Bay Point Residents Face Immigration Fear as Legal Aid Lags Behind
BY SAMANATHA KENNEDY
Bay Point has a resilient immigrant community, but the resources they rely on often fall short.
Small but telling signs show it. Outdated flyers warning of immigration “surges.” Hotlines for the wrong county. Resources in English and French in a neighborhood where most speak Spanish.
The unincorporated East County community has a more than 38.5% immigrant population; about 22.75% in total are not citizens, according to census data.
Another sign of resources falling short for immigrants is an inability to get legal help when it matters most.
A little over 9% of East County immigrants get legal representation within the first three months of an immigration case, according to the Transactional Records Clearinghouse. That’s the lowest rate in the county and among the lowest in the Bay Area.
East Contra Costa had at least 3,386 pending immigration cases as of August, according to TRAC. The representation rate for all pending cases is a little over 50%.
There are a few reasons for low representation at earlier stages, according to TRAC.
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“First, it may take longer than 90 days to find an attorney. However, there is a second and even more important reason,” the organization writes. “Cases involving unrepresented individuals get decided much more quickly and drop out of the backlog.”
Eleonore Zwinger of the Immigration Institute of the Bay Area said she believes its Brentwood office is the only physical location of an immigration legal provider in East County.
“We are there, and we are consistently serving a great number of people in East Contra Costa County,” Zwinger said. “We have been busy.”
An attorney provides removal defense consultations once a month. Those with the Brentwood office also participate in the Attorney of the Day program at the Concord Immigration Court, which provides free representation to those facing removal.
District 3 Supervisor Diane Burgis said that the county has provided consistent funding for Stand Together Contra Costa, which provides rapid-response legal deportation defense services and a hotline to report suspected ICE activity. and that funding has increased every year since fiscal year 2020-21. At $3.94 million, it is the highest it has ever been
The Contra Costa Pulse is a community media project focusing on local and health news coverage in West and East Contra Costa County. The project is supported by STRONG Collaborative Fund.
for the program.
“We are supporting our community to the best of our ability by being as responsive as possible to their needs, despite our limited resources,” Burgis said in a statement.
Rising Juntos organizer Cecilia PérezMejía said she sees “a lot of access to legal resources and support,” pointing to Stand Together’s hotline.
“They’re there, and they’re open; they’re serving a lot of community,” said Pérez-Mejía.
Rising Juntos partners with Stand Together to offer rapid response verification to reports of ICE activity, which includes dispelling rumors of sightings. Misinformation, she said, is happening regarding ICE reports because of residents being in “panic mode.”
Even resources meant to support immigrants sometimes spread information that is unhelpful, like the flyer listing a rapid-response hotline for San Mateo County, more than 70 miles away.
ICE records and family accounts indicate the agency made at least 10 arrests in Bay Point and Pittsburg October.
Two of those individuals were deported, at least one self-deported, and another was still in detention over a
month after being arrested, according to ICE records.
Vallejo resident Víctor Alejandro Aguiniga Gómez was arrested in Bay Point and detained in a targeted enforcement, ICE told The Pulse. The agency also confirmed the arrest of family members in Pittsburg in what a friend called “a sudden raid.”
If a Pittsburg Unified student or staff member were arrested by ICE, Pittsburg Education Association President Celia Medina-Owens said the union has established systems that it would connect with to get them legal representation.
Most Bay Point students attend Mt. Diablo Unified School District, but some go to PUSD.
Both districts have hosted immigration resource fairs for families.
There have been no immigration enforcement actions on PUSD campuses, but the district has plans and protocols in place should those actions happen.
Medina-Owens, Pérez-Mejía, and Angela Jackson, a resident of the Shore Acres neighborhood in Bay Point, have seen how reports of ICE activity have changed the communities.
“It’s not much of a community now that the fear has been put into everybody,” Jackson said. “There’s a lot less activity, people aren’t going outside as much or
View of Bay Point going down Willow Pass Road. To the left is First AME Community Church Bay Point. (Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)
Pittsburg Council Approves Members’ First Raise in 30 Years, Appoints New City Manager
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Editor Danielle Parenteau-Decker
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Lenéa Sims
Samantha Kennedy
Arianna Caramagno
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Vernon Whitmore
Sandy Close
Michael J. Fitzgerald
The Contra Costa Pulse is a community media project founded by New America Media, focusing on local and health news coverage in West and East Contra Costa County.
The project is supported by The California Endowment and the STRONG Collaborative Fund.
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BY SAMANATHA KENNEDY
Pittsburg council members are getting their first raise after about 30 years of going without, jumping by over 200% to move them from some of the lowest-paid city officials to some of the highest in the county.
Council members approved the raise, from $500 monthly to $1,600 monthly, to account for inflation and is thanks to a state law allowing local jurisdictions to increase compensation based on population size. The law, Senate Bill 329, looks to increase diversity on councils.
The new figure would amount to a $19,200 annual payout per council member, totaling a $96,000 fiscal impact per year. That increase does not take into account the benefits council members receive.
“We all know that nobody runs for council for the salary,” said Mayor Jelani Killings. “What I do think [the increase] takes into note is the requirement, the demand that is placed on council members in serving this community.”
Killings said that council members, who he said also worked full-time, have to take time off from work to do responsibilities associated with the office.
City officials last received a raise in 1995 that had been based on the thenpopulation of between 50,000 and 75,000. The population has since grown to more than 76,300, according to the California Department of Finance.
SB 329 allows a city of Pittsburg’s size to compensate council members up to $1,900, but the Finance Management Subcommittee recommended $1,600 because it was on the lower end of the population in that pay scale.
The increase makes council members some of the highest-paid in Central and East Contra Costa among general law cities, according to a staff analysis from
interim City Manager Maria Aliotti. Only Antioch pays council members higher currently in East County.
Cities with comparable populations, Brentwood and Walnut Creek, pay members $1,150.59 and $650, respectively. Those cities, which have about 10,000 fewer residents than Pittsburg, would only be able to increase compensation to $1,600, Aliotti noted.
Not included in the analysis is San Ramon, also a general law city within Contra Costa, with about 20,000 more residents than Pittsburg. San Ramon council members make $1,085.94 per month as of July 8, according to that city’s salary schedule.
Unlike those in the cities of Antioch and Richmond, which approved an 80% pay raise this year, Pittsburg officials did not receive any public opposition to the increase.
If approved a second time, typically a formality, the increase would go into effect after the November 2026 election in December.
Pittsburg Names New City Manager
Two months after losing long-time city employee and six-year City Manager Garrett Evans to retirement, Pittsburg officials have found a new leader with an extensive background in economic development.
Council members unanimously appointed Darin Gale, the assistant city manager of Brentwood since 2022, to the position. Gale will take over for Aliotti, who has been in the position since Evans’ retirement.
“I love local government because you’re able to connect with the local community. What the employees of the city of Pittsburg do on a daily basis touches the lives of our residents,” Gale told the council following the appointment. Gale will start Dec. 15 and make $312,256 per year as part of the agreement.
Before his time with Brentwood, which also included acting as interim city manager, Gale spent the bulk of his career with Yuba City in various positions that largely focused on development and economic development. Under Gale’s leadership, Yuba City was named one of the country’s best-performing small cities by the Milken Institute for job growth and tourism.
Council member Juan Antonio Banales said he was excited for Gale’s experience with economic development
Gale has a master’s degree in business administration from Drexler University and a bachelor’s degree in economics from Sacramento State University. He is a graduate of the Harvard Senior Executives in State and Local Government program.
The appointment is aligned with the city’s focus on economic development, including becoming a destination for sports tourism in the region. Officials have also offered incentives to bring businesses to the city and the approval of a 115-room hotel to boost economic development.
What helped officials decide on Gale for the appointment, Killings said, was the feedback received from those who had interacted with him. Killings noted that Gale cooked breakfast for departments and employees.
“It was something that really rose to the top in terms of the type of character and person that you are,” said Killings.
Killings also thanked Aliotti for her work as the acting city manager, saying that the city had not “missed a beat” between Evans’ departure and now.
“We know that there’s work ahead of us … but we are confident in [Gale’s] abilities and coming in and being integrated into team Pittsburg and that this next chapter will be a great one,” said Killings. •
Richmond Council Approves $350,000 for Encrypted Police Radios
BY SAMANTHA KENNEDY
Richmond City Council on Nov.
18 OK’d buying $350,000 worth of encrypted police radios, a move police say will protect officers and privacy but critics say results in a loss of transparency.
The move allows the purchase of 35 encrypted radios in alignment with other agencies that are part of the East Bay Regional Communications System Authority, which has transferred to encrypted communications.
The Richmond Police Department began operations on encrypted channels on Oct. 7, according to Assistant Chief Tim Simmons. Every Contra Costa law enforcement agency moved to encrypted communication on that day; those in Alameda County later followed suit.
Simmons said the change protects officer safety and personal information.
“[The encryption] prevents public monitoring of tactical radio traffic,” said Simmons. “People who are listening to
where the officers are coming in at, and then there’s counteractivity happening because they’re listening in to where and how officers are coming in.”
In 2020, the California Department of Justice mandated the protection of personally identifiable information but did not require that communication channels be encrypted. On the federal level, the FBI does require encryption, which Simmons said is another standard RPD is held to.
Simmons said that encryption is not the only option to comply with the state’s requirements. Other options include officers using cell phones or mobile data computers to share sensitive information.
“Our position is that encryption is the best way, the most efficient way and the safest way,” said Simmons.
Other agencies have opted to protect personal information in other ways, like the Palo Alto Police Department after it reversed its decision to encrypt communications.
Other agencies have opted to protect personal information in other ways,
like the Palo Alto Police Department after it reversed its decision to encrypt communications.
Critics say RPD and other agencies making the move to encryption marks some loss of transparency with law enforcement.
“It makes it much harder for residents to monitor emergencies and understand how our city is responding,” said Andrew Melendez. “I encourage the council to hopefully continue to explore pathways in the future to provide as much transparent information to the public as possible in regards to radio access.”
Simmons said that information would still be provided through other channels, such as social media, the public information officer and crime report data online.
Officials have approved more than 300 encrypted radios in previous years for RPD and Code Enforcement. According to Simmons, encrypted radios for the Community Crisis Response Program, or ROCK, were approved for purchase just this year. •
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‘Keep Fighting’: North Richmond Pushes on After EPA Cancels $19 Million Climate Grant
BY LENÉA SIMS
Editor’s note: This story was originally produced and also published by Richmond Confidential at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. This version has been lightly edited.
Amid the rows of sunflowers, tomatoes and kale on a North Richmond farm, sits an abandoned concrete slab. It is the foundation of what was meant to be the area’s first community resilience center — a sanctuary for air-quality disasters and extreme heat that’s now stalled after the Trump administration revoked its funding.
The Environmental Protection Agency awarded Contra Costa County and local nonprofit partners $19 million last December under the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act. But in March, under the new administration, the agency abruptly cancelled the grant, halting construction before the first wall could be raised.
“If we had an emergency today, there wouldn’t be any place that was prepared for people,” said Doria Robinson, a Richmond City Council member and executive director of Urban Tilth, which owns the North Richmond Farm where the center was being built.
The full plan, dubbed the North Richmond Resilience Initiative, comprised eight projects including the expansion of Wildcat Creek Trail, pollution-reducing tree planting at an elementary school, and an e-bike lending library.
After learning about the grant cancellation from a third party in March, Urban Tilth and Contra Costa County finally received a letter from EPA leadership in August, stating that it was a “priority of EPA to eliminate discrimination”and claiming the North Richmond initiative promoted “DEI or environmental justice initiatives.”
“This program was never discriminatory and was never about politics,” Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia said in a statement after receiving the letter. The EPA, Gioia said, was “targeting” North Richmond because it is a predominantly Latino and Black community.
Not only is North Richmond home to a majority of Latino, Black and Asian residents, but it has also been designated as a “disadvantaged” community by the California EPA, a term used to describe neighborhoods that face both disproportionate exposure to pollution and overlapping socioeconomic vulnerabilities such as low income, high unemployment and housing instability.
California EPA data places North Richmond among the most heavily polluted areas in the state, with a high concentration of hazardous waste facilities, cleanup sites and solid waste operations.
DANGEROUS AIR
For many Richmond-area residents, those statistics are underscored by memories of air-quality disasters.
Cheryl Lopez remembers rehearsing for her quinceañera in 2012 when a fire broke out at the Chevron refinery, triggering a giant plume of black smoke and shelter-in-place order.
Lopez lives next to the Chevron refinery and said her family struggles with asthma and cancer. She laments not knowing where to go the next time disaster strikes.
“My place, where I should feel safe, is right next to the place that’s harming me,” Lopez said.
Dr. Stephanie Holm, who researches the health effects of pollution and sits on the advisory council for the Bay Area Air District, said air pollutants can cause wide-ranging harm throughout the body.
Small particulates and gases released during refinery flares “can get all the way down into the deep parts of the lung and some of them can even cross into the bloodstream,” Holm said, and can be linked to various cancers. Children, older adults and people with preexisting conditions like asthma are especially vulnerable.
Holm explained that people’s risk increases as the amount of harmful particles soars and length of exposure time builds.
That’s why the Air District released a plan for North Richmond in 2024, stating resilience centers were “crucial” for protecting health.
“Having a space that people can go to to decrease their exposure is so important,” Holm said.
Advocates said it’s not a matter of if but when the next disaster hits. In 1989, an explosion at the Chevron refinery injured eight people and sent smoke drifting across the East Bay. In 1999, another blast released over 200 chemicals into the air, contaminating water sources and soil.
The 2012 fire sent 15,000 residents — many suffering from respiratory distress — to local hospitals. Richmond later sued Chevron, settling in 2018 for $5 million in damages.
Even as Richmond works to address past refinery disasters, routine emissions events continue to expose residents to dangerous air. Between 2019 and 2022, Richmond’s Chevron refinery was responsible for more than half of all flaring incidents that exceeded emissions limits across the Bay Area, according to a 2023 Air District report. In 2019 alone, Chevron reported 38 flaring events — intentional burns of excess gases that release harmful pollutants into nearby neighborhoods.
‘KEEP FIGHTING’
The EPA has cancelled $29 billion worth of environmental justice grants that were funded by the President Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act in about 800 communities across the country, stalling jobs and slowing construction.
Contra Costa County has joined a class action lawsuit alongside other recipients across the country whose environmental justice grants were revoked, seeking to hold the EPA accountable for what they call an unlawful decision. The EPA has yet to respond to their claims in court.
Several other grant recipients, including a coalition of nonprofits, local governments and tribes across the country have sought another lawsuit in response to the EPA’s actions, arguing that the EPA’s decision to terminate the grants violates binding agreements to distribute congressionally mandated funds. Seeking to restore funding to 350 revoked Environmental and Climate
Justice grants, this coalition’s class action lawsuit was dismissed by a federal judge and they are currently seeking an appeal.
“Environmental justice grants were created to address the real harm to public health in communities of color and low wealth communities,” said Kym Meyer, litigation director at the Southern Environmental Law Center, one of the organizations challenging the revocation.
“The communities were promised transformative funding to address generations of injustice and now that’s being taken away.”
In the meantime, Urban Tilth is hoping to find alternative funding. To meet a permit deadline, the organization broke ground after the EPA awarded funds but before the cash hit its bank account. Then the cash never came, leaving the nonprofit on the hook.
“We had a little bit under $3 million that we had to raise to complete this project,” said Michelle Besada-Barquis, who works in fund development at Urban Tilth. “Now, we are at a $9 million deficit.”
The nonprofit is applying for state grants and looking towards philanthropy to fill in the gap, but Besada-Barquis said the path forward remains unclear.
“Because the EPA grant was cancelled across the board, there’s a lot more competition for funding,” BesadaBarquis said. “We’re really having to scramble.”
On a warm Saturday afternoon in October, Urban Tilth celebrated its 20th anniversary with a gathering at the North Richmond Farm. Guests congregated on the farm’s brick courtyard between the newly constructed watershed classroom and greenhouse.
Community members added shells, seeds, beans, feathers and chilis to an altar overflowing with marigolds. Guests wrote notes about their hopes for Urban Tilth’s future.
Community members added shells, seeds, beans, feathers, and chilis to an altar ringed with marigolds at Urban Tilth’s anniversary event.
”Keep connecting communities to the land,” wrote one guest.
“Uplift each other during hard times,” said another.
Robinson stood behind the fundraising table looking out over the organization whose growth she’s overseen for two decades. Despite the recent setback, she’s keeping her vision: Build a hub for local food production, youth education and climate resilience.
Her message to others finding themselves facing off with the federal government is not to capitulate.
“Don’t believe that by bending the knee, you’re actually going to get anything but servitude,” Robinson said. “Keep fighting.”
This story is part of “The Stakes,” a UC Berkeley Journalism project on executive orders and actions affecting Californians and their communities. •
Antioch Police Won’t Be Expanding A.I. Use, For Now
BY SAMANTHA KENNEDY
Antioch Police won’t be diving further into the world of artificial intelligence for now, but it is something the department has considered.
Lt. Bill Whitaker told the Police Oversight Commission on Oct. 3 that A.I. is only something the department is “looking into.”
“It would ultimately be the chief’s decision, and I would guess he’s shaking his head no behind me because it’s not something we care [to use],” said Whitaker.
Law enforcement agencies have increasingly incorporated A.I. into operations in recent years to speed up operations, which proponents say is meant to free up time for officers to work on other tasks.
Some technology APD already uses or has included in its contracts use different types of A.I.
Automated License Plate Readers, better known as ALPRs; ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection technology; and a redaction assistant through its contract with Axon Enterprises are A.I. technologies that APD currently uses. Through Axon’s redaction assistant, APD can identify and blur faces and other visual or audio items that cannot be released due to privacy.
Something not included in that Axon contract, which was extended in August, is the company’s Draft One technology that uses generative A.I. to write police reports for officers.
Whitaker told commissioners that the department does have a draft of a policy that would allow officers to use A.I. in the assistance of writing police reports.
“But we’re not there yet,” said Whitaker.
Agencies in San Francisco, Campbell and East Palo Alto have made use of the Draft One technology, with varying responses from community members and mass surveillance critics. When it was discovered the San Francisco Police Department was testing out the technology, critics said the decision had the potential to lead to “abuses of power.”
In October, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that will require law enforcement agencies to disclose if A.I. was used to write a report. It will go into effect Jan. 1.
Vice Chair Devin Williams said his concerns with A.I. come from prejudice seen in Palantir Technologies’ systems, noting that it was “not 100% free of racial bias.”
Commissioner Lisa Elekwachi said she hoped APD could meet with residents and the city before moving forward with any A.I. tools.
“So we have policies in place and we know exactly how we’re going to move with this stuff because it is coming fast,” said Elekwachi. “We want to get ahead of the game.” •
With Their ‘Clippers Ready,’ Women Barbers Compete to Be a Cut Above
Dozens of women barbers and braiders competed to be crowned the best during the Ladies Get Your Clippers event at Concord
STORY AND PHOTOS • DENIS PEREZ-BRAVO
Under the buzz of clippers and the sound of cheers, dozens of women barbers and braiders showed off their skills during the third annual Ladies Get Your Clippers Ready competition.
Participants gathered at the Concord Plaza Hotel on Oct. 12 to compete for trophies and recognition.
The event was created to honor the late Kerry “She’s My Barber” Booker, a pioneering force in a maledominated industry, who founded the She’s My Barber Battle to give women barbers a platform.
Booker died of lupus in 2022, but her mission continues to shape the barbering industry and her community.
When she lost her mother to breast cancer, she became an advocate for its awareness.
“This event means a whole lot to me,” said Jasmine Lee, a competitor known as hairstyles_by_jazzi on Instagram.
“I’ve lost multiple family members to breast cancer, so I’ma do anything I can to support all this.”
Lee, a braider in her first barbering competition, said pushing herself beyond her comfort zone is part of getting better at her craft.
“I stay ready so I ain’t gotta get ready,” she said. “To me, practice doesn’t make perfect; it makes improvement.”
Among other competitors was 17-year-old Nevaeh Walton of Antioch, who entered the braiding category.
“I’m really shy and a little nervous, but I’m just excited to be a part of this,” she said. “I started braiding during COVID, and I just love it. One day, I want to open my own salon.”
Walton is an alumni of a local entrepreneur program taught by event organizer Tatiana Hernandez. The event exposed her to many local businesses giving advice as well as professional braiders and barbers.
That kind of early exposure is exactly what Booker wanted to encourage, said Cutz By JoJo, a Pittsburg barber based at KP Barbershop who declined to give her real name.
JoJo competed in multiple categories.
“It is difficult being in a male-dominated industry,” she said. “A lot of people don’t trust women to cut their hair. But it’s all about the personality, the vibe, the energy that you give off.”
JoJo said she learned about Booker’s story through videos. “I didn’t know her personally, but I heard her story.”
She connected with Booker and even was recognized at one of the events she inspired after her death.
“I won the She’s My Barber Award last year. It’s all about community work, making sure what’s best for the clients, getting them right.”
That legacy of mentorship and strength was a recurring theme for those who knew Booker personally.
Dallas hairstylist Trelll Parker, a.k.a. Trill LadiBarber, worked alongside Booker during her final years.
“She was great in the barber industry. Great person to know, great person to receive education and mentorship from,” she said. “It was a blessing to work beside her and get to know her as a friend.”
Booker’s She’s My Barber competition began in Oakland as an annual event to “put the female barbers on the map,” Parker said. “It gives them a platform to showcase their skills without the male barbers being involved, other than to support.”
She said Booker’s influence was felt far beyond California. “She made She’s My Barber a movement not only for Oakland but all around the U.S., all around the world.”
“She started that name because she wanted that moment where a client would come in and say, ‘No, she’s my barber,’” Parker said. “She created it, lived by it and stood 10 toes down for it.”
Today, the She’s My Barber movement stands as both a tribute and a torch passed to the next generation — a reminder that women in barbering deserve their own spotlight.
“Show out,” JoJo said with a grin. “This is the ladies’ barber battle. Y’all better come through. We always root for the guys — I hope I see a lot of males here rooting for us.” •
Plaza Hotel on Oct. 12.
“To me, practice doesn’t make perfect; it makes improvement,” said Jasmine Lee, a braider in her first barbering competition.
“It is difficult being in a male-dominated industry,” said one Pittsburg barber known as Cutz by JoJo, who has won the She’s My Barber Award. “A lot of people don’t trust women to cut their hair.”
The Dallas hairstylist known as Trill LadiBarber, left, was one of the emcees at Ladies Get Your Clippers Ready, which she says gives female barbers “a platform to showcase their skills without the male barbers being involved, other than to support.”
A competitor braids a model’s hair.
Competitor Jasmine Lee’s shirt honors her family members who have died of or survived breast cancer. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
For Many in the Bay Area, Affordable Housing Is Not Affordable
BY DANIELLE PARENTEAU-DECKER
Owning a home is a key part of the American Dream, but for many Bay Area residents, it’s more like a pipe dream. For prospective homeowners and renters alike, so-called affordable housing often is not affordable or attainable.
That was the focus of an Oct. 14 forum hosted by American Community Media where housing experts, residents, and members of ethnic and local media gathered to examine the region’s worsening housing crisis.
The housing problem is often framed as an issue of supply and demand. The key to bringing prices down, the thinking goes, is to build more homes. But state Sen. Aisha Wahab said supply and demand is a false narrative promoted by the industry.
At the statewide level, housing is “siloed into one conversation: production and supply,” she said. “That’s wrong.”
Wahab said that development alone is not the answer, and the development that is happening is focused on market-rate housing. There is “less of a passion for affordable housing,” she said.
She also noted that many units across the Bay Area remain vacant or are only used for short-term rentals. “That is a problem,” she said, but one that is politically unpopular to address. “Nobody is going to go and say that the homeowner or property owner needs to be held accountable as well to ensure that those units are fully on the market.”
When Wahab was elected, she says she was the only renter in the state Senate.
“They’re unaware of how renters are treated,” she said, referring to her political colleagues.
Many people across the Bay Area cannot securely afford a place to live, or much else because of how expensive everything has gotten.
“We look at it as a housing problem, but when I back up, I see it as an income problem,” said Christina Morales, the housing manager for the city of Hayward.
She said that even “the affordable rents have become unaffordable.” Many applicants to affordable housing programs have been denied because their incomes were too low.
Those who do make enough money to qualify typically have to apply repeatedly, each time entering a lottery with thousands of other people, according to Kary Hua, the housing program manager for ASIAN, Inc.
Prices are so high that “affordability is just out of the question,” said Nancy Rivera, executive director of A-1 Community Housing Services.
That’s true across the age spectrum.
Seniors make up the largest demographic of the unhoused population, according to Wahab.
“The reality is that our seniors are struggling more and more,” she said. “We are not doing enough for our seniors. Point blank.”
Homeowners aged 65 and older are also more likely than ever to still be paying off their mortgages and for the payment to be a high percentage of their income, according to Maeve Elise Brown, executive director and co-founder of Housing and Economic Rights Advocates.
Just a couple miles from where the forum was hosted sits Cal State East Bay. There, Wahab said many students live in their cars.
Rivera said A-1 sees many young adults who don’t particularly want to try to become homeowners because of their families’ struggles.
“Many of the younger clients we meet with have witnessed their parents go through financial hardships, and some even lost their home, during the foreclosure crisis,” she told The Pulse.
Homeownership is often both less of a priority and financially out of reach. “For many, they want to
Bay Point...
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gathering.”
keep their quality of life first and foremost,” she said. “Additionally, many carry large student debt, which hinders their purchasing power.”
A-1 advises young people in such situations to start small and tries to help them “work out a budget and to balance out a mortgage that is affordable while maintaining their current lifestyle, but then again, their lack of savings and the ‘needs vs. wants’ just don’t add up,” Rivera said.
At the conference, she said that her organization sees multigeneration families coming together to buy homes because it’s the only way they can afford to stay in the Bay Area.
She also said all prospective homeowners need to know that good credit is important, but even a perfect 800 FICO score isn’t enough if you don’t have the income to sustain it.
“It’s not about achieving homeownership,” Rivera said. “It’s about maintaining homeownership.”
Other speakers acknowledged how difficult that can be.
“After purchase is a long journey,” Hua said.
“There’s all these hurdles that people go through to get a home,” said Gina Di Giusto, a senior attorney at HERA. “Then there’s all these hurdles that people go through to keep the family home.”
HERA offers free legal services to homeowners facing such challenges, Brown said.
“You need legal help if you’re a homeowner,” she said. “We are your lawyers.” •
One of PUSD’s immigration resource fairs faced backlash, according to Medina-Owens. The latest, following the raids in Los Angeles, saw a drop in attendance.
PUSD students, more than 65% of whom are Latino, were not completely deterred at the beginning of this year.
In January, well over 100 students went from Pittsburg High School to City Hall in a march like others across the nation protesting the increased immigration enforcement Donald Trump said he planned to enact.
“We’re definitely not a community celebrating or welcoming ICE. They’re not wanted here,” said Jackson, who hopes local law enforcement agencies are not helping ICE.
The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Department, which has jurisdiction over Bay Point, says it does not arrest undocumented immigrants solely based on their immigration status or participate in “ICE sweeps and mass deportation efforts.” But Sheriff David Livingston has refused to completely cut cooperation with ICE.
Pittsburg officials did not respond to a request to talk about what supports are already in place for immigrants, but created a webpage dedicated to resources for immigrants in 2019.
Contra Costa supervisors approved a three-year $5 million pilot immigrant services center in April to support legal services, educational and financial resources, and safety net services.
Burgis said she has been working with community members, organizations and officials to figure out how to protect residents.
“Contra Costa County is working to continue supporting our community by assisting people with the county services they need and expect, in ways that ensure those services are not interrupted by existing and potential disruptions,” she said in a statement.
District 5 Supervisor Shanelle ScalesPreston, who represents Bay Point, Pittsburg and part of Antioch, did not respond to requests for comment.
In West Contra Costa, Richmond devoted $1 million to support immigrant legal services earlier in the year. The county also allocated $500,000 in financial support.
Contra Costa’s Rapid Response number is (925) 900-5151. •
State Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Fremont, left; East Bay Rental Housing Association CEO Derek Barnes; A-1 Community Housing Services executive director Nancy Rivera and Housing and Economic Rights Advocates attorney Gina Di Giusto speak at an
American Community Media forum on housing at the Hayward Public Library. (Danielle Parenteau-Decker / The CC Pulse)
East County Residents Rally Outside Brentwood
City Hall, Call for ‘Justice for Yolanda’
BY DENIS PEREZ-BRAVO
N early two months after the death of Yolanda Ramirez while in Brentwood police custody, about 100 people gathered outside Brentwood City Hall on Nov. 12 for a rally and press conference held to coincide with a City Council meeting.
Community members, activists and families affected by police violence listened to speakers before crowding into council chambers. Some delivered public comments while others raised signs reading “Justice for Yolanda.”
Yolanda’s husband, Rudy Ramirez, and her oldest son, Ricardo “Rich” Ramirez, spoke about their loss, condemning what they described as fatal violence by Brentwood police and recalling their final moments with her.
“I feel lonely,” Rudy told the crowd. “For yelling at her sister or arguing with her sister, she did not deserve to die for that.”
Rudy said he now wanders around his home feeling lost, the bed “too big” and the house emptier without his wife of 55 years.
He remembered feeling “lucky” to have embraced her the day before the incident.
“She came out of the bedroom and was walking down the hallway. I was on the couch and I told her, ‘Babe, I don’t think we’ve hugged in a little bit, you know?’” he said. “So we stood there and hugged.”
The next morning, as they were drinking coffee, Yolanda got up to pick up her brother Reuben from her sister’s house.
“So we walked to the door, and I hugged her and kissed her again. And I said, ‘I’ll see you in a little bit,’” Rudy said.
She never returned home. In her place, Rudy said, came a fight for justice.
His grief, he said, quickly blended with confusion and anger after learning what happened.
After police were called to a family home over a civil dispute, Yolanda Ramirez was detained and put into the back of a patrol car.
Family attorney Melissa Nold told those at the rally that police forced Yolanda onto her knees while handcuffed.
Photos posted by the family show bruising on her wrists that they say was caused by improperly applied handcuffs.
Police have not released body camera footage, but Nold said multiple witnesses interviewed by her private investigator said officers “roughhoused” the 72-year-old.
“And the worst part is that when they were going to go put her into the police car, [witnesses] reported that the officer struck her head,” Nold said.
What a Babysitting Job Showed Me
About Growing Up
“They dragged her in the car, tossed her in the car like trash. They dragged her into the car, and then they left her there.”
Nold said witnesses reported Yolanda was left in the patrol vehicle for up to 40 minutes without medical attention.
“(Police) weren’t checking on this elder. And they know that she was injured. She was crying out in pain,” Nold said.
In a statement, Brentwood police said officers responded to a family dispute on Sept. 26 and placed 72-year-old Yolanda Ramirez under a citizen’s arrest at the request of a family member.
The family later denied this, Nold said.
In the statement, police said she attempted to flee beforebeing detained. But Nold said witnesses say she was compliant.
The statement continues, saying once Ramirez was secured in a patrol car, she appeared to have a medical issue, prompting officers to call for an ambulance. She was released from custody and taken to a hospital, where her condition worsened over the following days.
Nold said more than a dozen witnesses came forward despite fear of retaliation, believing it was important to speak out about violence against a community elder.
She said witness accounts support the claim that Yolanda was handcuffed too tight, struck in the head, shoved in the police car and left unattended for up to 40 minutes and that is what attributed to her death.
Families who have lost loved ones to police violence also stood with the Ramirez family.
Robert Collins and Cassandra Quninto-Collins, the parents of Angelo Quinto, attended the rally and shared their experience. Their son died in 2020 after Antioch Police responded to a mental health crisis call at their home.
“I think the lesson here is that it happens much more often,” Collins told the crowd. “Now, we are going to
probably witness a cover-up instead of finding answers and finding solutions.”
The Quinto family settled with the city for $7.5 million in May 2024.
The family has helped create police reforms in Antioch, including the creation of a mental health crisis response team, a ban on restraint asphyxia, and the adoption of police body cameras.
They have also criticized the original autopsy of their son, which cited “excited delirium,” a term now outlawed in California as an official cause of death through legislation they championed.
Another Antioch resident affected by police violence, Kathryn Wade, also spoke in support of the Ramirez family.
“I want to just encourage the family today because being a part of this club is not a good feeling,” Wade said. “When someone does something to you, you’re able to call the police,” she said, “supposedly to get help. But in many cases, you can’t even do that because the police are the ones causing the problems, beating and killing people in our community.”
Antioch police dragged Wade’s son, 22-year-old Malad Baldwin, from her parked car in 2014 and beat him until he lost consciousness, according to a lawsuit later settled without officers admitting wrongdoing. She said the violence left him depressed, anxious and unable to keep a job, and that repeated encounters with Antioch Police in the years that followed felt like harassment. Baldwin died by suicide in 2020, and Wade blames the department.
In 2023, racist, homophobic, violent and sexist text messages exchanged by Antioch officers were released publicly, and Baldwin was mentioned in them.
Wade said the lack of information following police incidents involving use of force leaves families devastated and searching for answers.
“I found out one thing about fighting this system. When you make noise, they listen,” Wade said. •
M y first real experience with work came during the summer of my senior year of high school. I was asked to babysit a family friend’s two young daughters for an afternoon. That day was full of firsts: my first time breaking up an argument, my first time getting paid, and my first time stepping into the world of work. Agreeing to babysit was easy, but actually taking care of two young kids was something I wasn’t prepared for. Aside from having a handful of prior experiences with
caring for my younger sister, the only reference point I had for babysitting was the movies I’d seen where babysitting was depicted as something that usually involved complete chaos. I didn’t know what to expect, and being responsible for two kids I had only met a few times was honestly terrifying.
In preparation, I watched at least a dozen YouTube videos that had tips and tricks for managing children. But when the day eventually arrived, I found that babysitting was much more mundane than I expected.
The girls were just regular kids. They wanted to play outside, watch cartoons, and missed their parents. My main responsibilities were to keep an eye on them and make sure they ate lunch.
We spent most of our time together playing with the toys I had buried in my closet and jumping on the trampoline in my backyard. There were a few moments when they got into arguments that forced me to intervene, but by the time their parents came to pick them up, we had a great day. .
For many people, jobs like babysitting or pet-sitting are more than a rite of passage. They offer a first glimpse into the adult working world. The freedom that came with working felt overwhelming at first, but in the end,
my first job was truly rewarding.
Babysitting was unfamiliar territory. I had to take on the role of an adult, even though I was still used to being seen as a kid. Taking on that responsibility showed me that work could be freeing, not just intimidating. It gave me a glimpse of independence I hadn’t felt before.
Despite the nervousness and minor difficulties I encountered, getting my first “paycheck” was an empowering experience. Before that moment I hadn’t truly thought about all the benefits that earning my own money would entail. Although what I received that day was far from a six-figure salary, it was a huge boost of confidence for my then-17-year-old self.
Looking back now, I see how much that afternoon helped prepare me for the working world. Like many others my age, I lost out on a lot of those small job experiences because of the pandemic. It disrupted that slow and steady transition from high school student to working adult.
I often felt behind compared to older generations. But that one babysitting job became something I could look back on whenever I felt uncertain about my future. It reminded me that work isn’t always exciting or effortless, but it’s where you start to build independence. •
A man holds a sign reading “Justice for Yolanda” as he enters the Brentwood City Hall council chambers after attending a rally before the Nov. 12 City Council meeting. Yolanda Ramirez died in September after being detained by police.
COMMENTARY • ARIANNA CARAMAGNO
Richmond Powwow Celebrates 15 Years, Honors Laguna Pueblo, Acoma People
BY DENIS PEREZ-BRAVO
Drums pounding like heartbeats echoed throughout the Richmond Memorial Auditorium as Native Americans sang and danced from morning until sunset, celebrating the 15th annual Richmond Powwow Contest in honor of the people of the Santa Fe Native American villages.
Dozens of tribes showcased their traditional dances to the rhythms of drumming groups throughout the day on Nov. 8. Spectators filled the hall, cheering for contestants, browsing Native-made crafts and jewelry for sale, and eating free meals provided by the Richmond Powwow Committee.
Held in observance of National Native American Heritage Month, this year’s powwow paid tribute to the Laguna Pueblo and Acoma people who once lived and worked in the Santa Fe Railway Company’s train yards in both Barstow and Richmond.
“We survived,” said Laguna Pueblo elder Ruth Hopper. Hopper and fellow elder Adrian Whitecloud spoke about life in the Santa Fe Village boxcar communities built when Native American families relocated from New Mexico to work for the railway.
Hopper was among many who arrived at the Richmond terminal at one end of what is now Macdonald Avenue in the 1920s.
Residents turned the small, windowless boxcars, which were equipped with running water and stoves, into homes. Hopper recalled a vibrant and close-knit community.
Inside the village, Laguna Pueblo and Acoma families preserved their traditions, holding private ceremonies behind sheets hung for privacy, Hopper said. Outside those walls, she remembered living among many different tribes, each sharing parts of their culture.
Whitecloud’s family lived and worked in the Santa Fe boxcar village in Barstow, several hours south.
“I was born in boxcar No. 1,” he said.
East County Supes Earmark Some Community Impact Funds; Gioia in West County Holds Off
BY SAMANTHA KENNEDY
C ontra Costa County Supervisors Diane Burgis and Shanelle Scales-Preston spent portions of their Community Impact Funds on Nov. 18 to provide an additional $265,000 in services to East County residents. The bulk of the spent money, which comes from leftover American Rescue Plan Act funding, is going to rental, utility and food assistance for Burgis’ District 3. Burgis and Scales-Preston, who both represent part of Antioch, also teamed up to each spend half of the $25,000 needed to establish the Antioch Police Department’s Sycamore Substation.
He visits the site occasionally but said it’s now “a big empty spot” with no trace of his former home.
Whitecloud also remembered traveling by train from Barstow to Richmond, with three train cars full of Native workers, to play baseball against their counterparts.
That intertribal connection extended beyond the railway villages, said Richmond Powwow Committee Chair Courtney Bearquiver. She described a history of rich Native presence across Northern California and the Bay Area.
She recalled seeing old photos of her uncle, Roy Hopkins, and her Arikara grandmother, Maddie Themein, in 1980s parades down 23rd Street and at local powwows.
According to the West County Neighbors publication, Richmond hosted its first documented powwow in 1985, when 30 tribes gathered at Ells High School, now Lovonya DeJean Middle School.
In 2009, Bearquiver said she felt called to “reawaken” that spirit after attending several funerals for young Native people who had taken their own lives and speaking with others who felt disconnected from their heritage.
Plains tribes, she said, were familiar with powwows but had not organized one in Richmond. So she reached out to Hopper, then a recent UC Berkeley graduate who had
experience hosting powwows in Berkeley.
Bearquiver spent months learning from Hopper, asking questions and exchanging stories as she planned Richmond’s first modern powwow. With a growing team, she officially formed the Richmond Powwow Committee.
Fifteen years later, she said, Richmond remains a “constant place” where Native people can gather and celebrate their culture.
“I wanted to restart the powwow to bring back the pride — remind them who they are,” Bearquiver said. Among this year’s leaders was Richmond Powwow Contest Princess Caliana Gonzalez, a member of the Apache tribe. Gonzalez has represented Richmond at powwows across Northern California and said she takes pride in sharing Apache culture while promoting unity among all tribes.
She also competed in the fancy dance category and said she deeply valued this year’s recognition of the Laguna Pueblo and Acoma people.
“It is important to teach history in the powwow because you can see different tribes coming together and how much they are like family to each other,” Gonzalez said. “That means a lot to me because if we don’t have powwows here, then how would we get to know our people?” •
“We’re supporting Antioch for a police substation there in the Sycamore area, where it has been really high in crime,” said Scales-Preston about the substation. “In that particular area, families are afraid to come outside their doors and enjoy their community, so we hope the substation will help the community come out.”
Supervisors received $1 million each this year to fund services in their district after taking into account a survey and town hall meetings where community members shared their prioritized needs. Less than 1% of residents participated in the survey, according to data from the county, but supervisors say town halls were otherwise representative of their communities’ needs.
But Scales-Preston, Burgis, and District 1 Supervisor John Gioia are not done beefing up services for their districts just yet.
The three still have more than $2.7 million to spend on services across their individual districts, with $1 million of that belonging to Gioia’s district.
Burgis said she received 79 applications that totaled more than $5.3 million in funding.
Burgis said she’ll likely be holding onto most funding for some time because of uncertainties related to the federal administration but will likely bring a few allocations forward next month.
“I’m prepared to go forward and be able to respond to things that happen that I can’t even expect right now,” said Burgis. “My intention is to be able to respond next year and the year after.”
Scales-Preston said she plans to bring back some funding allocations to the next meeting.
“At this time, I’m going through the 225 applications, and I won’t be able to do it all at once,” said ScalesPreston.
For Gioia, he doesn’t believe he’ll start allocating his funding until 2026 and is also keeping an eye on what countywide services may be funded.
Supervisors heard about 80 public comments on the item, expressing support for allocating more funding to services, especially those related to housing and food assistance.
Residents across the county ranked having safe neighborhoods and quality schools and education as their top two priorities in the online survey.
Those priorities greatly differed compared with Gioia’s town halls, where more than 275 participated and most emphasized health, mental health and wellness, education and housing, according to a report. Youth in Gioia’s district expressed priorities in education, environment and housing.
Most survey participants in Scales-Preston’s district, which had the largest survey turnout, and Burgis and Gioia’s said that high housing costs was the biggest challenge their household was facing.
More than $9.73 million in leftover ARPA funding for the entire county is still not allocated, but supervisors on Dec. 16 plan to again discuss how to use those funds.” •
Native Americans celebrated their cultures and unity among tribes with song and dance at the 15th Richmond Powwow on Nov. 8. (Denis Perez-Bravo)