11 Dec New-Look Antioch Council Takes Office; Change ‘Has Already Begun’

“I am not about political parties or race … religion or socioeconomic status, fill in the blank. I am about people, all the people of Antioch,” said Mayor Ron Bernal on Tuesday in his first City Council meeting since taking office. (Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

Ron Bernal made his first move as Antioch mayor before even taking a seat at the dais, calling for a special meeting the following night to discuss over 30 active lawsuits in closed session  — many of them civil rights lawsuits involving the Antioch Police Department. 

Newly sworn-in Bernal and District 2 and 3 council members Louie Rocha and Don Freitas, who officially took their seats Tuesday night, called for unity in what some residents referred to as a ‘divided’ community, but change, which they said would not be swift, was necessary. 

The three take the place of outgoing Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe and council members Michael Barbanica and Lori Ogorchock. 

“Our voters said loud and clear that they want change and they want it now,” Bernal said. “I am not about political parties or race … religion or socioeconomic status, fill in the blank. I am about people, all the people of Antioch. A divided Antioch will not stand. I am about Antioch, one Antioch.”

Still, some on the council called for a number of changes in just half a meeting: a new city attorney, discussing bringing back school resource officers and a list of council norms. 

Supporters of new members and their opponents have clashed on views surrounding police oversight and accountability, race, and tenant protections, with some incidents resulting in racist rhetoric. Opponents criticized Bernal during his campaign for not condemning racism from some of his supporters. 

Bernal did so in some of his first remarks from the dais.

“I do not condone such comments,” he said. “I am asking such individuals from this point forward to please refrain from negative, unproductive comments and statements and keep them to themselves.”

Council member Tamisha Torres-Walker, however, was critical of calls for unity.

Antioch has “community members who supported divisive campaigns,” she said, “and had the nerve to stand up here and say to us all that it’s time for the new regime to come in here and undo do protections for tenants, undo services for the homeless, undo policy accountability, undo, undo, undo.” 

Shagoofa Khan, an activist named in the racist and sexist text messages sent by Antioch Police Department officers, said she believed Bernal, Freitas and Rocha, who was also named mayor pro tem, were there “for the right reasons,” to better Antioch. 

“Change only happens when we’re all together,” Khan said. “A unified city is when everyone comes together and builds the better Antioch.” 

Some residents worried that changes passed under the then-progressive majority would be reverted by the new council majority.  

“Why not continue to move forward?” Torres-Walker asked. “Continue to build on and actually build unity.” 

Antioch’s Police Oversight Commission, a seven-person board tasked with advising the city and police department on public safety, for example, has faced calls to be dismantled following claims that members have a bias against the police department. 

Those residents, they say, are undeterred. Several expressed their concerns to Bernal and the council before, saying they refused “to go back.” 

Torres-Walker read from a prepared statement and reassured supporters.

“Change has already come to Antioch,” she said. “Change will not start tonight. It has already begun.” 

City manager, city attorney

Hernandez-Thorpe’s departure means the council’s progressive majority, which helped pass tenant protections and hire City Manager Bessie M. Scott, is replaced by Bernal, Freitas and Rocha. The three, whose votes are expected to align often, could undo or greatly change other decisions many have criticized, including the hiring of Scott.

The appointment of Scott, a Black woman with experience in police accountability, was criticized by some residents due to, they say, her lack of experience and past social media posts concerning systemic racism. 

Scott’s social media posts brought various community members to an August meeting and online to debate her hiring. 

Freitas, who said he wasn’t in favor of the previous council hiring a city manager so close to the Nov. 5 election, did not call for a new city manager but asked that the council get “in compliance” with Scott’s contract. 

The contract calls for Scott and the council to agree to goals within 30 days following her first day, which, Freitas said, wasn’t done. 

Torres-Walker said Scott met individually with council members to determine each’s priorities. 

Torres-Walker and council member Monica Wilson voted to hire Scott as city manager in August alongside Hernandez-Thorpe.

But while Scott is not facing any immediate calls to be fired by the new council, City Attorney Thomas Smith is. 

Smith, who was first appointed to the role in 2019, previously worked for the city of San Leandro. 

“I believe that Mr. Smith has served the city well for six years,” Freitas said, but recommended terminating Smith’s employment and hiring someone the entire council has a say in. 

The Antioch City Council’s next meeting is on Dec. 11.