After throwing back a beer, chucking his cat across the room, and ripping fellow city commissioners with language more suited for the locker room than a Zoom call, Vallejo, California’s Chris Platzer earned the national spotlight.
The public’s response to his actions caused him to resign his position before his colleagues could vote him out.
I understand the outcry against him. After all, hurling a kitty across the living room like a toddler throws a fish at the touch tank is truly a dick move.
But Platzer also represents the stubborn, free-spirited attitude that society is quickly running out of.
In a Zoom meeting in the comfort of his own home, he cracked a cold one. Big deal.
People drink at work all the time. He just didn’t hide it because he was at his own residence.
He called out his colleagues for not answering a question directly. That’s his job.
His diction and delivery sucked, but his complaints made sense.
Voters elect a city commissioner who will represent the community’s interests while asking the tough questions.
Platzer asked his fellow commissioners if the COVID-19 quarantine would close down a development and he got the runaround.
So like we all talk about doing to the politicians we loath, he speaks out and lambastes his colleagues’ B.S.
That’s a celebration move, not a resignation move.
Here’s a guy who’s doing his best to serve his community during one of the worst epidemics in modern history, and sadly he made a few mistakes.
Well lah-dee-frickin’-dah.
I would rather have a flawed man who speaks out represent my home than a two-faced fast talker that can’t give a yes or no answer.
He’s honest, he’s pure, he’s uncensored.
Just like your grandpa, he’ll die by his opinions and the will of the people that elected him.
Companies look for guys like Platzer. He isn’t a yes man who will brown-nose the boss for a promotion.
He’s a guy who wants answers and sometimes loses himself in his own passion.
Did alcohol play into his cursing? Probably.
But despite his mildly impaired state he was making a point that needed to be made.
How many times have we been given the runaround by our politicians, especially during quarantine? Too many times to count.
So while the rest of the world bashes Platzer as an oaf, a relic who should never have earned the office, I see him as a symbol of the flawed antiheroes we need to right our wayward ship.
I’ll take a guy like Platzer in any election, so long as he apologizes to that poor kitty.
At least he’s a genuine guy that truly wants answers instead of some statuesque drone like city officials tend to be.
Flint City Councilman Eric Mays has been charged with impaired driving, pawned his city-issued laptop, and been arrested for speaking his mind at council meetings.
He’s an honest, heart-on-his-sleeve guy, just like Platzer is.
Guys like Platzer prevent the Flint Water Crisis.
Guys like Platzer keep companies like Enron from pulling shady practices.
Guys like Platzer catch egomaniacs like Donald Trump or Mitch McConnell in their lies and deceits.
In a world lacking straight shooters, Platzer stands alone as a fault-filled gem of a city official.
Big Tex Goes to College 