oakley press 07.04.14
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Your Hometown Weekly NewspaperTRANSCRIPT
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CAL FIRE urges residents to use caution when celebrating with fireworks.
Firework safetygo to news/press releases
Olympic potential
A young gymnast hopes to represent the U.S. in an international competition. Page 15A
Delightfully delectable
Get the scoop on East County’s latest culinary masterpieces in The Dish. Page 1B
Artist Block .........................7ACalendar ............................ 11BClassifieds ........................... 7B Cop Logs ............................ 10BFood ...................................... 4BMilestones ........................13AOpinion ..............................14AOutdoors .............................8ASports .................................15AThe Dish ............................... 1B
Brown is the new green
A local golf course is taking on a unique strategy to save water during the drought. Page 5A
HAPPYHAPPY
Soak up some fun at Summer Blaze Day Camp. The program, hosted by the City of Oakley Recreation Division, returns July 7. Campers play games, sports, make arts and crafts and partici-
pate in lots of water-based activities to keep them cool in the sum-mer heat. Camp takes place at three different locations each week, including the Freedom High School pool for swim days. The camp runs Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. through July 18. Admission is $10 per day. For more details, call 925-625-7044.
Fun in the sun
Photo courtesy of the City of Oakley
The Oakley City Council got its fi nancial house in order this week, unanimously approving the City’s budget for the 2014-15 fi scal year, which City Manager Bryan Montgomery describes as “balanced, but tight.”
“We have developed the recommended budget with re-straint and a focus on core services,” said Montgomery, explain-ing that gradual economic and real estate improvements creat-ing new sources of revenue are threatened by rising costs such as Oakley’s contract for police services. “Overall, we are not able to include all that we know is on the City’s wish list, but the bud-get presented here is lean, balanced and remains true to current strategic priorities.”
After making several amendments to a preliminary draft budget discussed at the May 27 council meeting, Finance Direc-tor Paul Abelson and his staff came before the council during
City Council passes budget
see Budget page 18A
Measure E dollars fund LMC makeover
Facilities at Los Medanos College (LMC) will be getting a makeover thanks to Measure E, a $450 million bond measure Contra Costa County voters passed in the primary election earlier this month.
The bond raises Contra Costa Community College Dis-trict’s (CCCCD) annual fee on property owners from $13 per $100,000 assessed value to $26.
CCCCD is one of the largest multi-college community college districts in California. Alongside LMC and its satellite campus in Brentwood, the district also includes Diablo Valley College (DVC) in Pleasant Hill and its satellite campus in San Ramon, and Contra Costa Community College (CCCC) in San Pablo.
Currently, 55,000 stu-dents attend colleges within the
CCCCD in core academic class-rooms that are deteriorating and are stocked with outdated equip-ment and laboratory technology. Nursing, fi re science and techni-cal programs are also being held in facilities that lack the modern
equipment needed to properly train students.
“In the past, LMC has had a signifi cant portion of the prior bonds,” said LMC Workforce and Programs Director David Wahl. “That’s how we have a
brand new library, math, and science building.”
Despite getting prior-ity in past bond funds, facili-ties at LMC Pittsburg and the Brentwood Campus are still out of date. Measure E will provide approximately $85 million in ad-ditional funds.
“We will be able to retrofi t and update the College Core Complex as well as begin con-struction on buildings for stu-dent life and performing arts as well as modernize our gym and aquatic facilities,” said Wahl. “But something we are very happy about is that we will be able to begin construction on the Brentwood Center. That is something we’ve been waiting for.”
Currently, the LMC Brentwood campus is housed inside of a former grocery store
Facilities at Los Medanos College (LMC) will be getting a make-over thanks to Measure E, a $450 million bond measure Contra Costa County voters passed in the primary election earlier this month.
Press file photo
by Corey HuntCorrespondent
see Measure E page 18A
by Kellie McCownCorrespondent
Vol. 14, No. 27 YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER July 4, 2014
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NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS & EVENTS
OMMUNITY Got an interesting photo or breaking news story? E-mail your information to [email protected].
City to unveil new veterans sculpture
The City of Oakley will host a special event Saturday, July 12 for the unveiling of the eagle sculpture which will be the centerpiece of the city's future veteran's memorial. The event kicks off at 11 a.m. and runs until 1 p.m.
Attendees will be among the first to see the completed white granite sculpture and meet the artist Scott Luken, who will be making some of the final cuttings of the piece at the event.
The sculpture is a rendition of a bronze eagle monument established in commemoration of WWI, which stood in Oakley until 1976 before being relocated to the Antioch fairgrounds. Attendees will also get to take home small spoils, or unused pieces of granite, out of which the sculpture was crafted.
Residents will also have the opportunity to buy their own personalized bricks to be incorporated into the veterans
memorial. Bricks are $125 each. The deadline to purchase a brick or to become a business sponsor is July 31. Business sponsorship opportunities range from $1,000 to $3,000.
Plans are on track to commence construction and unveil the monument during Oakley's Veterans Day Observance on Nov. II .
The memorial will be installed at the corner of Main Street and Norcross Lane and will be complimented by five red granite columns surounding a blue granite base upon which the American flag will fly. Each of the representative columns will bear the insignias of the five branches of the U.S. military: Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard.
For more information, call Nancy Marquez-Suarez at 925-625-7007 or e-mail [email protected]. us.
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Citizenship success
Photo courtesy of You, Me, We= Oakley
T his year's You, Me, We = Oakley Community Citizenship Drive held in May was so successf ul that the nonprofit organization decided t o host a second event last w eekend t o help Oakley residents ful
fi ll t heir dreams of becoming lega l citizens. Volunteer Esther Barcenas (right) helps residents f ill out the necessary citizenship paperwork during the June 28 Cit izenship Drive Part II event. In part nership w ith Internat ional Inst itute of t he Bay Area and Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization, You, Me, We = Oakley has been hosting annual citizenship drive events f or the past t hree years. In this yea r's two-part event, 55 residents were assisted in their quest for citizenship.
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JULY 4, 2014 COMMUNITY THEPRESS.NET | 11A
Soroptimist International of the Delta re-cently held its offi cer installation dinner at Abby’s Gourmet Studio at Trilogy. The Founder Region Governor Dona Gaddis-Wolf presided over the event, installing Jan Schults as president, Kathi Regan as vice president, Leanne Sarmento as secretary and Mary Morris as treasurer for the 2014-15 year.
Soroptimist International is a global wom-en’s nonprofi t organization whose 80,000 mem-bers volunteer to improve the lives of women and girls through programs leading to social and eco-nomic empowerment.
Soroptimist International of the Delta was chartered in 1984. The club is celebrating 30 years in the community thanks to the Soroptimist In-ternational of East Contra Costa County, which sponsored the charter.
Soroptimist International of the Delta meets on the fi rst Tuesday of the month (except
in June, July, August and November) at Dad’s Café in Brentwood at 6 p.m.
The East Contra Costa County club meets at Dad’s Café on the fi rst Thursday of the month for dinner meetings as well as the third Thursday of the month for lunch meetings.
Soroptimist International is hosting a clothes collection drive for Dress For Success, a nonprofi t that provides business attire to disad-vantaged women so that they can be successful in job interviews. Clean and ready-to-wear business attire in all sizes as well as handbags and new, un-opened make-up are accepted. Donations may be dropped off at The Brentwood Press offi ce, 248 Oak St. in Brentwood, through July 21.
Women interested in fi nding out more may e-mail Soroptimist International of the Delta at [email protected] or Soroptimist International of East Contra Costa County at [email protected].
Soroptimist turns 30
Many Californians will be cel-ebrating our nation’s independence with fi reworks, but CAL FIRE urges extreme caution during California’s drought emergency.
It can take hundreds of thou-sands of gallons of water to control a large wildfi re. Effective July 1, CAL FIRE Chief Ken Pimlott ordered a ban on open burning throughout the 31 million acres of responsibility protected by CAL FIRE due to the elevated threat of wildfi re caused by the drought emergency.
“We are urging the public to cel-ebrate our nation’s independence by attending a professional fi reworks display,” said Chief Pimlott, direc-tor of CAL FIRE. “For those who choose to use fi reworks to celebrate, make sure fi reworks are allowed in the area of use and follow all safety precautions. You don’t want to ruin your celebration by becoming fi nan-cially responsible for a fi re caused by your activities.”
California has a zero tolerance policy for the sale and use of illegal fi reworks. Illegal fi reworks include sky rockets, bottle rockets, roman candles, aerial shells, fi recrackers and other types that explode, fl y into the air or move on the ground in an un-controllable manner.
It is illegal to sell, transport or use fi reworks that do not carry the “Safe and Sane” seal, as well as pos-
sess or use any fi reworks in a commu-nity where they are prohibited.
If convicted, a violator could be fi ned up to $50,000 as well as sent to jail for up to one year.
There are nearly 300 communi-ties within California that allow Safe and Sane fi reworks.
CAL FIRE is asking the public to take the following precautions: • Check that fi reworks are allowed in the area of use. • Make sure the fi rework has the State Fire Marshal “Safe and Sane” seal.• Purchase fi reworks only from le-gitimate organizations authorized to sell. • Have a bucket of water or sand, or a garden hose available at fi ring site. • Read all instructions before use. • Never alter, modify or enhance fi re-works – use only in the manner in-tended. • Make sure fi reworks have proper clearance from fl ammable materials including dry grass and brush.
CAL FIRE has already respond-ed to more than 2,500 wildland fi res this year – a large increase in the av-erage number of fi res for the same time period. Residents are urged to visit www.ReadyforWildfi re.org for tips on how to prepare their homes and family for wildfi re. The website also links to important water saving tips, a resource critical to the control of wildfi res.
Have a safe Fourth
18A | THEPRESS.NET COMMUNITY JULY 4, 2014
a special meeting on Monday night to submit a fi nished plan that organizes nearly $40 million in total funds to cover the expected costs of operating the city and cover any unforeseen expenses that might come up along the way.
“Following our (May) work session…we went back and updated the budget document with the changes that were suggested, including $2 million that we appropri-ated for fund balance, as well as some other changes,” Abelson said to the council.
The allocations are broken down into fi ve catego-
ries of funding: General, Special Revenue, Debt Service, Capital Projects and Internal Service. It was primarily General Funding that saw some rearrangement before fi nal approval as $2 million originally earmarked for re-serves was transferred to “one-time type expenditures” – a sign that city leaders are feeling comfortable enough with current fi nancial conditions to engage in new spend-ing. The reason the money could be moved was because reserve funds were at 34 percent of the General Fund budget, a substantial amount above the 20 percent re-quired.
Minor revisions were also made to transfer some re-
serve money for lighting and landscaping due to much-needed upgrades in these services throughout the city.
Councilman Kevin Romick expressed satisfaction with the proposal before he and his colleagues voted unanimously to make it offi cial: “I think we’re doing the right thing with our $2 million, and with fi nding places – deserving places in the community – to spend the money,” he said. “As I’ve said in the past, we’re not here to build up giant fi efdoms or kingdoms of dollars, we’re here to take the tax dollars that are collected and spend them wisely, and I think we have done that with this budget.”
To comment, visit www.thepress.net.
on Sand Creek Road. The location ca-ters to students in far East County, but the facility is no longer large enough to meet the student population. Measure E funds will cover the planning, design and construction costs for the new $34 million Brentwood Center, which will be located
on district-owned land off of Marsh Creek Road.
LMC Vice President Kevin Horan says beginning construction on the new campus that will span 17.5 acres is some-thing the district is hoping to start as soon as possible.
“The Brentwood Center is our No. 1
priority project,” said Horan. “We have allocated approximately $42 million from Measure E to go towards the center.”
Other district upgrades include seis-mic retrofi tting at CCCC as well as a new science and health building for the San Pablo campus and new engineering and performing arts buildings at DVC.
The passing of Measure E comes on the tails of two wins for similar bond measures in 2000 and 2006 that provided funding for the updating of facilities at all district campuses. Residents can pre-pare to see the property fee increases in 2015.
To comment, visit www.thepress.net.
Budget from page 1A
Measure E from page 1A
Craig Leighty and Brenda Wallace were married
during a cozy backyard wedding at their Oakley home in the Summer Lakes division. For their honeymoon, the couple enjoyed a two-week trip to Italy and they let the Oakley Press tag along. The couple posed with their Hometown Weekly Newspaper in Venice, Florence, Pisa and Rome. Thank you for sharing your magical vacation with us, and we at The Press wish you a long and happy marriage. Congratulations!
Seen in Italy
