ANTIOCH — After less than two years as Antioch’s mayor, Lamar Thorpe is facing a vigorous recall effort further fueled by the fallout from an early morning drunken driving arrest last month.
The highly publicized arrest has sparked calls for him to step down from two of his City Council colleagues, including one who has said she will support recall efforts if he doesn’t resign.
In a video posted to social media, Thorpe apologized to the community after admitting he had a drink at dinner and was cited for suspicion of driving under the influence on March 19. A breathalyzer test revealed he had a blood alcohol content higher than 0.08, the legal limit.
Now, two council members who have butted heads with the mayor in the past are calling for Thorpe to resign, but the DUI citation is only part of the reason, they say.
Councilwoman Lori Ogorchock, in a statement issued the day after the DUI arrest, said Thorpe showed a “lack of control and poor decision-making.”
“He stated he is sorry for his actions, well how sorry is he truly?” she wrote. “He wants us to believe he had only ‘a drink’ with dinner. We all know this is a fallacy. So, to me his apology is far from being sincere.”
Among her complaints, Ogorchock took issue with the mayor for the title of his campaign to fight efforts to recall him: “Stop the #Karen Recall of Mayor Lamar Thorpe.”
“To call a woman today a ‘Karen’ is to evoke an image of White privilege that in no way represents the life struggles millions of women endured to achieve equality, respect and representation,” she wrote.
In an interview, Ogorchock said the mayor has twice referred to her as a “Karen.”
“He didn’t agree with me, and he’s a bully,” she said.
Ogorchock said if Thorpe doesn’t step down, she would put all her “energy into the success of the campaign to recall him as mayor.” She isn’t officially part of the recall campaign, however, Ogorchock added.
Thorpe has indicated he will not resign. “Being your mayor is one of the greatest honors of my life and I’m sorry if I have embarrassed you in any way,” Thorpe said on the March 19 video.
The DUI citation, though, has fallen into the lap of the recall group, which did not return calls seeking comment but has shared posts about it, encouraging signatures.
Thorpe did not address allegations individually but issued a statement regarding the recall efforts.
“This is precisely why I wear this attempt at a recall as a badge of honor,” he wrote in a text to this newspaper. “Rather than seeking to work with diverse points of view, this small handful of right-wing special interests continue using the outdated politics of negativity and division in an attempt to push forward their outdated agenda.”
Thorpe ran on a progressive platform and has been behind several reforms, including purchasing police body cameras, forming a police oversight committee and stopping police from acquiring new surplus military equipment.
“The vast majority of our city elected me because of my commitment to make our city one of inclusion and opportunity,” he said.
Mayor Pro-Tem Mike Barbanica, a retired Pittsburg policeman, also called for Thorpe to resign shortly after the DUI arrest but for different reasons.
As for the DUI, he noted that it is “only a citation, not a conviction” at this point.
“But I do feel it’s the best thing for the city, (for him) to step down and deal with these issues, and I wish him the very best at that,” Barbanica said.
Barbanica said he was not happy with “the way the city is being run right now.” He said it’s difficult to get information and can’t go directly to department heads with his requests. He said the formality slows down the process and was not required in the past.
“It’s not just a DUI that I think he should resign over,” Barbanica said. “It’s the totality of what is going on in the city and how it’s being run and issues that we’re facing.”
Councilwoman Tamisha Torres Walker said she does not support a recall and would not ask Thorpe to resign from the five-member council.
“I just think that when you start getting into people’s personal lives, then you’re overstepping a very personal boundary,” she said referring to the DUI citation.
When asked about the protocol of going to the city manager first with questions and meeting with him or a designated person to answer them, she said it was the same with the previous city manager. However, she added that council members should be made aware of important happenings in the city in a timely manner, which hasn’t always happened.
Councilwoman Monica Wilson could not be reached for comment.
Source: www.mercurynews.com