(A) City officials, including members of the Council, boards, commissions, and the like, may maintain a personal presence on social media. However, to be considered personal, there can be no mention of their status as a city official. Any mention of their status as a city official potentially changes the nature of the page, requiring record keeping in accordance with the Kentucky Department of Library and Archives retention schedule and subjecting the entire page to open records requests.
(B) Elected city officials who want to interact with the community on social media in their role as city official are required to maintain a separate account. City officials will notify the City Clerk- Treasurer or the Assistant Clerk of any official page(s) utilized. The City Clerk-Treasurer and Assistant Clerk will maintain an updated list of official pages of city officials.
(C) City officials shall conduct themselves professionally and as a representative of the city.
(D) Elected city officials pages shall clearly indicate that any content posted is subject to public disclosure. Additionally, the following guidelines shall be posted conspicuously on the page.
(1) In regard to comments placed on the social media site, the following guidelines are in force: as a public entity, the city must abide by certain standards to serve all its constituents in a civil and unbiased manner; and the city’s social media sites prohibit the posting of content and/or comments containing any of the following:
(a) Comments not topically related to the particular site or blog article being commented upon;
(b) Profane language or content;
(c) Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation;
(d) Sexual content or links to sexual content;
(e) Advertisements, solicitations, or phishing;
(f) Conduct or encouragement of illegal activity;
(g) Information that may compromise the safety or security of the public;
(h) Campaign ads or related content advocating for or against a candidate for office; or
(i) Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any other party.
(2) The city reserves the right to deny access to city’s social media sites for any individual who violates the city’s social media policy, at any time and without prior notice.
(E) No comments shall be deleted unless in violation of posted guidelines. Deleted comments shall be provided to City Hall and must be saved for one year.
(F) City officials shall not conduct city business through their social media sites. If receiving a specific request from a citizen, the city official shall state: “Thank you for your question. Please email me at cloverpartky@bbtel.com or contact me at 270-788-6632. I look forward to speaking with you.”
(G) Elected officials shall not discuss issues pending before the Council, boards, or commissions. Elected officials may illicit public input but shall not respond to comments. Engaging in substantive conversations on social media could require retention of the posts and may violate the Open Meetings Act, being KRS 61.805 et seq., if other elected officials are also engaging in the discussion.
(H) City employees are bound by the city’s social media policies in the city employee handbook.
(Ord. 2019-03.01, passed 3-18-2019)