategies that have been effective in other popular cities, along with the four preliminary concepts for design. Those four concepts included: “the fine grid” — blocks that form a basic grid framework for intuitive wayfinding; “bookends” — which organizes the street connectivity based on
see Housing page 18A
see Center page 19A
Staff Writer
BRENTWOOD If there’s one thing that can safely be said for Brentwood’s Mayor-elect Joel Bryant, it’s that he is a person with a surprisingly varied background. He was once a kickboxer with an opportunity to go pro. He was a professional bodyguard and received training for the job in Israel. He was a professional model and appeared in campaigns for nationally known brands. He ran a successful photography business. He ran a successful painting business, twice. He built movie sets in Los Angeles and apprenticed with one of Disney’s top set decorators. He earned his living for a time as a professional musician. He’s trained in several disciplines of martial arts. He is a licensed pilot. To all that can be added his seminary schooling, a see Role page 19A
Photo by Tony Kukulich
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eighton Asprooch, 7, zips around the rink at Brentwood on Ice Tuesday, Nov. 24. The popular location at 739 Second St., across from City Park, is open every day now through New Year’s Eve. Masks and COVID-19 social distancing guidelines are enforced, and reservations are required. For more information, call 925-516-7664. To view more photos of the event, visit www. thepress.net/multimedia/slideshows
County allocates funds for housing aid by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
REGIONAL Contra Costa County leaders recently allocated about $4.2 million in federal funds toward housing assistance organizations as the impacts of the ongoing pandemic rage on. About $3.2 million have been directed to local nonprofit SHELTER, Inc. to provide emergency COVID-19-related rental assistance, with $600,000 in additional funds going to fellow nonprofit ECHO Housing to provide pandemic-associated tenant/landlord counseling and related legal services. The county will use the re-
maining money for general program administration. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently allocated the funds to the county to prevent, prepare and respond to the COVID-19 epidemic and its effects. The county’s unemployment rate — just 3.1% in February — shot up to 7.9% in October, according to the latest available data released by the California Employment Development Department. “We are trying to keep people in their homes,” District 3 Supervisor Diane Burgis said. SHELTER, Inc. is expected to use about $2.56 million of the
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“ We are trying to keep people in their homes.
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District 3 Supervisor Diane Burgis funds for direct rent or utility payment assistance for eligible households, with an estimated $640,000 dedicated to application evaluation and marketing and outreach efforts. Prospective tenants seeking direct rent assistance must meet a series of qualifications, including being part of a very low-,
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