All of Clayton can once again enjoy the city parks

CLAYTON, CA—I am happy to report some good news: All our parks and play equipment have fully opened for use – even the restrooms.

You must still socially distance, wear masks and instruct your children to share space with others. Parents are responsible for supervising their children’s activity. Signs are posted as reminders. The restrooms will be cleaned nightly, but using your own hand sanitizer is also highly recommended.

Several residents from our upper hill’s areas have had their yards damaged by feral wild pigs. It is unclear if it is the same “herd” that has been plowing the Clayton Community Park. Our maintenance supervisor contacted the pig trapper who is working at the Community Park and coordinated with him to provide traps in city open space along what appears to be their path of travel to the neighborhoods. We need to trap the pigs doing the damage before we can successfully repair the park turf.

Updated webpage

I would encourage everyone to go to the city website (ci.clayton.ca.us) and register to receive updates on official city business from City Hall. We are updating our webpage daily, so there’s always something new. That’s where you will find links to all of our virtual meetings, too.

We are still very early in fire season and everything is tinder dry. You can download the emergency/fire preparedness pamphlet from our website and make sure you are registered to get alerts from the Community Warning System (CWS). Have your “go-bag” ready, just in case.
Contra Costa Fire District Assistant Chief Terence Carey gave a fire update that is worth watching at our Oct. 6 council meeting. That video is on the website under City Council meetings. Click on the video of the meeting. His presentation starts about three minutes in, with lots of pictures of fire apparatus, so even the kiddos will enjoy watching it.

Also at our Oct. 6 meeting, we made permanent the permit parking program in front of the homes on Regency Drive. There are about a dozen unrestricted spaces adjacent to the park entrance, to relieve the impact on other streets in the area.

Do the Right Thing addition

And the council added the trait of inclusion to the Do the Right Thing program, adopted in 2010 by the city and our local schools. We also adopted the new city motto: Do The Right Thing: Integrity, Responsibility, Inclusion, Courage, Kindness, Self-Discipline, Respect: Because it’s The Right Thing To Do!

Poor air quality has impacted the Clayton Library hours recently. The library will be open for curbside service when the air quality falls below 150 AQI.

Speaking of the library, the city installed a new secure voter ballot drop box in the courtyard. Please drop your ballots there, where a team from the elections office will collect them daily. Please do not put your library books in that box – those go in the drop slot on the wall of the library. There is another secure election drop-box on the third floor of City Hall. Please vote.

Julie Pierce is mayor of Clayton and chair of the Contra Costa Transportation Authority. She is a past president of the Association of Bay Area Governments and serves on the executive committee where she represents Contra Costa cities. Reach her at 925-673-7320 or Julie.p@ci.clayton.ca.us.