Antioch Mayor Wade Harper Formally Announces his Bid for Re-election

Antioch, CA –Mayor Wade Harper announces that on Friday, August 5, 2016 he has officially filed his candidate papers and will seek re-election as mayor of the City of Antioch.

“I love Antioch and I am very proud to serve as mayor and as a representative on various boards and commissions representing the city of Antioch. On Wednesday July 20, 2016 I became a grandpa for the first time to my newborn grandson Carter Evan. This gives me even more of a resolve to continue to do my part to make ‘A Better Antioch’ for our children and grandchildren.”

There is evidence to show Antioch has become a safer city and has prospered under Mayor Harper’s leadership. However, there is much more to accomplish for our community.

Mayor Harper got his start as an elected official in 2009 as an appointed member of the Antioch Unified School District’s Board of Trustees. During his time as a School Board Trustee he was honored as “Comcast’s Local Hero.”

In 2010 he ran for the Antioch City Council and won a seat on the Antioch City Council. Mayor Harper has always had a passion for community service and has looked for opportunities to serve, while honing his leadership skills. During his career he has served on the School Attendance Review Board (SART) for a local high school, the Board of Directors for the American Red Cross, and as a facilitator for a community group called, “Neighbors for Change.”

In 2012 Mayor Harper ran for the office of mayor and received the top votes with 12, 594 votes according to Contra Costa County Elections results, winning a seat as mayor. Mayor Harper brings to the office proven experience, compassionate and effective leadership. He is also representing the City of Antioch with his membership on several local and regional organizations always giving the City of Antioch a seat at the table when it comes to decision-making. He has served on the Board of Directors and as Past Chair of Tri-Delta Transit; Tri-Delta Transit won the award for the Best Small Transit System in America. He is the current chair of Delta Diablo who received the Catalyst of the year award this year.

He is a voting Delegate for the Association of Bay Area Governments. He is currently chair of the Contra Costa County Conference of Mayors. He also meets quarterly with the Delta 6, which is a group of East County mayors and supervisors. He plans to continue his working relationships and networking with all of the mayors in the county. The Delta 6 meets to discuss common issues affecting East County cities.

Mayor Harper is a Committee Member of the East Bay Economic Development Alliance and other similar organizations.

Career
Mayor Harper understands that his calling is Community Service. He chose a lifetime of community service as his chosen profession is Public Safety. He began his 24-year career in Law Enforcement in 1988 as an Emeryville police dispatcher and worked his way up through the ranks as a Police Lieutenant at the Tracy Police Department. While at the Emeryville Police Department he was touted for bringing the city council, the police officer’s association, local businesses and an entire community together to fix a resident’s home after she suffered several attacks on her property by vandals. Harper said, “We will not allow this to happen in our town.” Under Detective Harper’s leadership and with the assistance of the police officer’s association the vandal(s) were put on notice and the vandalism ceased. Also, as a Homicide detective he was touted for closing a major investigation and getting a confession from a serial killer and was highlighted in the book, “Murder on the Rails” by Lieutenant Bill Palmini and on A&E’s Investigative Report.

As a police lieutenant with the Tracy Police Department he and his fellow commanders led the
department in strategic planning. Through a strong and effective strategic plan, and community involvement the city of Tracy became the 2nd safest city in Northern California of cities over 75, 000 people. Mayor Harper says, “I know what a safe city looks like, that is why I refuse to lay off Antioch police officers. Instead I led the charge to seek Measure C funding to hire police.”

Education
While earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Pastoral Studies from Patten University Mayor Harper received high honors as Student of the Year in his major. He is humbled to have also received the Civic Leader of the Year Award from Patten University. Mayor Harper earned his Master of Business Administration in Leadership from John F. Kennedy University’s School of Management where he was honored as Alumni of the Year. There he excelled in subjects such as Organizational Development, Financial Management and Visionary Leadership and Sustainability. He served on the advisory board for the Criminal Justice Program at John F. Kennedy University and as an adjunct professor for DeVry University. Mayor Harper is also a graduate of the Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute where he was honored as class valedictorian. His accomplishments also include completion of the POST Executive Development program as well as the POST Management training program.

Mayor Harper believes it is important for an Antioch Mayor to have and advanced education as well as wealth of knowledge about city government.

Teacher
As a retired police lieutenant Mayor Harper has been praised for showing a special dedication to our students, teachers and parents as he served as a teacher in the Leadership and Public Services Academy at Antioch High School for 2 years, teaching “Law Enforcement Careers.” He is honored to bring his Law Enforcement training and experience into the classroom at Antioch High School. He has earned the respect of students, teachers and parents alike, as he was a mentor in the classroom. His stated goal was to raise up the next generation of Public Safety Professionals. Principal Louie Rocha touted Mayor Harper as a civic leader who has committed his time to serving our youth as a role model and mentor whose priority is to ensure the safety and success of our students.”

Leadership
As a leader with extensive experience in strategic planning and team building Mayor Harper knew it was important for Antioch City Council to participate in teambuilding and for the city to develop a sound strategic management plan.

Mayor Harper led two city councils through team building workshops and strategic planning for the purpose of developing cohesion between city councilmembers and department heads. After our first team building workshop the community participated in community meetings which were called “Community Café’s.” With the assistance of a consultant and input from the community a sound Strategic Management was developed. This document was recently updated and is working to guide the city of Antioch toward safety, economic development, growth and revitalization.

Economic Growth & Jobs
The city of Antioch completed its annexation of over 500 acres of land along the northern waterfront. I toured the “Four Star” property along the waterfront, which is a 108-acre parcel of land that has access to a deep water port. This property has a buyer and was due to close escrow this past week. “I see great opportunities for this area of Antioch. The Paper mill that was previously in this area brought about 2900 jobs. I want those jobs back. My vision is to have an industrial corridor of businesses bringing thousands of jobs and economic development to the City of Antioch.”

Quality of Life
We are making strides in cleaning up blight, graffiti and trash in the city of Antioch as we have restored our code enforcement officers program. Additionally, we have hired 2 general laborers who are cleaning up blight, graffiti and garbage city-wide. Our city council passed an ordinance requiring store owners to properly label their shopping carts and to pick them up in a timely manner. Since hiring the 2 general labors we have retrieved a couple hundred shopping carts, cleaned up several blighted areas and picked up loads of garbage. We have also contracted with a company who helps by removing abandoned vehicles that have become an eye-sore on our neighborhood streets. We must continue to improve the quality of life in Antioch.

Homelessness continues to be a problem nationwide as well as in Contra Costa County. Our city staff meets regularly with the Suburban Poverty Task force to come up with ideas to address the homeless problem. The city of Antioch is also in talks with Rev. John Anderson of Bay Area Rescue Mission to develop a transitional facility that would assist up to 30 families of women and children while they get back on their feet.

Engaging Our Youth
Under my leadership the Antioch City Council launched the Antioch Council of Teens (ACT). This group provides an avenue for youth to speak to city officials about the types of recreation they would like to have. Youth will also get a better understanding of how government works.

“I want Antioch to be known as a city that engages our youth, and provides first class education to our students through our outstanding teachers and administrators, our “Linked Learning” academies, as well as our recreational programs,” said Harper.

Under Mayor Harper’s leadership as president of the Antioch Community Foundation the foundation has provided several grants to non-profit organizations that support our youth. Mayor Harper will continue to work closely with the Antioch Unified School District to identify ways to engage our youth and reduce truancy.

Over a year ago the issue of youth fighting at Deer Valley Plaza became an issue for the Antioch School District as well as the City of Antioch. Mayor Harper, along with Velma Wilson (a parent and community volunteer) set up canopies at the plaza and began engaging with the youth to look for solutions.

Mayor Harper’s leadership did not stop there. While reaching out to the youth at the plaza Mayor Harper also met at the AUSD district office with a group to address this urgent matter. This group consisted of representatives from the District Attorney’s office, the Antioch Police Department, Juvenile Probation as well as the management of Deer Valley Plaza and others to come up with solutions. Several issues came to light and were addressed. The smoke shop is no longer located in the Deer Valley Plaza. The security has improved as Strategic Threat Management was hired.

Youth recreation programs have increased as well as after school programs. There are no limits to what we can accomplish when we work together.

Antioch is Getting Better
Just look around. The city of Antioch is getting better. Highway 4 widening has been completed. BART will be active in our city in spring of 2018 with the Hillcrest BART station opening. Property values are up. Businesses are finding that Antioch is a great place to thrive. Select developers are ready to complete the neighborhood projects. More businesses are opening in our downtown and violent crime is on a continual decline.

The city of Antioch is negotiating with Everett & Jones Barbecue to take over the previous Humphrey’s Restaurant at the Antioch Marina. Everett & Jones Barbecue is a well know establishment with locations in the Bay Area. Other good news is that a recent study by Realtytrac shows that neighborhoods in Antioch are among the top 7 “Up and Coming” neighborhoods in the East Bay. We should all be proud that the city of Antioch is getting better and we must build on that momentum.

“I feel blessed to have worked with dedicated Councils and professional staff that have done more with less and have worked to make the City of Antioch a great place to live, work, play and worship,” says Mayor Harper. “I will continue to provide effective leadership and proven experience in municipal government and continue to build upon the progress that has already been made.”

If I am re-elected I will focus on these issues:

• Public Safety
• Economic Development & Job
• Engaging Our Youth
• Downtown Revitalization
• Transportation
• Quality of Life Issues

For more information, visit:
www.wadeharper.org
[email protected]
Twitter.com/Wadeharper
facebook.com/antiochmayor