Resident says police told him he had right to attend council meeting after exchanging messages with Councilor Litton

A Hermiston resident, Julian McNally, told the City Council on Sept. 22 that he had posted on Councilor Jackie Litton's personal Facebook page and then told her he would attend the council meeting to speak. McNally said Litton told him she would call police, so he called the nonemergency line and reported the situation. An officer later called McNally and, in McNally's account, told him: "You have full rights to show up to a city council meeting and voice your mind." McNally said he saved the officer's number and that he came to the meeting to exercise his public comment rights. McNally read several social-media exchanges to the council and said he did not intend to threaten anyone; he said he sought only to hear Litton defend her posts in public. "I don't need her fired. I don't want her reprimanded. I want her to talk to," he told the council. Councilor Jackie Litton replied at the meeting that she had not told McNally he could not attend but had warned him after repeated messages that she would involve police if she felt harassed. "I never told him he could not come to the meeting," Litton said, adding that after multiple repeat messages she became concerned and therefore warned police could be contacted. Mayor Primer encouraged private follow-up and offered staff contact information to arrange conversations outside the public meeting. No formal ethics complaint or disciplinary action was filed during the meeting. Why it matters: The exchange highlights tensions that can arise between residents and elected officials on social media and underscores the city police department's role in clarifying safety concerns at public meetings.