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New Luzerne County Council members Kendra Radle and LeeAnn McDermott have asked their colleagues to consider what they say about each other on Facebook and other social media.
In an email this week, the women pointed to a section of the council bylaws requiring members to “at all times conduct themselves with courtesy and respect for their fellow officeholders, the executive and members of the administration, county employees, and the public.”
“Taking to Facebook or any other public forum to complain about fellow council members, air grievances, or attempt to unite a group of people against specific council members does not seem like ‘courtesy and respect,’” their email said.
Radle and McDermott said they expect disagreements.
“While it is understood that we are not going to all agree at all times, it is beneath the office we have been elected to serve in to be disrespectful to our colleagues in public,” they wrote. “There is a way to go about attacking a person’s ideas without attacking the person. Let us hope we can find that way.
Radle and McDermott on Wednesday declined to cite a specific social media posting that prompted their email, but Radle said a council colleague was cordial and raised no concerns to her in person at Monday night’s reorganization meeting and then later posted a comment saying she and McDermott are part of the “McGinley mob.”
While they wouldn’t identify the the council member, they appeared to be referencing a Facebook post by Councilman Walter Griffith in response to votes from Radle and McDermott to retain Tim McGinley as council chairman.
Griffith’s post: “Today is a sad day for the Luzerne County Republicans. They voted for a majority on Luzerne County Council by electing 4 Republicans and ended up with two that already have demonstrated they are part of the McGinley Mob. Sad day.”
Griffith said Wednesday he assumed the email from Radle and McDermott was in response to this posting.
He said he posted the comment because he received multiple inquiries from his supporters questioning why a council majority did not name a different chair or reopen the 2020 budget in an attempt to reduce the 3.25% tax hike. McDermott voted to reopen the budget, but Radle did not, citing an extensive review of potential cuts already completed.
Griffith said he felt he owed supporters a response on social media because he had urged them to vote for Radle and McDermott.
He also said his First Amendment right to free speech trumps council bylaws.
However, Griffith emphasized he respects the input from McDermott and Radle and will rethink what he posts online now that he is seated as an elected official.
“I certainly understand and appreciate their concerns and ability to point out the professionalism of council,” Griffith said. “I won’t apologize, but I will be a little more selective in how I post in the future.”
Griffith also said he believes he won’t need to post because the public will be kept up to date on how he and the other council members vote through media coverage.
Radle and McDermott said Wednesday they are not complaining about critical online posts made by the general public — only those from council members.
“This is about how we should act toward fellow council members,” Radle said.
McDermott concurred, saying running for public office comes with the expectation of both satisfaction and criticism from the general public.
“I’m getting a thick skin,” she said.