Pioneer Holiday Section,
November 12, 2021
page 9
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No longer silenced, Indigenous Peoples reclaiming their stories PAMELA MICHAEL Correspondent
Much of the history of Contra Costa County’s first people – and their Indigenous perspective on the land – has been lost, suppressed or ignored over time. However, Native Americans all over the state, and in the Bay Area in particular, are actively reclaiming and reinvigorating their cultural heritage, languages, cuisines and traditions. It’s all part of a re-indigenization movement that is being welcomed by a mainstream society more receptive to native ways of seeing the world than ever before. There is much to learn.
MD district loses appeal in suit over CVCHS facility fees JAY BEDECARRÉ The Pioneer
Seeno/Discovery Homes to stop development of East Bay Regional Park District’s Thurgood Marshall Park on the ridgeline was settled last month. When the company lost out to Lennar in the master developer selection process in 2016, the company sued the Navy to stop the transfer of the land to the city. Prior to the Oct. 26 meeting, Concord Communities Alliance delivered a petition objecting to the ENA to city hall with 1800 signatures, 1000 which they say are Concord voters. Despite their record, Councilmember Edi Birsan defends the family-run Seeno companies and insists that “no developer is without original sin.” The council was feeling pressure to move forward with the project after the ENA with
In August, Clayton Valley Charter began its 10th school year as a public charter high school after leaving Mt. Diablo Unified School District. Almost since the time the County Board of Education formally approved the charter conversion application in March 2012 there have been issues between the school and district. The longest running matter concerns the amount MDUSD is to receive as annual reimbursement from CVCHS for the use of the District-owned campus on Alberta Way in Concord. The latest development in this saga was a California First District Court of Appeal ruling last month in favor of Clayton Valley Charter that remands the lawsuit back to Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Steven Austin, who had ruled in 2019 that the District was due about $1.5 million for the 2013-2017 time period, substantially more than either the charter school or MDUSD had calculated for the use of school facilities. In October 2019 as it was seeking a five-year charter renewal from the County, CVCHS paid the district $925,256 for facility use in the 2013-17 school years. Both sides recognize their dispute on the calculation of fees can have farreaching effects around the state where many public charter schools use facilities from local school districts. The charter school reported in its weekly newsletter to parents and stakeholders last month: “The California First District Court of Appeal issued a unanimous published decision in Clayton Valley Charter High School v. Mt. Diablo Unified School District that was a decisive victory for CVCHS and charter schools on the issue of how to properly calculate the pro-rata share. The case involved the interpretation of the regula-
See Developer page 5
See MDUSD, page 8
MOUNT DIABLO AS HALLOWED GROUND
Every autumn for thousands of years, families from widely scattered villages gathered on Mount Diablo, called Tuyshtak by the local tribes, to harvest acorns, visit with friends, exchange news and Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons supplies, perhaps find a mar- Louis Choris created this image of Ohlones in a tule boat in San Francisco Bay in 1822. The Ohlones were one of three main linguistic/cultural groups that lived in what is now Contra Costa County. Choris was a See Reclaim page 5 Russian artist who explored the West Coast in the early 1800s.
Council inks CNWS master developer deal TAMARA STEINER The Pioneer
Tamara Steiner
Concord resident Mel Bearns and Concord Communities Alliance leader Laura Nakamura lead members and supporters to city hall to present their petition opposing the CNWS master developer agreement with Seeno/Discovery prior to Oct. 26 decision.
In a show of solidarity— despite strong community opposition—all five members of the Concord City Council locked in an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement with the controversial Concord-based Seeno Companies to develop the 2300acre Concord Naval Weapons Station mixed use community at its Oct. 26 meeting. Councilmembers Laura Hoffmeister and Carlyn Obringer joined in the vote despite their initial preference for Brookfield Property/Sunset developers of the Bishop Ranch Business Park in San Ramon. Obringer stressed the importance of including 25% affordable housing in the final plan and wants assurance that ridgeline views will be protected. Councilmembers Tim
McGallian, Edi Birsan and Dominic Aliano supported the Concord First selection from the beginning, preferring to deal with “Main Street rather than Wall Street,” referring to the publicly traded Brookfield Properties. Concord First is a joint venture between the family-owned Seeno Companies/Discovery Homes, Lewis Planned Communities and California Capital and Investment Company. With a long history of environmental violations, suing and being sued, and alleged criminal activities, the Seeno family, headed by Albert D. Seeno III, is a flashpoint in local development. Save Mount Diablo has been a consistently vocal critic of Seeno/Discovery Homes. The organization’s website chronicles decades of litigation over environmental abuses. A lawsuit brought by
Salt water returns to Pacheco Marsh, birds will follow TAMARA STEINER The Pioneer
Normally, a hole in a levee and the sound of rushing water is not an occasion for speeches and cheering. But on the morning of Oct. 29, as some 250 spectators
Next issue, December 10, Deadline, 11/29
watched, two backhoes deliberately and ceremoniously cut through a levee holding back the Suisun Bay from Pacheco Marsh waiting on the other side. Emotions ran high as salt water rushed through the breach to claim its rightful home on the Martinez shoreline. Just days before the planned breach, epic storms dropped more than 7 inches of rain flooding the entire marsh. Crews worked for days to pump out more than a million gallons to assure the waters flowed into the marsh as planned. The dramatic breach was the result of a 20-year, $24.5 million partnership between the John Muir Land Trust and the Contra Costa County Flood Control District to restore 212 acres of Lower Walnut Creek. This is the
largest public works project in the county’s history. Vegetation will grow and wildlife will repopulate rapidly with the addition of 31,000 new native plants. Migratory birds will return. The marsh will become an international birdwatchers’ destination,” Linus Eukel, JMLT executive director said in his remarks. The Mt. Diablo Audubon Society has already counted more than 80 species of birds in the area. Until the mid-19th Century, merchant ships sailed up the Walnut Creek and its tributaries. Salmon spawned. Grizzly bear and elk roamed the area. While it’s possible the salmon may be back, the bears and elk will not. As the area industrialized, the
See Marsh, page 5
Tamara Steiner
Backhoes dig away the levee holding back Suisun Bay from Pacheco Marsh.
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