2016 Election

Oakley Mayor Doug Hardcastle has announced his intention to run for Contra Costa County Board of Supervisor, District 3, in the 2016 election. He will officially kick off his campaign on October 21 in Brentwood.

Hardcastle hopes to unseat Supervisor Mary Piepho who will seek a fourth term as she has held the seat since 2004 where she beat then incumbent Millie Greenburg after receiving 58.5% of the vote. She was successfully re-elected in 2008 after fending off Guy Houston, a termed-out assemblyman. In 2012 ran unopposed.

Hardcastle says he is running because of his grandkids and to protect their future in the county where there is a lack of fire services available to the public.

“I am running for my family, because we have a inadequate fire department here right now and that really needs to be taken care of. It keeps being put off and put off,” said Hardcastle. “I think the county level would have a big hand in a solution. They control the 1% and they have got a reserve fund they could kick in for an emergency.”

Hardcastle explained that in East Contra Costa, the District should have 10 fire stations, but instead only has 3 stations. He is seeking a solution for the cash strapped district and suggests using reserve funds to address the emergency.

“I went before the Board of Supervisors and they kinda shrugged their shoulders at me,” says Hardcastle. “Well they have this pile of our money sitting over there which is our money; well that is an emergency fund.”

Editors Note: When Hardcastle spoke to the Board of Supervisors, it was during Public Comment and they could not respond.

When asked what he has done with the City of Oakley to address the fire issue facing the ECCFPD he says he is trying to get people to change their perspective on the issue.

“I’ve gone to the fire meetings and told everyone to look at this personally like it is going to happen to you. I look at it like my grand kids, are they going to be stuck in a car after an accident and wait 20-minutes to have firefighters [sic] save their life. Or my house is on fire and I am going to sit there and watch it burn while they are somewhere else fighting another fire,” explained Hardcastle. “It’s about family.”

When asked if he believed he could flip two standing Board of Supervisors into providing funding to the ECCFPD, he said he thinks he could.

“I believe so. It’s like going into a room and its dark and you turn on the light, it exposes things. I will expose things,” stated Hardcastle. “I’ll put their feet to the fire and hold them accountable.”

Other issue’s that Hardcastle says he plans to address if elected is public safety and roads. He noted that there has to be a way for adequate police funding for both Antioch and Richmond because of the violence that goes on there.

“We in Oakley are blessed a community because we can go outside and walk at nighttime. I am not worried about being shot at on any of the streets I walk on,” said Hardcastle. “You look at Antioch or Richmond, you have a real problem when you have to have bars on your windows, that is no way to live.”

If elected, Hardcastle would then be tasked with trying to rebuild the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff who is struggling with funding and staffing levels—including losing the City of Oakley next June after Oakley cancelled its contract under Hardcastle’s leadership.

Hardcastle says rebuilding the Sheriff’s Department will be a challenge; however, the move to cancel the contract for the City of Oakley saves residents between $600k-to-$800k per year. His solution on fixing the Sheriffs Office is tapping into reserve funds.

“You can use reserve money. They have money to make sure the Sheriff’s Department is properly funded. You also have to make sure the District Attorney is properly funded so that they can go out and prosecute these things that people are getting away with because we don’t have the money to prosecute so these people who don’t know how to behave in public get away without even a hand slap,” explained Hardcastle.

He highlighted that while he is committed to work on reducing crime, the State (AB 109) and voters (Prop 47) are making it more challenging for local jurisdictions to keep crime off the streets.

“Who are they supporting when they do what they do? They are not supporting me with the laws they come up with on crime. It goes back to holding people accountable. When I was a kid, you do the crime you do the time,” said Hardcastle. “The District Attorney is coming up with the truancy thing to hold people accountable, well it’s about time to hold somebody responsible for their kids.”

He noted that by properly funding the Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office, it would ensure the laws that are already on the books would be properly enforced.

Another big issue for Hardcastle is roads. He is of the philosophy that maintaining them versus rebuilding them. He says there is a huge cost savings that is estimated as much as eight-times cheaper to invest in maintenance versus rebuilding.

“As mayor, it’s been a pet peeve of mine to go out there and perform more maintenance on our roads in Oakley versus rebuilding. We are spending a little more money on roads this year than normal,” said Hardcastle. “

Hardcastle further highlighted that the county is not doing a good job maintaining the roads and suggests all one has to do was drive around and a problem could be located. When asked specifically which area he would address, he didn’t provide a specific but said to just look at the county because it’s a problem all over.

When asked if there was any issues not being discussed right now that he believes should be discussed, he replied no.

“No, because at the end of each meeting we will ask for any future agenda items. You only have so much money in your budget so you have to take care of the basics,” said Hardcastle.

Hardcastle added people have to pick and choose their battles, such as the proposed “Safety Tax”.

Editors note: no such tax has been proposed. It’s been brought up for discussion, however, there are no plans at this time to move forward.

“They were talking about raising a tax for safety. Well no, you can just pull back 1% which is $36 million. If you just reduce spending [sic] by 1% in the county, you just put $36 million back into the reserves that you can put where it’s really needed—no fluff,” explained Hardcastle. “But things that are important to the health and wellness of the people.”

When asked where he would cut the 1% from, he says there are always ways to cut.

“I am not in there,” stated Hardcastle. “I know that even in my business I can cut. People need to look at their budget. When I used to sell stuff to the county they would come in and need next day aired in. Okay, I got it 1-day aired in and well it sat on the shelf for 3-days. They came in a week later and needed a part and they go we need it next day aired too. I go no I am not going to next day air that. They said why not. I said because that is my money, you don’t need it next day aired. I’ll call you when it comes in and it will be fine. So when people spend money that frivolously, that one little $5 or $10 all adds up. So people need to be held accountable. They are not holding people accountable because it’s always easier to spend someone else’s dollar. They don’t need to look at it like someone else’s dollar, they need to look at it like that’s coming out of my pocket. Would I spend that if I was in business, no you wouldn’t?”

With the election expected to heat up after the Holidays, Hardcastle says he has not yet decided on how much he will spend on the race, but that voters will not have to worry about being bombarded with mailers. Instead they may get a knock on the door.

“I know how much has been spent on the other side in the past, almost $400k. Am I going to spend that much? No. When I ran for city council I probably ran using the least amount of money to run for council. I’d rather get out there and walk the precincts, know who I am. Understand who I am which is much better than getting five flyers in your mailbox,” said Hardcastle. “It’s kind of embarrassing when you have to buy your way into politics. I look at it as a service job. The supervisors get paid well, but when I was on Ironhouse Sanitary District I was serving the people and when I am on the council, I am serving the people. You don’t do it for the money, especially at the local level [sic].”

Hardcastle said part of the reason why he was running was for Supervisor was because he didn’t like the Board of Supervisors voting themselves such a large pay increase.

“When I see the positions that a majority of the supervisors take and stuff like that like pay [sic] raises and car allowances that is totally uncalled for. I know every needs a raise from time to time but a 33% raise, I don’t care if they haven’t got a raise in 20-years, whatever you do you do it in increments,” said Hardcastle.

When asked if he would take the raise that they just voted for he said he donates 10% to church.

“I don’t think you have a choice to say I am not working for nothing. I donate to church,” said Hardcastle. “I give 10% of what I make to church, that is what I do.”

In the end, the Board of Supervisors settled on a 7% salary increase in a March 2015 meeting after not receiving a raise in 9-years. Meanwhile, in August, the Oakley City Council voted itself a 5% pay increase.

Hardcastle said Oakley did vote for the increase, but noted the Mayor of Brentwood received two pay raises within four-months at a 65% increase.

“I was kind of embarrassed, but there was a particular person on the city council who needed that $21 a month. It was like why even do it,” said Hardcastle. “It costs me more money to be on the council than whatever money I would ever get if left work.”

While working on the Oakley City Council and serving as Mayor one of his favorite accomplishments was hosting “Mayor at the Market” once a month in order to meet with residents and go over concerns. A lot of the time, the issues people spoke about were regarding speeding around town and improving roads.

When asked to specify some of his bigger accomplishments on the council he replied moving to its own police department and saving taxpayers money on the downtown fountain.

“It’s not what one person does; it’s what we do as a council. I think it’s a good deal with the sheriff switching over to our own police department. That has been big which saves us money and in turn allow us to hire more cops because we need more cops as we grow,” said Hardcastle. “Having a better attitude on the dollar, like the fountain, I was never a big supporter of spending that much money on the fountain. Me bringing the light on that, it was a ridiculous amount. It’s a nice feature but it was $1.4 million.”

Editors Note: Sheriff Livingston wrote a letter to the City explaining why it was a bad idea.

As mayor, he said he has had conversations with Congressman Jerry McNerney but not so much with Assemblyman Jim Frazier and Senator Steve Glazer.

“I’ve talked to Congressman McNerney a lot because he comes around a lot. Not Jim Frazier so much because he really doesn’t show up at our functions or here too much,” said Hardcastle.

He highlighted that as an elected, there are expectations that when you reach out that they should respond. It was asked if there was a specific example of him reaching out to the State representatives or Congress to help Oakley, he said there was no example.

“I’ve talked to fire with McNerney, he said it’s [fire service] a local state and county thing. There is too much shoulder shrugging on stuff,” said Hardcastle.

When asked if he had met with Supervisor Mary Piepho on local issues to help the fire district or the City of Oakley, he highlighted he had only spoke with her during local Board meetings such as Tri Delta Transit but never in a one-on-one meeting.

Hardcastle was asked about his supporters and endorsements as he gears up for the campaign. He didn’t provide names, but says he has support.

“Everybody that I’ve talked to, I haven’t written down for my flyer or whatever, but I’ve not talked to one single person who said I don’t support you,” said Hardcastle. “Others have said I can’t support you because I am in a political thing and they are worried about repercussions if they come out and support me.”

Hardcastle provided an example that at Senator Steve Glazers swearing in, he was talking to people and they were looking over their shoulder because Supervisor Piepho was there.

“They are all looking over their shoulder, and I am going really,” explained Hardcastle. “Mary Piepho was one of the first people I told I was running, she replied I thought we were friends. I go we are friends but I think I can do a better job.”

Hardcastle believes voters should support him because he will be fiscally responsible and make sure their money is spent appropriately while fighting for public safety and fixing roads.

“I will come in fiscally responsible and will protect their dollar to make sure it’s spent properly and where it needs to be spent. We are elected for the health, welfare and safety of the people we represent and I don’t believe that’s totally being done right there and I will make a change in that. I will not take no for that and a shrug of the shoulders is not an answer. I want response and I will get a response,” said Hardcastle.

Hardcastle has lived in Contra Costa his entire life and has been married to his wife Lyn for 43-years while living in Oakley for 35-years. He has served in the Army and earned an honorable discharge while running his business since 1972. He attends Golden Hills Community Church where he has been in their choir for 14-years.

Editors notes:
During the interview, Hardcastle did not disclose how much funding he had raised to date saying he does not have a total number on that. He also did not provide any endorsements when asked.

Donations:
For those wishing to donate to Hardcastles campaign, he will be launching a website in the near future. Checks can be made out to “Friends of Hardcastle for Supervisor 2016” You can drop them off at Hardcastle RV located on Main Street in Oakley.

Interview occurred on Sept. 30, 2015