On Tuesday, the Save the Yard committee submitted signatures for residents in order to get a Town Square Initiative on the November Ballot.
The group was formed after residents in the Rivertown District tried to work with the City and it’s council for nearly a year on the Beede Lumber Yard. When a proposal was to be submitted, the city rushed into a closed session meeting and approved the development of 9-parcels, including the Beede Lumber Yard at an August 25 meeting with City Ventures.
Although the meeting and agreement was legal, members of the community were taken by surprise and did not feel their voices were heard or given a fair chance to turn the property into a park-event center.
According to Joy Motts, the group gathered 214 packets (5,149 signatures). They needed 4,437. The 20-member committee collected signatures.
The Contra Costa County Elections will now take 30-days to validate the signatures and at that point, if they are successful, the issue will go back to the City Council at the August 9 council meeting where they will have a choice to place the item on the ballot or adopt the initiative.
“It’s been a difficult process because we are fighting city hall. We are going on three years, e have tried to respectfully convince them this is not what the community wants. We have tired through email, forums, council meetings and they still wouldn’t change their mind. The worst part is they would never communicate with us.” Says Motts. “There was never a conversation from the city or councilmember trying to mitigate this. They gave us no choice to go forward with the initiative because they wouldn’t try to mitigate us and its cost some citizens of Antioch thousands of dollars of their own money to fight this.”
She added the council still has a chance to make this right, but indicated it will likely go to ballot.
“On August 9, we will have a decision one way or another. The council will have a final option,” says Motts. “If we have to go to the voters in November, we are prepared to do that. The sentiment in Antioch with the people we have spoken to is that they do not want any more homes until we get our house in order.”
For more on Save the Yard, visit www.savetheyard.com
9 comments
Antioch’s Mayor and Councilmembers are 100% unequivocally useless! It’s time to vote them out! It’s very clear they have their own agenda and it’s not about Antioch.
If they don’t wants to listen to us that is fine; however, there is a price to pay – RECALL AND VOTE THEM OUT!!!
Antioch has much to offer: the Delta and the Black Diamond Mountains.
Bring in businesses:
• IT companies, to reduces commuting, which will help stimulates the economy.
• Quality Restaurants with a panoramic view of the Delta.
• A Boardwalk with multiple Vista points that runs to Pittsburg. Placing quality vending shops adjacent to the boardwalk. Again this will help the Antioch’s economy.
There are many examples and neighboring cities would benefit as well. The solution is not housing projects! Develop programs to clean up the city, like tax incentives for beautification of a neighborhood, etc.. Not only will this help the economy but will provide jobs for local residents.
Again, if the city officials don’t want to do their jobs fire them. We have that choice, not them!
@A Real True Thought
I really like your ideas and I wish our elected City leaders would follow. The issue is that increasing the quality of life for the normal, average, tax paying, generally ethical resident of Antioch goes against the agenda of transforming this city into one huge ghetto for the criminals of the Bay Area.
If they can provide free everything and make Antioch criminal friendly, then they will attract all the scum bags of the Bay Area into this city so that other cities like Walnut Creek, Lafayette, Orinda, and the like can have safer communities.
What scum bag, low life, section 8 cashing, government fed criminal wouldn’t want free housing with an ocean/vista view?
I really like the idea of a boardwalk…as long as it can be kept from turning into Santa Cruz. Incorporate nature walks and this could be a real winner!
Both visions for Antioch (Town Center and dense housing) keeps downtown a ghost town. So sad our vision is limited and our will so weak.
Let’s start with getting the incumbents voted out of office come November. There needs to be a real concerted effort in getting the voting residents on board with this.
CAR: First we have to get some people to run against them and so far we have no qualified people running for council. Mayor we have Lori running but the council we need some good people.
1st, I agree and have talked a great deal about how wonderful downtown Antioch could be. There is a commission trying to make this happen. The truth, this takes a lot of money to do. Money Antioch does not have. 2nd, business has a hard time surviving in Antioch because too few support them. This makes it harder to generate tax income for the City. 3rd, crime is a huge issue. People won’t support Antioch because of crime and not feeling safe, the appearance of Antioch being a dump and the bad name Antioch has received because of it. These business/crime items will need to be solved at the same time. Without one, you cannot have the other.
Who is able to put out a plan and good ideas that can address both items and gain the citizens support to sustain them. How many residents frequented Humphreys restaurant or bases loaded? Certainly not enough. Who has the ability to get Antioch residents to agree to support local business on a regular basis? Can a group of 10,000 residents agree that they will go out for dinner in Antioch at least once a week, shop at a downtown store at least once a week and join in a city event regularly?
If all of this can be done, Antioch will be one of the greatest cities in the East Bay. 10,000 of us joined together will have the power to change your city.
Who wants to join me? Let me know.
section 8 ghetto losers need somewhere to live. What are they gonna do send them to Alamo or Danville? Build ghetto housing in walnut creek or Pleasanton? No way.
Antioch is the dumping grounds.
To live in an affluent city (as a homeowner) you have to be wealthy. To be wealthy, you have to be highly educated, or invest wisely. Or both.
Lower class towns will attract the criminal element. And freeloaders.
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