Another Planning Commissioner Ousted After Coronavirus Controversy in California

Judith Prieve reports on a controversy surrounding a planning commissioner in the city of Antioch, California that resulted in the ouster of a planning commissioner who made controversial remarks about the effects of Covid-19 on high-risk residents.

"At a special meeting [recently], the Antioch City Council unanimously removed Ken Turnage from the planning commission for declaring on social media that nature should 'take its course' as the coronavirus kills the weak, the old and the homeless," reports Prieve.

In the special hearing, Turnage stood by those remarks, and some of the numerous calls and 92 emailed public comments expressed support for Turnage's opinions on the matter. A statement by Antioch Mayor Pro Tem Joy Motts, however, said that Turnage's comments had done too much damage to members of the community to remain on the commission.

Antioch is located on the fringe of the East San Francisco Bay Area, not too far from Vallejo, where another planning commissioner resigned from that city's planning commission in April after throwing a cat and drinking a beer during an online commission hearing.