City Administrator Cynthia McNabb presented a consolidated draft social‑media policy Aug. 19 that merges three older documents (2013 and 2016 drafts) and establishes moderation procedures, an appeal process for hidden content and guidance on official‑account use.

McNabb told council the update aims to present a single, public‑facing policy so residents can understand how and when the city moderates comments. "There are rules in the draft social media policy around administration and moderation by the city," McNabb said, adding the policy preserves public comments and explains when items may be hidden for relevance or inflammatory content.

Why it matters: municipal social‑media policies determine how public comment is treated on government pages, how staff may respond on partner or third‑party pages, and how the city complies with First Amendment and public‑records obligations when using algorithmic tools.

Key points from the briefing
- Consolidation and legal review: McNabb said the draft combines three separate policies into a single document and was reviewed by the city attorney for First Amendment and privacy issues.
- Moderation and appeals: the draft clarifies that the city operates its official accounts as a limited public forum, will preserve public comments, and includes a right to appeal a decision to hide content.
- Staff/official account rules: the draft states city responses to social media should come from official city accounts; staff should not use personal accounts to represent the city. Elected officials retain personal First Amendment rights but ‘‘should not comment on a city social media post as an elected official and purport to speak for the city,’’ McNabb said.
- AI not yet addressed in policy: Council Member Schaeffer and others asked whether the update addresses artificial intelligence. McNabb said the draft does not include a dedicated AI policy and that city staff sometimes use tools such as Grammarly or Microsoft Copilot for drafting. "We're going to have an AI policy in a few months," she added, noting public‑records and retention implications for AI use and the need to rely on auditable platforms when possible.

Council questions and next steps
Councilors asked for clarification about commenting on third‑party posts and whether staff may post from city accounts to augment partner organization messages; McNabb said the draft anticipates engaging with partner nonprofits and that official account activity is intended and archivable. The mayor said government should avoid persuasive messaging and be factual; she reminded council that use of AI creates additional public‑records obligations.

Direction to staff
Council asked staff to revise the draft to: clarify coverage for city activity on third‑party pages, explicitly address commissions and advisory bodies in the definitions, and correct a minor typographical error noted during the meeting. McNabb said she would circulate a revised draft and bring a marked-up version to the next meeting for council review.

Provenance: the social‑media policy briefing began during the Aug. 19 council session and drew questions from multiple council members; city staff said a separate AI policy will follow.