Payton Perspective: Antioch Council members voting to remove commission chair is election year hypocrisy – actions speak louder than words
Need to slow down, not overreact, instead censure and give him a second chance, and focus on what’s more important by actually helping those they claim to care so much about
I was always taught actions speak louder than words.
The Mayor of Antioch and three council members have rightfully expressed their disdain over what Planning Commission Chair Ken Turnage, II wrote on his Facebook page, last Thursday, about lifting the shelter-in-place order knowing that some of the more vulnerable in our community might die. They have scheduled a special meeting Friday night (tonight) at 7 p.m. to consider voting to remove him, not as chair but from the commission completely. One of those groups Turnage referred to in his comment is the homeless in Antioch. (View the meeting on the City’s website by clicking here).
I too found his comments unacceptable, especially for a public official and one considering running for public office. I agree with someone who commented on his post basically writing, why can’t we do both, end the shelter in place and do our best to protect the most vulnerable among us? I believe we can.
But what’s more important, words that hurt people’s feelings and if implemented could hurt people or the lack of action that’s actually hurting people?
While it’s easy for council members to be appalled and sanctimonious, labeling his comments disgusting and abhorrent, what’s more disgusting and abhorrent is taking votes to approve spending over $500,000 and apply for and receive five Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) trailers to help and house the homeless, appearing to be doing something, raising the hopes of that group of vulnerable people in our community, but in reality doing little to nothing to actually spend that money or place the trailers and move some of the homeless in to actually help them?
The council voted unanimously in December to approve the expenditures, and to hire an unhoused resident coordinator, fund motel vouchers, and portable toilets among other things. But, to date, according to City Manager Ron Bernal very little of the money has been spent.
There is no motel voucher program to get the homeless out of the wet and cold of the winter. Yet, here we are now in a time of better weather. Also, no unhoused resident coordinator has been hired. They did hire a homeless consultant who is supposed to help the council and city staff rewrite the Request for Proposal to hire the unhoused resident coordinator. But, the new RFP hasn’t been sent out, yet.
So, after months of meetings by the ad hoc committee, council discussion and votes, and then all the fanfare over the delivery of the FEMA trailers, nothing has really been done or money spent to actually help the homeless in Antioch.
Yet, now the mayor and council members are more concerned about the words of a planning commissioner they find hurtful and want to take an urgent, overreaction of removing him from his position.
Why is that?
Let’s remember, this is an election year, and for the first time, possibly ever in our city’s history, all five members of the council are up for re-election. Furthermore, Turnage might run against the incumbent, Council Member Monica Wilson, who first called for his removal and who went so far as to inject slavery into her condemnation, hinting at a racial motive behind the commissioner’s comments, irresponsibly stirring up racial division in our community. Her comment must also be denounced.
Plus, the council members claim they are receiving many emails and phone calls from residents calling for his removal. So, in order to protect their own political skins, they’re willing to sacrifice someone who has done great service to our community for many years, even to the point of being honored as Antioch’s Citizen of the Year for Most Impact in 2015 (see related article) over a one-time comment he wrote.
With all due respect to Turnage, he isn’t the most eloquent speaker or writer. He’s not a politician. He’s a local business owner, a general contractor who has not only been affected by the shelter-in-place, but whose building where his offices are located has been broken into, and homeless jumping the fence and using his property to camp on. Turnage is understandably upset. But he should have done a better job choosing his words and recognizing the hurt feelings his “survival of the fittest” viewpoint caused and the hurt they literally could cause if implemented.
What needs to happen is the council should, instead vote to censure Turnage for his comments and give him the opportunity to publicly apologize. They should give him a second chance and not simply participate in the silencing of those with whom we disagree, as is happening on social media by the big tech firms, and is called for by the overly sensitive in our society, looking for some reason to be offended.
Then Turnage needs to apologize and put this all behind us, then leave it up to the voters to decide in November, should he choose to run for city council.
If he doesn’t make a public apology by next Thursday, the day the agenda for the council’s next regular meeting on May 12th is finalized and distributed, then the mayor can choose to include a vote for removal. But a vote to censure Turnage should be enough.
The council members need to make sure they’re not taking a vote based on politics and what might happen to them in the next election. They need to not be finger in the wind politicians overreacting to the views of some members of the public.
Most importantly, the council members need to take action, and start spending the money to actually help the homeless in Antioch whom they claim to care so much about.
Words are one thing. Actions speak louder.
