Unprecedented special Antioch Council meeting on setting future agendas, switching to annually rotated mayor, May 30
Change in how mayor is chosen requires vote of people, would result in redistricting to five council districts
First ever special meeting called by three council members not the mayor set for Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.
By Allen D. Payton
At the request of District 2 Councilman Mike Barbanica, with the support of Mayor Pro Tem Tamisha Torres-Walker and District 3 Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock at the end of Tuesday night’s meeting, the Antioch City Council will have an unprecedented special meeting next Tuesday, May 30 at 7:00 p.m. to discuss two matters. It will be the first not called by the mayor. (See related article and May 30th agenda)
The first item, specifically requested by Barbanica at the end of the Tuesday, May 23rd council meeting, is a discussion on a proposed agenda setting process for future city council meetings. Currently the mayor sets the agenda with input from the city manager, and placing requests by other council members when he chooses. That is supposed to be done within six months of the request based on the council policy adopted during former Mayor Wade Harper’s term. However, it hasn’t always been followed.
Barbanica said he and Torres-Walker held two meetings on the matter and developed a seven-point plan which they will present during the meeting.
Proposed Switch to Rotated Mayor
The second matter for discussion, also proposed by Barbanica, is the consideration of a process to transition the city from four to five election districts and to change the process from designating the mayor from being elected directly, citywide for a four-year term to a mayor serving a one-year term on a rotating basis, as is currently done for the position of mayor pro tem.
Asked if the second proposal was his, Barbanica said, “I called for the special meeting on the one item. Afterwards, I was thinking about it and I added the second item about switching to a rotated mayor.”
“I called Tamisha to ask her thoughts about it and she said, ‘yes, let’s add it,’” he continued. “I called (City Attorney) Thomas (Smith). He got a third person to agree, and I spoke to him later in the afternoon so, he said we’re going to place it on the agenda.”
“We just agreed to place it on the agenda. No one has approved anything at this point,” Barbanica stated. “It would have to go to the voters, of course.”
“I initially brought this to her (Torres-Walker) on Saturday afternoon when I was sharing with her about the need for the EOC,” the councilman shared. “We came to an agreement on that. We also spoke about the MRAP. What I proposed is, we need to replace it, anyways, let’s get rid of it, but not now. Then why don’t we bring in a police department-based vehicle. The police department wanted it anyway. I reached out to the department, and they said we’re 100 percent on board.”
“I’m very appreciative of the time she and I spent discussing ideas. This was hours that we spent going over things,” Barbanica continued. “We came up with the seven-point plan together. We bounced ideas off each other.”
“She initially reached out to me to talk about the agenda. That turned into conversations about the EOC, the MRAP and how the agenda was put together,” he explained. “I was appreciative that we spent hours on this, together.”
“I don’t want to take full credit for this. It’s something we worked together on. She was very receptive to my ideas. It was a back-and-forth thing,” Barbanica wanted to make clear.
“This was very much a collaborative effort with both of us being willing to compromise,” he added.
If approved at a future council meeting switching to a rotated mayor would require a vote by the public and the city undergoing another redistricting process for future council elections with three seats up one year and the other two seats two years later. That’s how the process is handled in most of the 19 cities in Contra Costa County. Besides Antioch, only Richmond, San Ramon, Martinez and Brentwood have directly elected mayors.
“We’re consulting an elections attorney, right now to make sure we understand the process and determine the next steps if the council majority agrees we want to look into it further,” Barbanica added.
Powers and Duties of the Mayor
The mayor has only two powers that the other city council members don’t, which are to set council meeting agendas and nominate council members and residents to committees, commissions and boards. The appointments still require the support of at least two other council members. The mayor also gets to sign ordinances, resolutions and proclamations and represent the City at the monthly county Mayor’s Conference.
Attempts to reach Torres-Walker for comment on this were unsuccessful prior to publication time. Please check later for any updates to this report.
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Rotated mayor amongs councilmembers
