They say a person’s true character reveals itself in a crisis. And if that’s true, Antioch Planning Commissioner Ken Turnage II, who was fired by city leaders on Friday, has revealed himself to be a man of dubious character to say the least.
Turnage recently landed himself in hot water with a series of Facebook posts about the coronavirus.
The “world has been introduced to a new phrase Herd Immunity which is a good one,” he said (herd immunity is not a new phrase). “In my opinion we need to adapt a Herd Mentality. A herd gathers it ranks, it allows the sick, the old, the injured to meet its natural course in nature."
It got worse.
Turnage acknowledged the virus, if left to its own devices, “would run rampant” through the homeless community “and yes i am sorry but this would fix what is a significant burden on our Society and resources that can be used."
There was no apology from Turnage once the public caught wind of his comments. He said he was “baffled” by the criticism and refused to resign. So the Antioch City Council kicked him out.
The coronavirus pandemic has presented citizens and leaders with very difficult choices. When it comes to the best course of action, we expect people to disagree. But describing the elimination of the sick, old, and homeless as some sort of victory might be a bridge too far for a city official. It certainly is in Antioch.