ANTIOCH, Calif. (KCBS RADIO) – The mayor of Antioch is ignoring calls from two fellow city council members that he should resign.
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This comes after Mayor Lamar Thorpe was arrested for DUI and accused of sexual harassment.
Thorpe was charged with a misdemeanor DUI in March of this year and has pled not guilty.
City Councilmember Lori Ogorchock called for him to resign at the time.
"This brings down the city, this brings down all the good work the city is doing," she said. "There's a lot of things going on in this city that's very positive – but where do you see it right now?"
"You don't see any of that happening right now, all you see and hear is this stuff," said Ogorchock.
Along with the DUI charge, two counts of sexual harassment were settled by the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors last month.
The allegations were brought by two women who worked for the now-dissolved Los Medanos Healthcare District that Thorpe served as the Executive Director of was shuttered in March.
While the claims were settled, some are not happy about it.
"The board members do not believe the allegations," said former Chair of the Los Medanos Community Healthcare District, Patt Young. "No one believes it – it was absurd."
Among those who have asked Thorpe to resign is Antioch Mayor Pro Tem, Michael Barbanica, according to reporting by KGO.
Neither Barbanica nor Ogorchock have spoken with the Board of Supervisors directly about the decision to settle the claims, the station reported.
But Thorpe was accused of making unwanted sexual advances and creating hostile working conditions while in his role as Executive Director, according to the station.
In an emailed statement to KGO, Thorpe asserted that he created a positive and respectful working environment.
"I am wholeheartedly heart-broken by these allegations, as they are completely false. When I served as the executive director of the Los Medanos Community Healthcare District (LMCHD), I worked to create an environment that gave opportunities to members of our community that were historically marginalized, as I have always sought to make change through empowerment," he wrote, according to the station.
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