On Monday, Antioch Mayor Pro Tem Tamisha Torres-Walker said she was prepared to vote against an ordinance to allow the council to hire and fire the Antioch police chief.
At its August meeting, the council voted 3-2 with Mayor Lamar Thorpe, Monica Wilson and Torres-Walker in support that would remove the city manager from hiring and firing its police chief and instead give that authority to the city council. The council was set to finalize the ordinance Tuesday night.
Under the ordinance: “The proposed Ordinance changes the organization structure of the city’s administration by transferring, from the City Manager, to the City Council, the authority to appoint, supervise, and remove the Chief of Police.”
At the meeting, Torres-Walker was in favor of the item, but only in the interim and suggested they include a “term” or a “trigger event” that would revert the authority back to the city manager.
Torres-Walker said she hoped they find the strongest city manager possible to hold the police chief accountable. She would support the ordinance as long as there was an event to “trigger” it to go back to the city manager in the future.
On Monday, Sept. 11, Torres-Walker issued a video sharing her statement of where she stood with her vote and had a change of heart stating she wanted her proposed compromise as part of the ordinance or was prepared to vote against it.
“Item F on the Consent Calendar, I will be pulling that item tomorrow night. I think the compromise that I suggested at the last council meeting was a reasonable one. I still believe that any reasonable public policy leader would support something like that. I will be pulling that, hopefully a compromise will be accepted so we can continue to move forward. If not, I think it will be more responsible to do away with trying to move forward with this particular ordinance.”
She stated she believed in “balanced leadership” and called herself “pretty reasonable” and called her compromise she suggested needed to move forward.
“If not, then this ordinance will not be moving forward at Tuesdays meeting, especially not with my vote anyway,” said Torres-Walker.
At the August Meeting, Councilmemebrs Mike Barbanica and Lori Ogorchock voted against the ordinance which would giving the city council the authority over the police chief.
Barbanica shared his concern that he didn’t want a police department to become the political arm of this council or future councils and there be a buffer with the police chief evaluated and hired by the city manager—who is hired by the council.
Barbanica said the council in the past had done a poor job holding people accountable so that needed to change.
“We should not get into the business of creating a political arm when we are talking about something as serious as the police department,” said Barbanica while still need to hold officers and the chief accountable for their actions. “Historically, its not occurred at the level it should.”
It was during that same meeting where Mayor Lamar Thorpe accused past mayors and councilmemebrs for failing to take actions to supervise the police department—knowing at a previous meeting Monica Wilson acknowledge she and her fellow council had swept multiple items under the rug in the past.
“Ralph Hernandez was a member of the city council. He failed to provide oversight of the Antioch Police Department because this was decades in the making. When I met with you (pointing to a member of the public in the audience), you asked me who was mayor was when the police beat you up. Don Frietas was the mayor. He failed to provide oversight of the Antioch Police Department.
We are owning our responsibility today to ensure that you as residents have a police department that represents you. That absolutely represents you. So you can come in here and point the finger all you want. I don’ give a damn because the residents in the community have demanded the change that we are making here today if the council continues to go in this direction because for decades residents like you have allowed this council to get away with murder, absolute murder and failed to provide oversight,” — said Thorpe.
Thorpe’s outburst prompted a response from former Mayor Wade Harper who called on the council to lead with excellence and integrity, before calling out the city council for their errors.
“So, for the record, all past city councils, including myself, have made mistakes. But I am not aware of any City Council‘s on which I have served committing any acts of murder. Additional I am not aware of any of my fellow city council members committing acts of arson, burglary, nor being arrested or cited for DUI – driving under the influence (with Blood Alcohol Levels of .121% and .124%) or allegedly sexually harassing any women resulting in any settlements with the county for $350,000 or in a fit of rage challenging any community members to step outside to fight,” — said Harper.
The Antioch City Council will take up the item Tuesday night at 7:00 pm.
Also on the Agenda:
Antioch City Attorney to get Pay Raise
On Tuesday, Antioch City Attorney Thomas Lloyd Smith is set to get a raise as this will be the fifth amendment to his employment agreement. He will receive a 6% raise and now earn $259,145.
Although the Antioch City Council has placed Smith’s Performance Evaluation on its agenda 9-times in the past year, Smith apparently earned “exceeds expectations” during his review. — Full story
Antioch City Council Meeting
September 12, 2023 at 7:00 pm
200 H Street, Antioch CA
Agenda – click here
Previous Stories:
- Aug 22, 2023 – Antioch City Council Votes to Hire and Fire Police Chief
- Aug 18, 2023 – Antioch City Council Set to Seek Control Over Police Chief Position
- June 30, 2023: Antioch City Manager Cornelius Johnson Resigns
- June 23, 2023: Kwame Reed Named Acting Antioch City Manager
- June 14, 2023: Acting Antioch City Manager Puts in Notice
- April 7, 2023: Antioch City Council Seeks Power to Hire Fire Police Chief
- Feb 17, 2023: Antioch Assistant City Manager Could Be Headed to Piedmont
2 comments
Can you say Brown Act Violation? Or is the attorney, who is set to get a raise, ignoring this one too?
Who the F elected this woman? Wake up people
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