East Bay Parks To Present Advocacy Award

EAST BAY, CA — The East Bay Regional Park District will recognize California state Sen. Tim Grayson, a resident of Concord, with the 2024 Radke Championing Advocacy Award in a ceremony Thursday.

The event at Thurgood Marshall Regional Park – Home of the Port Chicago 50 will include brief speeches by Park District General Manager Sabrina Landreth and Park District Board President John Mercurio. The award is named for the late Park District Board Member Ted Radke, who advanced state and federal support for park funding and strengthened the Park District’s ties in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. Radke served 36 years on the Park District Board of Directors and was the longest-serving board member in its 88-year history.

The Park District chose to recognize Grayson with the award because he championed policies that promote active transportation improvements and minimize the risk of wildfires; secured $3 million in state funding for the development of the South of Bailey Road Staging Area at Thurgood Marshall Regional Park – Home of the Port Chicago 50; and authored Assembly Bill 2091, Park District-sponsored legislation to allow public access to preexisting paved and natural surface roads, preexisting trails, and preexisting pathways.

Grayson, a former Concord City Council member, was elected to the state Assembly in 2016 and the state Senate in November 2024. He currently represents Senate District 9, which encompasses most of Contra Costa County, including Antioch, Pittsburg, Concord, Martinez, Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek, Clayton, Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda, Danville, San Ramon, Diablo, Alamo and Blackhawk; along with Castro Valley, San Leandro and San Lorenzo in Alameda County.

State Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan received the 2022 Radke Championing Advocacy Award. In 2023, the award went U.S. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier.