On Monday night, Simi Valley City Council is expected to adopt a voluntary social media code of conduct for its members following debatable posts through Councilman Mike Judge.
In July, the board officially disallowed Judge’s Facebook posts, which his racist and sexist critics led them to call for his resignation.
But the veteran councilman, who was first elected in 2010 and will be re-elected in 2022, said he would not resign.
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Amid the controversy, Councillor Dee Dee Cavanaugh in June called for a “policy” on social media for board members.
But because council members are elected officials, creating such a “policy can be a challenge, as policies are reserved for staff members and have an enforceable disposition,” city deputy director Samantha Argabrite wrote in a note for Monday night’s council meeting. “The First Amendment protects all individuals, adding city workers and members of the City Council.
“However, in reaction to the City Council’s request for rules of conduct for City Council members on social media, he proposed that the City Council review the proposed code of conduct for social media,” he wrote.
The proposed code of conduct would be voluntary and self-applying and is a formal “policy,” Argabrite said Friday.
If followed through the board on Monday night or at a later date, board members would agree to post, like or percentage on their social media pages any photo, comment or content that is or may be perceived as:
The voluntary code proposed many other provisions, adding not to publish or share non-public attacks, insults or threatening comments, or own or non-public data of any user without explicit consent.
Argabrite stated that the proposed code had been drafted “in reaction to past or existing use of social media through specific board members”.
However, the code covers the kind of questionable messages that the opinion has posted on its non-public Facebook page over the years.
For example, in June, he shared a meme about spraying pipe rioters to septic tank trucks with the words: “Do you need to prevent riots?Mobilize the trucks of the septic tank, put a cannon of tension on them. . . . the end. “
The opinion of the sentence titled the message with: “It’s great, it’ll also impose the mask rule!”A reference to COVID-19 masks.
He published it after the protests, riots and looting of the country that erupted after the death of George Floyd, a black man, on May 25 after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than 8 minutes.
Since then, the opinion has been apologised several times for the message and has said so in humor.
The sentence was also criticized for publishing an email exchange with Mikiiya Foster, a black teenager who staged a Black Lives Matter protest in Simi Valley on June 6 that attracted some 2,000 protesters.
His critics have argued that the publication of Foster’s call amounted to doxing, an Internet practice of sharing usage data about a user without their permission. The opinion on said he did so to be transparent.
Judge’s previous publications included links to topless women’s sites and a graphic video of a decapitated woman. The opinion issued said in 2013 that he believed the video could have led to the arrest of a drug cartel in the murder.
Another self-applying provisions of the proposed code states that council members “do not use the city logo or stamp on (their) social media pages, as this may give the impression that it is an official city page”.
In July 2019, Councilman Ruth Luevanos caused a stir when she recorded a video in her city corridor and posted it on her City Hall Facebook page to inform immigrants about their rights before ICE raids across the country.
The video ends with the introduction of an official city page that reads “from Simi Valley City Councilwoman Ruth Luevanos. “
Argabrite said the Facebook pages of city council members are official city pages.
In reaction to the Luevanos video controversy, the city council followed an official statement in September that council members adhere to its code of ethics, but the statement nonetheless referred to Luevanos by name.
Monday night’s City Council assembly begins at 6:30 p. m.
Audience members attend because of the coronavirus pandemic, but can watch it on Spectrum TV Channel 10, AT
Mike Harris covers the cities of East Simi Valley County and Thousand Oaks, as well as county transportation. You can contact him at mike. harris@vcstar. com or 805-437-0323.
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