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Resident complains of repeated online harassment; board asks legal guidance and moves to executive session
Summary
A resident alleged ongoing harassment through recurring online accounts and offensive chat posts during hybrid meetings and said she had reported the behavior to police and Zoom. The board discussed chat controls and requiring first names for virtual attendees, requested legal guidance and voted to go into executive session on a legal matter.
A resident, Kristen, told the Select Board that an online account and repeated chat messages have been harassing her during hybrid Select Board meetings and that personally identifying information had been displayed in the meeting interface.
"I've gone to the police. I've gone to Zoom. I've gone to the town manager. I'm done. Enough's enough," Kristen said, asking the board to ban the account or otherwise stop the harassment. She said the account had been active since October and that it displayed her hometown and name in a way she found threatening.
Board members discussed options for hybrid-meeting management. One member said it is legally permissible to require a first name for virtual attendees and suggested reviewing other municipalities’ codes of conduct; another urged a legal opinion on whether the town can require full names or limit chat functions. The manager said he had begun researching options but had not completed all legal checks.
The board directed staff to seek legal guidance on allowable controls for virtual participants (chat settings, name-display requirements and code-of-conduct enforcement), and then moved into an executive session to discuss a legal matter, inviting the manager to attend.
No formal policy change was adopted at the March 24 meeting; the board asked staff to return with definitive legal guidance before implementing new rules or moderation practices.
