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Lancaster council instructs staff to recommend temporarily disabling comments on city social media
Summary
Council members debated removing comments from city social media to reduce harassment and misinformation, directed staff to return with a policy recommendation and ordered comments disabled temporarily; council discussed a three‑month trial and communication of alternative feedback channels.
Lancaster City Council members debated whether to close comments on the city’s social media channels after multiple council members said online comment threads had become abusive or distracting. Several council members described recent social‑media posts about local events that, they said, included inappropriate or insulting remarks and diminished community moments.
Councilmember Lauren Hughes Leslie urged the council to consider a temporary suspension of comments and suggested a trial period (she referenced three months) during which staff would report back with options and a clear statement of the official purposes of the city’s social channels. A council member said staff would need to return the item as a formal action item so the council could vote on policy language.
One council member asked whether disabling comments could be construed as an attempt to “shut down” recall proponents; the city attorney (on the dais) explained the most recent recall filing was returned for noncompliance with the Elections Code and proponents would need to start over if they wished to pursue it further.
Council direction at the meeting was to instruct staff to prepare a recommendation and to temporarily disable comments “as of tomorrow” pending that recommendation; staff said they would bring back an action item that outlines the trial period, communications to residents about official feedback channels (email and in‑person options), and specific criteria for when comments would be reopened. Several members emphasized promoting official channels for feedback while keeping city social channels primarily for information and positive news.
The council also discussed outreach alternatives for residents who cannot attend meetings, and staff confirmed a web option is available for people to submit feedback on certain topics (for example, the homeless plan workshop the city scheduled for the next day).
