The Antioch City Council met again Friday night to discuss the proposal from Council members Motts and Thorpe for a Transitional Housing plan. They introduced the idea of placing a transitional shelter around the corner from schools, residential neighborhoods and a few hundred feet from one of the most dangerous crime corridors in Antioch.
Why would you place a homeless shelter in an area already suffering and struggling to survive? Who do Motts and Thorpe truly represent? The citizens of Antioch? Is this Plan how you represent us?
Motts commented that their plan will serve about 30 people, which is only about 5% of our current homeless. Is this any way to propose to manage a program? Spend your precious resources to address only 5% of the issue, with no end in sight, no idea about the actual program costs, and no concern for the economic and public safety impacts of what you are about to undertake.
Up to this point, they’ve gotten almost no input from the people most affected: people with families, property owners, business owners, schools, day care centers.
There has been no collaboration with County and State officials who are the entities that have the resources and expertise to start solving this human crisis. The City cannot solve this issue on its own. We don’t have the resources or the expertise to solve homelessness.
Estimates right now place the price tag at over $1 million yearly and that doesn’t include the loss of hotel occupancy tax monies of about $100,000 per year.
At the item’s end, Thorpe made his motion which passed with the support of Motts and Monica Wilson, to conduct a feasibility study, and release a Request for Proposal for Homeless services.
What services? The study hasn’t been done, and it hasn’t been determined this is a workable plan that’s acceptable. What should we be doing?
How about starting with collaborating with County and State officials, break ground on the proposed homeless shelter next to the county services building adjacent to LMC, and quit the political grandstanding. I am getting very tired of this policy by ”pin the tail on the donkey.”
It’s time for better leadership, smarter policy and a safer Antioch.
Manny Soliz Jr.
Former Mayor Pro Tem & Council Member, City of Antioch
Current Antioch District 1 Candidate
14 comments
With the exception of Lori, hilarious to see that Antioch continues to elect idiots to serve on the City Council.
This man is right! But, why are so many of the homeless (many from other states) here in Antioch? What’s wrong with Clayton, Concord, Martinez, Moraga, Orinda, etc.? Why do we, Californians, have to be shelling out our tax dollars on these people? What about charging the states from where they were sent as part of that BUS THERAPY project?
Rox! I have relatives living in those cities and they may spot a homeless person once-in-a-while, probably heading for Antioch! It’s gotten to be totally ridiculous here! Between the homeless and people who don’t take care of the outside of their houses, Antioch has become BLIGHT CITY!
I rather my tax dollars be wasted on trying to help the homeless than literally anything else!! There’s literally an abundant of more pressing issues but this so-called journalist thought this is the time to call out local politicians for trying to help out the homeless??? That’s what matters to you right now?? Your lack of empathy and basic decency is truly disappointing to me as an American.. And wear a mask you piece of ****!! And for the sake of the East Bay, PLEASE FIRE THIS WRITER!! His opinions should not be published!!
As an American (Adrian) who wants to go against our 1st Amendment right to free speech is a pathetic example of what is happening to our country. Be glad that your comments are not edited or banned from this site!!!
Maybe our tax dollars could help the homeless get back to their home states and towns! Create a program and call it HOMEWARD BOUND!
Ah…for all those people nostalgic for the 90s, when the Antioch City Council was the laughing stock of the Bay Area. Manny was in the thick of things. Those folks were nuts. Not to mention, that council approved development without requiring the necessary infrastructure, which resulted in the hideous Highway 4 commute. Looking forward to seeing this guy walk around town with a huge ” City Council member” tag on his lapel. Kina like David Steinberg walking around with MD on his lapel
Absolutely! Trouble is, there’s a lot of new people in Antioch, who know nothing about those days and who won’t take the trouble to find out.
It’s so very easy to criticize others, but what is HIS solution. Homelessness in Antioch is not new, it’s been here for decades. What did Manny do about it when in was on the Council and Mayor Pro Tem? All I can remember the Council doing back then was permitting untold building and more building, claiming they couldn’t stop it! Remember when Hwy 4 was bumper to bumper for those years? Homelessness and other problems in Antioch are not going to be solved so long as Antioch citizens go to the polls and keeps recycling the same old failed names to the City government.
(Mr): I thought the issue with Hwy 4 is due to the STATE taking there SWEET times expanding the freeway? Wasn’t BART suppose to be here a decade+ ago? Oh wait, that is Manny’s fault too, right?
Rob, it’s THEIR sweet time. Not “THERE sweet time.” And the freeway is clogged up as it ever was. Maybe even worse now.
Eva, I apologize, I grew up with a learning disability, and try my best to be as “normal” as possible (and yes, English is my only language). I promise, I truly do try with my grammar. 🙁 I agree that even with the expansion that the traffic is still horrible, but worse, now we are expressing shootings. This is something I don’t recall being an issue a decade ago.
Had nothing to do with BART! Fact is, Antioch approved massive development with no regard for the impact on the commute on Highway 4. Requiring adequate infrastructure to support that development should have been a no brainer. It was so bad that real estate disclosures had to inform buyers of the hideous commute. The city council failed miserably
Disagree. The councils at the time, of which Manny was a part, thought they could force the state to enlarge Hwy 4 by building, building, building. It was a giant sell-out to the citizens of Antioch for the benefit of developers. (Who of course rewarded them with political contributions.) Were it not for this overbuilding, Antioch would not be the Section 8 magnet that it became.
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