Apparently there has been a war or words waged in the town of Brandon on facebook, between a facebook group or two and the people elected to office. And it has come to a head with the Brandon City Council censuring a council member, and proposing the creation of a “Social Media fine” if a member uses social media to bring public concerns to light.
No really. The City of Brandon is drafting a “Social Media fine” Ordinance.
And it gets better than that. Apparently the Brandon City Council is being held in thrall by a facebook group, who has gotten in their heads:
From Feb 19th, 2019 minutes from the City Council:
Matt Henning, 1416 W Creekside Cir, was present to discuss concerns on social media issues and code of conduct.
and…
Ted Miller, 301 N Tamarac Cir, was present to discuss the police chief, social media, and the impact of the community. Ted stated the city is broke right now and we need to fix it.
Read that here. And then it has continued to bubble, as noted in the March 18th minutes from the City Council:
Kim Cerwick, 812 S. Nicholas Avenue, was present for discussion to ask Alderman Wakefield if he knows who the administrators are of the Facebook page “City of Brandon, SD The Dirt.” Alderman Wakefield stated that he does not know who the administrators are. Kim has concerns with this page slandering her and this Community with flat out lies. Kim asked Alderman Wakefield twice more, and he again stated he does not know who runs the page and that he has no connections to this Facebook page.
Ellison Cutrer, 515 N. Splitrock Blvd., was present for discussion and as a business owner in Brandon has concerns with the effects being caused by the social media mess going on in town.
and…
Alderwoman Hausman spoke about the negative social media, and suggested not to let the haters win, be positive and be #BrandonStrong.
The latest City Council minutes aren’t up yet to explain why they’ve censured one of their own, so we’ll have to pause this for another day. But I’m not sure how they believe they can create “a social media fine” for expressing one’s opinion.
(That pesky First Amendment and all.)
UPDATE – From the Brandon Valley Journal comes more detail on what the offenses were that got the City Council all a twitter:
The council passed a motion at the April 15 meeting finding Wakefield in violation of city ordinances regarding appropriate conduct for council members. The alderman was formally reprimanded for accusing the city of committing fraud in allowing Chamber CEO Kim Cerwick to receive South Dakota retirement benefits and for statements he made about Joe Weir’s character during the city’s hiring process for a new police chief.
Alderwoman Jo Hausman made two motions on behalf of the council. The first regarded disclosing executive session information and a letter from the council to Wakefield. Wakefield recused himself from both motions, which passed unanimously.
Wakefield won’t pay a penalty for either violation, but future offenses could lead to fines. The council also reviewed a revision of the current code of conduct that would include a fine of up to $500 for violations, and will hold a first reading of that ordinance at their next meeting.
Hm… Debating whether a city’s Chamber of Commerce CEO’s can be a city employee made eligible for South Dakota State Retirement system benefits is somehow a problem? I might be wrong, but that sounds like a policy decision that any alderman would have the ability to bring up and discuss, since most chambers are separate organizations. Many (maybe most) receive city funding, but I hadn’t heard of their directors being city employees eligible for state employee retirement benefits.
Now the other part might get him in trouble, depending on what he said. But still, methinks the city overstepped boundaries here at least in part, as they prepare to step further over the line.
This is just the tip of the iceberg here. As a Brandon resident and one who has attended these meetings, both parties are to blame but mark my word there will be a lawsuit being filed here.
I’m just glad the Alderwoman could be #brandonstrong in the face of Social media criticism.
(That was sarcasm)
A lawsuit for what?! I hope you mean against Tim for totally violating almost every code he agreed to abide by when he became a council member.
Anonymous is lame
Most politician have fb pages. I commend Tim for having open communication with his constitutes. Freedom of speech. If this council can’t handle criticism well then maybe they shouldn’t run for office.
Wait, which alder-person is proposing fines/ punishing free expression?
Coming to a town near you.
If the libel claims Lora is making against Pat were set in Brandon, Lora would have a pretty strong case.
Can’t these kids parents take away their smart phones and ground them? Junior high has really changed from when I was a kid.
Well Lora is a big girl and will take the harassment from Pat because she is running for school board. She would like to reply but Pat has her blocked.
For heavens sake, this man completely violated the code of conduct that he swore to when he was elected to the council. It’s not the wild west and he treats it like it is. This has nothing to do with his first amendment rights. It has to do with his big mouth and scare tactics. Hopefully he heeds this warning and shuts his mouth and just listens for a bit.
Say who you are if you think you are smart enough to be part of a conversation instead of dropping your anonymous bombs. Stand up or shut up!!!!!!
I expect this young fellow will be Mayor of Brandon City before we know it. Brandon: Not quite Harrisburg, but we are insaner.
Wakefield was not attempting to have a discussion or debat he was accusing the council and staff of fraud, of purposely and continuously breaking the law. Which was not true, hence the censure. Also the fine has nothing to do with social media, it is a fine related to censures and code of conduct violations in general which can occur any where… I don’t know why grudz would think this guy would be mayor soon he just got walloped in the mayoral election a week ago.. Brandon residents seem fed up with him.
Planning student should learn how to spell. Speaks volumes to their education level or IQ
Spelling..? Is that all you got left when the facts are laid out?
How many people showed up to vote?
Does he have the facts to back it up. Where is it posted?
Republican Rule 1: We have all the answers. But we don’t allow questions.
The Republican establishment are Snow fakes or flakes.