Six Months That Changed My Mind
When 2026 began, I was not documenting every Board of Supervisors meeting. Six months later, I was.
What changed was not one event. It was the accumulation of them.
January: a tax proposal and a request for a town hall
On January 20, the Board considered whether to pursue a five-year countywide sales tax of either 0.5% or 0.625%. The Board directed staff to return with the higher 0.625% proposal.
One week later, County representatives presented plans for the East County Community Service Center to the Brentwood City Council. A public town hall was requested. The response from Supervisor Burgis' representative was that it would be considered. According to my record of these events, no town hall followed.
February: questions about reports and public review
On February 3, I tried to obtain the Beacon economic material connected to an item the Board agenda said it would “accept.” I was told there was no separate report available before the meeting.
On February 10, the County continued moving toward the 0.625% sales tax while the state legislation needed to raise the local sales-tax cap had not yet become law.
That same day, concerns were raised at the Brentwood City Council about the environmental review for the East County Community Service Center, including the data used and the County's decision not to enter the requested design-compliance agreement with the City.
March: Measure B goes to the ballot
On March 3, the Board moved Measure B forward.
The meeting record shows that language describing projected County losses was revised. The original language referred to annual revenue losses exceeding $300 million by 2029. The revised language referred to cumulative losses estimated at $239 million by 2029.
That correction became one of my biggest concerns about the Measure B campaign.
May through July
In May, the Harbor Pointe project in Discovery Bay brought a new set of concerns involving infrastructure, local opposition, Measure X housing funds and a deferred developer fee listed at $7,441,950.
Measure B was defeated on June 2.
Then, on July 7, the Board approved salary increases and one-time payments for multiple employee groups and specified management, exempt, unrepresented and elected classifications.
Any one of these decisions could be debated on its own. What changed my mind was the pattern I saw when I put them together.
That is the record this website is intended to document.