On Monday, Antioch City Councilmember Lori Ogorchock issued the following statement seeking Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe to resign.
She provided multiple examples including two women having filed a sexual harassment complaint with the former Los Medanos Healthcare District, City of Antioch, and State of California.
This comes after Mayor Thorpe was cited for a DUI Saturday night and issued a statement via video on social media.
Here is her statement:
Dear Community:
Due to this weekend’s lack of control and poor decision making on the part of Mayor Lamar Thorpe, I feel duty bound to share my thoughts, not only concerning Lamar’s driving while intoxicated but the lack of respect he shows to the residents of Antioch.
- Our mayor has taken to using ad-hominem, bigoted and misogynistic terms to attack his constituents rather than provide a rebuttal of his position. His title for his campaign is, “Stop, the #Karen Recall of Mayor Lamar Thorpe.”Dictionary.com defines “Karen” as “a pejorative slang term for an obnoxious, angry, entitled, and often racist middle-aged white woman who uses her privilege to get her way or police other people’s behaviors. In 2020 Karen spread as a label used to call out white women who were captured in viral videos engaging in what are widely seen as racist attacks. The mayor has chosen on two different occasions to refer to me as a “Karen”.To call a woman today a “Karen” is to evoke an image of white privilege that in no way represents the life struggles millions of women endured to achieve equality, respect, and representation.
- Mayor Thorpe chose to drink and get behind the wheel of his vehicle, while intoxicated. He not only endangered himself but others. He stated he is sorry for his actions, well how sorry is he truly? He wants us to believe he had only “a drink” with dinner. We all know this is a fallacy. So, to me his apology is far from being sincere.
- It has been brought to my attention that two women have filed a Sexual Harassment Complaint against Mayor Thorpe. The complaint has been filed with the former Los Medanos Healthcare District, City of Antioch, and State of California. And yes, I personally verified the facts prior to sharing this repulsive information.
We need to make a change in our leadership, and we need to do it quickly. Mr. Thorpe needs to step down as the mayor of our beautiful city. If he so chooses not to, I will put all my energy into the success of the campaign to recall him as mayor. Antioch citizens deserve better, do the right thing Mayor Thorpe and step down immediately!
Lori Ogorchock
Antioch City Council Woman
On Saturday, Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe confirmed in a video that he was arrested by the California Highway Patrol for a DUI. CHP later released a statement confirming the incident just before 11:00 am.
Per California Highway Patrol:
Mayor Thorpe released the following statement in a video Saturday morning:
Good Morning Antioch,
I wanted to come before you today because I wanted to share some personal news with you. Last night, after having dinner with a friend, I was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol and cited for driving under the influence. For that I take full responsibility.
Under the advice of counsel, I am limited in what I can share with you. But I felt it was important to be open and direct with you.
Although I never felt inhibited by the drink I had with my dinner and I am deeply sorry for the lapse in judgment and I hope you can forgive me.
Being your mayor has been one of the greatest honors of my life and I am sorry if I have embarrassed you in any way. You have my full commitment that I will grow and learn from this moment and will continue to work diligently for the residents of Antioch.
Thank you for listening and have a wonderful day.
According to Antioch Mayor Pro Tem Mike Barbanica, he said he spoke with CHP law enforcement where a standard DUI arrest was made and he was cited and released. He offered no other details. He also called for Mayor Lamar Thorpe to resign.
Thorpe is facing a recall effort and are in the process of collecting 9,511 signatures (15% of the total registration). The deadline for signatures to be collected and submitted is May 11, 2022.
Last week, it was announced that the Los Medanos Healthcare District was dissolved and Thorpe was set to lose his $150k a year executive director job. The move comes after the the California Supreme Court denied an appeal by the Los Medanos Community Healthcare District (District), which resulted in the dissolution of the District effective yesterday afternoon. The court decision does not affect the operation of the Pittsburg Health Center, which is operated by the Contra Costa County Health Services department and remains open with no changes to regular, ongoing services for patient care.
