YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER ward Winning News al A pa
Vol. 9, No. 40
Including Nearby Communities
City facing more budget cutbacks by Dave Roberts Staff Writer
What a difference a year makes. The three City Council candidates at a forum in October of 2008 assured the public that the economic downturn would not significantly hurt the city budget and that city employee layoffs were not anticipated and would not be supported. Last week – after a year in which city spending has been slashed by more than $11 million and dozens of employees laid off while the rest took a cut in pay, hours and benefits – the council agreed to slash another $1 million and was told that the city is facing at least a $2.6 million deficit by July of 2011 unless even more cuts are made. “We are not out of the woods at all at this time,” Assistant City Manager Arlene
Mornick told the council on Sept. 22. The good news for now is that if more than $1 million can be saved in the coming year through staff reorganizations, layoffs, reductions in police overtime and a retirement-andreturn-to-work program, the current budget will have a 10percent reserve balance by July of 2010, which is the minimum allowed by city policy. But those savings aren’t guaranteed. “I can’t stress enough how important it is that we meet the additional estimated savings,” said Mornick. “If we don’t meet those, then that’s over $1 million that has to come out of somewhere else. So that’s extremely important.” Just as important will be making the additional cuts see Budget page 22A
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October 2, 2009
THIS WEEK
Artifact’s the wheel deal
The navigational nucleus of a venerable steamship has taken a final spin into history.
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Candidates set to clash Photo by Kevin Bartram
nne Bartram, 11, is a serious snowboarder, and waiting for winter is killing her. The last time she was on the snow was late July at High Cascade Snowboard Camp on Mt. Hood in Oregon, and the past two months have been the longest she’s been off her board since November of 2008. This week, Anne and friends Christian Montoya, left, and Julius Johnson decided to improvise, sliding down a hill in south Antioch while waiting for Old Man Winter to arrive.
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The race for a D.C. seat has been narrowed to the final combatants.
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From snoozer to stunner
Councilman announces run for sheriff Far East County, graveyard shift need attention says Kalinowski by Ruth Roberts Staff Writer Antioch City Councilman and Sheriff ’s Lt. Brian Kalinowski publicly announced Tuesday that he will enter the race for Contra Costa County Sheriff in 2010. “I obviously have a vested interest in the organization,
KALINOWSKI
RUPF
having worked with the sheriff ’s office for past 16 years, and under my leadership, I
believe we can offer a better delivery of service to the residents we serve,” said Kalin-
Sell stuff!
owski, 41. Kalinowski’s announcement follows Sheriff Warren Rupf ’s statement last week that he will not seek re-election for a fifth term. “This early announcement should not be taken as evidence that I’ve lost interest or enthusiasm, or that I will not participate in a very direct and active fashion in all of our business,” said Rupf. “It is, however, timely that I do this so that the organization will have an opportunity to make those adjustments in anticipation of a change at the highest see Sheriff page 22A
Post FREE online classifieds. It’s just one of many things you can do as a member! Sign in today at www.thepress.net. See page 15A.
Deer Valley toyed with disaster, but a last-second kick split the uprights for a big W.
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INSIDE Business .............................8A Calendar ..........................27B Classifieds ........................18B Cop Logs ..........................17A Entertainment ................12B Food .................................14B Health & Beauty ............... 9B Milestones .......................16B Opinion ...........................16A Sports ................................. 1B Talk About Town ..............5A WebExtras! ....................... 1B
FOR MOVIE TIMES SEE PAGE 5A