Police chief resigns for personal reasons
Chris Wenzel, Clayton’s police chief for the past two years, has voluntarily resigned his position for family and personal reasons. His last day with us is Thursday, Nov. 9.
The city family has been extremely pleased with the leadership and experience Wenzel brought to Clayton and the Police Department. We reluctantly understand his difficult decision to leave Clayton and the law enforcement profession.
Wenzel introduced many innovative ideas and police perspectives he gained from his years with the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office and as chief of the Danville Police Department. He was the leading force behind the installation of the four Incident and License Plate Reader camera systems that are now fully operational in Clayton. These cameras save many annual city personnel dollars as a law enforcement technological aid for the police staff. This state-of-the-art camera system, personnel training, mentoring and receipt of grants are just a few of the innovations Wenzel implemented during his stay.
Thank you, Chief Wenzel. We wish you well in future endeavors.
City Council updates
The City Council recognized Kate Amos, a student at Clayton Valley Charter High School. Amos designed and assisted in developing a joint postal mailer for the Clayton Police Department and the U.S. Postal Service addressing the increasing issue of mail fraud and mail theft. Her mailer communicates a simple, but straight-forward message: “Don’t Be a Victim, Protect Your Mail.” This mailer will be delivered shortly throughout Clayton.
Amos received a Certificate of Appreciation from Chief Wenzel and a Recognition Certificate from the U.S. Postal Service’s assistant inspector in charge, Steve Sherwood.
The Contra Costa Water District’s (CCWD) Division 3 director, Ernesto Avila, presented an overview of CCWD’s operations and plans for the water supply that we enjoy in Clayton. Topics included information on the source of our water supply, news on our recovery from the recent drought, installation of a new water pipeline to repair and meet the needs of those living on Morgan Territory Road and how CCWD plans to meet the water supply challenges of the future.
To receive additional details, Avila recommended checking www.ccwater.com or calling 925-688-8000.
Our new city engineer, Scott Alman, presented a plan which was approved by the City Council to amend the 2017-’18 Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for the insertion of rehabilitation and road maintenance of certain neighborhood streets beginning in 2018. The funds are made available to Clayton through the state’s recently enacted Senate Bill SB1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017. These new state road monies, coupled with the city’s other street funds, will assist the city in its implementation of our 2018 Neighborhood Street Repaving Project.
Additional SB1 monies each fiscal year will help augment our continuing maintenance of Clayton’s streets, which are tied as No. 1 in best condition for local roads in Contra Costa County.
BART’s brightening crew at work
For BART commuters, I have an update from Karen Basting of BART government relations. Karen notes that “we may have seen them before in downtown Oakland or San Francisco, covered head-to-toe in protective gear and wielding a heated high-pressure washer wand.” They are BART’s brightening crew, and they’re on a deep cleaning mission to blast away the dirt on the systems stairwells and escalators.
As one who travels on BART to San Francisco to attend meetings, the brightening crews are welcome news. This is a job that needs to be done, and it is certainly appreciated. Thank you BART.
On-site shredding event
Once again, Travis Credit Union hosted its free on-site shredding event on Sept. 9 at the Clayton branch. Travis public relations director Eric Maldonado and branch manager Brad Slaughter led the event, which was well-attended by Travis customers and local residents.
The annual free service was a tremendous success. Thank you to Travis Credit Union, Eric and Brad. This is another example of the service provided to Clayton and surrounding area by one of our great community business partners.
Send comments to the mayor at jdiaz@ci.clayton.ca.us.