29 Mar Antioch Gets New Police Oversight Commissioners

By Samantha Kennedy

The Antioch Police Oversight Commission could be coming back stronger after being plagued with canceled meetings, threats to independence and uncertainty about its future. 

The Antioch City Council appointed two new commissioners Tuesday to fill vacancies and put the city back in compliance with the U.S. Department of Justice agreement. 

Lisa Elekwachi, a retired manager in San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management, and Susan Kennedy, a senior policy advisor for a member of the House of Representatives, were appointed to partial term vacancies by the council in separate 5-0 votes. Elekwachi and Kennedy’s terms will expire in November 2026. 

The appointments received a couple of public comments, including from former commissioner Leslie May, but all commenters left before the item was heard. 

May, who resigned after using the n-word when speaking with city leaders, was the commission’s third resignation since its inaugural members took their seats last March. Chair Harry Thurston and commissioner Mahogany Spears also resigned for unknown reasons. 

Following May’s resignation, Mayor Ron Bernal proposed last month that the commission pause to ensure commissioners get proper training and refine the onboarding process, but commissioners did not move forward with a pause or reduction in meetings. 

Kennedy, who spoke to commissioners at the March 17 meeting, suggested the pause be reframed as a reset. 

“Not only do those seats need to be filled, those people need to be trained. That’s not something that can happen on the fly,” she said then. “I think we have to look at what is truly the best for the commission, which then in turn is ultimately going to be the best thing for the community.”

According to her application, Kennedy spent 23 years working with the city of South San Francisco’s fire department in public education and disaster preparedness before becoming the assistant to the city manager. 

Elekwachi, a District 4 resident, spent 20 years working with San Francisco’s Department of Emergency Management as a dispatcher, supervisor and a quality improvement manager. 

“I understand both sides of the coin of what to expect of law enforcement personnel and what it means to be a civilian,” she said in her application. “I am uniquely aware of Law Enforcement’s role of walking the tightrope between upholding the law, following departmental general orders while managing public perceptions.” 

In 2023, Elekwachi was among the residents who spoke in opposition to a policy that would have given the Antioch City Council the power to hire and fire a police chief. Elekwachi believed that power should only be transferred to then-Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe.

Council members initially passed a policy giving the entire council that power before reversing their decision the following month. 

Elekwachi and Kennedy were two of eight applicants that Bernal interviewed for the vacancies, according to the city. 

Council member Don Freitas called for the application process, which only allows Bernal to nominate residents to the commission, to be more transparent in the future. 

“For (council members), we should have all the applications,” said Freitas. “For the public, they should also see who is applying because they may want to stand up and voice concerns.” 

Council member Tamisha Torres-Walker agreed with Freitas, saying that had been suggested for the last four years. 

The next Antioch City Council meeting is on April 8.