Antioch City Council to Hold Special Meeting Tuesday to Discuss Series of Items

On Tuesday, the Antioch City Council announced it will hold a special meeting at 5:00 pm to discuss several items requested by councilmembers.

During the meeting, the council will discuss its next steps of the sesquicentennial celebration,Housing Policies and Tenant Protections, Local Purchasing Ordinance, Local Preference for Minority & Women Owned Business Enterprises, Human Rights and Racial Equity Commission and Food Insecurity and Access to Healthy and Affordable Food Options Ad Hoc Committee

Sesquicentennial Celebration Next Steps (150^th Year)

The city council had previously allocated $100k towards the cost of the 2022 Sesquicentennial Celebration. The city is looking to possibly partner with Celebration Antioch Foundation or issue an RFP process to collect proposals from other agencies:

• Option 1: Partner with the Celebrate Antioch Foundation for the Provision of Sesquicentennial Events
  There is a proposed budget of $201,500. The City of Antioch has already provided $100k and Celebrate Antioch is proposing raising $56,500 through fundraising efforts while needing $45,000 is still unfunded for the event. Celebrate Antioch Foundation is also seeking $25k in an administrative fee toc over costs for planning and implementing the events—the fee would be distributed to board members for their time and planning efforts that would be otherwise performed by staff.
• Option 2: Issue an RFP to Give Other Community Organizations the Opportunity to Express Interest in Organizing Sesquicentennial Events
  This would give an opportunity for other community-based organizations to provide the services needed to plan and implement the 2022 event. Staff report admits given anticipated expenses, there is unlikely to be a financial incentive for an organization to take on the responsibility.
• Option 3: Hire an Outside Firm or Additional Staff to plan Sesquicentennial Events
  This will likely be the most expensive option as additional funds will be needed to pay an outside firm or staff to plan these events, in addition to the funds needed for entertainment and amenities. Preliminary research by staff shows that the costs to hire an outside firm for these services would likely exceed $50,000.
• Option 4: Use Existing Staff for the Provision of Sesquicentennial Events
  Currently, there is not adequate staff capacity to plan and execute the Sesquicentennial Events as envisioned. Under this option, the proposed list of activities as currently envisioned would need to be evaluated and prioritized. Individual contracts would need to be executed with various vendors for services which would not be necessary if the City were to contract with a single vendor.

Housing Policies and Tenant Protections

This item comes before the city council after Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe identified rent control as an item of interest. Meanwhile, in October, Councilmembers Monica Wilson and Tamisha Torres-Walker claimed residents are being harassed by landlords. https://www.ktvu.com/news/antioch-councilmembers-urging-tenant-anti-harassment-ordinance.

The council will hear a presentation by the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE). According to their powerpoint, here is sample information from the slides to be provided:

• Antioch is more than a third renters: in 2019, there were 36,138 housing units in Antioch and 13,221 of them, or 6%, were occupied by tenants.
• In March 2021, a KQED investigative report found that during the pandemic, Antioch had the most evictions per renter households out of all nine Bay Area counties
• Antioch’s COVID-19 eviction rate was 207.2 per 100,000 renter households, nearly double that of Richmond, and approximately 50 times the rate of Oakland.
• Sample Provisions: An anti-harassment ordinance provides that the
  following bad faith conduct is illegal:
  ➔ Failing to make required repairs
  ➔ Not taking care with repairs
  ➔ Interrupting housing services or utilities
  ➔ Entering a tenant’s unit without permission
  ➔ Threatening a tenant with physical harm
  ➔ Attempting to coerce a tenant to move out
  ➔ Threatening to report a tenant to ICE
  ➔ Discriminating against a tenant
  ➔ Violating a tenant’s right to privacy
• Cities with tenant anti-harassment ordinances include: San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Richmond, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Los Angeles County, Santa Ana
• Limits of AB 1482 Just Cause (State law): Why pass a local law?
  • Many tenants are excluded from protection under the state law
  • “Substantial remodel” loophole
  • Removing a unit from the rental market loophole
  • No ability to add local protections: More effective protections,
    data-gathering, and specific protections to fit the local jurisdictio

Local Purchasing Ordinance

Council Member Lori Ogorchock (District 3) stated an interest in the potential establishment of a local purchasing ordinance and requested that this topic be considered by the Antioch City Council.

Local Preference for Minority & Women Owned Business Enterprises

Mayor Pro Tem Monica Wilson (District 4) stated an interest in the potential establishment of a local preference for Minority & Women Owned Business Enterprises and requested that this topic be considered by the Antioch City Council.

Human Rights and Racial Equity Commission

Council Member Tamisha Torres-Walker (District 1) stated an interest in the potential establishment of a Human Rights and Racial Equity Commission and requested that this topic be considered by the Antioch City Council.

Food Insecurity and Access to Healthy and Affordable Food Options Ad Hoc Committee

Council Member Tamisha Torres-Walker (District 1) and Mayor Pro Tem Monica Wilson (District 4) stated interest in food insecurity, access to healthy and affordable food options and the potential formation of an ad hoc committee. It is requested that this topic be considered by the Antioch City Council.

Meeting Information

• Tuesday, November 16, 2021
• 5:00 pm (Special Meeting)
• Full Agenda: click here

 If you wish to provide a written public comment, you may do so any of the following ways by 3:00 p.m.
the day of the Council Meeting: (1) Fill out an online speaker card, located at https://www.antiochca.gov/speaker_card , or (2) Email the City Clerk’s Department at  [email protected].

To provide oral public comments during the meeting, click the following link to register in advance to
access the meeting via Zoom Webinar: https://www.antiochca.gov/speakers . You may also provide an
oral public comment by dialing (925) 776-3057. Please see inside cover for detailed Speaker Rules.