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Council adopts social media policy urging separation of personal and official city accounts
Summary
The council unanimously adopted a city social media policy addressing authorized city accounts, restraints on public posting to official pages, and guidance for councilors' personal and official social accounts in light of recent court guidance.
The City Council adopted Resolution 25-14 on July 21, approving a social media policy for city-authorized accounts and guidance for staff and elected officials about personal and official social media use.
City Attorney Angie explained the policy’s purpose in light of recent court rulings involving officials’ social pages and the risk that personal accounts used for city business could be treated as government forums subject to First Amendment limits. She said authorized accounts administered by city personnel — such as the city page, public works and parks pages — will not permit public posting to avoid potential claims of viewpoint discrimination. Angie recommended council members avoid commingling personal accounts with city business and suggested disclaimers on personal pages if members post city information.
Councilor Rebecca said she sometimes posts information on the community Facebook group as a resident and asked whether she should stop; Angie advised clarity — either use a personal account with a clear disclaimer that the views are personal, or consider an official account for outreach. Several councilors said they maintain distinct council pages with disclaimers. The resolution passed unanimously.
