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August 20, 2021
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New businesses opening in Concord but is it a real COVID-19 comeback? JAY BEDECARRÉ The Pioneer
TAMARA STEINER
PUBLISHER
Here we go again, backwards... In March 2020, it happened. COVID-19 grabbed our health, our culture and our economy. For more than a year we’ve lived life behind masks and screens—in seclusion hiding from an invisible little virus that declared war on the world, killing our mothers, fathers, friends, co-workers, lovers and now, our children. We have a common enemy, people. And it demands a common response. Unless we live in isolation on a desert island, we all benefit from living in a community. We may not always like our community, but we share its benefits. And we have a communal obligation to step up and do our part when our community is under attack— think Pearl Harbor, 9/11. We are under attack now. COVID-19 and its Delta variant fight dirty. Our planes, guns and bombs are useless against it. Our only defense is science and a willing defender. We have the science, but not enough willing defenders. We were making headway against the enemy. After more than a year of lockdown that brought our economy to its knees, Pfizer, Moderna and J&J brought us hope that we could win the war. Millions of defenders brought willing arms, sleeves rolled up to take the needle. Infections dropped, we went from purple to orange and things began to open up. But while we were waiting for the back up troops to arrive, ‘rona mutated and here we are again. Masked up and in retreat. Fighting an attack on your community is not just a “personal choice.” It’s the moral response to an invasion by a common enemy. Step up defenders. Roll up your sleeves, bare your arms and take the needle. We’re waiting for you.
CONCORD FREE VACCINATION SITES Concord Health Center Building 2: 3024 Willow Pass Rd, Mon – Fri, 8am to noon. Monument: 1034 Oak Grove Rd. Tues: 12 noon to 3:30 pm and 4:30 to 7 pm. Wed. to Sat: 8 am to noon. and 12:30 to 3 pm. To make an appointment or to find a vaccination site closer you, please visit www.coronavirus.cchealth.org /get-vaccinated
Next issue, September 17, Deadline, Sep. 6
Tamara Steiner/The Pioneer
A number of new eateries are replacing restaurants which vacated Salvio Pacheco Square in the past year. The culinary options in the area are expanding with an influx of new restaurants and breweries around Todos Santos Plaza downtown.
Councilmember Edi Birsan recently sent out his Pulse of Concord survey that touted a handful of new businesses moving into the Todos Santos Plaza area and Park & Shop Center. The question is, are things really happening in Concord with the lessening of COVID-19 restrictions for business and the public, or are these simply one business filling the space where another went away in the past year? Concord Economic Development Manager Marie Suvansin says, “Things are actually happening in the background.” She enumerated reports from Sunvalley Shopping Center, Willows Shopping Center, The Veranda and
See Comeback, page 5
Long-time water district board member an advocate for equality and the environment KAREN JENKINS Correspondent
Few people visit a public garden bearing their own name, but that was what Bette Boatmun experienced as she strolled through the droughtresistant, waterwise and blooming plants in the Bette Boatmun Conservation Garden last month. The Concord resident left more than her name when she retired from the Contra Costa Water District board of directors in December. Her legacy includes the historic Los Vaqueros Reservoir, guiding a community through two severe
droughts, and nearly a half century of local and statewide governance. Formed in a special election in 1936, the district manages quality drinking water, conservation and use rates for more than a half-million central and eastern Contra Costa County residents. LONGEST SERVING BOARD MEMBER
A native New Yorker, Boatmun settled in Concord with her young family six decades ago. During a July interview, the longest serving of the 34 directors in the district’s history reflected on her journey that
started in 1974 and spanned 46 years. She revealed her strong convictions, her steady commitment and a vivacious personality that belies her 83 years. “They were looking for a woman and asked if I would help to find one,” recalled Boatmun, seated in the conference room at the Concord Avenue water district complex. “I contacted people through AAUW (American Association of University Women) and members that I knew in the Karen Jenkins League of Women Voters, Bette Boatmun walks through the Bette Boatmun Conservawomen I knew who lived in the
See Boatmun, page 7
tion Garden in Concord in July. Her colleagues named the garden after her in 2014 to mark her 40th year on the Contra Costa Water District board.
Dedicated to ‘doing the little bit more,’ Achakzai honored as Kiwanis’ top cop DAVID SCHOLZ Correspondent
Officer Nooria Achakzai embodies a new social awareness that those wearing the badge need to have to effectively serve all members of the community. After six years with the Concord Police Department, Achakzai is the Kiwanis Club of Concord’s Police Officer of the Year for 2020. She expressed shock and surprise at being selected. “This is the last thought I ever had,” she said. “I am very honored.” The 30-year-old Concord native attended Ygnacio Valley High and competed on the varsity basketball and softball teams until her junior year in 2008 before moving to Arizona. She got her first taste for a career in law enforcement by attending the Citizen’s Police Academy with the Tempe Police Department. Her family moved back to California at the end of 2009, and she started at Cal State East Bay. Achakzai obtained a bachelor’s in criminal justice
at the patrol level (and) focusing on investigations that a normal patrol officer would not do,” she added. So too is professionalism, a characteristic tested as officers found themselves on the frontlines of the pandemic along with protests and riots being front and center. While the past year shifted society’s perspectives on policing, Achakzai made it clear “maintaining professionalism has always been my No. 1 goal.” CRACKING DOWN ON FIREARMS
Contributed photo
Concord police officer Nooria Achakzai receives recognition from mayor Tim McGallian. Achakzai was named the 2020 Officer of the Year by the Concord Kiwanis Club at a luncheon in her honor July 30.
administration with a minor in Police Department. “Really focusing on doing psychology. the little bit more than the A DEDICATED PROFESSIONAL average patrol office does,” Dedication and hard work Achakzai said about what she define two of her goals as a brings to job. representative of the Concord “Going above and beyond
As the pandemic persisted, Achakzai’s superiors lauded her tenacious spirit to continue identifying crime trends and performing enforcement efforts at a high level. Sgt. Jason Passama nominated her for the Kiwanis’ award, now in its 14th year. Achakzai’s particular focus on the major public safety concern – criminal activity involving felons who illegally possess firearms – specifically garnered the attention of department leadership.
See Kiwanis, page 7
City to select CNWS master developer TAMARA STEINER The Pioneer
This Saturday, Aug. 21, the Concord City Council sitting as the Local Reuse Authority will once again hear from developers competing to be the master developer of the Concord Naval Weapons Station Reuse Plan. Lennar Corp. was the city’s first choice for the $5 billion, 2,300-acre redevelopment project. But the company failed to negotiate a project labor agreement with the Contra Costa Building Trades Council before their contract expired in March 2020, and the city declined to extend it. The PLA is non-negotiable where the city is concerned and is part of the Concord First section of the Reuse Plan. The LRA will choose between three very diverse development teams.
See CNWS, page 5
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