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IT’S YOUR PAPER www.claytonpioneer.com
November 5, 2004
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Pierce, Manning and Walcutt defend council seats JILL BEDECARRÉ AND TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
Against the backdrop of a close and controversial national race for the presidency, Clayton voters chose to stay the course and re-elect three incumbents to the city council. Julie Pierce was the top votegetter with 3,892 votes, Manning followed with 3,327 and Walcutt with 2,906. Challenger Jim Diaz received support from 2,478 voters. Pierce hosted an election party at her home following the Tuesday evening’s council meeting. Manning, Walcutt and Diaz attended the gathering as well as friends, family and city officials. Absentee ballot results started coming in 30 minutes after the polls closed and the incumbents gathered around the computer to check out the results. At that time Pierce led with 30.7 percent of the votes. With the three incumbents
well on their way to successfully defending their council seats, the mood at the party was celebratory and upbeat. “It’s great to have all of our friends around,” said Pierce, referring to the party atmosphere. “It was really a very civil campaign.” While Diaz campaigned to bring more creativity and new ideas to the issue of downtown development, the incumbents agreed that plans for more retail in the downtown area are moving ahead. Pierce said she will first direct her attention to the city’s finances and then to the commercial development of the downtown area. Since the newly-elected council members share a similar vision for the city’s future, residents will likely see such issues as traffic enforcement, increasing the sales tax base, preserving Clayton’s small town ambiance and landscape maintenance on upcoming council agendas.
CITY COUNCIL
INCUMBENTS,
Visible valuables make easy targets of opportunity JILL BEDECARRÉ Clayton Pioneer
The holidays are just around the corner. Do you know where your valuables are? Police Chief Pete Petersen is on a mission to make sure that your valuables don’t wind up as stolen goods. “Property crimes are up 35 per cent and numbers usually spike this time of year,” Petersen explains. Most of the thefts have been vehicle burglaries and the victims themselves, are their own worst enemy. In 16 of the vehicle burglaries, Petersen explains, owners left their cars unlocked
or they locked their car but left valuables like a purse, computer or wallet in plain view. He reports that vehicle burglaries are occurring on residen-
“Residents come home, park their car, leave the door unlocked and leave their valuables in plain view. Thieves cruise the streets and look for these targets of opportunity.” Pete Peterson
Chief of Police Clayton Police Dept.
Tamara Steiner/Clayton Pioneer
Manning, Walcutt and Pierce, watch as early results point toward victory.
tial streets throughout the city. Residents come home, park their car, leave the door unlocked and leave their valuables in sight. Thieves cruise the streets and look for these “targets of opportunity.” If the criminals see valuables on the car seat, they will break a window and steal the merchandise. “It is rare when we get a report of a vehicle burglary where the owner had locked his or her car, rolled the windows up and removed the items of value from view,” Petersen said. While Clayton has one of the lowest crime rates in California, the increase in property crimes is of some concern. “Some of
our residents have a false sense of security. They take a risk when they leave their car doors unlocked and keep valuables on the dash or car seat,” he says. Petersen lists three ways residents can avoid being victims this holiday season. Lock your cars. Don’t keep valuables in plain view. Park your car in a garage and close the garage door or park your vehicle on a well-lit street. “If you plan to CHIEF PETERSON be out of town for the holidays, call the police and request a vacation house check.” Petersen also urges residents to be active and call if they notice any unusual activity or strange people in their neighborhood.
Quarry fire destroys building, vehicles JILL BEDECARRÉ Clayton Pioneer
“It was the biggest fire nobody knew about,” said Captain Dave George of Contra Costa County Fire
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District Station 11 on Center Street in Clayton. George was describing a recent fire that ignited at RMC Pacific Materials Quarry off Mitchell Canyon Road on Oct. 14 at about 1:30 a.m.
Seven fire units from the county fire district responded to the blaze that destroyed a 5,000 square foot hillside building and three vehicles parked inside. There was no water source near the structure so firefighters
courtesy of the RMC Quarry
UNITS RESPONDED
to quarry fire which threatened the dry, grassy hills.
had to bring water up to the blaze. “We used 13,000 gallons of water and every drop was shuttled up to the storage facility at the quarry,” said George. He described the fire as a very dangerous one with intermittent explosions from inside the building. The structure housed three one-ton quarry trucks, supplies and maintenance equipment. The exceptionally hot fire threatened the areas of dry grass nearby, as well as some oxygen tanks. An adjacent trailer was also in danger. There were no injuries and the cause of the fire is yet to be determined. The fire was initially reported by a resident of Mount Etna Drive and took approximately four hours to contain. This was the first fire in the quarry’s 58-year history. According to plant clerk Shelley Doppe, plans are in the works to re-build the facility.
Concord man arrested in bike shop robbery TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
Quick thinking by a store employee and the lucky coincidence of a cop passing by foiled a Concord man’s midday attempt to steal a new bike last week. On October 26 at around 2:30 p.m., the 33-year-old man parked his car at the Shell Station on Clayton Road and entered the Clayton Bike Shop next door. He picked out a bike he liked and asked to ride it around the block. When store employee, John Kramer, asked for the man’s driver’s license for security, he said he didn’t have it with him and gave Kramer $150 in cash instead. According to Clayton PD Sergeant Rich Enea, after his test ride, the suspect parked the bike at the front door of the bike shop and asked to see another one. While Kramer was getting the bike down from the display, the suspect grabbed his
$150 and the bike at the front door and ran for his car. Kramer gave chase, catching up to the man in the parking lot. The suspect landed a punch on Kramer and jumped in his car. Kramer got up, ran for the suspect’s car and reached inside grabbing the keys as the suspect hit him again. Just as the action was unfolding, Clayton officer, Jason Russo happened to be driving by the Shell Station on his way back from a morning in court. He called for assistance and turned his car around, arriving at the Shell Station just in time to chase the suspect around the corner, catching him in front of Linguini’s. The man was arrested and charged with strong-arm robbery. He had an outstanding warrant for grand theft and a search of his car turned up two bags of methamphetamine, which added drug charges to the robbery and probation violation charges.
No Prop. 40 park grant for Clayton TAMARA STEINER Clayton Pioneer
Dreams for a downtown park faded a bit last week when Clayton failed to qualify for a Proposition 40 statewide grant for $685,000 to fund the project. The California Department of Parks and Recreation received 211 applications for
projects totaling $419 million. The $130 million available in the competitive grant program went to blighted low income urban areas with high youth crime. “When you look at the reasons we were denied, I guess we wouldn’t want to trade them for $685,000,” said City Manager Gary Napper.
See Park, page 5