Adam Prudhomme
Beaver Staff
Citing social media’s far reaching impact, Greater Napanee deputy mayor Marg Isbester would like to see the town adapt guidelines for what’s considered acceptable use for council members.
She put forward a successful motion at last week’s council meeting that will see council draft and agree upon a social media policy no later than April 10. The policy will include input from council members as well as comparisons to policies of councils of similar sizes.
“Social media puts pressure on how information travels, whether factual or not,” said Isbester. “There needs to be a policy in place for social media for both council and committee members. I believe the next council would be better served by this council to have some guidelines and procedures in place. If not, time could be wasted in finding the right fit.”
Currently there is no town policy in place, which makes Greater Napanee a bit of an anomaly when stacked up against surrounding communities.
“I believe this council has seen how important a code of conduct can be in day to day operations in success of this and the next council to follow,” added Isbester.
Councillor Max Kaiser seconded her successful motion.
“I think I’d like for us to catch up with other municipalities and we should have one too,” said Kaiser. “I don’t want to defer it to next council, it may be forgotten or lost.”