EIGHT LIVES LEFT

California City Official Quits After Tossing Cat, Drinking Beer on Zoom Call of Public Meeting

The California city planning commissioner threw his pet off screen during a video conference of a public meeting.

A planning commissioner for the city of Vallejo, California, has resigned after throwing his pet cat and apparently drinking a beer during a Zoom meeting for work. During Monday’s meeting of the city’s planning commission, Chris Platzer announced, “I’d like to introduce my cat,” and picked up his pet before suddenly tossing the animal off-screen. Platzer was also seen sipping from a green bottle during the meeting and, after the conference ended, he could be heard making derogatory remarks. “I did not conduct myself in the Zoom meeting in a manner befitting of a planning commissioner and apologize for any harm I may have inflicted,” Platzer wrote in an email. Vallejo Mayor Bob Sampayan said: “This hurts the credibility of the city. What happens if a developer is watching the meeting [and sees that]? They would obviously have concerns about the city.”