“It is going to be illuminated and it’s gorgeous,” Kolette Simonton, the city’s director of recreation, said of the city block-letter sign. “Just to see the word ‘Pittsburg,’ it means a lot. For Pittsburg people, we stand tall and proud.”

Interactive 3D signs bearing city names have long been common in tourist destinations, but in the age of social media, smaller cities like Pittsburg also are beginning to see the branding value of such signs to inspire civic pride. City leaders are hoping people will take photos by the sign and post them, helping to spread the word about their town.

“It’s gonna be one of those monuments that’s going to be here forever,” Simonton said. “It’s going to be the one where each graduating class is probably going to go there to take pictures.”

They also might want to take photos at the city’s new “Old Town Pittsburg” gateway sign being installed this week in the downtown, the first such sign since the 1950s.

Funding for the $3.3 million beautification and sign projects comes from a $2.9 million Caltrans’ Clean California Local Grant Program, which will also cover the costs of the parklet where the block-letter sign is being mounted, street landscaping and other beautification work. The grant, awarded in 2022, required a match of $413,137, which the city got from American Rescue Plan funds.

The awards are part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Clean California Initiative, a $1.1 billion multi-year cleanup effort led by Caltrans that aims to remove trash, create jobs and transform public spaces.

Dubbed “The Reviving the Heart of Pittsburg Pride,” the Pittsburg beautification project aims to revitalize “the pride of people to take ownership and to stop littering,” project manager Zuna Barker Portillo said.

“The goal is for us to care about the surrounding areas,” she said.

Nearly complete, the block-letter sign and base, which cost $325,000, is located on what was long an empty lot at 1595 Railroad Ave., where a new pocket park with walkways and benches is now being built. Barker Portillo said the city chose the location because of its proximity to the high school, which is only a block away.

Gates and Associates of Walnut Creek designed both signs, the parklet and some dry-creek landscaping along Railroad Avenue after getting input through surveys of residents on the beautification projects.

Designed after the Pismo Beach seaside block-letter sign, the 3D Pittsburg sign with 6-foot-tall letters will be illuminated at night, though the silhouette of the letters will be orange and black, same as the high school’s colors, according to Barker Portillo.

City staff will have the ability to change the colors of the lights depending on the season or occasion, she said.

“The idea of the entire project is just taking ownership and pride of the city,” she said.

Down the road at Railroad Avenue and Eighth Street, the new $350,000 gateway sign also offers photo opportunities. Nearly completed, the sign features white “Old Town Pittsburg” letters set on an orange metal archway stretching across Railroad Avenue with colorful porcelain panels attached to concrete columns at each side. The panels, inspired by images from the Pittsburg Historical Society Museum, show the former U.S. Steel plant – once the city’s largest private employer — the marina, Mt. Diablo and the award-winning Pittsburg High School Marching Band.

“The design was inspired by the community,” the project manager said, noting the city sought input at events and on social media.

The city is planning a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the gateway sign at 5:30 p.m. on June 13 to celebrate the entire beautification project. A car show with live music by Bob Kinney and the Livin’ Daylites will follow.

The move will pave the way for a new Costco store and gasoline station in northwestern Brentwood, with construction beginning as early as this summer, according to city officials.

“The city is extremely pleased with the court decision, and the voluntary decision of dismissal to help Costco move forward,” Brentwood City Manager Tim Ogden said. “When Costco will open up is the most-asked question I get from residents, and we’re eager to see it move forward now.”

After the Brentwood Planning Commission approved the proposed store last June, attorneys for Albert D. Seeno III’s West Coast Builders appealed to the City Council, arguing that the environmental documents the city used for the project were outdated and the proposal should have been denied or at least undergone deeper environmental review.

The attorneys, in their letter, said that the proposed warehouse, tire shop and gas station will have environmental effects that were never previously studied. They claimed the proposed gas station and improvements to the parcel were “likely to cause environmental damage or substantially and unavoidably injure fish or wildlife or their habitat, as well as create potential public health hazards.”

Brentwood senior planner Jennifer Hagen, however, has said the project was consistent with the city’s general plan, specific plan and the land use designations for the site, did not require additional environmental review and met all development standards. The council on July 25 denied the developer’s appeal, unanimously approving the 154,582-square-foot warehouse south of Lone Tree Plaza.

West Coast Builders, which plans to construct 266 homes south of the proposed Costco site, then last August filed a lawsuit jointly with another Seeno company, Discovery Builders against the city for what they said were violations of the California Environmental Quality Act and the city’s general plan.

Attorneys for the Seeno companies could not immediately be reached for comment.

Ogden said this week that Costco plans to close escrow on the property next month and pull permits for work in July. With a 100-day timeline from start to finish, Costco expects to be open by “the first of the year,” he said.

Pari Holliday, Costco’s real estate development director, has said the warehouse would bring “significant job opportunities,” including some 250 to 300 warehouse jobs, as well as donating one percent of its revenue to local charities.

The Costco warehouse project will be built on two vacant parcels, with nearly 20 acres being developed. The warehouse would include a bakery, pharmacy, optical center, hearing aid testing center, food court, alcohol sales, tire sales and an installation center and a fuel station at the site east of Heidorn Ranch Road near the Antioch border.

Earlier this spring, the City Council unanimously adopted rules to increase fines to up to $1,000 per violation or up to $10,000 a day for unlicensed commercial cannabis activity. Before that, the city could issue fines of $100, $200 or $500 for code violations, and there was no cap.

But on Tuesday, the council unanimously adopted a new ordinance, clarifying that each marijuana plant illegally cultivated outdoors or indoors in excess of the six plants that state law allows will be subject to separate administrative fines.

New rules also clarified that a property owner has the right to appeal a citation to an administrative hearing officer and possibly be given time to remedy the situation. To clear the fines, the property owner would have to prove that the tenant had the illegal cannabis, the rental agreement did not allow commercial cannabis and the property owner didn’t know the tenant was engaging in unlawful cannabis activity.

Failure to prove all three conditions would result in the fines being upheld, according to the staff report.

Councilman George Fuller, though, said it was the property owner’s responsibility to keep an eye out for such illegal doings.

“I don’t give landowners much slack (for) not knowing that cannabis is being grown inside their grow house,” he said. “I think it’s their responsibility to look at it. There’s many indicators – increased electrical use, increased water use. Nobody’s coming into the house. It’s got papered over.”

According to staff, property owners will be mailed a notification when code enforcement issues a violation to a property, which may include a citation. If the notice is returned, additional steps are taken to find the owner, and once located, a hearing is set and the administrative judge determines the amount of time the owner has to correct the issue.

Councilman Aaron Meadows, who works in real estate, said property managers can’t simply go into people’s houses without notice to see if there are illegal grows or anything else.

“We don’t have that right,” he said.

According to the California Tenants Guide, a landlord or agent must give an advanced written notice that includes the date and the purpose of a visit.

Property owners and tenants have obligations to each other under California law that are “well-stated and regulated” and the city does not get involved in those rules, City Attorney Derek Cole noted.

“Our hearing officer is going to expect the landlord to come forward with some facts (to avoid a citation),” he said. “But, I think all of the concerns you’re raising – all of you – make some very good points. I do think the drafting of the ordinance captures that and gives us flexibility.”

Assembly Bill 1684, which became effective Jan.1, allows municipalities to impose higher fines on both the property and each of its owners, declaring the unauthorized business a public nuisance.

Under the new state rules, fines can be levied for all unlicensed commercial cannabis activity, including the cultivation, manufacturing, processing, distribution, or retail sale of cannabis products.

Forlow grew up in Brentwood’s downtown art deco-style Delta Theater, which her family bought in 1955 and owned and operated for nearly two decades. She saw all the classics — “The Ten Commandments,” “Ben-Hur,” “Hercules” and many more – and she’s anxious to see the nearly 100-year-old movie palace reopen after a four-year closure.

“There’s a whole big difference between a 50-inch screen in your house and a screen at the movie theater – a huge difference,” said Forlow, now an East Contra Costa Historical Society museum archivist. “When I see people watch movies on their phone, I go, ‘Why don’t you just watch it on a postage stamp?’ The bigger the screen, the better for me.”

Forlow will soon get her wish, as Sean McCauley and partner Ron Harrison and their crew work feverishly to restore the 1937-era movie theater at 641 First St. for a late May opening. Despite competition from other movie houses, such as the 14-screen theater at the Streets of Brentwood shopping center several miles away, local redevelopers believe the restored iconic two-screen theater will be a big draw.

“We didn’t really want to buy it, but the former owners weren’t going to put a lot of money into that particular building,” McCauley said of his 2019 purchase. “We knew it was the anchor of downtown Brentwood, and that’s the only building that brings 1,000 people a day, on a weekend, to downtown.”

But McCauley, who by himself and with Harrison, has bought and renovated some 10 buildings downtown, said refurbishing and reopening the theater makes sense “to keep the momentum” of “businesses thriving there.”

With chain and other retail stores locating elsewhere, Brentwood’s city center was “more of a ghost town” until it started to turn into “a more social area,” starting in 2016 with upscale restaurants like Zephyr’s Grill and Bar in a building he had refurbished, he said.

“The downtown district is a social district now, and we’re seeing a lot of downtown districts such as Martinez and even San Francisco, Antioch and now Brentwood, turning that way,” he said. “Back when I was a kid, it was more retail.”

McCauley, though, acknowledged the timing turned out to be tough as the COVID-19 pandemic hit shortly after he bought the theater, then-called Cinelux Delta Cinema, which was forced to close in 2020.

“We got hit with this perfect storm of of bad,” he said. “We had to do a humongous remodel, and with COVID, the city was closed down and the operator bailed.”

McCauley said that the pandemic changed movie-going and the former operator has since then “been instrumental in helping us open back up again.” Even so, McCauley and his partner decided to operate the new movie house themselves, though they did hire someone to direct the day-to-day operations.

“Netflix, Prime Video and streaming killed the theater after COVID,” he said. “The movie industry is way different than it is today. The theater business is definitely not what it was.”

McCauley, though, is optimistic that things will be different in Brentwood because of all the support he’s received so far from residents.

“The difference is we’re trying to keep our prices low, there’s that whole charm of Brentwood and the old-town charm of that particular theater,” McCauley said. “We’ve seen legitimately, like, crazy-good support from Brentwood residents.”

Tickets will range from $8 to $12, depending on the seat and whether there’s a student or senior discount, while Tuesdays — as in the past — will also be reserved for bargain-priced movies, he said.

As for renovations, McCauley said he has tried to keep “the old-town, old-school vibe of this particular theater” even as they install a variety of new, high-end vinyl reclining seats along with non-reclining ones, duet romantic seats for couples, new screens, a state-of-the-art digital sound system and all-new digital equipment. They even took over the space from an adjacent former candy store to add “beautiful, new modern bathrooms,” he said.

“We did a lot of research on what it was like, but then we put the really cool amenities that we have in theaters today,” McCauley said of the now 200-seat venue.

Perhaps the pièce de résistance, though, is the renovation of the foyer back to its open-air design and restoration of the marquee and the green “Delta” sign with neon pink lights to their 1937 splendor, which alone cost more than $100,000 and detailed work from numerous contractors, the owner said.

“Our biggest concern was just how it looked back when we were kids, back when I came here in 1970,” McCauley said. “I just wanted it to look like more the way it was originally built, so we took out that front door area that they put in in the ‘90s and we opened back up to be more original.”

Josh Caudle, hired to handle day-to-day theater operations, said he’s been impressed with McCauley’s dedication to restore the art deco theater back to its original 1930s’ look.

“If we had kept it the other way (with a closed foyer), I would have had more lobby space; I could have generated more dollars per square foot,” Caudle said, noting McCauley was more interested in authentic restoration. “I love that that was the first thing that he prioritized.”

“In terms of the entire experience, there’s going to be some nice aesthetic touches that you just don’t see anywhere else,” Caudle said.

Gold curtains also have been added to the theater’s stage, which will also be available for fundraisers, comedy shows, theatrical events and talks by local film celebrities, he said.

“Well just try a lot of different stuff,” Caudle said. “Basically, it’s not just movies anymore.”

In the early days, that was also the case, Forlow said. Her mother, Rose Pierce, a Spanish speaker, made sure she included Mexican films and entertainment. She remembers mariachi groups and other Mexican entertainers performing at the Delta, including the immensely popular film star Cantinflas and exotic dancer Tongolele (Yolanda Montes).

“We had a lot of farm laborers back then and we catered to their entertainment,” she said.

In the 1950s, The Great Toussaint, a master hypnotist and magician entertained there. Forlow claimed that her father had to call him back from Stockton after a show when he found a woman still hypnotized in the back of the dark theater at the end of the night.

Though the new Delta Theater doesn’t have magic or hypnotist shows planned, it might seem like a step back in time for theatergoers when they watch some of the decades-old cartoons  — including the original Superman series — Caudle has planned before the movies and during the Saturday farmers markets.

And, then there’s the food, which will have a modern touch, with items such as homemade pizza, panini sandwiches, pretzels and at least a handful of gourmet items on the menu, McCauley said. Anthony Roost of Attraversiamo, a Brentwood farm-to-table restaurant, is designing the locally sourced menu, he said. Wine and beer – all of it local – also will be served, he said.

Of course, there will be popcorn. Caudle said it will be prepared in a high-end popping machine with a tumbler to evenly coat the kernels with hot butter in a variety of flavors, including red-hot Ghost Pepper Popcorn.

“We’re really not going cheap on anything in there,” McCauley said of the $15,000 popcorn machine.

With Antioch’s downtown train platform slated to close next year in favor of an Oakley stop, a group of residents and activists on Wednesday afternoon urged leaders to do whatever it takes to keep it open.

“This is really important to us because our community relies on this transportation to get to and from everywhere,” Tachina Garrett, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Action chair, told the dozens gathered near the platform. “This is not a low-income problem. This is a problem for the community; this train services veterans, senior citizens, students, youth and working families.”

Speakers at the afternoon rally, organized by Antioch ACCE Action members, said the trains provide a vital service for area residents, and they won’t abandon their fight to keep the Antioch platform from being decommissioned.

“We’re not going to allow it,” Eddie Gums of ACCE Action said. “We’re going to have to actively protest, we’re going to actively do everything it takes to make this train station stay.”

Within minutes, the rally was interrupted by the blaring sound of an Amtrak horn signaling a train was about to pull in. Among those waiting were retirees David and Diane Stertzbach about to board the train to Bakersfield to visit their son and family. Sterzbach said she prefers riding trains and that her children and grandchildren use them too to visit her and her husband.

“Pay attention to the people that are getting onto this train that is coming,” Garrett said. “This is not a dead stop. People are still taking this train.”

Resident Rufino Ramos agreed, saying it would be devastating for him to lose the Antioch stop.

“This station was here way before they were a city and we want it to stay here and we’re not going to walk away from this,” he said of the impending move of the train stop to Oakley.

The San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority board, which oversees the intercity passenger rail service between Oakland and Bakersfield, voted last spring to decommission the unstaffed Antioch stop in favor of nearby Oakley, where construction on a new train platform and parking lot is set to begin in October.

No reason was given for eliminating the Antioch stop, but a railway spokesman said on Wednesday that talks began back in 2017, with safety concerns about unhoused residents living at the site, fare evasion and vandalism.

“These concerns were brought to the attention of the city, and the decision was made to close the station,” David Lipari, a San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission spokesman, said in an email.

As for the possibility of keeping both stations open, Lipari said that “the current service plan, railroad agreement, and infrastructure available does not allow for both stations to remain open.” The new station will be less than six miles from the one in Antioch, a distance that disqualifies having both stations due to the inability to get the trains up to speed before they have to slow down again for a stop, according to officials.

But Lipari added that the SJJPA’s longer-term plans call for “the reintroduction of the Antioch Station with anticipation of a solution being found to operate both stations.” He did not, however, give a timeline.

The elimination of the stop didn’t sit well with Antioch Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe, who said at the time that he was “blindsided,” calling the move “unfair.” He also noted that while authorities said the area was unsafe, it has since been cleaned up.

Mayor Pro Tem Monica Wilson, who attended the rally, also said she had no inkling the Antioch stop was going to be eliminated.

“I feel bad for all these community members; you shut the station down, and now people say, ‘this is my only way to get to San Joaquin (County) where I go visit parents’ or ‘my job is in San Joaquin,’” she said. “I think had they heard from the community, I think they would have had a different take on it.”

Melvin Willis, a Richmond City councilman who works with ACCE Contra Costa County, also questioned how the move was approved with little or no community input. Happening near the tail end of pandemic shutdown, the proposal to decommission Antioch’s station sailed through with many unaware it was up for a vote, he said.

“They may have already made that decision, but it was a decision that wasn’t made with the most integrity or wasn’t made with honor; it didn’t include community,” he said. “That decision has to be reevaluated and impact analysis needs to happen.”

Willis then urged residents to attend the next San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority meeting, which will be from 10 a.m. to noon on July 19 on Zoom or in person at 949 Channel St., Stockton.

Organized by China Silicon Valley, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Silicon Valley with branches in Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the trip is the first the group has taken since the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s tour focuses on the green development of cities, business expansion and deepening international relationships through sister-city partnerships.

Though Antioch has no sister city in China, Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe said he sees the value in building such relationships, something he learned more about during a recent U.S. Conference of Mayors gathering in Washington D.C. and a visit with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“He said the best way mayors can help in international relations was partnerships because the best way of foreign policy is one-on-one engagement and people getting to know each other,” Hernandez-Thorpe said. “So I’m taking to heart the secretary’s recommendation.”

Shortly before departure on Sunday for the one-week trip, the Antioch mayor said he will be focusing on promoting strategic trade, the area’s economic strengths and potential job expansion. He also plans to showcase East Contra Costa’s Glydways micro transit system that will connect Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood and Oakley.

Others on the trip include Oakley Mayor Anissa Williams, San Carlos Mayor Adam Rak, East Palo Alto Mayor Antonio López, Saratoga Mayor Yan Zhao, Morgan Hill Mayor Pro Tem Marilyn Librers and Silicon Valley business leaders. The trips were paid for by the China-United States Exchange Foundation, a nonprofit based in Hong Kong.

The delegation is expected to tour several major cities and participate in a number of events, including meetings with local government officials and business leaders from some of the fast-growing cities, including in Hong Kong and Mainland China.

While there, Hernandez-Thorpe said he plans to promote Antioch’s deepwater port, AMPORTS’ expanded marine terminal, access to the BNSF railway and the planned construction of two major commercial warehouses.

“It’s not some small thing that AMPORTS now has a marine terminal here in Antioch,” he said. “And, I think for Oakley, it’s not a small thing that they have a logistics warehousing facility that’s anchored by Amazon.”

Hernandez-Thorpe said that while AMPORTS, one of the world’s largest automotive shipping companies, has been storing new cars in Antioch for a number of months, it was only last week that it brought cars there by ship after expanding the wharf to accommodate roll-on and roll-off traffic. The first vessel brought nearly 1,500 new Buicks from China and the cars will later be trucked to their destinations.

The first phase will be a pilot program to see the impacts from the ships, while the second phase of the project includes building an offloading car facility, where workers will process the cars before going off to market, the mayor said.

“For a long time, people have said, ‘why doesn’t Antioch utilize its deepwater ports?,’” Hernandez-Thorpe said. “Clearly, there’s an opportunity here and AMPORTS saw it and, from my perspective … if there’s an opportunity and it’s cheaper, why not?”

Not only will the offloading car facility provide some 40 jobs, but the marine industry has a multiplier effect, creating more jobs regionally as a result, he said.

“It’s kind of replicating what’s happening in Benicia,” the mayor said of AMPORTS’s similar Benicia facility.

In addition, two 450,000-square-foot warehouses suitable for advanced manufacturing, light industrial and more are about to break ground on East 18th Street, Hernandez-Thorpe said.

“There’s still a lot of flexibility for businesses to come in here,” he said, noting it’s a point he will make during his talks with Chinese business leaders.

Backed by the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, housing advocates on Wednesday turned in the more than 4,000 signatures needed to bring rent stabilization, just cause evictions and tenant protection rules before voters. Election officials have 30 days to verify the signatures.

“We did it,” Richmond City Councilman and ACCE member Melvin Willis told the small group gathered in front of City Hall. “Now, with all these signatures, we are going to be able to get this on the ballot and folks who didn’t have rental protections, eviction protections before ….they have a chance to actually assert the right not to be taken advantage of by people who are just looking at their housing as another price up in the stock market.”

Pittsburg ACCE Action member Nicole Arrington, who is unable to work because she has cancer, has been campaigning for this proposed ballot measure since it was first introduced last year. She said she has no other options as attempts to persuade the City Council to introduce the measure have failed in the past.

“It’s very necessary because unfortunately there are a lot of people here who have been evicted, and the majority of those people being evicted that I’ve seen personally are older Black women,” she said at Wednesday’s rally.

State law already offers some protections, allowing rents to rise by 5% plus inflation with a cap at 10%, but many properties like the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit building Arrington lives in are exempt.

Willis and other housing advocates said the proposed Pittsburg Rent Stabilization and Tenant Protections Ordinance will ensure a 3% rent cap or up to 60% of the inflation rate based on the Consumer Price Index.

Single-family homes, condos and any unit built since 1995 would be exempt from the rent stabilization portion of the proposed rules and landlords would still be able to charge market-rate rent to new tenants.

The new rules, though, will also protect against unjust evictions, safeguard against harassment of tenants and ensure healthy living conditions, according to tenant organizers.

Last year Arrington’s rent was $1,700 – the same as her social security check, but working with her landlord, she was able to get it reduced to $940, which is still more than 30% of her income, she said. And she still must pay back the $16,000 she was unable to pay when her rent was higher, she said.

“It’s kind of crazy that you live in a supposed income-based housing and they charge you more than what you get a month,” Arrington said.

Contra Costa County has seen homelessness and housing prices grow over the past few years. According to RentCafe, approximately 59% of Pittsburg residents are renters who pay an average rent of $2,213.

Advocacy groups last month submitted the required signatures to get a similar ordinance before San Pablo voters, while a group in Larkspur turned theirs in on Monday. Advocates also expect petition signatures for rent control ordinances to be submitted in Redwood City and Delano later this month.

The Pittsburg effort follows successful ballot measure campaigns last year to increase tenant protections in Oakland and Richmond, both of which already had rent control. In Antioch and Petaluma, officials approved new limits on rent hikes for some tenants, and Antioch is working on a just cause ordinance. The Concord City Council, meanwhile, enabled rent stabilization and just cause eviction laws last month after a real estate broker failed to push forward a referendum petition to let voters decide.

The proposed ordinance in Pittsburg will likely see pushback from landlords and rental property associations who have said new regulations could hurt those still struggling from lost rental income during pandemic eviction moratoriums.

Even so, housing advocates are determined to get rent stabilization and other protections in place, so tenants won’t have to worry about big spikes in rent or unjust evictions.

“Our seniors, our kids, our families and disadvantaged Black and Brown low-income communities deserve to have stable, secure housing,” Willis said.

Dubbed “Envision Pittsburg,” the 2040 general plan offers a blueprint for the city’s physical development, as well as its economic future, and sets forth goals and policies for everything from land use to paths for bicyclists and pedestrians to resource conservation.

“This is a document the city of Pittsburg can and should be proud of,” Pittsburg Mayor Juan Antonio Banales said in a statement. “This reflects the goals we, as a community, have held with the highest value: steady, thoughtful development; focusing on our infrastructure; and ensuring Pittsburg is the greatest place it can be for future generations.”

California cities and towns are required to maintain general plans and undergo comprehensive updates every 20 years. In Pittsburg, work on the updated plan began in 2018, and included more than five years of public outreach, workshops with the Pittsburg City Council and Planning Commission and environmental review.

John Funderburg, assistant director of community and economic development, noted the plan will replace the current one adopted in 2001 and will accommodate future growth in the city. Actual growth will depend on many factors outside of the city’s control, such as future real estate and labor market conditions, property owner decisions, site specific constraints and more, he said.

“No specific development projects are proposed or entitled as part of the 2024 General Plan update,” he told the city council on Monday. “As projects continue to come forward, they will be required to complete their own separate environmental review.”

Beth Thompson, of the De Novo Planning Group, said the draft general plan reflects the community’s values.

“These include concerns regarding sustainability and equity, ensuring that Pittsburg has a sustainable future, that your actions are equitable, and that as you make land use decisions that you’re really considering the needs of all residents,” she said.

Thompson added that the document also looks at mobility and circulation patterns, access to regional transportation, environmental impacts and the need for employment and other opportunities.

The new plan also considered changes to state law that weren’t previously addressed, she said. Some of the changes included promoting accessibility and mobility for all transportation system users, addressing noise, safety, housing, and environmental justice issues to be sure disadvantaged communities are considered in decisions, she said.

The land use map, meanwhile, determines what types of development, conservation activities and land uses can occur on each parcel.

“The map was developed with input from the community, planning commission and the city council and was intended to enhance the city’s existing residential neighborhoods and increase access to a variety of housing types,” Thompson said.

During public comments, though, some community members questioned the blueprint.

Nancy Parent, the city’s treasurer, objected to the “industrial use” designation at the former Pittsburg Golf Course, which was originally earmarked for a public purpose.

“Once it is built on, it is very hard to get back,” said Parent, who pointed out that there are industrial areas all over the city where such businesses can locate. “If you say that you want to sustain open space, you do not take private property given to the city for an open-space purpose and zone it just to make money for the city.”

Wolfgang Croskey echoed Parent’s concerns but as CEO of the local chamber of commerce, also said he’d like to see more areas for businesses.

Eric Haynes, business representative with Sheetmetal Workers Local 104, however, supported the plan.

Vice Mayor Jelani Killings asked how the plan will address the transitional areas from industrial to residential.

Thompson said the policies look at the impact of new development, including noise, health and safety, and address setbacks, sound walls and other changes that might be necessary.

She added that the proposed general plan makes room for about 15,500 new homes and about 26,000 million square feet for non-residential uses.

Jordan Davis, director of community and economic development, cautioned that the numbers represent what would happen if building is at the highest density, not what will occur.

“We don’t anticipate that those will be built,” he said. “In fact, when we did our previous general plan, we did not come anywhere near what was projected.”

For example, Funderburg said that the 2001 general plan was projected for 93,340 residents, but by 2020, the population was 76,416.

The City Council adopted the 2040 general plan in a 4-0 vote, with Councilwoman Angelica Lopez absent.

Though Oakley City Attorney Derek Cole cautioned the city cannot control a councilmembers’ speech on personal social media and has “limited ability” to enforce such a policy, council members still wanted to have a policy in place to give to new members at the start of their terms.

Cole explained that private social media accounts belong to the council members and are protected by the First Amendment. As such, the city cannot impose rules that forbid council members from engaging in any type of speech — even if that speech may be perceived as improper.

Most cities have social media policies for official staff communications and city accounts, but fewer try to regulate personal accounts.

In May of 2021 Antioch City Council members concluded they didn’t need a formal policy to regulate their social media posts. Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock had raised the idea, noting the California League of Cities has suggested municipalities consider such a policy as more elected officials and committee members find themselves embroiled in litigation over their online comments.

Discussion in Oakley this week was limited, but at an earlier workshop, the city attorney said if a city were sued because a councilmember said something defamatory, it would be virtually impossible to hold the city responsible because of its broad state immunities.

At the April 9 workshop, Cole said a proposed social media policy could not include any commands or impose any consequences, so it would not have much “teeth” to it.

Instead, the new policy includes “truisms” or cautions about what a council member could face as a result of posts on private social media pages.

“What this does is basically state what all term truisms, which is, if you use social media, you might create a public record, you might engage in a meeting, you might run afoul in certain situations of being deemed to have prejudged a matter, especially if we’re talking about what we what we’ve talked about as a quasi-judicial decision,” Cole said on Tuesday.

In addition, taking adverse actions against individuals who engage with councilmember social media accounts — such as “blocking” or deleting comments — also could be construed as a violation of First Amendment rights, he said in his staff report.

Councilmember Hugh Henderson brought the item forward at an earlier meeting, saying he wanted to see guidelines for what the Brown Act says the council members can or can’t do on social media.

At the time, Henderson said having guidelines for the current and future City Council will be helpful for both the members and the public.

No one spoke on the item on Tuesday except Councilmember George Fuller, who noted that the council chambers “has not been a comfortable place for free speech” over the past few years. He and a couple of council members have gotten into heated exchanges at times, but Fuller said he takes responsibility for what he says and writes on his personal pages.

He noted, though, that he doesn’t appreciate people telling him to “take that back” or “you’re going to suffer consequences.”

“This council, in the years that have gone by since I’ve sat on the dais, has spent $25,000 on consultants, to find a way to have a social media policy that would quiet certain councilmembers, especially myself,” he said. “If you add in the fee for bringing together the meetings and Mr. Cole’s expertise in writing the resolutions, it is at least $10,000 more.

“So this council has spent $35,000 on trying to abridge free speech,” he added.

That said, Fuller moved for the new advisory policy to be approved, noting he hopes “this ends the dialogue.” It passed unanimously.

The policy, which still must be approved on a second reading, applies only to comments and posts on council members’ personal accounts. City staff, including the police department, have their own social media policies that govern city communication through official channels, Cole said.

As the Oakley mom dabbled more into baking and gardening, growing herbs, vegetables and lettuce for fresh salads, her thoughts turned to future business ventures. First up was finding a natural fertilizer for her garden. She was frightened by chickens but delighted with the thought of ducks waddling around fertilizing her large back yard and eating any harmful garden slugs and snails. Ducks became her “pandemic pets.”

And from the ducks came eggs that were good for baking, Green added. It wasn’t long before Green had a thriving garden and was busy experimenting with her favorite cakes and pastries while planning a business that would combine her interests. Green had worked briefly in marketing, but that job had ended and her son was back in public school, so she had more time to work on her own venture, she said.

Green also loved drinking tea. Her grandmother, Frances, who had immigrated from Barbados, once a British colony, had instilled in her a love of fragrant teas, and she thought why not open a tea room? But costs were high for a brick-and-mortar business, so Green decided to take a tea business, with a small trailer, on the road.

Her traveling tea room was born. We recently asked Green about The Hen and the Drake Modern Tearoom. Her answers were edited for length and clarity.

Q: How did you come up with the name for your business?

A: Of course, drake is the name for a male duck, and hence The Hen and the Drake (reflecting her love of ducks). And, I wanted to bring across that it is more elegant and elevated.

Q: Where did you host your first tea?

A: I did a tea for a mother and her pregnant daughter in my backyard. It was kind of a special thing. I was hosting them in my backyard at first because we have a really big, beautiful backyard. The ducks (Toots, Daisy and Daphne) were part of the whole experience.

Q: What is the focus of your business?

A: I wanted to create not the kind of traditional tea you’d expect from a British high tea, but rather one with a Caribbean influence. I realized digging into my own history that there are similarities, but there’s also differences. So, instead of like a ham pie, I might make a meat pie. It would be a beef patty instead, which is similar. But most Caribbean (food) has more spices, a little heat. And I want it to be a little laid-back, a more relaxed kind of tea.

Q: You also cater at people’s homes?

A: Yes, we can bring and serve or they can buy the food and serve it themselves.

Q: What’s on your menu?

A: I still do traditional scones, but I mix it up to make it more modern. Like instead of a cheese stone, I have a jalapeno cheddar. And I do a seasonal menu. We always have blueberries because everybody loves them, but during the holidays, we switch to a pumpkin or cranberry, in keeping with the flavors of the season.

We also have tea cakes, which are actually cakes infused with tea. The one that’s really popular this month is the Earl Grey tea cake. Carrot cake and eclairs are popular too and we have a pink champagne cake that does really well. It’s pink, so it’s pretty, and it’s decorated with dried rose petals so everybody loves that. I also have a matcha tea cake and a chamomile tea cake.

Q: What about tea sandwiches?

A: Coronation chicken is a classic. I like to throw that in there because it’s something that especially American audiences may not know a lot about, but it’s a very, very British sandwich filling. It’s kind of like a chicken salad but with golden raisins with a little bit of curry. And you can’t go wrong with cucumber and egg salad sandwiches.

Q: Where did you learn to bake?

A: I’m self-taught. With everything shutting down during the pandemic, a lot of chefs were selling digital classes online. So I’ve done some of that and watched a lot on YouTube. I had a lot of practice.

Q: What is the most fun for you?

A: I think that’s the most fun part is like being able to be creative. So, I do have a typical chocolate eclair, but I’ve done ones with a cheesecake filling or rose cream instead of a regular pastry cream, or lemon meringue. I think about what kind of flavors I can put in this and make it something special.

Q: How long does it take to prepare your foods and where do you do that?

A: I prepare them at a commercial kitchen in Pittsburg. It’s a lot of time. When you’re getting to the deserts – especially the more complicated things – it’s several days of prep work. I have to make my pastry cream at least 12 hours before because it has to properly set. The same thing with a ganache.

Q: What kind of tea do you offer?

A: We have a supplier in Canada and they only do wholesale leaf teas. I feel really confident because they’re all ethically sourced teas. I carry 10 different blends, but I’m always trying new ones. I want to be more seasonally based. So I’m always looking to add something new and fun.

I always have two versions of Earl Grey tea as they have subtle differences. I have a Russian Earl Grey and I also have one called Baroness Grey, which has rose petals, orange peels and lime leaves. I also carry two types of chai tea because that’s something that’s exotic and different. I had some fun stuff for February. There’s one called Be Mine Chocolate Strawberry and that one was a super hit, so it’ll probably be a year-round thing. It’s mainly fruity with some cocoa bits, strawberry and hibiscus. But one of my favorites is called Prince Harry and Megan’s Royal Wedding blend, based on a South African Rooibos leaf that is earthy and nutty.

Q: What kind of china do you use for catered parties?

A: I have several sets and am still building. I’m trying to be a little bit more modern, so all of them are more minimalistic. We also do a lot with flowers. I think that’s why I wanted to go minimalistic because you have a little bit more creativity and flexibility with the decor.

Q: Where do you take your tea trailer?

A: We’ve been part of the Foodie Crew (food truck events), gone to a local park and we’re working with some wineries. We only travel in Contra Costa County for now. Since we are on the trailer now, there are new insights that I’m gaining, such as iced teas are doing really well. But, of course, it’s still cool in the evening. So, when we did Foodie Crew, we were selling iced tea and then the sun went down and we switched to hot tea.

Q: What are your plans for the future?

A: Eventually, I want to open a tea room. I can’t afford a tea room yet, but this is a way to get out there and do what I want to do right now until it’s time, until I get enough capital to have an actual physical space.

Erin Green

Age: 43

Position: Owner of The Hen and the Drake Modern Tearoom

Residence: Oakley

Education: San Francisco State, majored in business

Hometown: Sacramento

5 things to know about Erin Green

1. She loves vegetable gardening but is learning how to grow flowers for her business

2. Married to husband Tony Actone for 10 years; together they have a blended family with five children

3. She is semi-fluent in Italian

4. She got her start in customer service working at San Francisco’s Nordstrom while in college

5. Favorite tea is Baroness Grey