Interviews

1: Mike, resident of downtown Concord in the Todos Santos Plaza

• Mike has been a resident of the Bay Area for many years and he is 67 years old. He is retired, and lives in a studio near Concord's Todos Santos Plaza. We met him in the Plaza, riding his motorized wheelchair and greeting his neighbors. He is battling stomach cancer and a few other health issues, but he told us that remaining positive and rising above negativity is the key.
• Mike has four sons, four daughters, and thirteen grandchildren. They live elsewhere in the Bay Area, such as El Cerrito. Overall, he enjoys living in Concord. Sometimes he rides his motorized scooter to the edge of town, near the Pleasant Hill sign, but he always stays within Concord. He says there are nice families and individuals in city that he meets during his rides. He often hears or attends the musical events or the farmers market in the Plaza.
• His one complaint of Concord is the lack of attention paid to disruptive homeless people in the Plaza. He believes the police do not intervene when the homeless people abuse drugs in public. He says the police are visible, but not active enough.

2: Officer Sansen (K-9 Unit) and Officer Thoms (Detective)

• We spotted these two officers on bicycles, giving an excited group of young kids some colorful pencils. The kids wore huge smiles as they held ice cream cones from the nearby Baskin Robbins in one hand, and their new pencils in the other. The officers gladly answered our questions about the Concord community.
• They described Concord as incredibly diverse. Within the Concord police, they take advantage of their own diversity. Officer Sansen gave the example of his Hispanic coworkers going to areas where undocumented residents live, so as better to connect with that community and solve crimes in the area. However, undocumented immigrants are still wary of police, and the police / immigrant relationship suffers. The police will not deport undocumented residents.
• When asked about the schools, they described the high schools as having different reputations and demographics. Officer Sansen will send his daughter to Concord High, and trusts the quality of Concord's public education system. He mentioned that Mt. Diablo High can get bad press because of gang presence or activity in schools. Students from North Pittsburgh often attend Mt. Diablo.
• For Concord's youth, the city offers after school activities like sports programs, the movie theaters, the YMCA, and the skatepark.
• The police officers brought up the homeless problem within Concord. The county funds and initiates various programs for the homeless, shelters, and even mental health centers, but these institutions are all located in Concord. Therefore, the city's resources attracts many homeless people from the county.
• Overall, Concord has set it's focus on placing families first, and the community members enjoy what Concord has to offer.

3: Skipolini's Waiter

• Our waiter was very friendly, and he lives in Brentwood but works here in downtown Concord. He described the city as a normal Bay Area town, but with a few racial and class divides that stand out, especially depending on one's location or school.
• He described Ygnacio Valley High School and Mt. Diablo High School with a racial dynamic of either Hispanic or white. In these schools, the divide between the lower class and the middle class is defined.
• The streets with similar race and class divides are Detroit Ave. and Monument Blvd, where the populations are mostly either white, or Hispanic.

4: James, Sacramento State student

• James grew up in Concord, and is about to start college at Sacramento State. He completed an inter-district transfer so he could attend College Park High School in Pleasant Hill. He attended DVC in Pleasant Hill as well. James is a self-described homebody, who we met sitting in a Todos Santos Plaza bench, reading a novel.
• James described the city of Concord as "peaceful" with "lots of families." As a community, Concord does well with its "Music in the Park" on Thursdays during the summer season. He mentioned that Concord youth goes to bookstores and coffee-shops for fun. 
• At the end of the interview, James recommended the House of Spaghetti or Chevy's for places to eat in the area.

5: Concord Moms in the Park

• When we approached a small group of moms watching their kids play in the Todos Santos playground, we introduced ourselves and explained our reason for interviewing a few Concord residents (gathering information about the community and its inhabitants' experiences). The moms generally turned away, although one answered our question about Concord's schools. When asked "What are your experiences with the school system in Concord," she promptly replied, "We send our kids to private school." That was the end of the interview, since one child had taken a fall on the playground.

6: Mrs. Jessica Semenchuk, parent and Preschool teacher

• Mrs. Semenchuck teaches at Walnut Avenue Preschool and has lived in Concord for twenty-two years. She moved to Concord knowing their kids would attend Catholic School. She and her family were happy with St. Francis of Assisi, De La Salle, and Carondelet High Schools, each in Concord and very close-by.
• Her favorite event in Concord is the Music and the Farmer's Market in the Park during the summer. She and her family of four enjoy buying food from local vendors and watching Concord families enjoy the park and the music while having a picnic. They see neighbors and friends from school at these weekly events.
• Mrs. Semenchuk believes Concord has changed for the better within the time she has lived there. Physically, the Concord has added trees and plants along the road, adding more greenery to the streets. There is more diversity now in the city, seen in her own Church. Her Church community now has active Hispanic, Portuguese, and Filipino groups. Concord also has Greek and Japanese festivals.

7: Matt Yankovich, Guitar Center Employee

• Matt has worked at Guitar Center off Willow Pass Road for the past three years. He was indifferent about the city stating "it seemed like any other fair sized suburban city."
• He believes Concord is divided into between two types of people, those who love the city and those who hate it. Matt finds that the people who live closer to Concord High School and Mount Diablo take more pride in the city.
• Matt said the community is diverse, but predominantly White or Hispanic.
• Notices that a lot of kids spend time at Dana Plaza near Concord High School. (Diverse group between the ages of 15 to 20)
• He also noticed that the city has a large drug and homeless problem. Many homeless gather downtown and behind his work (Along the side of the Freeway).