In a rather bizarre and pointless letter to Attorney Michael Rains Friday, Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe rambled on about how he doesn’t get paid to serve as mayor.
Thorpe claimed in his letter (see below), “One of the key differences between you and me. I do not get paid to serve as mayor. I serve because I love my community and I will always fight to ensure that the residents of my city are able to live in a city where they can prosper, and not feel marginalized by the very institutions their tax dollars uphold.”
This is completely false and laughable.
According to Transparent California, Thorpe made $33,395 in 2021 and in 2022 he made $27,545. Even worse, the Antioch City Council in January discussed a pay increase that would have taken them from a $1,600 a month stipend to $1,852–this also does not include their medical, cell phone and vehicle allowances.
“I am for increasing salaries because it’s not a volunteer opportunity. This is work we do on behalf of the public; this is very important work,” said Thorpe at the meeting.
Who is Lamar Thorpe trying to fool anyway? On one hand he doesn’t care about a response by Rains, only to post his letter publicly on social media. Seeking attention much Mr. Thorpe?
For those unaware, Rains represents Antioch Police Officers Association and has been very vocal on the leadership at the city of Antioch.
In the KTVU interview after Antioch Police Chief Steve Ford announced retirement, Rains stated, “this department is in turmoil and he is the one who could have brought them out of turmoil. Its going to be hard to find someone to do that now,” said Rains but noted Ford clashed with the mayor and other city leaders. “These important decision import things that any police chief should be making, having been taken away from him, I think he finally got tired of not being able to make good decision to guide both the investigation and the department he wanted to do.”
Rains is right and anyone paying attention knows Chief Ford and Thorpe had a falling out, just as Thorpe did with city manager Cornelius Johnson, former Chief Tammany Brooks, to former public works director John Samuelson.
Did people forget it was Thorpe who attempted to muzzle the police department multiple times since becoming mayor? That Thorpe and Rolando Bonilla (no longer with the city) concocted a statement on behalf of Ford released to the media before it was retracted because Ford never said it. A complete embarrassment!
You don’t have close to 90 vacant positions in a city if leadership were not a problem. But it is and nearly everyone I’ve spoken to since leaving or resigning from the City of Antioch have all said the same thing, its a city council problem, not a city of Antioch problem.
I’ve asked dozens of cops if they would transfer to Antioch because there is great opportunity to promote quickly, have a great salary, and make a difference. I am met with dismissal quickly followed by laughs. They don’t want to work under this city council and have basically said Antioch has lowered the hiring standards.
I’ll say it again, no one wants a bad cop working on the force. No one wants a cop who potentially targets an individual based on their gender, color of their skin, race, sexual preference, religious preference or any other reason that is not legal. However, Antioch Police officers mixed up in the text messaging scandal deserve due process–just as any person. And lets not forget, we don’t have to like what was said, but they still have first amendment rights to say it.
Rains is ensuring due process for his clients, as he should. End of story. Rains is no different than a criminal defense attorney representing murders, violent crimes, robbery suspects or any other person charged with a crime.
To attack Rains for defending a client is laughable given Thorpe wanting the officers fired without due process. It is hypocritical given Thorpe himself was entitled to due process for his DUI arrest by the California Highway Patrol which dragged on longer than it should and while he went through sexual harassment settlement. Apparently, he can be entitled to due process, but he believes the Antioch Police officers apparently should not get the same rights allowed to them.
I am a firm believer the justice system will work through the process in a legal way and officers will be dealt with appropriately, but that takes time–some will be indicted, some will be fired, some will get disciplined and some will be found not actually involved once the context and text time stamps are released.
It would behoove Mayor Lamar Thorpe to simply pipe down for now, stop looking like a fool, and let the process play out versus continuing to mislead the public and stir people up.
Regardless of what Thorpe does to deflect away from his failed leadership by pointing at the Antioch Police Department every chance he can, the public should understand that in the police department, there are men and women who are not involved in the text scandal who have continued to work and show up each day with the drama continuing to unfold. There are folks in other departments who are picking up the slack from all the vacancies. These employees should all be supported and applauded for what they have had to deal with under this city council.
Who should not be supported is Mayor Lamar Thorpe who continues to be a very public hypocrite and proven liar, especially now that he is claiming he doesn’t get paid to be mayor.
The 2024 election cannot come soon enough for residents to Antioch to bring some integrity back to the city council and the mayors seat. It’s going to be a long 15-months until he is voted out of office.
Here is Thorpe’s Letter:
Mike Burkholder
Publisher of ContraCosta.news
burk@contracosta.news
17 comments
Comments are closed.
Add Comment