On Friday, Contra Costa County Supervisor Federal Glover issued a response to comments made by Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe during their council meeting on Thursday.
During the Antioch City Council meeting, Thorpe, who failed to provide any sort of details or context in his comments, was publicly critical of Contra Costa County in not bringing a CARE center to Antioch as the city was discussing solutions to fight homelessness and get people off the streets:
“There was a comment that stated the city has failed and I saw people shake their heads and that is fair enough about what the city is doing right or not right, whatever it may be. I want to remind the public cities are not normally tasked with these types of social services,” said Thorpe. “We are here today out of frustration with the county.”
Thorpe explained he sat down with the county (Lavonna Martin) in 2016 about a CARE Center and six-years later they are still waiting on their CARE center after the city provided a piece of property for $1.
Supervisor Federal Glover Responds:
I want to set the record straight about Contra Costa County’s work to assist the City of Antioch in bringing desperately needed housing and services to residents experiencing homelessness.
In the Feb. 24 article, “Antioch Finance Director Sounds Alarm on Potential Deficit Spending,” the News quotes Mayor Lamar Thorpe blaming Contra Costa Health (CCH) for a lack of beds and services to address homelessness in his city. “We are still waiting on our CARE center” he said in the article, citing the fact that Antioch once offered the county a parcel for $1 to build one.
What the article fails to mention is that, in June 2022, the county was notified that Antioch had decided to rescind its offer to provide a 4.7-acre parcel on Delta Fair Boulevard for $1, a critical piece of a project that would have added 60 new interim housing beds with onsite services to address our profound need in East County.
Contra Costa Health, fresh off partnering with the California’s Homekey Program to deliver a similar, 174-bed service hub in neighboring Pittsburg, asked the city in March 2022 to extend its agreement to grant the land by 2 years, due to delays in planning caused by the COVID pandemic.
Unfortunately, Antioch chose to walk away from the project.
I empathize with Antioch’s financial difficulties. But construction would be underway at that site today if the city had approved the extension.
Contra Costa County remains committed to partnering with Antioch to provide critical services addressing homelessness in East County.
Editors Note – no one would know Antioch walked away from the project because neither the county or Antioch shared that information publicly. This project at Delta Fair is not new either, the SFGate reported back in May of 1999, The eastern Contra Costa shelter for homeless families is being planned next to a county Social Services office on Delta Fair Boulevard in Antioch.
Delta Landing Announced in October 2020
Ultimately, Contra Costa County announced in October 2020 that a 174-room motel in Pittsburg would become a permanent service hub to help county residents transition into stable living situations, thanks to a $21.5 million state grant.
“This is a great start toward the building services and resources East County needs to address homelessness,” said Contra Costa Supervisor Federal Glover, whose district includes the site. “There is a critical need for this project in our community.”
Fast forward to December 2021, the Antioch City Council unanimously agreed to spend up to $284,700 on 15-rooms for homeless individuals at the Delta Landing Interim Housing in the city of Pittsburg.
Background on $1 Delta Fair Property Purchase
According to the Feb 13, 2020 Board of Supervisor Agenda: The City has agreed to enter into a Purchase and Sales Agreement in order for the County to acquire the Property in the sum of $1.00. The County’s Health, Housing and Homeless Services Department received a $7.9 Million Homeless Emergency AID Block Grant Fund in 2018 from the State of California to provide support and services to homeless people. The County is purchasing this Property for the future development of the County’s Health, Homeless and Housing facilities, and intends to use the Property for navigation and assessment centers, emergency shelter, transitional and bridge housing, and/or permanent support housing for individuals experiencing homelessness. The Board of Supervisors voted 4-0.
According to the March 10, 2020 Antioch City Council Agenda: The City of Antioch (“City”) and Contra Costa County (“County”) have negotiated a Purchase and Sales agreement for the transfer of the City owned Delta Fair property to the County for $1. The City desires to facilitate this transaction to assist with the development of a County run navigation and assessment center, emergency shelter, transitional and bridge housing, and/or permanent support housing for individuals experiencing homelessness.
The County’s Health, Housing and Homeless Service Department received a $7.9 Million Homeless Emergency AID Block Grant in 2018 from the State of California to provide support and services to homeless people. The transfer of the Delta Fair property to the County will help to leverage the County’s Block Grant funding, to allow all the Grant funds, to be used for the development of the Health, Homeless and Housing facility. Construction of this facility will be completed within three (3) years of the property transfer.
Editors note: At the March 10 meeting, the agenda item passed in a 5-0 vote with no public comments and no commentary by the mayor or city council.
5 comments
Ah, here we go again with dueling “public statements” from our esteemed public officials. Infantile.
I appreciate Supervisor Glover setting the record straight. And let’s not forget that back in 2091 the Bay Area Rescue Mission was prepared to build a shelter on that property for women and women with children at no cost to the City. Staff and the County threw up every obstacle possible to prevent it 🙁
Everyday we read something about assinine Mayor Thorpe. I say, TIME FOR A RECALL!
One thing I know, is Supervisor Glover has always been a big supporters of the Non-profit of antioch and services needed for it residents.Thorpe said he is frustrated because normally public cities, normally aren’t tasked with these Social Services, well yes they are, and if THORPE hadn’t dismantled the Rivertown Resource Center that helped provide these Social Service to his residents, just maybe he would be so disshuffled in his own frustration
Thorpe is constantly trying to deflect, distract & otherwise make people think he is doing something when in fact he is doing nothing except dismantling the city piece by piece. There are no grownups running the city.
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