More political jockeying in Antioch: Thorpe jumps into mayor’s race along with one other resident, Turnage to run for Area 3 school board, another candidate in Area 1 school board race

Beverley Beckman pulled papers to run for Mayor of Antioch. Photo from her Facebook page on 5/27/13 (See note at bottom of article). George Young III filed to run for Antioch School Board in Area 1. Photo from his Facebook page on 6/24/20.

Walker files in District 3 council race, Wilson files in District 4; and Lewis files in Area 3 school board race; Rocha will not run for City Treasurer but has not officially withdrawn, yet and race gets heated before it begins

By Allen Payton

As expected on Wednesday with his withdrawal from the Antioch City Council District 3 race and confirmed Thursday, Councilman Lamar Thorpe pulled papers to run for mayor against Sean Wright, along with one other resident named Beverley Beckman. Without withdrawing from the mayor’s race, former Antioch Planning Commission Chairman Kenny Turnage made a surprise move and took out and filed his Nomination papers to run for Antioch School Board in Area 3 against incumbent Trustee Crystal Sawyer-White and Dr. Clyde Lewis.

In addition, Councilwoman Monica Wilson filed her papers Thursday to run for re-election, in the District 4 council race against Antioch Police Crime Prevention Commission Chairman Sandra White. Wilson is awaiting verification of her nomination signatures. Also, on Thursday, Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock qualified to run for re-election in the District 4 race. She will face at least two challengers and possibly four. Wayne Steffen was mistakenly listed as withdrawn by the City Clerk’s office on Wednesday. So, he’s still a potential candidate in the race. In the District 1 council race, Tamisha Walker filed her papers on Thursday and is awaiting verification of her nomination signatures.

Another Candidate for Mayor

According to her Facebook page, the 33-year-old Beckman is from Lodi, attended Lodi High School and studied at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon. She’s listed on Bizapedia.com as an officer of Concourse Coffee LLC in Antioch which was formed in 2016 and an officer of Espresso Machines Experts LLC in Pittsburg, which was formed in 2018.

In the Area 1 Antioch School Board race, according to Thursday’s report from the Contra Costa Elections office, George Young III became the third candidate and second challenger to Board President Diane Gibson-Gray, by pulling and filing his Nomination paper on Thursday, as well. So far, Trustee Gary Hack running for re-election in Area 4 is the only incumbent not facing any challengers, this year. However, filing closes at 5:00 p.m. on Friday so, there’s still time for a potential opponent to pull and file their Nomination papers.

Third Candidate in Area 1 School Board Race

In a post by Young’s wife Katie, on his campaign Facebook page on Thursday she wrote, “Its official official papers have been pulled – George Young will be on the November ballot for Antioch school board. Spread the word, spread the love, and please if you can, make a donation to the campaign.” The Youngs have three sons, one in college and two attending public school in Antioch.

According to his campaign website, www.georgeyoung4change.com, Young’s three-part platform is, Students First, School Safety and Giving Parents a Voice and his campaign slogan is Educating YOUNG Minds.

Young, who turns 39 on Saturday, has worked in business operations, human resources and information technology, including as the Program and HR Administrator at Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) and currently works as Operations Manager for a retail supply chain. He serves as a Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve. Young has degrees in Computer Science from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and Business Management with a concentration in nonprofit organization management from Northwest University.

City Treasurer’s Race Gets Heated Before It Starts

Antioch City Treasurer Jim Davis. Photo from his Facebook page on 8/6/20

In the City Treasurer’s race, incumbent Jim Davis qualified Thursday to run for re-election. In a post on Ruben Rocha’s campaign Facebook page he wrote on July 30, “After deep consideration, I have decided not to run for City Treasurer. I sincerely appreciate the support I have received from so many community members. Although I’m disappointed, I feel reassured by the comfort of my decision. I have decided to pursue my political aspirations to serve my community in the future, to the best of my ability. Thank you!” He has not yet officially withdrawn from the race. However, if he doesn’t file by 5:00 p.m. Friday he can’t qualify to run.

Davis’ one remaining potential opponent, Lauren Posada, has yet to file her Nomination Papers. In a post on his Facebook page Thursday night, Davis wrote referring to Posada, “My only opponent has lived in Antioch for 2 months, is working at City Hall as an accounts payable clerk/technician in the Finance Department for the past several years. People have been asking.”

When reached for comment and to verify the information Davis shared, Posada responded late Thursday night, “yes I work for the Finance department in City of Antioch. I’ll been there 5 years next month and have received all approvals to run for treasurer, including the City Attorney. I got the green light last Friday. That’s what took me so long to get run(ning). I have my appointment with (City Clerk) Arne (Simonsen) tomorrow to file. I’ve lived in Antioch the majority of my life. I’ve been quite busy with gathering all my paperwork and I will give my information as soon as I get my paperwork completed.”

Posada was then asked via Facebook Messenger about Davis’ claim that she’s only lived in Antioch for two months and if she had moved away and recently moved back. However, it was after midnight. In addition, an email was sent to City Attorney Thomas Smith early Friday morning to verify what Posada shared and about a possible legal conflict of interest she might have should she be elected. Please check back later for any updates to this report.

According to City Clerk Arne Simonsen, the following Antioch residents have taken out Nomination Papers, Withdrawn, Filed or Qualified as of 5 p.m. August 6th, for the following City offices:

Mayor

Sean Wright (I) – Qualified on 8/4/20

Julio Mendez – Qualified on 7/31/20

Rakesh Kumar Christian – Qualified on 7/22/20

Kenneth Turnage II

Gabriel Makinano

Manuel Sidrian

Beverley Beckman

Lamar Thorpe

Elizabeth Householder – Withdrawn 8/3/20

Monica Wilson – Withdrawn 8/4/20

Wade Harper – Withdrawn 7/31/20

Council District 1

Joyann Motts – Qualified on 8/5/20

Manuel Soliz – Filed on 8/5/20 (awaiting signature verification)

Tamisha Walker – Filed on 8/6/20 (awaiting signature verification)

Fernando Navarrete

La Donna Norman

Council District 3

Lori Ogorchock – Qualified on 8/6/20

Antwon Webster – Qualified on 8/5/20

Marie Arce – Filed on 8/5/20 (awaiting signature verification)

Nichole Gardner

Wayne Steffen (mistakenly listed as withdrawn)

Lamar Thorpe – Withdrawn 8/5/20

Council District 4

Sandra White – Qualified on 8/3/20

Monica Wilson – Filed on 8/6/20 (awaiting signature verification)

Alex Astorga

City Treasurer

James Davis (I) – Qualified on 8/6/20

Ruben Rocha

Lauren Posada

ANTIOCH SCHOOL BOARD

Area 1

Antonio Hernandez – Filed 8/5/20

Diane Gibson-Gray – Filed 7/31/20

George Young III – Filed 8/6/20

Area 3

Clyde Lewis – Filed 8/6/20

Crystal Sawyer-Whitefiled 7/24/20, Withdrew, Filed again 8/3/20

Kenny Turnage – Filed 8/6/20

There were no changes in any of the other city or school board races. This list will be updated when additional registered Antioch voters take out Nomination Papers, withdraw or become Qualified for the various city or school board races. To see the latest list of candidates for all 10 races visit www.antiochherald.com/election-2020.

NOTE: We do our best to use the best and most recent photos of candidates that can be found through an internet search or are provided by the candidate or their campaign. This photo used of Ms. Beckman is the best and most recent photo that could be found of her. It was not used to hurt her and in fact was cropped in order to show her in the best light possible. An effort to reach her requesting a more recent photo of her and information on her background, once she took out Nomination Papers to run, was unsuccessful. We expect candidates to either post their most recent photos and information on their background at least somewhere on social media or provide it to us because the public has a right to know who is running to represent them.


the attachments to this post:


Jim Davis FB 08-06-20


Beverley Beckman 5-27-13 & George Young III FB


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