Public comment and a lengthy trustee discussion of press-release and social media guidelines dominated the Village of Sugar Grove’s Dec. 2 meeting, with residents and several trustees sharply divided over whether guidance would protect the community or amount to censorship.

Jared Piper, during public comment, urged the board to avoid restricting official communications: “Transparency is the cornerstone of democracy,” he said, arguing that “once trustees start silencing the flow of factual information, every resident loses.” Lou Levy told the board he had raised concerns earlier about trustees using social media and described Discussion Item C as “a nothing burger,” urging board members to resolve disputes in public meetings rather than on social platforms. Jaden Chaddah told the board the word “guidelines” felt like “a fancy word for censorship” and warned that constraints would silence representation.

Trustee (speaker 5) said the goal was narrower: requiring board review of press releases that list all trustees’ names or that resemble campaign-style mailers. The village president defended her authority to issue time-sensitive press releases as the municipality’s chief executive and said she had offered to revise the press-release format. Legal counsel reminded trustees that the village’s official social media accounts are a designated public forum under First Amendment law and that time, manner and place restrictions are permissible but content-based restrictions are not.

After debate, trustees agreed to adopt a revised press-release format and to remove trustees’ names from future press releases. Several trustees asked staff to develop clearer distinctions between routine mailers (which would warrant more board review because of cost and permanence) and time-sensitive press releases that the village president may issue. No ordinance was adopted at the Dec. 2 meeting; staff were directed to update the format and to bring additional policy language for further consideration.

Why it matters: The discussion highlights tension between individual trustees’ desire for pre-release review and the mayor’s responsibility for timely communications. Trustees and residents said they want accurate, timely information; several also expressed concern that posts bearing all trustees’ names can appear to represent the entire board’s position when only a majority or the president authored the text. The board’s decision to remove trustee names from future press releases addresses that immediate concern but leaves open whether a formal ordinance will be adopted.