Peace Out, 2025: A Year of Reflection, Reset—and Ten Hopes for 2026 in Contra Costa County.
As 2025 took its final bow and 2026 steps into the spotlight, the annual ritual begins: looking back, looking forward, and wondering how another twelve months managed to fly by in a blur.
This past year felt like a paradox. Time moved quickly, but progress often felt slow. Outrage became a hobby for some, tempers ran hot over petty squabbles, and common sense seemed to exit the room faster than inflation entered our wallets. For many, it was simply a bad year—one crisis after another, leaving a trail of exhaustion and frustration in its wake.
Still, the turning of the calendar offers a reset button, and with it, the possibility of change. Each year, I make a list of hopes—some big, some small—for what I want to see in the next one. Call it a wish list, a rally cry, or a blueprint for better days.
Here are 10 things I hope to see in 2026.
10: The Great Unplug
Social media once connected us. In 2025, it felt like a competition—clicks over connection, reaction over reflection. This year, let’s unplug more. Limit screen time. Touch grass. Shake hands instead of sending texts. Hug people instead of hitting “like.” Build memories that don’t need a filter to feel real.
9. A Return to Nostalgia
AI, clouds, subscriptions—does anyone own anything anymore? Maybe 2026 can bring back a bit of the analog world: CDs, DVDs, physical collections, and creativity that isn’t trapped behind paywalls or algorithms. A time when mistakes weren’t recorded, posted, and weaponized. When tech supported curiosity instead of fueling conflict.
L to R: Diablo Water District Directors Conan Moats, Paul Seger, Joe Kovalick
8. Leadership at Diablo Water District Needs a Reset
A special district that gets next to no attention but will make headlines if it continues down the path its headed. This is worth more investigation, but the cliff note version shows sloppiness, pettiness and clear making up the rules as they go. Paul Seger manipulated bylaws that allowed for a vote for a new board president mid-term while also changing rules to get the outcome he desired for committees and control of the board. Staff failed to step in, legal failed to correct and chaos is coming. The board should rescind its Dec 11 vote and apply any changes until the next election while this whole board president/vice president be moved to an annual rotation. Seger played dirty politics while presenting open ended bylaws that the district will run into many unintended consequences going forward. Ratepayers had better wake up. Seger must go in the next election cycle.
L to R: Councilmember George Fuller and City Manager Josh McMurray
7. Oakley Councilmember Removal from Office
Unless he resigns, at this point, only a recall can remove Councilmember George Fuller from office before his term is up. A recall should be started and Fuller voted out of office as soon as possible. After being passed up for mayor and vice mayor, he has been sidelined by not being allowed to communicate with staff, he is not on any committees, he has no authority at all which means his district is not being represented. Meanwhile, his outbursts, attack on the city manager and social media postings continue to be ridiculous and misleading to the public. He is an embarrassment to Oakley and is costing the city money. A recall needs to happen.
6. Investing in Personal Health
Regardless of politics, federal legislation H.R.1 will shift economic realities for everyone. Taking care of mental and physical health will matter more than ever. In 2026, let’s be intentional: healthier food, healthier information input, healthier relationships, and healthier boundaries. As Congressman Mark DeSaulnier famously said this past year that we are on our own, he was right.
It’s been stated:
These changes would shift substantial unfunded costs to counties, significantly increase administrative workload, and reduce access to essential healthcare and nutrition assistance for thousands of residents. Contra Costa County administers the Contra Costa Health Plan (CCHP), which serves approximately 270,000 residents, in addition to operating the County’s public hospital and nine community clinics. Under the proposed eligibility changes, an estimated half of all Medi-Cal enrollees could be impacted, with up to 93,000 Contra Costa residents potentially losing coverage by 2029.
That is a lot of direct and indirect consequences that will impact everyone. Do what you can to remain healthy physically and mentally!
5. More Efficient Public Meetings
City and agency meetings are designed for governance—not performance art. Public comment is essential, but marathon speeches on every agenda item by members of the public slow the process and strain patience. Let 2026 be the year meetings return to purpose, clarity, and efficiency, for elected officials and residents alike. Serial public commenters who need to have a word on everything should take a chill pill.
Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez caught spreading false conspiracy theories.
4. Less Lying, More Accountability
From social feeds to council chambers in Contra Costa County, misinformation spread faster than facts. Mistakes happen—but intentional deception is corrosive. Communities deserve leaders who are humble, informed, and resilient—not pot stirrers. Voters deserve truth. And Contra Costa County deserves public dialogue rooted in honesty, not chaos. I am calling for more accountability for people who intentionally spread misinformation in 2026. Rather than call out the half-dozen consistent liars in elected position around the county, simply just commit to doing better in 2026. As for Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez, he should resign.
Antioch City Manager Bessie Scott
3. Stability in Antioch
Antioch spent 2025 rebuilding—from police accountability efforts to internal restructuring. City Manager Bessie M. Scott has earned both local and regional respect, and with her contract up this year, extending it could prevent Antioch from losing momentum at a crucial moment. After years of crisis and turnover, consistency may finally pave the way for real progress. Extend Ms. Scott now before it turns into a circus once again.
2. Needs Over Wants
Economic strain is trickling down from federal and state levels. Local governments will soon face difficult decisions. In 2026, fiscal responsibility must outweigh political pressure. Wants will have to wait. Needs—public safety, infrastructure, essential services—must take priority. All local elected officials will need to bring a backbone into 2026. Non-profits who are harassing the Board of Supervisors and city councils will need to stop begging daddy government for a handout and instead, focus on their own fundraising efforts as the money is going to get extremely tight. I know many elected officials have huge hearts, but backbone is what is needed in 2026.
1. Police Departments Need to Embrace Transparency Again
This one pains me to write. I built this platform on supporting law enforcement and highlighting the officers who take criminals off the street. But recently, something has shifted. With police radio traffic going encrypted and now silent across much of Contra Costa County, transparency has taken a major hit—and public trust is slipping with it.
Instead of timely information, many departments have retreated to curated social media feeds that feel more like PR campaigns than public safety communication. The “copaganda”—yes, I’ll use the word—has become impossible to ignore: feel-good videos, selective release of body camera footage when it benefits the department but denied when the media asks, even now we see attempts at humor at the expense of suspects. Policing is a profession, not a TikTok niche.
And it all traces back to one terrible decision: the geniuses at the East Bay Regional Communications System Authority shutting down scanner access. It may have sounded good in theory, but in practice it created an information monopoly. When the public has only one source of information about crime—the police themselves—there’s no room for scrutiny, questions, or accountability. That’s not how trust is built.
The consequences are obvious and it plays out in real-time:
- Media requests going unanswered
- Major incidents, including fatalities, shared days late—if at all
- Information suppression
- Outdated call logs (stale and minimal value)
- Public records requests stalling or ignored
This is Public Information 101. And right now, the public is getting the bare minimum from certain agencies—if that. If you are fine with fluff, it’s certainly having a field day.
Some agencies are doing it semi-right: Brentwood, El Cerrito, Martinez and Pleasant Hill offer calls for service with a description of each call in their logs – this should be the model going forward for all agencies. Meanwhile, Antioch, Oakley, Pittsburg, San Ramon, Walnut Creek, you get a simple date/address/call type –totally unacceptable as its basically a calendar entry no value of week old data. That isn’t transparency; it’s a placeholder. San Pablo and Richmond get a pass as they are quick to put out information on major incidents. Walnut Creek gets major kudos for updates and responsiveness when compared to this time last year—San Ramon too!
And then there’s Concord — a department with one of the region’s most sophisticated crime dashboards — which nonetheless limits its public output to a bare-bones burglary report that tells the community almost nothing meaningful about public safety patterns or recent incidents. This is insane! Concord should be setting the bar, not be hiding out at the bottom of the transparency hierarchy list while the chief provides lip service to the city council. Concord residents deserve better. A deeply unserious police department in terms of communication while the city council allows it to continue.
Bottom line, the transparency levels vary across Contra Costa County with no rhyme or reason while the community as a whole is in the dark.
This isn’t about attacking law enforcement nor reducing officer safety concerns. It’s about asking for a basic level of openness that keeps everyone honest—including me, as someone who reports on crime and relies on accurate information from agencies. If scanners are gone for good, fine, then there has to be a compensating investment in transparency on the other side of the radio. There’s no way around it.
There needs to be an alternative to what is going on now because its not working as there is too much speculation as to what is exactly going on in communities—this has led to rumor mills and false sense of fear when multiple police vehicles are outside of a home. Throw in rumblings of ICE and its anxiety central.
In 2026, I hope law enforcement in Contra Costa recommits to communication that is timely, detailed, and consistent. Not curated. Not selective. Not performative. Transparent.
That’s how trust is built. And right now, we need every ounce of it. Each community deserves real information delivered in a reliable and respectful way.
Looking Ahead
2026 won’t fix everything. But it doesn’t have to be perfect to be better.
It can be the year we choose clarity over chaos. Accountability over apathy. Real connection over digital noise. A year where leadership feels earned, disagreements don’t require destruction, and progress isn’t sacrificed to performance.
A year where we remember we’re neighbors, not enemies.
A year where we try again.
Peace out, 2025.
Hello, 2026. Let’s get to work.
Mike Burkholder
Publisher of ContraCosta.news
[email protected]
