In an email sent out to Antioch voters on Tuesday, by the Antioch Police Officers Association, they explain why they won’t support Antioch Councilwoman Monica Wilson in her re-election bid for a third term.

“It’s unusual for the Antioch Police Officers’ Association, comprising 118 sworn officers, to NOT ENDORSE AN INCUMBENT councilmember. We CANNOT SUPPORT Councilmember Monica Wilson. We’d like to tell you why. Simply put, Ms. Wilson supports policies that will lead to INCREASED CRIME in Antioch.

First, Ms. Wilson publicly defends the District Attorney’s policies to NOT CHARGE shoplifters, looters or individuals in possession of heroin, cocaine or methamphetamines. There is no doubt this new policy, just announced, will increase crime in Antioch.

Ms. Wilson is also an advocate of Lamar Thorpe’s homeless motel – which would turn the Executive Inn on E. 18th and Cavallo into a permanent residence for the homeless. This location is near homes, 1/4 mile from four schools and is ALREADY a sensitive crime area.

With regard to accepting a tax-free $750,000 a year grant from the Department of Justice to bring back School Resource Officers in six Antioch schools, Ms. Wilson voted NO. We don’t understand her reasoning here.

Antioch is at a fork in the road. Are we going to control crime or are we going to elect leaders whose policies will just encourage more of the same? We ask you to think about Monica Wilson’s record before you vote on or before November 3rd.

Thank you for reading this message.”

Antioch Police Officers’ Association

Working to Protect the Citizens of Antioch

Screenshot of Alexis Medina post on her now deleted campaign Facebook page on Oct. 5, 2020. Provided by Antonio Hernandez.

By Allen Payton

Candidate for Antioch School Board in Area 1, Alexis Medina, announced on her now deleted campaign Facebook page on October 5, that she was dropping out of the race and endorsing her former opponent, Antonio Hernandez, instead. The Herald learned of the announcement in an email from Hernandez sent on Oct. 6 but not viewed until Tuesday. Medina did not contact the Herald to inform us of her decision.

In her Facebook post, Medina wrote, “During this unprecedented era of COVID-19 we have all struggled with our new normal. For me that means realizing that running a campaign and participating in distance learning, while also maintaining a balanced and healthy family life is a task to difficult to sustain. Therefore, I have decided to no longer actively seek the office of Antioch Unified School Board Trustee.

I am delighted to throw my support for Antioch Unified School Board Area 1 to Antonio Hernandez.

Thank you all for reaching out and supporting our campaign.

Best,

Alexis Medina”

“I’m excited and proud to have the support of Alexis Medina,” Hernandez stated when reached for comment. “Her campaign, like mine, was fighting for equity and community inclusion. I’m looking forward to seeing more of Alexis’ leadership in the future.”

An effort to contact Medina to verify her announcement was unsuccessful prior to publication time. Please check later for any updates to this report.

Medina’s name will still appear on the ballot and she can still receive votes, and even win the election. Her withdrawal from the race leaves Hernandez, fellow challenger George Young and incumbent Trustee Diane Gibson-Gray remaining in the race. Voting has already begun and Election Day is Tuesday, November 3rd.

Back of Wright’s attack mailer against Thorpe. Courtesy of Wright’s campaign for mayor.

Thorpe says he does pay his child support; reveals second child, a son; calls attack “sickening and disgusting”

County Child Services confirms he’s current with his child support payments, had it reduced in 2016.

By Allen Payton

In a mailer received by voters paid for and sent out by Mayor Sean Wright’s re-election campaign beginning on Saturday, it claims his opponent and fellow Councilmember Lamar Thorpe has failed to pay child support, among other attacks, including an old one about a sexual-related incident between Thorpe and his then, girlfriend in college, which the Herald reported on in 2014 and 2016.

However, as was written in the latter article, “it is clear what he was accused of never happened. He was still punished for it, in an on-campus disciplinary process. While it took him a year, Thorpe won his appeal, and his record was expunged.”

Front of Wright’s attack mailer against Thorpe. Courtesy of Wright’s campaign for mayor.

On one side of the mailer it shows photos of a variety of women with the message “We are daughters, mothers and grandmothers…Let us tell you why we cannot support Lamar Thorpe for Mayor.”

On the other side, along with other accusations the mailer reads, “Lamar Thorpe doesn’t pay his child support,” and references in small type at the bottom two cases in Contra Costa Superior Court, one in 2015 and another in 2016.

The details in the mailer referencing the two court cases for Thorpe’s child support.

Thorpe Responds

When reached for comment Thorpe said, “It’s a lie. The first court case was to establish child support. The second was to reduce the amount of child support that I paid, because I overpaid.”

Asked if it was for his daughter who he is seen with regularly in photos and videos on Facebook and in public, Thorpe responded, “No, it’s for my son. But I’m not going beyond that because it’s nobody’s business. It has nothing to do with being on the council and nothing to do with being mayor.”

“When I learned I had a son, I started paying child support,” he stated. That was six years ago, in 2014.

“But, to call me a deadbeat dad is ridiculous,” he continued. “I provide for my son and I provide for my daughter,” adding that he’s “sending her to private school.”

“The irony is, recently the state sent me back about $3,000 because I had overpaid,” Thorpe shared.

“It’s sickening and disgusting,” he continued and claims it has a tinge of racism included.

“Every stereotype of a black man that you can find is in that mailer,” Thorpe stated.  “Deadbeat dad, sexual predator and a lazy Black man,” referring to a photo of him relaxing that was posted on his Facebook page.

Asked if he’s all current with his child support Thorpe responded, “it comes out automatically. It’s taken out of both my city stipend and my employment check. I knew I was overpaying. But that’s fine. That’s why the state refunded me, recently.”

Thorpe Child Support Judgement 2015. Redactions and document provided by Lamar Thorpe.

Both Thorpe and Wright Asked to Provide Documents to Support Their Claims

Both Thorpe and Wright were asked if they had copies of the documents from the two court cases regarding the child support issue to support their claims. The Wright campaign provided a background report on Thorpe from Peoplefinders.com showing the two  judgments against him. Pages from Background Check Report for Lamar A Thorpe _ Peoplefinders.com

In addition, Wright’s campaign responded via mail regarding Thorpe’s claims about the two court cases with, “this is absolutely not true. When you get the full documentation from Mr. Thorpe, you will see what these judgments really are. Attached is the background report on Mr. Thorpe in its entirety. As you can see, they are ‘judgments’ listed as such with a gavel by the word ‘judgment’. In addition, you will also see that Mr. Thorpe doesn’t pay his taxes.

We looked extensively before going out with this information … and at this location, you will find https://www.contracosta.ca.gov/1375/Services that the Dept of Child Support Services does the following:

Services

Case workers and attorneys in our office:

• Establish court orders for paternity, child support, and medical coverage;
• Locate the noncustodial parent and his/her assets to enforce the court order;
• Collect and distribute support payments;
• Maintain accounts of payments paid and due;
• Modify court orders when appropriate; and
• Determine and take appropriate actions to enforce court orders for child, family, spousal, and medical support.

Services not provided by Contra Costa County Department of Child Support Services (DCSS)

• We do not legally represent either the custodial or noncustodial party’s interests. Our attorneys are not your attorneys.
• We cannot assist with visitation or custody issues.
• We cannot obtain divorce decrees nor represent either party in a divorce action.
• We cannot establish or modify spousal support orders.
• We cannot obtain or enforce restraining orders, except those orders which include child support.

To further clarify, per our research, an ‘AX – Abstract of Support Judgment’ is in essence a ‘lien’ on a noncustodial parent and his or her property for nonpayment of child support. Here’s what we have in our files about that:

Here’s a pamphlet from the San Diego Dept of Child Support Services for your review: https://famguardian.org/subjects/FamilyLaw/Divorce/SupportLiens.pdf this best explains what an Abstract of Support Judgment is. IT IS NOT AN ACTION TAKEN BY A NONCUSTODIAL PARENT TO MODIFY CHILD SUPPORT PAYMENTS. What Mr. Thorpe is telling you is a bold-faced lie.

Furthermore, this is the form that must be completed to process an ‘Abstract of Support Judgment’ lien on the property of a noncustodial parent https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/fl480.pdf

AS YOU CAN SEE, THIS IS NOT A NONCUSTODIAL PARENT OPENING UP A LIEN AGAINST HIMSELF OR HIS OWN PROPERTY FOR PAYMENT OF CHILD SUPPORT. It is someone else (likely the custodial parent) filing to place a lien for payment on Mr. Thorpe and the property he owns … to hold him accountable to making his child support payments.”

County Child Support Services Confirms Thorpe’s Claims About the Court Documents and That He is Current on Payments

However, regarding the two court cases and liens on Thorpe’s property, Danielle Torres of Contra Costa County Child Support Services said, “He is current with his balance. He is current with his child support.”

“Those are just standard liens, because he has a case opened for child support,” she continued. “We place those liens as soon as we open a case against someone, in the event they happen to accrue a balance, and if they sell or refinance their property, we are able to collect.”

“But in his case, if he has to sell or refinance his property, we won’t collect anything, because he’s current,” Torres stated.

In fact, he has a partial future payment balance of over $100.

“The second case was an amendment in which the judge ordered a reduction in his child support payments,” she explained. “The lien will remain until his son is age 18 which is standard practice.”

Thorpe Child Support Withholding Order 05-01-2015. Redactions and document provided by Lamar Thorpe.

Thorpe Provides Documents Proving First Court Case was to Establish Child Support

Thorpe sent the Herald both pages of the judge’s order from the first court case in 2015, showing it established that he had to make child support payments beginning December 2014 and the Withholding Order, dated May 1, 2015. The case took place in Merced County. Asked why, Thorpe responded, “That’s where I lived when I first moved to California. I lived with my cousin in Delhi. So, my son’s mother found me via my cousin who I stayed with as we transitioned to Antioch.” Thorpe Child Support Judgement 2015  Thorpe Child Support Withholding Order 05-01-2015

Asked about the “past-due child support – Arrears greater than 12 weeks?” listed in the Withholding Order, Thorpe explained, “It’s not based on the fact I didn’t pay. Judgments are back dated to when the original claim was made.”

While Thorpe was unable to find the documents from the 2018 court case, but the Child Services representative confirmed his claim that it was for reducing the amount of child support he had to pay.

Another Accusation by Wright Campaign

The Wright campaign then accused Thorpe of calling some of the ladies whose photos appear on the mailer and yelling at them.

When asked if that happened, Thorpe said, “I called Lori Garrow, and I was very respectful, and told her she and her husband had contributed to my campaign. I gave her my condolences for Ralph’s passing, recently. But I wanted her to hear it from me, as a man, that it was disgusting and inappropriate. She was feeling very uncomfortable. There was no need for me to yell at her.”

An effort to reach Garrow for comment was unsuccessful prior to publication time. Please check back later for any updates to this report.

Wright Campaign Runs Ads With False Accusation

Screenshot of Wright’s Facebook ad attacking Thorpe. Provided by Lamar Thorpe.

Wright’s campaign is running an ad on social media from the NoLamarThorpe.com website, which shows at the bottom it’s “Paid for by Leadership for Antioch – Sean Wright For Mayor 2020 – ID# 1384338”, which includes the false claim, “Lamar Thorpe doesn’t pay his child support.” The ad also reads “and has numerous judgments against him. Now he wants to be your Mayor. See Dept of Child Services file numbers here.” The ad links to the NoLamarThorpe.com website.

7:30 PM UPDATE: The Wright campaign informed the Herald Wednesday night that they had pulled the ad as of this morning. Asked when the ad started, neither Wright nor the campaign responded.

“At the end of the day the mayor has nothing to show for the last four years,” he stated. “There are serious concerns around homelessness, police reform and the jobs and housing imbalance, and increasing funding for youth programs, once we get out of COVID.”

“He (Wright) can do whatever he wants and I’m going to continue talking to voters the right way,” Thorpe concluded.

The election is three weeks from today. Wright and Thorpe who are both completing their first terms on the council face three other candidates in the race for mayor. For the list of all candidates running for office in Antioch visit our Election 2020 page on this website.

Photo from wirth4mequon.com.

Plus, Regional Early Voting Sites will be offered beginning Friday, Oct. 30

By Allen Payton

For those who want to vote in person at a polling place and not mail in their ballot, there’s good news. The Contra Costa Elections Division is providing both 150 polling places throughout the county, and 17 Regional Early Voting Sites, beginning Friday, Oct. 30, as well.

“The model that we’re using for polling places in the November election is the same as in the March election and the November 2018 election,” said Contra Costa County Assistant Registrar of Voters, Scott Konopasek. “The locations may have moved around a bit based on the availability of sites for the polling places.”

“If a voter wants to know where to go to vote at the polls, they can visit our website at cocovote.us, click on Am I Registered, then in the search box type in their name and birthdate and it will tell you everything you need to know about the election,” he continued. (Or click here.)

There will also be Regional Early Voting Sites the weekend before, beginning Friday, Oct. 30.

“You’re not assigned to any particular one and you can vote at any of them, using the exact ballot for you,” Konopasek added.

Regional Early Voting Sites *Outdoors in Event Tent

In Antioch the polling places on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3 will be at the following 14 locations:

Currently, voters can drop off their ballot at multiple locations throughout the county at both 24-hour sites and indoor sites during business hours.

*Hours shown may vary. Check directly with the location for current hours.

Mike Barbanica is a lifelong resident of Antioch, a local small business owner and a retired police lieutenant. He is the kind of person who isn’t afraid to stand up to make the changes needed to GET ANTIOCH BACK ON TRACK. CLICK HERE to read Mike’s Five Ways to Get Antioch Back on Track.

The Antioch Police Officers’ Association highly recommends MIKE BARBANICA for election to the Antioch City Council in District 2. Will you join us?

Antioch Police Officers’ Association

“Barbanica, a real estate broker and retired police lieutenant, emphasizes curbing crime but appreciates that law enforcement transparency is important, starting with body cameras for all officers. He is not averse to more housing but emphasizes that controlling crime and attracting jobs must come first.

Tony Tiscareno lacked basic financial knowledge when he ran for reelection in 2018 after six years on the City Council. Last week, he said he was out of town and too busy for a video interview.”

EAST BAY TIMES EDITORIAL – September 26, 2020

Dwayne Eubanks

Name: Dwayne Donald Eubanks

Position: City Clerk

Current & past public offices held & years:

Commissioner – Antioch Police Crime Prevention Commission – 3 years

Top Accomplishments:

• Marina Business Watch Expansion
• Chateau Mobile Home Park Neighborhood Watch
• Somersville Mall Neighborhood Watch
• Surveillance Camera Registration Window Stickers
• Mission Possible Basketball Program / Contra Loma Estates Park Basketball court conversion

President – Antioch Historical Society – 1 year

Accomplishments

• 2019 Cultural Perspective Exhibit featuring Antioch minority cultures
• Sought and received significant grants and donations
• Digital Display and Technology improvements
• Phone System conversion
• Infrastructure Improvements
• Increased community visitor ship

Current paying job: Senior Business Systems Analyst- Judicial Council of California Information Technology. Specialty in records management, digitizing court records and supporting and enhancing Court Case Management systems for the 58 County Superior Courts and District Courts of Appeal

Top Issues.

1. Bring green jobs for Antioch
2. Build community pride
3. Redevelop waterfront area
4. Address Homeless, Mental illness, Substance abuse
5. Youth Service programs

www.DwayneforAntioch.com

Facebook page – Dwayne Eubanks –  Running For City Clerk 2020

Deubankster@gmail.com. 925-212-9636

Arne Simonsen.

Arne Simonsen, Master Municipal Clerk

Candidate for reelection to City Clerk

Currently the elected Antioch City Clerk (2012 to present); Antioch City Council (2000-2008)

Retired Navy Master Chief Petty Officer (Russian Linguist and Cryptanalyst)

Top Issues:

1) Expand the online NextRequest Public Records Request program to all remaining departments

2) Return the City Clerk to the full-time position that it was from 1872 to 2010.

3) As the population has increased, so have the demands on the City Clerk office. Additional fulltime positions are required to properly serve out residents and City staff.

Top Accomplishments:

1) Implementation of the NetFile program for online filing of Statements of Economic Interest and Candidate/Office Holder finance committee reports who the public can view online.

2) The upgrade of the Electronic Content Management system from Laserfiche United to Laserfiche Rio which will have a public access to all ordinances, resolutions, deeds, contracts and agreements.

3) Establishment of a checkout and return policy for documents at the Records Warehouse and implementing the Records Destruction program which had been neglected for over 15 years.

https://www.facebook.com/ArneSimonsenForAntiochCityClerk2020

Speaks of the need to “tear down” most of these systems of policing and “start over or maybe not start over, at all”.

Campaign slogan, “The Right Choice for Change” should instead read “The Far Left Choice for Change Antioch Doesn’t Want”

Tamisha Walker. Photo from her campaign Facebook page.

By Allen Payton, Publisher & Editor

As part of her platform in her campaign for the City Council in District 1, Tamisha Walker is proposing Antioch become a sanctuary city for illegal aliens, the first and only candidate to ever do so. She also proposes “Reimagining Public Safety”, which is code words for defunding and reallocating funds intended for more police to social programs, and ultimately abolishing policing. She also claims that Antioch Police are frightening to people, and that “There is so much disfunction, harm, trauma and toxicity in the relationship between police and people.”

Most of what Walker writes in her platform are general statements without specifics, leaving a lot of room for interpretation and for the voters to unfortunately wait to find out what’s in it until after she’s elected.

One specific she does offer is that she wants “to make sure we do not cooperate with agencies associated with separating families such as I.C.E.” Then she better not have the Antioch Police cooperate with the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s and Sheriff’s offices, because they separate even American families every day, since they don’t put the spouses or children in jail with the spouse or parents who commit crimes. Walker must not  realize that Antioch Police don’t and can’t do that, anyway since California became a SANCTUARY STATE and state law prevents state and local law enforcement agencies from using their resources on behalf of federal immigration enforcement agencies.

Frankly, reading her platform it appears she’s running in the wrong city or for the wrong office, and shows just how out of touch she is with regards to the issues facing our city and is a bunch of Leftist rhetoric that might sell in Berkeley, but not here.

She mentions nothing about the major issues affecting most everyone in Antioch, which are bringing well-paying jobs to our city, cleaning up blight, solving the homeless problem, and continuing to hire additional police, as we the people voted twice to do by increasing our sales tax, to fight and decrease crime in our city.

Nevertheless, here is Walker’s platform as it appears verbatim on her website with a variety of questions that arise from the various planks:

Invest in Antioch

“We are in an unprecedented moment unlike we have never faced before. I know how important fiscal responsibility is.

I have a proven track record of being able to analyze complex public government financing and organize a base of community supporters and academics to develop research and policies to identify and fix harmful and wasteful spending.

With the economy and restructuring of budgets I want to make sure our community is going to have a representative in Antioch City council that is going to make sure Antioch will not be forgotten but invested in.”

What does that mean? With what money? Invest how? Where has she been since she’s been out of jail and lived in Antioch to analyze the city’s budget and make recommendations? She could have been doing that every year during the council’s budget sessions. I don’t recall ever hearing her speak up and offer proposals for the city budget and how our tax dollars can be spent differently.

School

“School is different this year, I know as a parent I am concerned about my child’s education and balancing school amidst a pandemic has already proven to be challenging. I want to let you now that I want to be open and able to find collaborative solutions towards making sure everyone’s needs are met. I know this is going to take hard work and I am ready to take that on.”

Question: Does she not understand that the city council doesn’t oversee the school district and has very little to no impact on the education in Antioch? That’s for the AUSD school board. Walker’s running for the wrong office if she’s looking for solutions to the current education situation.

Sanctuary Antioch

“‘Know our Rights’

I want to work as hard as I can to make Antioch a Sanctuary City. I want to make sure we do not cooperate with agencies associated with separating families such as I.C.E. I believe our city and if elected as city councilmember I will make sure we take a stance on protecting families not separating them.”

Had she merely picked up the phone and called Antioch Police Chief T Brooks – which she has yet to do – Walker would have learned, as he said to the Herald, “We have not, nor will not assist any federal immigration enforcement efforts. SB54, which went into effect in 2018, makes clear our responsibilities with respect to these matters, significantly limiting our cooperation with federal immigration authorities. We cooperate with all our local, state and federal partners when responding to criminal cases, which is completely different than immigration enforcement.”

Candidates need to do their homework before proposing a plank in their platform that sounds good to some voters and tickles the ears of Antioch residents, but does nothing and will actually have no effect, such as with this issue.

Youth

“I believe that resourcing our youth is investing in our future. I want to make sure our city is doing what they can to make sure there are youth services and programs and resources so our youth have options and choices for their present and future. This is such an important strategy to violence prevention and curbing the school to prison pipeline. I have experience doing it when my family lived in Richmond and I want to do it here in Antioch for generations.”

So, she wants Antioch to become like Richmond, huh?. Didn’t many of our residents move from that city and come here because they didn’t like it there? This is also code for her opposition to School Resource Officers – police on Antioch campuses, that were approved earlier this year by both the city council and school board.

Housing

“I want Antioch to be a place anybody can make a home. I know we are in a double crisis for renters and homeowners. I believe the solution is going to come with immense collaboration with people from all levels to coordinate aid from the federal government and the state. As your representative I want to make sure all of our voices and concerns are being heard and do everything with the City Councilmember’s power to leverage solutions that are inclusive for everyone.”

Who can’t “make a home” in Antioch? Who isn’t welcome, here? This is code that she wants more low- to moderate-income, government subsidized housing in town even though Antioch has met its state requirements for years to come and already has more than its fair share. Where was she when the recent apartment complex on Delta Fair Blvd. was voted on by the council. Did she speak out in favor of that market-rate, multi-family housing project?

Covid-19

“As we continue toward a possibility of 2021, Covid -19 is still a responsibility that requires us to make sure we are active and ready to respond in ways that preserve life.”

What does that even mean? It’s so general that it says nothing. Besides, the City really doesn’t have anything to do with COVID-19 as it’s a County Health Services issue.

Environment

“I do not want to make Antioch an environmental sacrifice zone. We all deserve clean healthy air, water, land and that sense of safety and sustainability. I want to be a good steward of the environment. That makes sure preserving our natural resources and ensuring our investment goes towards communities that have been underserved and underrepresented.”

What does that mean? Does she oppose bringing industrial and manufacturing jobs to Antioch? Does she oppose more housing development? What “investment” is she referring to and what “communities that have been underserved and underrepresented”? We have had Hispanic and African American elected officials on our city council and school board for years. What “communities” haven’t been represented in Antioch?

Reimagining Public Safety

“Too often our communities’ stories and experiences are not heard on mainstream television. Safety means feeling safe, not under threat and terror. There is so much disfunction, harm, trauma and toxicity in the relationship between police and people that the only sensible conclusion is to re-imagine this relationship with the value of feeling truly safe in our communities. This has been a big part of my life’s work to re-imagine public safety. With several communities undergoing this right now, I believe my combination of experience, compassion and hard work can help Antioch make the right choices and become a leader in transforming our community.”

What city is she referring to? It sounds like Walker is projecting the problems in other cities onto Antioch. How is there “so much disfunction, harm, trauma, and toxicity in the relationship between people and police” in Antioch? Maybe there’s harm and trauma for those who are committing crimes, as should be expected. Perhaps that’s her perspective if that’s with whom Walker spends much of her time.

It’s interesting she doesn’t want Antioch residents to actually enjoy safety, only that we are feeling safe “in our communities”. Why the use of the plural? What communities? She should be focused on the Antioch community. Or is she saying Antioch is made up of multiple communities, thus serving to divide us.

The most radical thing she mentioned about police was during an interview on EastCountyToday.net when Walker said, “I definitely have my ideas around, you know abolition and you know the root of all of these systems and how most of them we need to tear down and start over or maybe not start over at all.” That right there is reason enough to reject her candidacy.

But, Walker needs to be much more specific as to what she does and doesn’t like that the current council member she’s running against, Joy Motts, has done and what she would do differently.

Except for a few things like abolishing police and unnecessarily making Antioch a sanctuary city, all of Walker’s general statements in her so-called platform have no real meaning. It’s like when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said about Obamacare, “we need to pass the bill to find out what’s in it.” Antioch can’t take the risk to find out what are the details in Walker’s platform until after she’s elected. She should tell the voters, now. But, frankly, there’s enough there, already to reject her radical, Leftist agenda and not vote for her for city council in District 1.

While I applaud her work as co-founder and executive director of the Safe Return Project which has the goal of helping those coming out of prison to get jobs, etc., Walker should remain focused on that, instead and leave the governing of Antioch to people with more common sense views and values.