Antioch

Antioch to Discuss Pause of Police Oversight Commission

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On Tuesday, the Antioch City Council will discuss a temporary pause of the Antioch Police Oversight Commission.

If a pause is approved, it comes less than a year after the commission was seated and held their first meeting on March 18, 2024. The city says throughout the year, the lack of Commissioner attendance began to create a negative impact on the Commission with several meetings needing to be canceled due to a lack of quorum.

Currently, there are four (4) Commissioners on the Commission:

  • Porshe Taylor, Chairperson
  • Devin Williams, Vice Chairperson
  • Alicia Lacey-Oha
  • Treva Hadden

The City Council will discuss whether to institute a temporary pause on commission meetings until June 2025 in order to provide adequate time to:

  1. Review and Refine the Current Ordinance: Examine the existing framework to ensure it aligns with best practices, the City’s mission and the MOA with the USDOJ.
  2. Interview and Select Additional Commissioners: Allow the City Council to fill vacant seats with qualified candidates. This may involve reopening the application period to receive additional applications from prospective candidates.
  3. Establish a Commissioner Onboarding Process: Establish a checklist and process for onboarding new commissioners.
  4. Provide Comprehensive Training for Commissioners: Ensuring all members are well-prepared to fulfill their duties effectively.
  5. Develop Rules of Decorum: Establish guidelines for the City Council and all City Commissions, all commissioners, board members, and meeting participants to promote professionalism, respect, and effective discussion and collaboration.
  6. Ensure Funding for APOC Training: Allocating resources to support training that equips the commission with the tools needed for success.

According to the staff report, any pause will not result in the removal of current commissioners (except for reasons outlined in the adopted ordinance or City Code) serving on APOC. The Ad Hoc Committees will continue during this pause to ensure progress on critical initiatives is not disrupted. This pause is a strategic investment in strengthening the APOC’s foundation, ensuring that it can fulfill its role effectively and sustainably in the years to come.

The City Council is asked to provide direction to staff on the future of the Commission. The following alternatives are provided for discussion:

  1. No change. The Commission continues per Ordinance No. 2212-C-S;
  2. Direct staff to prepare and return with a plan of action to implement a pause of APOC for a specified time and bring said plan to a future Council meeting that has been properly noticed to amend Ordinance No. 2212-C-S, that created the Commission; or
  3. Other City Council recommendation

At the February 11 meeting, Bernal issued the following statement during his mayor comments:

“With the resignation of Ms. May from the APOC, as Councilmember Torres-Walker mentioned, we are down to 4 members which is out of compliance. I am going to be proposing a pause on the meetings for that group until June while we do a few things to get that group in order,” stated Bernal. “One of them is recruiting three new people to serve on that commission which is very important. I’d also like to take a look at the ordinance to the extent to make sure it meets the current needs of our community, coincides with the DOJ settlement that we have with the United States Government and that its something that works well for our vision moving forward as a city. We are also going to be developing rules of decorum.”

Bernal said they have a city council retreat next week where they will work on that—along with developing council priorities. He said the decorum would be applicable to all commissions and boards once adopted through Resolution, including the city council and people who participate in meetings.

“I also want to make sure we have adequate funding for the APOC to make sure they are getting the training and everything they need so that when we do hit the ground running again when we start that back up again in June or so that it is fully functioning group of individuals who are running it.”

 

If You Go
Antioch City Council Meeting
Date: Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Time: 6:30 P.M. – Closed Session
7:00 P.M. – Regular Meeting
Place: Council Chambers 200 ‘H’ Street
Antioch, CA 94509
Agenda – click here

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