Mayor Lamar Thorpe Asks for Forgiveness for Embarrassing Antioch

On Tuesday, Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe gave a backhanded apology to the residents of Antioch if he embarrassed the city for his actions in 2022.

Thorpe, who called 2022 a difficult year, asked for forgiveness before then immediately stating others are not perfect and there should be no finger pointing. Some of what he dealt with included:

• $350k settlement for sexual harassment claims while serving as executive direct at the now defunct Los Medanos Community Healthcare District. Two women who resigned from their positions at the healthcare district due to sexual harassment, unwanted sexual advances, hostile working conditions, and other unlawful actions resulting from Executive Director Lamar Thorpe’s misconduct, and the District’s inaction, despite having knowledge of that misconduct. The settlement did state there was no admission of guilt. — to view investigative report, click here.
• DUI Arrest in March where mayor claims to have only had 1 drink. Thorpe ultimately had more than 1 drink as he blew a blood-alcohol of .121 and a .124. after telling CHP he had not been drinking.
• Physical Altercation at Lone Tree Golf Course: In October, Thorpe got into an altercation with a man in a parking lot where he claimed to have been attacked. The man involved refutes Thorpes comments saying no punches were thrown. No update on the incident has been released.
• Antioch City Clerk Issues Open Letter Regarding Mayor after learning about a sexual harassment settlement
• Councilmembers Mike Barbanica and Lori Ogorchock ask mayor to design.
• Mayor Thorpe dealt with a recall attempt which ultimately failed.
• Mayor accused of blocking people and deleting comments from social media.
• Antioch Police Department FBI investigation

On Tuesday, here is what the Thorpe said during the Antioch City Council Meeting regarding 2022:

“If I embarrassed the city in some fashion, if I have disappointed you in some fashion I ask for your forgiveness and I will do better as I continue on my role as mayor for the next two-years because I will be here for the next 2-years,” said Thorpe. “So with that, I want to challenge you yourself as well because I know you all are not perfect and there should be no finger pointing. We are all responsible for one another and I really want to encourage all of us to continue working together.”

Thorpe Addresses Homelessness and Vacant Buildings During Mayors Comments

“We have a lot of ongoing issues in our city where we are focused in some of the Sycamore coordinator and of course in District 2 there is a lot of issues there particularly in the Delta Fair Corridor and we tend to not talk about them and always point the finger at District 1, but there is a lot going on in District 2 that has been neglected so I plan to do some work out there as it relates to some of our vacancy regulations and holding some of these landlords accountable for keeping these buildings empty,” said Thorpe. “Hopefully we can crack down on that and work to get some of these spaces filled.”

In terms of homelessness, Thorpe stated “I am always happy to say we are doing a lot more than any city. We are doing a lot more than collectively all the cities in eastern Contra Costa County because we are the only city that is going to effectively invest in turning the old Executive Inn on E 18th Street into transitional housing for unhoused residents. That will be 32-rooms coming online sometime this year.

He added that in March, they will be the first city in Contra Costa County and beyond what the county could do in launching the crisis response team in the city of Antioch – a 24-hour crisis response team that is non-police response to deal with mental health issues in the community and other lower-level calls such as domestic dispute.

“Absent of anyone beating each other up, we will send our crisis response team,” stated Thorpe who noted this has been 2-years in the making.

Thorpe again said they were the only city in eastern Contra Costa County who invests in the Motel 6 in Pittsburg—which is county funded—which Antioch pays to have a certain amount of rooms at that hotel to specifically to take people from Antioch.

He continued.

“We wasted so much time last year beating each other up for no reason when there is good work that we are doing that is actually going to change peoples lives,” said Thorpe. “Rather than try and recall people, focus on trying to help me get people housed. That is what we need to be focused on.”

To watch the meeting, click here.