Oh, deer. Rein-ed out The Annual Concord Tree Lighting and Mayor Sing-a-long has been rescheduled for Sun., Dec. 15. Check our website for details.
December 13, 2019
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Friends and community rally to keep local bookstore open
Just before Thanksgiving, Lynn Kuehl of Berkshire Books in Concord had a medical emergency that cost him a leg and landed him in the hospital for several weeks. Berkshire Books is a oneman operation and without Kuehl on the job, the little neighborhood bookstore on Clayton Road had to close. Things looked pretty dark for a while. But Kuehl has a strong network of friends, and word quickly spread. Concord City Councilman Edi Birsan, who meets at the store with several others on Saturday mornings as the Curmudgeon Club, passed the word to Pioneer publisher Tamara Steiner. She contacted Joel Harris, former owner of Clayton Books, which was itself a popular neighborhood bookstore in the Clayton Station until it closed in 2010. Harris moved fast to pull together the old crew, and last week, the former Tamara Steiner/The Pioneer staff and friends of Clayton A dedicated crew of volunteers is committed to keeping Berkshire Books open while owner Lynn Kuehl (seated, center)
See Berkshire, page 6
recovers from a leg amputation. The volunteers include former Clayton Books owner and local attorney, Joel Harris (standing) Cleo Bolen (left) and Bria Stevens, (right). Bolen is a former Clayton Books customer and Stevens is a student at Diablo Valley College.
Mayors pass the gavel in Concord and Clayton
Outgoing mayor Carlyn Obringer passes the gavel to newly elected Councilmember Tim McGallian in the the Council’s annual reorganization. From left, Councilmembers Laura Hoffmeister, Dominic Aliano, McGallian, Obringer and Edi Birsan.
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Concord and Clayton city councils each elected a new mayor and vice mayor at their Dec. 3 annual reorganization meetings. In Concord, councilmembers elected Tim McGallian to serve as mayor and Dominic Aliano as vice-mayor for one year beginning Dec. 3, 2019. McGallian was City Treasurer from 2015 to 2017. He is past president of the Todos Santos Business Association and founder of the Concord July 4 Festival. He was appointed to the Council in January 2017 and elected to a four-year term in 2018. McGallian repre-
sents District 5. Aliano was elected from District 3 in 2018. Both McGallian and Aliano previously served on the Planning Commission. In Clayton, the Council elected Julie Pierce to serve as mayor next year. This is the veteran councilwoman’s 27th year in the Council and the sixth time holding the gavel. In a departure from tradition, the Council elected first year councilman Jeff Wan as vice mayor. Typically, both the mayor and vice-mayor posi-
See Reorg, page 4
Looking back on a busy 2019 BEV BRITTON The Pioneer
From potholes and pot plants to chickens and crape myrtles, the Concord and Clayton City Councils had their share of debates during 2019. With Concord’s continued battles over rent control and affordable housing, and Clayton’s search for a new city manager coupled with other staff resignations, it kept residents wondering what was next. But there was time for celebrations, too – like the groundbreaking for the Shaivite Hindu temple in Concord and Clayton’s Making a Difference program to honor hard-working volunteers in the community. Here’s a look at some of the stories the Pioneer covered in 2019: JANUARY Pushing for public art: The Concord City Council tried to refocus on public art installations, after the controversial Spirit Poles ended the city’s program more than 20 years ago. The council voted unanimously to develop an ordinance that would require public art as a condition of approval for future projects – but without any fees, as has been discussed. “Public art deals with the soul of the city,” said Councilman Edi Birsan. However, due to staffing changes, the plan was later delayed until 2020. Meanwhile, the council agreed to pursue a utility box beautification project with the Concord Art Association (CAA). After holding a contest with the theme “Music and Market,” the winning artists painted or vinyl-wrapped the boxes over the summer. “We hope Concord
See Year Review, page 6
Causes of homelessness shattering the stereotypes DAVID SCHOLZ Correspondent
Homeless is hardly a new phenomena in the area. Throughout history people have found themselves resorting to life on the streets due to any number of unforeseen factors and personal choices. The Great Depression of the 1930s and late the Recession of the first decade of the 2000s were notable periods of economic upheaval whose ripple effects were felt among the citizenry of communities of all sizes. For many, the vulnerability that comes with being homeless is by-product of either a single issue or a combination of situations with one trigger-
ing yet another unpredicted hardship. Consider the loss of a job and income source, eviction, foreclosure, and/or bankruptcy, chronic unemployment, the sudden need to care for a loved one after medical emergencies or a prolonged illness, and mental illness or emotional trauma. Such issues have set in motion hard decisions for those who now find the streets or shelters their new homes. In between and more recently, there have been natural disasters that unleashed still more devastation on residents who were forced to begin the arduous task of trying to start over in a shelter, a car, or even a recreational vehicle if they were fortunate to have one.
So what in the past was possibly characterized locally as sporadic or an isolated incident, homelessness now is seeing its numbers increasing and the face of the problem also diversifying. Contra Costa County and its individual communities are now trying to address homelessness the best way they know how as it becomes ever more rooted on the landscape.
BEDS AND SERVICES Jaime Jenett, MPH, Community Engagement Specialist for Contra Costa County’s Health, Housing, and HomeDaniel Scholz less Services Division, John Oliphant, 39, of Antioch, who has been homeless on acknowledged there has always
See Homeless, page 5
and off for the past 7 years, sits for a spell along Arnold Industrial Way before making his way up the road with his friends to the Concord Adult Shelter.
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