Name: Antioch official who said coronavirus should be allowed to kill the weak and old may be ousted at special meeting Friday
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Antioch official who said coronavirus should be allowed to kill the weak and old may be ousted at special meeting Friday

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By | | Bay Area News GroupUpdate: The City Council took action Friday night, removing the planning commission member. .The Antioch City Council will have a special meeting Friday to consider booting Ken Turnage II off the Planning Commission after his controversial post on Facebook that the coronavirus should be allowed to weed out the weak, elderly, homeless and others who can’t resist it.Mayor Sean Wright called for the special session after Turnage refused his request Thursday morning to resign. The mayor cited the need for “swift action” in seeking the meeting, according to a city statement.Turnage has been under fire since calling for an end to shelter-in-place orders and comparing the spread of coronavirus to a forest fire that burns off all the “old trees, fallen brush and scrub-shrub sucklings” that drain its resources.In a long post on his personal Facebook page on April 23, the commission chairman drew ire — and some praise — for his suggestion that society should “let nature take its course,” allowing the weak, elderly, homeless and others to perish so the nation and planet “would strengthen when this is all settled.”While admitting he believes in “ecological balance,” Turnage has said his comments were misunderstood and not meant to be “malicious or racist.” &nbsp;“In my opinion, we as a species, we need to move forward in our place on Earth,” he said in an interview following the City Council’s meeting Tuesday. “I know it’s not a popular opinion.”“My personal opinion does not matter on the Planning Commission,” he said. “People who can’t take personal opinion out of things are the ones that think people have their personal opinion in everything.“I am not going to resign,” he added.On Tuesday, four of five council members expressed their displeasure over the post, calling it everything from “inappropriate” to “disgusting.”Wright, who appointed Turnage in 2017, called the commissioner’s comment “abhorrent” and suggested the matter needed further council discussion.Since then, the city has received numerous comments via emails and phone calls that have questioned whether Turnage should represent the city and called for his resignation or removal, according to city spokesman Rolando A. Bonilla.Resident Brendon O’Laskey wrote in an email to the council that Turnage was “advocating letting the virus kill the old and immunocompromised, and encouraging its spread through the homeless community and the mentally ill.“I was flabbergasted and in disbelief that during a time of crisis for all Antioch families someone who represents my city of Antioch could find the heart to write such racist and discriminatory comments,” he wrote. “These are extreme and reprehensible ideas that have no place in our city government. It is outrageous that a man with these views is sitting as an appointed member of the Planning Commission making decisions about the future land use, development and planning of Antioch.”“Facebook is often a place for different opinions,” Deborah Polk wrote. “However, when you — as a city volunteer representative — make the conscious choice to place you biases and hurtful comments on social media for all to see, then you don’t deserve to make a decision for me, other people of color or the elderly.”“Penning a diatribe that is scarily similar to ‘Mein Kampf’ during a pandemic is abhorrent,” Kathleen Ellis wrote on Facebook. “This really isn’t a agree-to-disagree topic. And those who go along with him are sure to be splattered with fall-out …”One city official, however, defended Turnage’s comments and pointed out that, as of Tuesday, the city had received only three public comments about the post.“He was just explaining what Mother Nature does and has done for centuries,” City Clerk Arne Simonsen wrote in the comment section of an East Bay Times . “There was nothing ‘racist’ about what he posted. Every Life Insurance and Pension fund uses statistics and events like this to determine their actuarial charts…”However, other city officials saw it differently, pointing out the need for officials to use discretion as they serve the entire population.“In the city of Antioch, the City Council is committed to maintaining public confidence and trust in our city government,”&nbsp; Mayor Wright said in a statement. “As public officials in one of the largest and most diverse cities in Contra Costa County, we are called to serve all residents of Antioch; whether young or old, rich or poor, healthy or unhealthy, housed or unhoused.”The council will meet via Zoom conference at 7 p.m. Friday. To make a public comment, go toCheck back for updates.&nbsp;We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.Get Morning Report and other email newslettersFollow UsMost PopularClose

By | | Bay Area News GroupUpdate: The City Council took action Friday night, removing the planning commission member. .The Antioch City Council will have a special meeting Friday to consider booting Ken Turnage II off the Planning Commission after his controversial post on Facebook that the coronavirus should be allowed to weed out the weak, elderly, homeless and others who can’t resist it.Mayor Sean Wright called for the special session after Turnage refused his request Thursday morning to resign. The mayor cited the need for “swift action” in seeking the meeting, according to a city...

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Judith Prieve

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Antioch official who said coronavirus should be allowed to kill the weak and old may be ousted at special meeting Friday

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