West Yellowstone council to place consideration of formal censure of Mayor Jeff McBurney on next meeting agenda

The West Yellowstone Town Council voted to place consideration of a formal censure of Mayor Jeff McBurney on the council's next meeting agenda after several residents raised concerns about the mayor's recent Facebook posts.

At a public comment period, resident Mitch Alvin told the council that "today's elephant in the room is concerns about the mayor and his comments on Facebook," and asked how the town could hold the mayor accountable. Kevin Cannon said outside authorities had already been notified, including the Montana Commissioner of Political Practices and the Gallatin County attorney's office, and urged prompt action before the matter drew wider media attention.

Council member Lisa Griffith, who said she did not vote in favor of appointing McBurney as mayor this year, moved for a formal sanction. Griffith cited Montana Code Annotated 7-5-4103 as giving the council authority to discipline members and said she would ask the town attorney to review options. "MCA 7-5-4103 gives us all explicitly the power to, sanction council members for improper conduct," Griffith said.

The town attorney advised the council that taking action on an item not listed on the published agenda could raise legal notice concerns and recommended placing the item on a future posted agenda to preserve compliance with open-meeting requirements. Griffith amended her motion to have the council place formal censure on the next meeting agenda; the amendment was seconded and the council voted to include the item on the next meeting agenda. The meeting did not include a vote on the censure itself.

Council members and several public commenters emphasized both concern about divisive social media content and the importance of following legal procedures. Resident Thomas Buchanan urged the town to focus on unity, saying, "we're all neighbors," while other council members noted their unease with partisan or divisive posts by elected officials.

The council's action was procedural: it placed consideration of potential formal sanctions on a future agenda so that required notice and legal review can occur. Council members did not set a date for the next meeting item during tonight's session. The council also invited the town attorney to prepare guidance for how to proceed at that subsequent meeting.