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In the wake of an appointed town official posting anti-Muslim and anti-Islam messages and images on his personal Facebook page, Easton has adopted a new social media policy for appointed and elected officials that mirrors a policy already in place for town employees.
The town has also begun mandatory trainings for appointed and elected officials covering ethics, the open meeting law, the public records law, and the town’s social media and other policies, according to Town Administrator David Colton.
Posts by newly appointed Conservation Commission member Michael Goodman in July led to some calling for his resignation from his town position. The Board of Selectmen voted in August to formally reprimand him, but questioned whether starting a process to remove him from office, for actions taken before the town had a formal policy in place, would infringe upon his free speech rights.
On Sept. 12, selectmen unanimously approved a new social media policy that allows the town to remove appointed and elected officials from office if they make bigoted public comments online.
“Officials must be mindful that residents, property owners and others appearing before town boards or committees come from all walks of life,” the policy states. “Public comments, in any forum, that contain racial slurs, express bigotry toward a group based on their race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or any other legally protected classification shall be considered conduct unbecoming a Town Official and shall constitute good cause for removal for any appointed Official.”
Colton said that the town’s labor counsel took the social media policy in place for paid town employees, which is incorporated into all the town’s collective bargaining agreements, and modified it slightly to apply to appointed and elected officials.
“Obviously the controversy over the Facebook posting by one of our Conservation Commission members was the catalyst for this, but I don’t want to overlook the fact that what we are doing is treating our unpaid, appointed board members with basically the same respect that we show our paid employees,” Colton said. “They deserve to be treated as though they are legitimate, contributing, valuable human resources for the town.”
The town previously provided a board and committee member handbook to newly appointed and elected officials, which included policies and information regarding ethics, the open meeting law, and other practical items.
Now the town is running mandatory training sessions as well. The first two sessions were held in September, following the usual appointment of boards and committees in June.
A leadership training session for board and committee chairs, focused on issues such as conflict resolution and diversity, will be held this winter, Colton said.
Easton’s social media policy for appointed and elected officials is available at http://tinyurl.com/EastonSocialMedia.