Antioch City Clerk resigns – last month – without announcement or explanation
Public informed today in meeting agenda for City Council which will discuss filling vacancy created by Melissa Rhodes less than one year into her position – in April election or appointment until Nov. 2026 election.
“There are some things to learn from this and we’ll correct it.” – Mayor Pro Tem Louie Rocha
UPDATE: Freitas says a draft press release was prepared but it announced a special election this November
By Allen D. Payton
After less than a year in her new position Antioch City Clerk Melissa Rhodes resigned effective immediately on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, without explanation or announcing it to the public. Instead, it was revealed in the City Council meeting agenda for next Tuesday, which was issued today, Friday, August 8, 2025.
According to the City staff report for the item, #3 on the agenda, “Ms. Rhodes submitted her written resignation on July 30, 2025. The City Council must accordingly take action to fill the vacant council seat by no later than September 30, 2025. Effectively, this means final action must be taken by the Council’s second September meeting on September 23, 2025.”
In her letter Rhodes wrote without explanation:
“July 30, 2025
Dear Mayor and City Council Members,
I hereby resign effective July 30, 2025 from the seat of the City Clerk for the City of Antioch.
It has been my honor serving the constituents of the City of Antioch. I am hoping for the continued success of the City.
Respectfully,
Melissa Rhodes”
———-
The City staff report also explained, “As noted, the Council may appoint the vacant position. To ensure a fair and transparent process, the City Council may choose to solicit applications from interested individuals and conduct interviews to determine the most qualified candidate. The City Council may also consider input from the public and other stakeholders during the appointment process. The appointment would need to occur in the open session of a City Council meeting.
“But there is an important qualification. Because Ms. Rhodes has resigned during the first year of her term, the appointment would only be effective for the first half of her term. In other words, the appointment would only last through the end of next year. A special election would need to be called during the November 2026 General Election and the appointment term would end once the results of that election are certified.
“The vacant City Clerk position may also be filled by the calling of a special election” and for the City of Antioch, “the next election date is April 14, 2026.”
Efforts to reach Rhodes asking why she resigned and why she didn’t announce it to the public, since they’re the ones who elected her were unsuccessful prior to publication time.
Attempts to reach Mayor Ron Bernal, District 3 Councilman Don Freitas, City Manager Bessie Scott, Jaden Baird, the City’s Public Information Officer late Friday afternoon, asking why she resigned and why it wasn’t immediately announced to the public, also were initially unsuccessful.
However, when reached for comment about why there was no public announcement the day she resigned Mayor Pro Tem and District 2 Councilman Louie Rocha said, “I’m not sure if there was a press release. We all (council members) got notification. I think I first saw it on August 1st.”
“I don’t know about the protocol procedures of what former councils have done with such vacancies. It’s the first time I’ve been in this seat as an elected official dealing with this,” he shared and pointed out, “We have a public information officer.”
“If you’ve been watching you saw she didn’t attend the last couple of meetings,” Rocha continued. “I wasn’t aware of her reasons. There must have been something going on behind the scenes.”
“The last meeting the city clerk from Clayton stepped in to help us and at another meeting the County Clerk helped out,” he stated.
“Ron, Don and I coming in are all about transparency. There are some things to learn from this and we’ll correct it,” Rocha added.
Freitas Says Council Received Resignation Letter from Rhodes via Text, Press Release was Prepared
UPDATE: Later, when asked why the public wasn’t informed immediately of Rhodes’ resignation Freitas said, “I have no idea. The first time I learned about it was on Facebook. I got a text later on July 30th from Melissa with her resignation letter.”
“The first thing I received from Bessie was on August 1st. She was basically telling the council of a draft release ‘for your review,’” the councilman continued. “The prepared press release read, ‘The City of Antioch will hold a special election on November 4th.’”
“That was not her decision,” he stated. “I immediately told her this is a policy matter that should be on the next City Council meeting agenda for discussion.”
“My bias is not to have a special election because of the costs, and the City Council should open it up for application and appointment for about one year,” Freitas added.
He said the press release also mentioned Assistant City Clerk Christina Garcia will serve in the interim position.
UPDATE: City Manager Scott responded later with, “We added this topic to our meeting on this upcoming Tuesday, August 12th as an emergency addition. Given that there needs to be a council discussion to vote on how to proceed, we felt that it was more transparent to have this discussion in public.
We had to wait on this due to summer absences among Council and Staff. Internally our staffing levels are being increased within the Clerk’s Office as well, so the Council will also discuss who should be Acting City Clerk for now when we meet on Tuesday.”
The Council’s regular meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers at 200 H Street in historic, downtown Rivertown. It can also be viewed via livestream on the City’s website, on Comcast local access cable channel 24 or on AT&T U-verse channel 99. See the complete meeting agenda packet.
Please check back later for any updates to this report.
the attachments to this post:
Antioch City Clerk Melissa Rhodes & res ltr 07-30-25
