ANTIOCH — The final 4 years of outgoing Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe could possibly be thought-about each tumultuous and transformative.
Throughout his time as town’s newly elected chief, he confronted and survived a marketing campaign calling for his removing from workplace, a place he has held since 2020. Antioch additionally had its fair proportion of challenges, together with an FBI investigation that concerned crimes associated to racist, homophobic and sexist textual content messages despatched among the many metropolis’s cops.
“I simply don’t need us to normalize (what occurred in) the final 4 years is regular and that we must always all neglect about it, as a result of it’s not regular to have the FBI present up and indict officers,” mentioned 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 mentioned it was “shocking” to have FBI officers present up at his workplace and transient him about their investigations in opposition to 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,” mentioned Hernandez-Thorpe.
As Antioch is ready to welcome three new council members and Ron Bernal as mayor subsequent week, Hernandez-Thorpe mentioned that his administration confronted difficult points, but additionally had its fair proportion of accomplishments. These successes embrace the launch of the psychological well being disaster response crew and the opening of a lodge for transitional housing for the unhoused.
These achievements, nonetheless, had been overshadowed by turmoil inside the police division, mentioned 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 mentioned.
Hernandez-Thorpe mentioned throughout his first 12 months as a council member, 335 votes had been forged. In his first 12 months as mayor, the council forged 525 votes.
“So we’ve increased the productivity of the city council significantly,” he mentioned.
Though the 43-year-old Hernandez-Thorpe will probably be stepping down from official duties, he has no intention of shying away from being concerned within the metropolis.
“This is my city, and I’ll continue to be involved in shaping the future direction of our city,” he mentioned.
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As for any recommendation for the incoming mayor, Hernandez-Thorpe hoped that Bernal, the previous metropolis supervisor, has “grown” in the previous few years to just accept that town has systemic points that should be handled and that the present administration is already coping with them.
“I hope they get away from this mindset that it’s only a few unhealthy apples (within the police division), as a result of there are systemic issues that you just (have to) tackle, and if you happen to don’t consider me, ask the Division of Justice that’s wanting on the police division,” mentioned 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 potential return to activism and expressed curiosity in writing about his experiences, offering insights into the challenges, public insurance policies, and metropolis governance.
Professionally, Hernandez-Thorpe mentioned he plans to give attention to his consulting enterprise, specializing in authorities affairs and communications. He additionally seems to be ahead to spending extra time along with his household and pals, notably 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 mentioned.
