Who dropped the ball on the Antioch Amtrak station closure?
Blame mainly rests with San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority staff and board members
Antioch Public Works Department staff knew of closure in spring 2022 five months before city manager and mayor, but failed to inform them or other councilmembers
Former Antioch CM Con Johnson claims he informed Hernandez-Thorpe six months before SJJPA Board vote, says mayor directed him to not tell any councilmembers, neither informed public
SJJPA staff now says, “decommissioning is some 2.5 to 3 years out” instead of the end of 2025 and it’s “too early to coordinate options with regional transit agencies.”
Mayor to present plan to keep station opened at Friday SJJPA Board meeting before council has seen or approved it
By Allen D. Payton
On May 22, 2024, a rally was held at the Antioch Amtrak station location at 100 I Street at the corner of W. First Street, along the waterfront in the City’s historic Rivertown District, by community members affiliated with Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) Action and other organizations and attended by Mayor Pro Tem Monica Wilson and District 1 Councilwoman Tamisha Torres-Walker, to raise awareness about the impending closure. The councilwoman, in whose district the station is located, was quoted in a Local News Matters report saying, “I think someone needs to own up to this. I think somewhere the ball was dropped,” without naming anyone.
In an effort to both understand what occurred, who caused it and how to reverse the decision to close the Antioch-Pittsburg San Joaquins Passenger Stop, as it is officially known, a months-long investigation by the Herald resulted in the first article entitled, “Whodunnit? No proof any city staff member approved Antioch’s Amtrak station closure” was published in July. This article serves as a follow up, includes further research and reveals Torres-Walker is correct that “the ball was dropped” and it was mainly due to a lack of communication by the staff and board of directors of the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority (SJJPA), which governs the Amtrak San Joaquins Passenger Rail service between Bakersfield and Oakland and runs through Antioch. They failed to adequately inform the City of Antioch staff and council and the Tri Delta Transit staff and board.
In addition, Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe and then-City Manager Cornelius “Con” Johnson also dropped the ball by not informing the council members or the public prior to the vote on March 24, 2023, by the SJJPA Board of Directors to decommission the station, preventing Antioch and other East County residents from knowing about the vote and providing them the opportunity to speak out against it. The mayor repeatedly blamed former Antioch City Manager Ron Bernal, his opponent in the current mayoral election, for approving the closure, which the Herald’s first article on the matter proved to be false.
Finally, someone in the Antioch Public Works Department knew about the station closure in spring 2022 and dropped the ball by failing to either inform the city manager or council members at that time five or six months before Johnson was first informed of the impending SJJPA Board vote the following spring.
SJJPA Spokesman Claims “Discussions Regarding…Challenges in Antioch Began in 2017” City Staff Not Informed of Closure Until Fall 2022
According to the news report about the May 2024 rally, “David Lipari of the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission, which works in collaboration with SJJPA, said discussions regarding the challenges in Antioch began in 2017.” Yet, nowhere in any documentation provided in response to Public Records Act (PRA) requests to the SJJPA, City of Antioch, Tri Delta Transit and a federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to Amtrak, does it show any member of the Antioch City Council or staff knew about the proposed closure until January 2023.
Further research revealed the first time SJJPA staff informed any Antioch city manager of the station closure or decommissioning was in September 2022, during the first of three meetings between SJJPA Director of Rail Services, Tamika Smith, and then-City Manager Cornelius “Con” Johnson.
Johnson, in turn, informed Hernandez-Thorpe following that meeting and in January Johnson and then-Antioch Police Chief Steve Ford were preparing a presentation for the SJJPA Board meeting on January 25, 2023, after the mayor told Johnson he should provide it. That presentation and the proposed vote to close the station were postponed until the regular board meeting on March 24, 2023. But with Johnson being placed on administrative leave the week before, as previously reported, the mayor provided the presentation instead.
SJJPA Staff First Discussed Closure in 2021
That’s all in spite of the fact the first record of a discussion about a possible Antioch station closure was in emails between SJJPA Executive Director Stacey Mortensen and her staff members in June 2021. One of those emails revealed that a previous discussion of a possible closure had occurred, so, at least one or more of the SJJPA staff members knew closing the Antioch station was a possibility.
It’s also in spite of the fact that at that time SJJPA staff knew the policy of BNSF rail, which owns the tracks, was to not have stations too close together and that the location of the planned station in Oakley, just six miles away, was too close. Thus, another station had to be closed. Since problems continued at and around the Antioch station, including assaults on train conductors, calls for service to the Antioch Police and Amtrak Police for other crimes, fare evasion and homelessness, the Antioch-Pittsburg stop was an easy target.
Questions for SJJPA Executive Director Go Unanswered
Questions were emailed to Mortensen on August 19, 2024, asking the following: “Why did your agency not inform Tri Delta Transit about the possible decommissioning, whose board was voting for improvements to support the opening of the Oakley Station, and that it required the closure of the Antioch Station?
With whom did your staff, specifically then-Senior Planner David Ripperda, then-Director of Capital Projects Kevin Sheridan and/or SJJPA spokesman David Lipari discuss the closure of the Antioch station prior to your emails in June 2021?”
She was asked to provide copies of those communications and if they were by virtual meetings or phone calls, please include her and/or her staff’s notes from them and any and all emails about the Oakley and/or Antioch stations with BNSF.
Mortensen was shown the three emails about the matter between her and Ripperda, copied to other staff members and asked, “Did you ever find out ‘where the conversation with BN went after that’? What was the outcome? Did any member of your staff ever communicate in any way with any members of the City of Antioch Public Works Department between June 2021 and May 2022 about the decommissioning of the Antioch station? If so, what was said and how was it communicated?
She was informed that while the Herald was not provided with copies of any email communications about the closure of the station with anyone in that city department, it appears during that time period someone in that department was made aware of the possible station closure. That’s because language referring to the Amtrak station in previous years’ 5-Year Capital Improvement Program budgets, was removed for the 2022-27 CIP presented as a Draft to the city council in May 2022. But the Public Works Director at that time no longer works for the City of Antioch.
Mortensen was reminded that the staff report for the agenda item for the vote included misinformation that a previous Antioch city manager approved the decommissioning, which caused a political firestorm in Antioch because that former city manager, Ron Bernal, is now running for mayor against the incumbent who assumed he was the person to which Tamika Smith referred in her staff report. She was then provided with a link to the previous Herald article about the Antioch station decommissioning and it was pointed out to her that Smith never mentioned Bernal’s name and it was only mentioned by the mayor.
Mortensen was also reminded that her board members were never provided any documentation supporting the claim that a previous city manager or any City of Antioch staff member approved the closure, nor were given council direction to support it, before the board voted.
She was then asked, “why wouldn’t any of the board or your staff members question that, ask if that city manager was directed to support the decommissioning by the council and ask for the City of Antioch to provide a copy of the council resolution supporting it, before the board vote? Had they known the facts might one of them have voted differently and the decommissioning not move forward, since it only passed by the minimum number of votes?”
Mortensen was then reminded about the emails between Bernal and her following the March 24, 2023, board meeting in which he both denied ever approving the decommissioning and asking for Mortensen to correct the record. In her email response to him she wrote, “My understanding from the various parties was that the City had reluctantly agreed to the closure if the new landscaping and improvements (associated with the building removal) was not maintained and passenger and train crew safety issues did not improve. Somehow that did get attributed to you over the last couple years and if that is not accurate, I most certainly want to correct the record.”
Yet, there is no written record to support that “understanding” provided in response to the Herald’s PRA requests. Mortensen was asked if she does have it to provide it.
She was then asked, “at a subsequent SJJPA board meeting did she ‘correct the record’ by issuing a public apology to Bernal and announcing that the information in the staff report was incorrect? If so, please provide the date of the board meeting at which it occurred and a link to the video. If not, will you do that at the board meeting on Sept. 20th in Martinez?”
It was pointed out to Mortensen in the Herald article, that Bernal says he only approved the demolition of the building at the station and there are records of that, and that it was the current Oakley City Manager who approved the decommissioning of the Antioch station, and that it appears her staff misunderstood and confused the two matters of the demolition and the decommission.
Mortensen was then asked regarding the matter of one of the reasons for closure, “why is BNSF claiming a six-mile distance between stations as their reason for the Antioch station closure when the Emeryville and Oakland stations are less than five miles apart?”
Because it appears there has been a serious lack of communication between SJJPA staff and the affected agencies regarding both the closure of the Antioch station and opening of the Oakley Station and there’s been significant turnover in both her staff and City of Antioch staff over the past few years, Mortensen was asked, “Who specifically on your staff is responsible for communicating with the other agencies about the closure of the Antioch station and the opening of the Oakley station? Do you have copies of any communication with Amtrak and/or BNSF about the two stations before or since the board vote? Do you have a copy of the BNSF policy about their distance requirements between stations? If so, she was asked to please provide them.
SJJPA Staff Member Responds Instead
Rather than answer the questions, Mortensen had Ariana Talosig, the Administrative Analyst for the Board and Committee respond. She wrote, “As stated in prior emails, we have reviewed our files and provided documentation in our possession regarding the decommissioning of the Antioch Station and a statement of the Agency’s position concerning the same. In response to your specific question regarding outreach to transit agencies serving the area, because decommissioning is some 2.5 to 3 years out, it is too early to coordinate options with regional transit agencies.”
In addition, that same day, Talosig wrote, “The following is in response to your public records request dated June 15, 2024, for the following: “PRA request and additional questions on the closure of the Antioch Amtrak station.”
Pursuant to the California Public Records Act, SJRRC has located no additional records responsive to your request.
SJRRC will now consider your request closed. Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the undersigned.
Thank you.”
Request for Copies of Notes from Virtual Meetings, Phone and Conference Calls Go Unfulfilled
In response because the original PRA request was for communications between agencies, not copies of notes of virtual meetings, and phone or conference calls Talosig was emailed the following: “While there may not be any additional emails to fulfill my request, perhaps there are notes by SJJPA staff from phone calls or virtual meetings with City of Antioch staff about the closure, specifically with anyone in the City’s Public Works Department and more specifically with Scott Buenting, and between June 2021 and May 2022, or any other agency staff member, including Amtrak and BNSF.
Please check with former Senior Planner David Ripperda, former Director of Capital Projects Kevin Sheridan and SJJPA spokesman David Lipari if they had any conversations like that.
Also, it would be appreciated if you can please find out to whom Mr. Ripperda was referring when he wrote ‘discussions about closing Antioch’ in his June 25, 2021, email to Ms. Mortensen.”
More Questions for SJJPA Staff Go Unsanswered
In addition, on August 21st, Talosig was asked many of the same questions posed to Mortensen and a few new ones. She was asked, “Are you claiming that no member of the SJJPA staff took typed or handwritten notes from virtual meetings or phone or conference calls when speaking with anyone else about the possible closure of the Antioch Amtrak station? How does your staff and organization operate, based on memory? Surely that’s not the case.
If you have no records of notes on any communications with anyone on the City of Antioch staff (or any other agency) prior to the emails between Tamika Smith and then-City Manager Johnson in August 2022, about the closure of the Antioch station, even though your top staff claimed to have discussed the matter prior to the emails dated June 25, 2021, then please find out among whom those discussions were held for which they took and kept no notes and left them in the files of the authority.
Also, what you shared is different than what was previously shared by Manager of Administration Jaclyn Miramontes who wrote, “The estimated date for Oakley is Q4 of 2025” which is a year away, not “some 2.5 to 3 years out.” Has the date since been changed? If so, when and by whom?
Finally, Talosig was asked, “why on such a major issue, did your agency staff not inform the local media in Antioch about the impending board vote at least a week before the meeting so the public could have been informed and could have spoken on the matter during public comments? Will you now adopt that as a policy and practice for the future for communities affected by board votes?”
Talosig responded on Aug. 27th with a few more documents showing emails between current Acting City Manager Kwame Reed and Tamika Smith from Jan. 26th this year. She provided information in response to a question asked during a recent Antioch City Council meeting about the wheelchair lift writing it, “is in place and has been for months, it was previously stolen but is now in place and ready for use. Reed responded by asking her for a time “to discuss the parameters around the decision to close the station.”
But nothing showing any additional documentation about the station closure, who knew about it when and to whom anyone from the SJJPA spoke about it.
Talosig again wrote, “SJRRC will now consider your request closed. Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the undersigned.”
She was asked to follow up with Mortensen to obtain answers to the questions posed to her but there has been no further response.
December 2021 Email Thread Shows Discussion of Double Tracking Between Martinez and Antioch
However, one new email thread dated December 13, 2021, was provided in response to the Herald’s latest PRA request to the SJJPA. It shows a brief conversation between then-Senior Planner Paul Herman and Daniel Hartman, a Project Manager at AECOM, an infrastructure consulting firm.
Herman wrote, “We are in discussions with BNSF about the upcoming TIRCP application and I wanted to get a preliminary cost estimate from you for a potential project we are looking at to open up additional double tracking between Martinez and Antioch for the San Joaquins. The project would include a new universal crossover track at CP West Pittsburg between BNSF Stockton Sub and UP Tracy Sub and upgrading of the UP Tracy Sub track from Port Chicago to CP West Pittsburg. The UP track I believe needs PTC and to be upgraded from 40mph to 79mph. This isn’t an urgent item, but I wanted to get it on your radar now so that we can have this information ready in January. If you have some time later this week it may be good for us to do a quick 30 minute session looking at the location and talking the request through.”
TIRCP refers to the California State Transportation Agency’s Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program. PTC stands for Positive Train Control systems which, according to the Federal Railroad Administration, “are designed to prevent train-to-train collisions, over-speed derailments, incursions into established work zones, and movements of trains through switches left in the wrong position.”
But only double tracking east to the future Oakley station could help keep the Antioch station open.
Amtrak Has No Documentation of Discussions on Station Decommissioning
On July 25, 2024, an Amtrak FOIA Officer responded to the request on July 10th for copies of any and all communications between Amtrak staff and the following agencies / company regarding the closure / decommissioning of the Antioch Amtrak station between January 1, 2019 and March 30, 2023: San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority, including Stacey Mortensen, David Riperda, Tamika Smith, David Lipari, Paul Herman, Autumn Gowan, Kevin Sheridan, and any others, plus, the City of Antioch, City of Oakley and BNSF Railway. (Date Range for Record Search: From 1/1/2019 To 3/30/2023).
Rebecca Conner, Manager, Records and Information Management wrote, “We have no records responsive to this request. Amtrak does not own the station in question.”
A new FOIA request was then submitted on Aug. 19, 2024, asking for copies of any and all communications between Amtrak staff and the following agencies / company regarding the Oakley Amtrak station between January 1, 2019 and March 30, 2023: San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority, including Stacey Mortensen, David Riperda, Tamika Smith, David Lipari, Paul Herman, Autumn Gowan, Kevin Sheridan, and any others, plus, the City of Antioch, City of Oakley and BNSF Railway.
There had to have been at least some communication between Amtrak Police and SJJPA staff prior to their board meeting on March 24, 2023, because the SJJPA staff report and presentation on the item regarding the closure of the Antioch station included information on Amtrak Police calls for service at the Antioch station.
Conner was also asked, “Are you claiming Amtrak was never made aware of the station closure before the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority board voted for it on March 24, 2023? Which Amtrak staff members currently work with the SJJPA on the San Joaquins line that serves Antioch? Which staff members worked with them in 2021?” She was reminded that Tamika Smith worked there as the Senior Director, State Supported Services through March 2021 and was asked to provide their contact information, as well.
Conner responded on Aug. 21st, “We do not release names of staff members below the Executive Vice President (EVP) level. You are welcome to file an appeal, but I searched Amtrak for the responsive records and was told what I told you.”
She was then asked, “Even to the media? Are they not allowed to speak with someone from the media?” Conner was then asked to speak with those staff members to determine which of them communicated with SJJPA staff and City of Antioch staff and provide what was discussed and when.
She was also asked, “Do you still have access to Tamika Smith’s emails from when she worked there? Are you required to save email communications from previous staff after they no longer work for Amtrak?”
Because it’s important for both the public, as well as our local and federal elected officials to know, Conner was then asked to find out and ask those who did and/or do work with SJJPA, “Are you claiming Amtrak was never made aware of the Antioch station closure before the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority board voted for it on March 24, 2023?”
She was asked how and to whom to file an appeal and if Amtrak will have a representative at the Sept. 20 meeting of the SJJPA Board to answer questions from the public and/or board members.
Additional Information Requested
Later, the following was added to the second FOIA request: “any notes, written or typed, from any virtual meetings and/or phone or conference calls with any of the following, discussing either the Antioch station or Oakley station between January 1, 2019 and March 30, 2023: San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority, including Stacey Mortensen, David Riperda, Tamika Smith, David Lipari, Paul Herman, Autumn Gowan, Kevin Sheridan, and any others, plus, the City of Antioch, City of Oakley and BNSF Railway.”
Conner responded on Aug. 22nd, “I sent you the only information we have on the Antioch closing” and suggested I communicate further with Olivia Irvin, Senior Public Relations Manager for Amtrak. She responded on Aug. 26th requesting the questions be sent to her. However, an email to her from the Herald with questions to Irvin hoping for a response before this Friday’s SJJPA Board meeting was discovered in this reporter’s Drafts folder on Wednesday night, Sept. 18. Nevertheless, the same questions posed to Conner were sent to her at that time.
Antioch Public Works Department Staff Knew of Closure by May 2022
According to current Acting Public Works Director Scott Buenting, someone informed him by May 2022 that the station was planned to be closed. That’s why the justification for the grant funding sought for the L Street Improvements project in the annual City of Antioch Capital Improvements Program (CIP) budget for that year was changed. The language that had been included in previous years’ budgets referring to the Amtrak station was removed from the 2022-27 Draft CIP presented to the city council that month.
That year’s CIP was approved the following month by the council members without the language change for the L Street improvements being mentioned by either staff nor questions asked about it by the council members, during the May 24th meeting when the Draft 5-Year CIP was first presented nor during the June 14, 2022, meeting when the council adopted it.
Buenting was the Project Manager for the L Street Improvements project, and his name was listed on the project’s detail sheet in each year’s CIP since 2018. Then-Public Works Director John Samuelson’s name did not appear in any emails from the PRA request responses, but Buenting’s name did appear, dating back to the discussions of the station building demolition in 2019.
The agenda item, #SM-1, for the May 24, 2022, council meeting, for which District 2 Councilman and then-Mayor Pro Tem Mike Barbanica was absent, reads, “It is recommended that the City Council review and provide feedback to staff regarding the draft 5-Year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) 2022-2027.”
When asked by Hernandez-Thorpe about the L Street Improvements project being partially funded, Buenting said, “we do have some grant funding. We will be moving forward with a portion of this project.” In response to the mayor asking, “So, we’re still $9 million short?” Buenting replied, “Yes.” Hernandez-Thorpe then said, “A decade later and we’re still talking about grants.” Buenting responded, “We are somewhat limited to the types of funding we can use for these projects. Grants are the best way to go. But I’m sure we can look into providing some additional options.”
But there was no mention by Buenting or Samuelson, who was in attendance at the meeting, nor were there any questions from the mayor or city council members about the language change in the CIP, eliminating the Amtrak station as justification for the L Street Improvements project grant funds.
(See the 44:00 mark of council meeting video)
During the June 14, 2022, meeting, with the mayor absent and no discussion among or questions from council members, the CIP, item 7 on the agenda, was adopted on a 4-0 vote. (See 3:47:15 mark of council meeting video)
Samuelson, who now works for the City of Pittsburg, did not return phone calls about the matter.
Informed in Spring 2022 at Least Five Months Before City Manager Informed
However, after multiple efforts, when finally reached on Thursday, Sept. 19th, Buenting was asked if the language was changed due to the requirement that the grant funding was no longer tied to transit or if he was told the station would be closing. He explained that the change in the project justification language in the 2022-27 CIP for the L Street Improvements project was due to being informed of the Amtrak station’s impending closure.
“A lot of these conversations I wasn’t privy to,” Buenting stated when asked when he was informed and by whom. “I know that I heard that the Amtrak station was going to close in a meeting somehow. I know it wasn’t from the SJJPA. But I had knowledge of it, and I tried to clean things up in the CIP. I don’t remember when I heard the information.”
“There is a path to transit associated with this,” Buenting continued. “There is the ferry stop. We have transit with TriDelta. That’s what I was making my changes to.” So the grant funding for the L Street Improvements will still meet the requirement that it be tied to transit.
Asked if he would look in his and the department’s files for any notes from any phone or online meeting conversations about the Antioch station closure between June 2021 and May 2022 he responded, “I’ll look and the information will probably be with the city engineer at the time.” (That was Samuelson).
“I know it wasn’t me who had the conversation. I do not recall where I got it,” Buenting reiterated
Johnson Says He Immediately Informed Hernandez-Thorpe in Fall 2022, Says Mayor Directed Him to Not Tell Any Councilmember, Especially Barbanica and Ogorchock, Called them “Racist Karens”
But it wasn’t until September 2022 that then-City Manager Cornelious “Con” Johnson was informed of the Amtrak station closure by SJJPA staff. Following publication of the Herald’s first article about the closure, when did city staff know about it and who approved it, questions were emailed on Thursday, July 18, 2024, to the five council members and Con Johnson:
The councilmembers were asked, “when did you learn the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority was going to vote on closing the Antioch Amtrak station at either their January or March 2023 board meeting?”
Johnson was asked, “did you inform the other four council members at the time you informed the mayor after learning of the proposed closure by Tamika Smith of the SJJPA in September 2022?
Hernandez-Thorpe was asked, “once you learned of it from Con, did you inform the other council members or ask him to do so?”
The councilmembers were also asked, “were you aware that Con and Chief Ford were preparing a presentation for the SJJPA Board meeting in January 2023 and Were you aware the mayor was going to give the presentation at their March 2023 meeting?”
Johnson responded, “Once the SJJPA representative, Ms. Tamika Smith, notified me in September, I immediately contacted and informed Mayor Thorpe. In this matter, Mayor Thorpe was responsible for informing the remaining council members.”
“According to Mayor’s Thorpe’s strict directive to me and other department heads, all administrative matters had to go through and be approved by Mayor Thorpe,” the former city manager continued. “Mayor Thorpe directed me not to notify any council member, especially Councilmembers Michael Barbanica and Lori Ogorchock, who he referred to as ‘racist Karens’ without first seeking his approval. However, it was always my position to notify all the council members in accordance with city ordinances. Mayor Thorpe inferred, meddled and undermined the city manger’s responsibility on a daily basis.”
“In the SJJPA Amtrak closure matter, I informed and updated Mayor Thorpe on all administrative activities,” Johnson stated. “Mayor Thorpe was the sole arbiter, and he exclusively decided what information I should forward to the other city council members.”
“In the matter of council notifications, I don’t know if Mayor Thorpe later notified the other council members as requested by me on the SJJPA tentative decision to close the Antioch Amtrak station,” Johnson shared. “As previously stated, I notified Mayor Thorpe and City Attorney Thomas L. Smith during our weekly face-to-face meetings.”
“On March 17, 2023, the council unanimously voted to place me on administrative leave without either cause or justification. All city manager’s responsibilities were then transferred to the Community Development Director, Forrest Ebb,” the former city manager continued. “While on administrative leave, I was prohibited from making contact with the mayor, city council, city department directors and city staff. Mayor Thorpe, at no point or time, notified or informed me he was going to take over the responsibility of facilitating the previously scheduled presentation at the SJJPA Board meeting on March 24, 2023.”
“It is equally important that Mayor Thorpe was not authorized to give such a presentation because it was the sole responsibility of the city manager, since this matter was an administrative function,” Johnson added.
Only Ogorchock and Barbanica responded.
At Least Two Councilmembers Uninformed of Impending Station Closure Vote, Say They Found Out Through Rumor
Ogorchock responded, “I had no forewarning of the closure of the Amtrak station in Antioch. I received an email just before the SJJPA’s meeting and happened to open it and saw that our station was on the agenda for closure. I was in Mexico and logged into the Zoom meeting and listened to the portion of the meeting discussing our closure. Since I was not informed prior to this meeting I was not prepared to comment on this item. Plus, being out of the country my network was not stable.”
“I had no idea any of this was happening. We were, at least I was, not aware of any presentation that Lamar was planning on giving,” she added.
When reached for comment, Barbanica said, “Con never told me. I’ve been trying to think back of how I learned of it. I know it was not from the city manager, at the time. He did not reveal the information to me. It wasn’t Lamar. If anything, it was mentioned in open session. I think it was an off the cuff comment. Con didn’t tell me about it, nor Lamar told me before I learned more about it through city gossip, not through city channels that it had occurred.”
“I don’t recall Lamar ever reaching out to me,” the District 3 councilman reiterated. “I do remember Lamar mentioning it in public. But that was after it was out to the public. I was never informed by the city or the mayor, anything formal this was occurring. As I recall, when I learned of it initially was through public rumor.”
More Questions for Hernandez-Thorpe Go Unanswered
Johnson’s emailed response was then sent to Hernandez-Thorpe with questions about. The mayor was asked if what the then-city manager said is correct that he immediately notified Hernandez-Thorpe after learning in Sept. 2022 from SJJPA’s Tamika Smith of the proposed closure of the Antioch Amtrak station. The mayor was also asked if what Johnson is also claiming correct that Hernandez-Thorpe directed him to not tell Barbanica and Ogorchock and if he referred to them as “racist Karens” as the reason given the city manager to keep the two council members uniformed.
The mayor was then asked if, as Johnson is claiming, he decided what information the city manager should forward to the other city council members about the Amtrak station closure and other matters, and if Hernandez-Thorpe had given Johnson and other department heads a ‘strict directive’ that all administrative matters had to go through and be approved by the mayor.
Informed that both council members said that he never informed them of the proposed Antioch Amtrak station closure and about the presentation he was preparing to make to the SJJPA Board of Directors, the mayor was asked why not and again, why he didn’t inform the public about it so they could attend the meeting either in person or online to speak against the closure.
But Hernandez-Thorpe did not respond.
Mayor Now Claims He Has Assurances from Board Chair & Member to Keep Station Open, Will Present Plan
As previously reported, last week, Hernandez-Thorpe posted an announcement on his campaign website that he had found a “Path Forward to Keep Antioch Amtrak Station Open” following a September 9th meeting with the chair and a member of the board. However, SJJPA spokesman David Lippari said the “discussion…does not alter the SJJPA board decision” last year to decommission the station.
In his announcement, the mayor wrote, “My office and city staff will develop a plan that I will present to the SJJPA on September 20, 2024, and to the City Council in early October.”
Lippari shared that a, “An information item regarding the Antioch Station has been agendized for the SJJPA board meeting on September 20, 2024.” That agenda item is number 5, listed as Information and entitled, “Antioch Station History and Update,” which will be provided by SJJPA Executive Director Mortensen.
At Least Two Councilmembers Not Informed of Proposed Plan to Keep Station Open
The other four council members were asked on Thursday, Sept. 19th if the mayor or Acting City Manager Reed had informed them of the proposed plan to keep the Amtrak station open. Only Ogorchock and Barbanica responded and both said, “No”.
SJJPA Board Meeting
The joint powers authority Board of Directors meeting will be held this Friday from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Contra Costa County Administration Building in the Board of Supervisors Chambers, 1025 Escobar Street in Martinez. The public will have the opportunity to speak. See the complete meeting agenda packet. To watch the meeting via Zoom, please see instructions, here: SJJPA September 20, 2024 Board Meeting – San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority.
Please check back later for any updates to this report.
the attachments to this post:
Scott Buenting & Mayor Thorpe CIP presentation ACC mtg 5-24-22
2022-27 CIP L Street Improvements ACC061422
2021-26 CIP L Street Improvements ACC062221
ACCE Action Antioch Amtrak station rally 5-22-24 1
SJJPA logo & Antioch Amtrak station 070424
