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Resident alleges council member blocked her on Facebook, criticizes handling of proposed charter amendments
Summary
During public comment at the April 14 Katy City Council meeting, resident Casey Hines accused a council member of viewpoint discrimination and criticized the council’s handling of proposed charter amendments and use of a Facebook group for city business.
Casey Hines, a Katy resident, told the City of Katy Council during the public-comment period on April 14 that a council member blocked her from a Facebook group she said functions as a public forum and that the council mishandled proposed charter amendments.
Hines said she lives at 2320 Buckskin Lane and described herself as “utterly disappointed” in how the proposed charter amendments were advanced. “Your blatant disregard for the city review committee to push through these self serving amendments is the most undermining thing I have witnessed,” she said.
Hines said she had posted to a Facebook group called the City of Katy Residence Forum to discuss city matters. “This page is repeatedly used for official city business,” she said, arguing that its use for agendas and voting feedback makes it a public forum. “One council member has violated my First Amendment rights,” Hines said, adding she did not use “anything that was obscene, no profanity or abusive language.”
Hines also said she was blocked from the group after posting information opposing the amendments. “That council is viewpoint discrimination. This council member recently sat up here saying that communication needs to be better but then blocked me from his group for doing just that,” she said. Hines said the council member’s actions were “completely unprofessional, disrespectful, and a blatant abuse of power.”
Later in the public-comment period, Michael Payne, who identified himself as a Katy resident at 5823 Green Meadows Lane, criticized Mayor Dusty Thiele for declining to participate in a public debate and asked the mayor to explain why he would not debate with voters.
The council did not respond to either speaker during the public-comment portion; the mayor opened the meeting by reminding speakers that council cannot respond during public comment. The transcript does not record any follow-up staff report, formal investigation, or motion in response to Hines’s allegation.
The comments came at the start of an evening that otherwise included proclamations and multiple routine contract approvals and change orders.
