Protecting Your Family and Home from Wildfire

Every year, fires threaten homes and properties as a result of unnecessary combustible debris and vegetation. It is every property owner’s responsibility to eliminate these fire hazards on their property that may endanger their neighbors and the community at large. Every property owner, regardless of type – including residential, commercial, and parcels of land — is ultimately responsible for managing their vegetation to meet Fire District requirements.

The Contra Costa County Fire Protection District has established minimum standards for weed abatement. Minimum Standards bulletin.

“Weeds” means all wild plants growing on streets or private property in this jurisdiction. These include sagebrush, chaparral (chamise, coyote brush, greasewood, broom brush, buckwheat), dry grass, stubble, brush, litter, or other flammable materials which are capable of being ignited and endangering public safety by creating a fire hazard.

Property owners are ultimately responsible for managing their vegetation to meet fire district requirements. To learn more about ConFire weed abatement and whom to contact for help visit Wildfire Prep .

If you are served by San Ramon Valley Fire, visit exterior hazard abatement for useful information. 

If you lie in the Moraga-Orinda fire District service area, download the Lamorinda Resident's Guide to Wildfire Preparedness & Evacuation. 

Omicron Booster Shots Available at

County Vaccination Sites

Contra Costa Health (CCH) began offering the new Omicron booster shots at its COVID vaccination sites in Antioch, Concord and Richmond on Friday, September 9.

Vaccinated people ages 12+ are eligible to receive Pfizer’s new Omicron booster and adults ages 18+ can get Moderna’s Omicron booster.

People can schedule a booster appointment at County-run vaccination sites online at covidvaccine.cchealth.org or by calling 833-829-2626. Walk-ins are also accepted. Community members also can get the Omicron boosters through their regular healthcare providers or local pharmacies.

For more detailed information about the new booster, see the “Booster Doses” section of our Vaccine Q&As.

COVID-19 Data Updates

To read the latest information and to see the data summary, go COVID-19 updates

9th Annual Autos of Alamo a Great Success

Supervisor Andersen's Alamo Field Representative Cameron Collins attended Alamo Improvement Association's Autos of Alamo Festival on September 15th. Also in the photo above are Alamo Municipal Advisory Council (Alamo MAC) youth representative Ronald Kan, and Cameron's cute kiddos Griffin (5), Tommy (3) and Haddie (10 months). 

Lafayette Art & Wine Festival Celebrates 25^th Anniversary

The Lafayette Art & Wine Festival will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on  Saturday, September 17, and from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 18 in downtown Lafayette. 

The event features 4 stages with 20+ bands, 300 artist/craft booths including a Local Artist Alley, 4 Kid Zones, a wide selection of California varietals and craft beers, dining in Lafayette’s Restaurant Row, and shopping! Free Admission. Dog friendly. Take BART to the Festival! It’s @sfbartable!

Beautiful downtown Lafayette is close to BART (Lafayette Station), Hwy 24, and bike trails. The Festival offers complimentary bike valet parking at 81 Lafayette Circle. The Festival is an easy walk or free shuttle ride from free Festival parking in the BART parking lot. 

View the music schedule and learn more at lafayettefestival.com. The Lafayette Art & Wine Festival is produced by the Lafayette Chamber and sponsored by the City of Lafayette, Pacific Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Hospital, and Xfinity.

Music schedule, maps, and more at lafayettefestival.com. Follow the festival on social media at @lafayettefestival.

Contra Costa County Seeks Nominations for

Humanitarians of the Year

Student and Adult Humanitarians to be Recognized at

45th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ceremony 

Contra Costa County will commemorate the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the 45th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ceremony on Tuesday, January 17, 2023. In the spirit of Dr. King’s work, this year’s theme is “The Future Belongs to All.” The County now seeks nominations for a Student and Adult Humanitarian of the Year. 

Contra Costa County’s Board of Supervisors will recognize two individuals, (1) a community member and (2) a student leader, whose dedication to others embodies the spirit and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the January event. 

We welcome your nominations of a community member and/or student whose accomplishments and actions go above and beyond to positively impact Contra Costa County, its residents, and communities. Please nominate candidates who demonstrate leadership, commitment to the community, and personal integrity. 

The deadline to submit candidates for consideration is Friday, November 4, 2022. To submit online nominations and learn more about the County’s celebration and past honorees, visit the  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Ceremony website. 

Asian Pacific  Islander American Public Affairs (APAPA)  Internship Graduation Ceremony

The APAPA Tri-Valley Chapter held its annual Internship Graduation Ceremony on September 10th in San Ramon.

Supervisor Andersen and several other local elected officials, including San Ramon Valley Unified School District Board Trustee Susanna Ordway, San Ramon Vice Mayor Sridhar Verose, Danville Mayor Newell Arnerich, San Ramon Council Member Sabina Zafar, Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, Dublin Mayor Melissa Hernandez and Alameda County Supervisor David Haubert attended the event to recognize and honor the work of the APAPA interns that served in their offices. Supervisor Andersen was interviewed by intern Matthew Morimoto (bottom right) on mental health issues and what the County is currently offering its residents, especially youth. Matthew has written an article discussing the importance of destigmatizing mental health and the availability of services

To learn more about APAPA and the internship program visit APAPA.

Hazardous Materials Commission is Looking for

2 Student Interns

Contra Costa Cities' Partnership with Contra Costa Health Receives Prestigious Helen Putnam Award for Excellence from the League of California Cities

Our County's cities worked together with Contra Costa Health, as well as mental health providers, community advocates, and people with lived experiences or their family members to develop the new A3 system for delivering safe, appropriate care to county residents who are experiencing behavioral health emergencies for Anyone in Contra Costa County, Anywhere at Anytime.

To learn more about this prestigious award go to Helen Putnam Award for Excellence.

The 2022 winners, recognized for their outstanding programs, were chosen from 155 submissions.

Established in 1982 by the League of California Cities, the Helen Putnam Award for Excellence recognizes outstanding achievements made by California's 482 cities. These winning cities have made unique contributions to community residents and businesses, which have resulted in lower costs or more effective delivery of services. The purpose of the Helen Putnam Award for Excellence program is to promote innovative solutions by city governments.

September is Library Card Sign-Up Month

September is Library Card Sign-Up Month, and a great time to get your Contra Costa County library card. 

Get an eCard - residents of Contra Costa County are eligible to apply online for an eCard. An eCard allows patrons immediate access to many of the Library's online services and databases including Rosetta Stone, LinkedIn Learning, The New York Times and East Bay Times. It also allows patrons to place holds and borrow eBooks.

Get a Full-Service Library Card - To upgrade to a full-service card, please bring a photo ID with address verification to your local library during open house.

To get your card, or to learn more, visit Library Card.

Danville Updates Downtown Master Plan

The Danville Town Council adopted the updated Downtown Master Plan in August 2022. The project goal was to look at opportunities to enhance public gatherings in the historic downtown area. The Plan includes a series of placemaking strategies developed from input received from the community and stakeholders, the Town Council, and various commissions and boards. From the Plan strategies, projects were developed and prioritized by the Town Council. 

Unique to this effort, the Town has an allotment of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant funding that it can use to advance one or two projects in parallel with the long-range plan development process. In addition, the Council recognized that the selected project must be of limited size and scope to allow the Town time to complete the project within the time frame stipulated by ARPA funding requirements. The Council chose to advance two of the project concepts in the Plan: a project to improve five key intersections on Hartz Avenue and a project to construct a flexible plaza space at the Village Theatre. These projects would achieve the following key community objectives:

• Reduce vehicle speeds
• Enhance pedestrian safety by shortening the crossing distance at key intersections.
• Advance an age-friendly strategy identified in the Danville Age-Friendly Roadmap by elevating the intersection to the level of the sidewalk.
• Enlarge the public plaza at the intersection of Hartz and Prospect Avenues for community gathering and recreation programming.
• Add specialty art lighting at the newly designed intersections to enhance pedestrian-level lighting.

Create a flexible pedestrian plaza space in the Arts District, activating the underutilized area between the Town Meeting Hall and Village Theatre.

To learn more about this project, please visit www.danvilletowntalks.org.

MISSION POSSIBLE: Prevent Violence in Our Community 

All are invited to the MISSION POSSIBLE: Prevent Violence in Our Community all-day, in-person conference focused on understanding violence prevention from a public health lens. Speakers will include community experts in anti-violence, racial equity, and interpersonal violence work.

The conference objectives include:

a) Building a shared understanding of violence prevention

b) Connecting interpersonal violence to community violence

c) Promote understanding of racial equity in violence prevention work

Due to high demand, tickets for this conference are free. There are a limited number of tickets left (60), so register today!

REGISTER

Lafayette Res Run for Education

Click here to register for Res Run

Volunteers Needed for New Court Appointed

Special Advocates for Children (CASA) Program

Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA) is filling its first tutor training cohort and is looking for volunteers who want to make a lasting difference in the lives of local children who have been abused or neglected. 

Children and youth in foster care face many additional academic hurdles. Finding ongoing, quality academic support at no cost can be a challenge, so CASA is taking a big step to help fill that need. CASA Tutors will provide consistent and accessible educational support to local children in grades TK-12 who are already working with a CASA Volunteer Advocate. CASA volunteers advocate for abused and neglected children and youth in foster care to make sure they do not get lost in the over-burdened legal system or languish in an inappropriate placement.

If you have a background in teaching, tutoring, or as a paraeducator, have approximately 6-12 hours a month to give, and are interested in learning more about the CASA Tutor Program, they invite you to contact CASA. 

For more information click here to E-MAIL CASA

Home Match

Creating Community

Are you or is someone you know looking for a shared home in Contra Costa County?

All are welcome to browse the Available Rooms Catalog for Home Match Contra Costa County, updated for the month of September.

For general Home Match Contra Costa County program inquiries, please call (925) 956-7385. You can also email at HomeMatchContraCosta@frontporch.net or visit their website: covia.org/services/home-match. Note that the included listings are only a sampling, and do not fully represent the matching criteria or inventory. If you have a room in your home you want to share, please contact us via any of the above methods.

To view the Catalog online (which receives periodic live updates), click the link below.

September Room Catalog

Contra Costa Aviation Advisory Committee Opening

Contra Costa County (County) is accepting applications for the upcoming Member At-Large 2 seat on the Aviation Advisory Committee (AAC). The term begins March 1, 2023, upon appointment by the Board of Supervisors, and expires on February 28, 2026. Residents of and/or employees in Contra Costa County are eligible to fill this position to represent all County stakeholders in matters related to Buchanan Field and Byron Airports.

The AAC serves as an advisory group to the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors (Board) to provide advice and recommendations to the Board on aviation matters related to the Contra Costa County Airports. The AAC meetings are typically held in person at either Buchanan Field or Byron Airport and via Zoom during the pandemic on the second Thursday of each month at 10:00 a.m.

Application forms can be obtained from the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors by calling (925) 655-2000 or online at https://www.contracosta.ca.gov/3418/Appointed-Bodies-Committees-Commissions. Applications should be submitted online or returned to the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, County Administration Building, 1025 Escobar Street, 1^st Floor, Martinez, CA 94553, no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, October 10, 2022. Applicants should plan to be available for public interviews in person or via Zoom (currently the Board of Supervisors reconsiders every 30 days whether to continue authorizing teleconference meetings), tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, December 14, 2022, at 11:00 a.m. at the Airports Committee meeting.

For more information on the Contra Costa County Airports or the AAC visit us at www.ContraCostaCountyAirports.org or by calling (844) Fly-ToUs or (844) 359-8687.

CONTACT: Greg Baer at (844) 359-8687, or via email at: airport.team@airport.cccounty.us

Opportunity to Serve on the In-Home Supportive Services Public Authority Advisory Committee

IHSS Public Authority Poised to Fill Several Vacancies

The In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS) Public Authority Advisory Committee currently has four (4) volunteer vacancies for individuals who are current or past users of IHSS or Personal Attendant Services. Individuals who are in the following categories can fill the vacancies:

• Consumer 60 or Older - Two (2) vacancies
• Consumer Any Age - Two (2) vacancies

Additionally, there is one (1) District volunteer vacancy representing District V (Hercules, Martinez Pittsburg, Antioch). Individuals residing or working in this district, with professional experience in the following categories, may apply:

• Senior Advocate
• Advocate for Younger Persons with Disabilities
• Representative from the Developmental Disability Community
• Social Worker
• Nurse
• Representative from a Community Based Organization
• Representative from a Home Health Agency
• Current or Previous IHSS Provider

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors established the IHSS Public Authority Advisory Committee in March 1999. The IHSS Public Authority Advisory Committee provides advice and assistance to the Board of Supervisors and the staff of the IHSS Public Authority regarding the IHSS program and policies of the IHSS Public Authority. The Public Authority recruits and screens home care providers, maintains a registry of providers, refers providers to consumers and enrolls all IHSS providers on the State Payroll.

The Advisory Committee is comprised of eleven (11) members, six (6) who use, or have used, IHSS or Personal Attendant Services, and five (5) who have professional experience in the health and human services fields.

Individuals who reside or work in Contra Costa County who are interested in applying for these Volunteer Vacancies on the IHSS Public Authority Committee can obtain an application from Monique Rodriguez by calling (925) 655-4017 or emailing drodriguez-Redd@ehsd.cccounty.us.

Applications should be returned to the IHSS Public Authority as soon as possible. All applicants will receive acknowledgment in writing. Following the review of applications, the review committee will forward recommendations to the Board of Supervisors for appointment.

Every year approximately half of the seats on the Council on Homelessness are open to new applicants. The Council on Homelessness will begin accepting applications for the following seats on September 16th.

• Affordable Housing Developer
• Behavioral Health Representative
• City Government Representative
• Person with Lived Experience Representative
• Educational and Vocational Services Representative
• Emergency Solutions Grant Representative
• Healthcare Representative
• Homeless Service Providers
• Veteran Administration Representative
• Workforce Development Representative
• Youth Representative (between the ages of 18-24)

Stay tuned for more details about how to apply and an Application Completion Workshop!

For more information about the Council on Homelessness, go to cchealth.org/h3/#Council. 

Would You Like to Serve on the  1/2 Cent Sales Tax Measure X 

Community Advisory Board?

The Measure X Community Advisory Board was established on February 2, 2021, following the passage of Measure X – a countywide sales tax measure providing general purpose revenue for County programs estimated to generate over $107 million annually.

Due to the recent resignation of one of her appointees, Supervisor Andersen is seeking an individual from District 2 that represents broad and diverse voices, perspectives, and expertise, including but not exclusive to: children’s services, community health, consumer budgets, advocacy, faith leadership, senior services, fire and public safety protection, housing and homelessness, employment, legal advocacy, local businesses, mental health services, non-partisan civic organizations, policy organizations, public health, racial justice and equity, safety net services, substance abuse services, taxpayers, and youth services.

The Measure X Community Advisory Board is composed of 10 Supervisorial District seats and 7 At-Large seats, for a total of 17 seats.

To be considered for this seat, candidates must either live or work in District 2. The Community Advisory Board currently meets monthly. Currently, the meetings are via online conferencing.

Members of the Community Advisory Board will receive no compensation for their service and must complete State required ethics training as well as County training on the open meeting laws, including the Ralph M. Brown Act and Better Government Ordinance. Initial members of the Committee shall serve staggered terms of two or three years, with subsequent appointments serving three-year terms, with a maximum of six years served consecutively by any member. Currently elected or appointed public officials, including, but not limited to, Mayors, City Council Members, City Managers, and Fire Chiefs are not eligible for appointment.

Find out more information about volunteering for an advisory body here co.contra-costa.ca.us/3418. To apply online go to www.co.contra-costa.ca.us/.

Contra Costa County Seeks Applicants for

Family and Children's Trust Committee (FACT)

Contra Costa County has over 75 Boards and Committees to which local citizens are appointed to help address the many needs in our community. One of the most important roles the county has is protecting children. In 1985, the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors established The Family and Children’s Trust Committee (FACT). The FACT works to make funding recommendations on the allocation of funds for the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect. The committee also works to provide supportive services for families and children. 

Currently, FACT is seeking applicants for eight committee seats including: 

• Four At-Large Community Representative Seats
• Three Discipline Specific Seats – Education/School Representative, Child Development/Early Childhood Education and Mental Health
• One District Seat – District I

If you are interested in applying or learning more about the FACT committee, please visit https://ehsd.org/children/family-and-childrens-trust-fund-fact

HOW TO APPLY

Applications are available online via the County Website. Completed applications can be submitted online, emailed to ClerkoftheBoard@cob.cccounty.us or mailed to the Clerk of the Board, 1025 Escobar Street 1st Floor, Martinez, CA. 94553.

Members of the FACT Committee include residents with various expertise in children’s issues, education/school based programs, services for children with special needs, mental health, substance abuse, law, non-profit agency management, ethnic and cultural clubs/groups, health care, and program research/evaluation. The Committee meets monthly. For more information about the FACT, contact FACT staff at (925) 608-4943.

Funding for FACT supported projects comes from federal and state program legislation, as well as donations to the County’s Family and Children’s Trust Fund. Every three years, FACT committee members identify a series of county priorities for their funding. To do this, the group reviews data and holds public hearings throughout the county. The Committee then develops a competitive bidding process to select non-profit and/or community-based agencies to best provide the services determined to be the most important. 

Now is a great time to consider ways you might want to give back to your community. If you are interested in participating in government, then perhaps one of these volunteer opportunities is of interest to you:

Alamo Police Services Advisory Committee (CSA P-2B/APSAC)

To advise the Board of Supervisors and the Sheriff's Department on the needs of the Alamo/Danville community for police services.

1 Regular Seat

1 Alternate Seat

Closing Date: Open Until Filled

To advise the Board of Supervisors and the Sheriff's Department on the needs of the Alamo community for police services.

Alamo Municipal Advisory Committee (MAC)

Alternate Seat

To advise on issues and concerns related to services provided by the County or other local agencies located within Alamo, which includes parks & recreation, lighting & landscaping, land use, code enforcement, public safety, and transportation.

Find out more information about volunteering for an advisory body here co.contra-costa.ca.us/3418. To apply online go to www.co.contra-costa.ca.us/.