Many Bay Area cities are looking for ways to combat dangerous sideshows, and in Antioch, city leaders met Tuesday to discuss a new sideshow enforcement ordinance.
It was the fourth time the issue came before the council, and the mayor said he was tired of the delays.
In one South Antioch neighborhood, almost every intersection has the telltale circular tire tracks of an afterthought.
“All the dogs start barking, people are scared. You have the feeling that something is against your house,” says a man who lives near one of the intersections. He said individual cars often arrive at 3 a.m. to practice for about 5 minutes. But recently a whole crowd showed up.
“Oh, it was crazy. There were about 200 people around. They blocked all the entrances to this road, so the police couldn’t get in,” he said. “People can’t cross the road and people have complained, contacted the city in the past, but nothing has happened.”
Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe buried his face in his hands. He said he tried three more times to get his council colleagues to approve a side ordinance, without success. The city is trying, using drones and installing small bumps at some intersections, but right now the police have no authority to punish anyone other than the drivers themselves. Some believe the law should also hold spectators accountable, and perhaps most importantly, those who organize and advertise the mass shows.
“That’s the most effective tool we have as a city to stop sideshows,” Hernandez-Thorpe said, “when we are proactive with law enforcement in finding those who are organizing them and dismantling them there. That’s when we’re most effective. So to me, that was the most important part. Because the reality is that the spectator law – no one has used the spectator law. Pittsburg has one… they’ve never used it.”
Some in the council thought the previous proposals were too strict, others thought they were not strong enough. The result was that nothing was passed on. During Tuesday’s meeting, the mayor gave them a choice of several ordinances: make only the organizers responsible, or involve spectators as well. Anyway, he said it was time to make a choice.
“That’s what we’re paid to do: vote. And that’s it. It’s not complicated and it’s not rocket science,” the mayor said. “And so, if they want to play games, we’ll put it on full display. Here are the two ordinances… pick one. But we’ll pick one, and we’ll move on.”
Hernandez-Thorpe said even if they passed an ordinance immediately, it wouldn’t go into effect until sometime in September. It would therefore not apply to the remaining summer months, when most secondary activity takes place. The regulation is about holding lawbreakers accountable. The mayor believes this should also apply to legislators.
