Antioch mayor reflects on achievements amidst challenges
Outgoing Antioch mayor talks about the challenges and achievements during his four years as mayor.
ANTIOCH — The last four years of outgoing Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe could be considered both tumultuous and transformative.
During his time as the city’s newly elected leader, he faced and survived a campaign calling for his removal from office, a position he has held since 2020. Antioch also had its fair share of challenges, including an FBI investigation that involved crimes related to racist, homophobic and sexist text messages sent among the city’s police officers.
“I just don’t want us to normalize (what happened in) the last four years is normal and that we should all forget about it, because it’s not normal to have the FBI show up and indict officers,” said Hernandez-Thorpe. “It’s not normal for racist text messages to surface and use words like monkeys, gorillas, and water buffalo (as references to Black people).”
He said it was “shocking” to have FBI officers show up at his office and brief him about their investigations against some Antioch officers.
“I think it’s important to recognize there is still a lot of work to do to reform the Antioch Police Department,” said Hernandez-Thorpe.
As Antioch is set to welcome three new council members and Ron Bernal as mayor next week, Hernandez-Thorpe said that his administration faced challenging issues, but also had its fair share of accomplishments. Those successes include the launch of the mental health crisis response team and the opening of a hotel for transitional housing for the unhoused.
These achievements, however, were overshadowed by turmoil within the police department, said Hernandez-Thorpe.
“That is regrettable, but (those) were the circumstances. … The city doesn’t stop because of an FBI investigation, you still got to push through,” he said.
Hernandez-Thorpe said during his first year as a council member, 335 votes were cast. In his first year as mayor, the council cast 525 votes.
“So we’ve increased the productivity of the city council significantly,” he said.
Although the 43-year-old Hernandez-Thorpe will be stepping down from official duties, he has no intention of shying away from being involved in the city.
“This is my city, and I’ll continue to be involved in shaping the future direction of our city,” he said.
As for any advice for the incoming mayor, Hernandez-Thorpe hoped that Bernal, the former city manager, has “grown” in the last few years to accept that the city has systemic issues that need to be dealt with and that the current administration is already dealing with them.
“I hope they get away from this mindset that it’s just a few bad apples (in the police department), because there are systemic problems that you (need to) address, and if you don’t believe me, ask the Department of Justice that is looking at the police department,” said Hernandez-Thorpe. “I believe in God, so I think things happen for a reason. I think Ron is where he is supposed to be, and I was where I was supposed to be. I hope in that way, it’s going to build a bigger democracy.”
Hernandez-Thorpe hinted at a possible return to activism and expressed interest in writing about his experiences, providing insights into the challenges, public policies, and city governance.
Professionally, Hernandez-Thorpe said he plans to focus on his consulting business, specializing in government affairs and communications. He also looks forward to spending more time with his family and friends, particularly his 15-year-old teenage daughter.
“I look forward to doing some of that and making sure that my daughter is on top of her schoolwork,” he said.
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