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YOUR HOMETOWN WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
Vol. 22, No. 5
Council names new city manager by Kyle Szymanski Staff Writer
After an exhaustive national recruitment, Brentwood’s new city manager ended up being less than an hour away. Former Manteca City Manager Tim Ogden has been tapped to fill the same role in Brentwood. The Brentwood City Council unanimously approved Ogden’s employment contract this week, replacing Gus Vina, who retired late last year. Ogden will earn $246,900 annually plus benefits and is set to start on Feb. 3. “This is a great community. I love it already,” Ogden said this week. Ogden’s Brentwood arrival comes after the Manteca City Council put him on paid administrative leave in September –– pending an undisclosed investigation of a personnel matter that ultimately absolved him of
Photo courtesy of Manteca/Ripon Bulletin
The City of Brentwood has hired Tim Ogden as the new city manager. The former Manteca city manager will start Feb. 3. any wrongdoing. He initiated an amicable separation from the city months later. “I was investigated for a personnel matter,” he said. “They were not sure how I handled a certain personnel matter. At the end of the investigation, I was vindicated of the claim. I was not
eager to return to the city after that, so I requested a separation agreement to move on. It just felt like the trust wasn’t there anymore.” Prior to his separation from Manteca, he put that city’s finance director, who has since resigned, on leave in September
pending an undisclosed investigation; the city’s community development director resigned in October to accept another job; and in November, the Manteca police chief was put on administrative leave, on which she remains also pending an investigation. The city’s public works director has also retired. Ogden noted those changes were hastened by multiple changes on the Manteca City Council and four of five departed executives have since found jobs with other agencies. Interim City Manager Miranda Lutzow declined to comment when asked specifically about Ogden’s tenure this week and referred questions about the other staff changes to a city-issued news release. Manteca Mayor Benjamin Cantu did not return repeated requests for comment. see Manager page 22
Developer aims to restore historic hotel by Tony Kukulich Staff Writer
Sitting oddly out of place among the arid rolling hills of rural East Contra Costa County, the Byron Hot Springs Hotel now offers only the vaguest hints of its former glory, but a Bay Area developer is determined to breathe new life into this once-stunning building. Last year, Robert Cort purchased a 300-acre lot in Byron that includes the hotel. Working with Lance Crannell of the Brentwoodbased firm SDG Architects, Cort submitted a preapplication review to county officials in December that proposes restoration of the hotel and the creation of new amenities. “I figured I could do a brewery or a winery with a restaurant, kind of a farm-to-table restaurant, some
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Photo by Tony Kukulich
Robert Cort is the new owner of the Byron Hot Springs Hotel and surrounding property. Court has plans to restore the hotel and build a restaurant and possible event center. event space and a little German beer garden – something not super small but small scale,” Cort said. “I want to do something really nice there with a good chef that would make really good food for not a
lot of money, good beer and then maybe some event space for weddings out there. I want to utilize the building that’s existing there – just fix it up. It’s about to fall down. It’s crumbling, literally crumbling.”
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The task faced by Cort is considerable. Time, vandals and general neglect have taken a heavy toll on the four-story hotel that dates to 1914. Referred to as “hotel three” after two previous hotels burned to the ground, it is the only building on the grounds that, according to Cort, once featured more than 20 structures. Windows and doors are long gone. All of the interior appointments have been stripped down to the concrete core of the building. Floors and ceilings sag, while fallen bricks from the exterior pile up on the ground. Nearly every surface bears the spray-painted mark of generations of trespassers who saw the building as their personal canvas. “As architects, we like to say
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Ironhouse Sanitary District receives six prestigious awards at annual conference.
January 31, 2020
BUSD Teacher Negotiations
Contract talks between the Brentwood school district, teachers union continue. Page 4
Support For Samantha
Community continues to rally for paralyzed Brentwood girl still hospitalized. Page 6
Heritage Honors Muse
Basketball star Abby Muse honored for scoring 1,000 points in high school career. Page 14 Calendar................................23 Classifieds.............................19 Cop Logs................................10 Education ..............................4 Health & Beauty..................21 Milestones..............................9 Opinion..................................18 Adopt a Pet.............................6 Sports.....................................14
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League of Women Voters hosting forum for District V candidates.