Chambersburg council pursues Facebook for posts deleted by former mayor

(Chambersburg) — The Borough of Chambersburg is on the hook to go after Facebook to retrieve posts that former Mayor Darren Brown removed from his Facebook account.

Borough council on Monday signed a settlement with Chambersburg resident Noel Purdy, who filed a right-to-know request in June to get the deleted information.

The borough agreed to pay her attorney’s fees amounting to $9,101 in her pursuit of the right-to-know request. The borough also agreed to pay for her attorney’s fees should the attorney become involved in producing the documents from Facebook.

Purdy said on Tuesday that she wanted to hold the borough accountable.

“The borough frequently touts its transparency,” Purdy said on Tuesday. “My intention was, and still is, for them to live up to that claim. I think it’s unfortunate that an elected official, the former mayor no less, destroyed public records and that there wasn’t a policy or mechanism in place to protect the records at the center of my request, until now.”

As part of the agreement, council on Monday adopted the borough’s first social media policy.

“It’s long overdue,” Council President Heath Talhelm said. “The most constrictive part (of the policy) is for borough officials, and it should be. We need to be held responsible and not the borough taxpayers.”

Purdy’s right-to-know request has its roots in a mural project that Purdy organized. She proposed that a mural be painted on a borough-owned stone wall on the Chambersburg Rail-Trail.

Brown has said that in the interest of transparency he posted the controversial issue on a Facebook page that he used in association with his duties as mayor. Purdy commented on the page. Brown admitted to deleting some of her posts. He eventually banned her from commenting.

Brown had run for mayor in 2013 on a platform of using social media to increase communication and transparency between council and citizens. He resigned from the post in September, three months before the end of his term. He joined the Air Force.

One of Brown’s final posts on the Facebook page was to say that if Purdy wanted a mural she could put it on the side of her house. Brown also posted a photo of the side of Purdy’s house. He later deleted the post.

Purdy in June asked the borough under the Right to Know Act to provide copies of posts and comments that Brown had made on the Facebook page. The borough declined. Purdy won her appeal to the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records in August. She also sued the borough in Franklin County Court to get the documents.

As part of the agreement Purdy agreed to drop the lawsuit.

“I’m glad to finally have a sort of resolution over what was a valid Right to Know request,” said Purdy, former executive director of the Greater Chambersburg Chamber of Commerce.

The borough’s social media policy defines objectionable content that can be removed from a borough social media account. The removed content however must be archived. Rules are also set for blocking unmanageable users.

“The policy isn’t meant to get anyone in trouble,” Borough Manager Jeffrey Stonehill said. “It is meant as a guideline. It doesn’t have many teeth.”

Public officials violating the policy face censure and possible civil action. Employees violating the policy face disciplinary action and can be fired. Volunteers can be removed for breaking the rules.

“We’re trying to balance your rights,” Borough Solicitor Bryan Salzmann told council members on Monday. He suggested that elected borough officials not use their personal accounts to conduct business or answer questions related to the borough.

The policy anticipates the borough launching a Facebook page, which would be overseen by a social media coordinator.

“It’s possible in the future,” Stonehill told council. “It remains open for discussion.”

The borough meanwhile will issue an enforceable subpoena to Facebook Inc. to recover the comments on Brown’s Facebook page, according to the borough’s agreement with Purdy. The possible routes pursuant with the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act include an order from county court.

Council adopted the social media policy Monday by a vote of 8-1 with council member Samantha Bietsch in opposition. Council member Sharon Bigler was absent. The agreement with Purdy and the right-to-know policy revision both passed 9-0.

This story comes to us through a partnership between WITF and The Chambersburg Public Opinion.