Antioch City Councilmemeber Mike Barbanica took to video to urge the community to hold local elected officials accountable its sideshow ordinance.
Barbanica, who is also running for Contra Costa County Board of Supervisor, District 5, posted a 7-minute video on sideshows where he shared his perspective on going after organizers and participants, but currently the need is to actually get an ordinance on the books.
The video follows a Tuesday 4-0 vote where the council approved a Antioch Sideshow ordinance where within the ordinance, it prohibits organizing, advertising, and being a spectator at a street racing, sideshows, and reckless driving exhibitions. Any person who violates the ordinance could be subject to a $1,000 fine or 6-months in jail, or both.
He urges the community to encourage the Antioch City Councilmembers to support the adoption of its sideshow ordinance at its next meeting—noting in the past, ordinances are approved, but at the second reading/adoption, some councilmembers get “cold feet”, and the item fails.
“Let’s make sure no elected officials get cold feet in the final hours of this thing and get this law on the books,” stated Barbanica.
He further clarified why he wanted to go after those both promoting, and active participants while calling going after only the organizer “ridiculous” and they need to go after everyone participating.
“Yes, let’s still go after the person setting up the sideshows, but these are wreaking havoc in our cities,” stated Barbanica. “I have pushed all along to cite people all along who are participating in sideshows.”
He also clarified the differences between being an active participant in a sideshow versus someone being “stuck” in a sideshow beyond their control.
Barbanica explained even though the council voted 4-0 for the Antioch sideshow ordinance on Tuesday, the item still has to come back for a second reading in late July and it takes effect 30-days after that. He urges the community to encourage the council to adopt the ordinance.
“I am going to continue to push for towing the vehicles, but right now, we just need to get the ordinance moving forward to cite the organizers and spectators,” stated Barbanica. “Then we can continue to push towing vehicles. The question then becomes how long we can hold these vehicles. Let’s get the ordinance on the books.”
He also stated he believed this should be a countywide ordinance and it’s a regional issue because if they are in Antioch, he questioned where they would go next—such as the city of Oakley, City of Brentwood, City of Pittsburg, going City of Concord.
“These are problems for all of us in our local communities and we all need to ban together and make sure we put a stop to this,” stated Barbanica.
Related Stories:
- June 25 – Antioch City Council Approves Sideshow Ordinance
- June 11 – Editorial: East County Must Take Regional Approach With Sideshow Ordinance
- June 2 – Antioch Police Impound 6 Vehicles, Make Multiple Arrests During Sideshows
- March 14, 2024 – Antioch Rejects “Absolutely Useless” Sideshow Ordinance
- Nov 16 – Antioch Opts to Place Ordinance Focus on Sideshow Organizers
- Oct 26 – Antioch Agrees to Create Ordinance Directed at Sideshow Spectators
- Sept 25 – Antioch Police Say 1 Arrested After Weekend Sideshow Activity
- Aug 15 – License Plate Readers Coming to Downtown Antioch
- Aug 9 – Antioch Mayor Claims Sideshows and Crime is Down
- Aug 9 – Antioch Man Charged with Reckless Driving and Felony Hit and Run
- Aug 6 – Antioch Sideshow Damages Water Main, Vehicle Also Enters Delta Waters
- July 5 – Updated: Hundreds Gather for Fourth of July Sideshow in Antioch
- Jan 12 – Antioch Police Tow 2 Vehicles, 1 Citation in Latest Sideshow Response
- May 16, 2022 – Antioch Mayor Says Council Will Take Up Policy to Target Sideshow Spectators
- May 15, 2022 – Antioch Police Respond to Two Sideshows, Officers Vehicles Attacked