CITY COUNCIL AGENDA
February 19, 2026
SPECIAL MEETING - 5:00 P.M.
Regular Session
ANDERSON CITY HALL
1887 Howard Street
PARTICIPATION BY PUBLIC IN MEETING
Meeting via teleconference
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87802696960
Elk Horn Southbound Rest Area
(Councilmember Hale - Red Ford Explorer)
20202 S I-5 Sacramento, CA 95837
Please review the Agenda to determine if the subject you wish to discuss is scheduled for Council consideration. If it is on the Agenda, you will have an opportunity when that matter comes up for discussion to briefly address the Council.
If the subject is not on tonight's Agenda, please complete an Agenda Request Form (on Clerk's table) and present it to the City Council Clerk. You will have the opportunity to speak on the subject under Item 5.2. However, if the item is not on the Agenda, each speaker will be limited to one three (3) minute opportunity to speak, unless the City Council makes an exception due to special circumstances.
The Brown Act prohibits the Council from taking action on any item not placed on the printed Agenda in most cases.
The Brown Act requires any non-confidential documents or writings distributed to a majority of the City Council less than 72 hours before a regular meeting will be made available to members of the public at the same time they are distributed.
In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Anderson will make available to nembers of the public any special assistance necessary to participate in this meeting. The publi hould contact the City Clerk's office (378-6646) to make such a request. Notification 72 hours prio to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting,
This is an Equal Opportunity Program. Discrimination is prohibited by Federal Law.
Complaints of discrimination may be filed with the Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. 20250.
City Council Meeting
February 19, 2026
1.0 ROLL CALL - COUNCIL:
Councilmember Hale
Councilmember Baugh
Councilmember Gallagher
Vice-Mayor Simmons
Mayor Gallier
2.0 INVOCATION - Vice Mayor Simmons
3.0 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE - Councilmember Baugh
5.2 PUBLIC COMMENT ON ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA - This is the time to address public comments by any member of the public to the Council regarding an item not on the agenda. Each comment must be limited to 3 minutes or less and on an item within the City's subject matter jurisdiction. The Brown Act does not permit any action or discussion on items not listed on the agenda. Are there any public comments?
REGULAR AGENDA
8.0 CITY COUNCIL
8.1 SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
iscuss examples of Social Media Policies and provide direction to staff on the reation of a Social Media Policy
14.0 ADJOURN - The City Council will adjourn to March 3. 2026.
A
OF NDERSO AGENDA ITEM
February 19, 2026, City Council Meeting
*C IT
Approved for Submittal By:
øey Forseth-Deshais, City Manager
To Be Presented By:
To: Members of the Anderson City Council
Through: Joey Forseth-Deshais, City Manager
From: Dan Gallier, Mayor
Date: February 19, 2026
SUBJECT
Discuss the creation of a Social Media Policy.
RECOMMENDATION
cresus of aSocial Media pl Media Policies and provide direction to staff on the
FISCAL IMPACT
The recommended actions have no fiscal impacts.
DISCUSSION and BACKGROUND
During Item 11.0 - Council Reports/Comments at the February 17, 2026, meeting, Mayor
ATTACHMENTS
City of Walnut Creek Social Media Policy
City of Roseville Social Media Policy
City of San Juan Capistrano Social Media Policy
ITEM 8.1 PAGE 1 2/19/2026
Social Media Policy
1. Purpose
The City of Walnut Creek ("City") recognizes the importance of social media in communicating with the public and has an over-riding interest and expectation in protecting the integrity of the information posted on its social media sites and the content that is attributed to the City and its officials. The purpose of this policy is to ensure that the City's social media channels best serve the needs of the community and meet legal standards. In addition, this policy establishes oversight, administration, and management guidelines for departmental use of social media to further the goals of the City.
2. Scope
This policy applies to City of Walnut Creek elected and appointed officials, employees, volunteers, contractors and any other representatives acting on behalf of the City or any of its Departments and Divisions.
3. Definitions
Communications Manager
The Communications Manager or the Communications Manager's designee.
Content
Information, images, audio, video, photographs, hyperlinks, and other means of communicating information or ideas. The guidelines for such content shall be set forth in Section 5.F.
Employee(s)
All employees who work for the City (including full-time, part-time, contract, temporary, hourly, provisional, and seasonal employees), and all officials, consultants, contractors, and volunteers.
Social media
Internet-based media that has a participatory element, including but not limited to websites, blogs, wiki pages, user-generated video and audio sites, and online social networks. (Current examples include, but are not limited to, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Nextdoor, etc.)
4. Policy Statement
A. GENERAL
1. The City will utilize social media to engage, build relationships with, and provide useful information to the City's residents, partners, and stakeholders. The City will build awareness of the City's Mission, Vision, & Values through providing relevant, timely information and opportunities for interaction.
2. The City's goals in using social media include:
a. Expanding visibility and outreach;
b. Increasing credibility with the public by posting relevant information and offering transparency; c. Building affinity; creating a media presence that positively promotes the City and/or its Divisions/programs;
d. Increasing engagement from the public.
e. Disseminating time-sensitive information efficiently and quickly.
3. The City's website (www.walnutcreekca.gov (http://www.walnutcreekca.gov)) will remain the City's primary and predominant internet presence.
a. Where appropriate, content posted to City social media sites will also be available on the City's official website.
b. Where appropriate, content posted to City social media sites should contain links directing users back to the City's official website for further information and services.
4. All official social media presences are to be listed on the City of Walnut Creek website to assist the public in identifying official social media presences.
5. All City social media sites shall comply with usage rules and regulations provided by the site provider, including privacy policies.
6. The City does not endorse any links or advertisements that may show up on any City social media sites/postings.
7. The City reserves the right to terminate any City social media site at any time without notice.
B. Creating Social Media Accounts
1. Staff must obtain their Department Director's approval prior to creating a social media site or account on behalf of the City.
2. Before creating a social media site or account, the Director will consider whether social media is appropriate and/or useful to the Department or Division.
3. When a Department or Division determines it has a business need for creating a social media site or account on behalf of the City, it will submit a request to the Communications Manager, who must provide written approval to create the social media site or account.
4. Once approved, the Communications Division will create a basic page on the social media platform. Add-on applications may not be added to the basic page without the express written permission of the IT Division.
5. When possible, all City social media sites shall utilize official City contact information for account set-up, monitoring, and access (e.g. a City email address). The use of personal email accounts or phone numbers City employee, official or volunteer is not allowed for the purpose of setting up, monitoring, or updating social media site, unless the use of a personal account is the only available option.
6. The following formatting requirements apply:
a. The main image of the social media site shall be the Department or Division logo, the City's logo, or some other appropriate photo.
b. If applicable, the Department shall include a statement linked to the Terms of Use page on the Department's website that contains the following statement: "This is an official [Facebook, Instagram, X, etc.] page of the City of Walnut Creek [or City relevant program/department]. For more information about the City of Walnut Creek, please visit www.walnutcreekca.gov. (www.walnutcreekca.gov.) This site is intended to serve as a mechanism for communication between the public and the department on the listed topics, and as a forum to further the mission of the department. Any comment submitted to this page and its list of followers may be considered a public record which is subject to disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act. Public Information Requests must be directed to the City's Communications Manager." The statement will also include a link to the City's Social Media webpage. c. If comments are available and turned on for this social media site, the statement linked to the Terms of Use app on the site shall also include a Comment Policy with the following disclaimer: "Comments posted to this page will be monitored and inappropriate content will be removed as soon as possible. Under the City of Walnut Creek Social Media Policy, the City reserves the right to remove inappropriate content, including, but not limited to content that: contains obscene language or sexual content; threatens or defames any person or organization; violates the legal ownership interest of another party; promotes illegal activity; or promotes commercial services or products. The City disclaims any and all responsibility and liability for any materials that the City deems inappropriate for posting, which cannot be removed in an expeditious and otherwise timely manner."
d. A link to http://www.walnutcreekca.gov (http://www.walnutcreekca.gov) or Department or Division/Program website will be included on the Info, tagline, or any equivalent section on the site. e. A link to the City's social media policy must be posted in the footer of http://www.walnutcreekca.gov (http://www.walnutcreekca.gov) and all Department or Division/Program websites. f. The site name must be descriptive of the Department or Division/Program. Each Department shall choose carefully, and with due consideration, any abbreviations, slang iterations, and proper grammatical usage.
The Communications Manager shall approve proposed names. g. As soon as is reasonably possible, and where applicable, the page should be given a unique url to make it easy to find, e.g., "Facebook.com/walnutcreekgov."
7. The Department or Division's official social media account may "like," "Follow," be fans of," etc. of any social media accounts that the Communications Manager determines to fall outside of the "Terms of Use" guid» The Communications Manager in coordination with the City Manager holds the ultimate discretion to d which social media accounts that falls outside of the "Terms of Use" guidelines.
5. Administration of Official Social Media Sites
A. Communications Manager Responsibilities
1. The Communications Manager must be able to immediately add, edit or remove content from all City sanctioned social media sites/accounts, including but not limited to access in crisis situations. Therefore, the Communications Manager will:
a. Maintain a list of social media tools that are approved for use for City business. b. Will review concerns raised by Department Directors regarding public comments. c. Have the right to monitor content on City social media sites to ensure compliance with the City's Social Media Policy and the interests and goals of the City.
d. Create style and usage standards for specific social media tools as appropriate.
B. Department of Division Responsibilities
1. The Department or Division will be responsible for adding, editing, monitoring, and removing content from all social media sites their Department or Division may create, including review of comments from the public.
Guidelines for staff will be provided and updated periodically by the City's Communications Manager.
2. Maintain a registry hosted by IT of Department or Divisions social media presences, including log-in and password information.
3. The Department or Division shall designate one or more staff members as page administrators who will be responsible for monitoring the Department's or Division's social media site(s).
4. Only designated Department or Division staff members may publish content. Before publishing any photos, videos, or other media containing members of the public, staff must secure waivers by the individuals depicted in such media unless the media was taken in a public area or at a public event, where there is no expectation of privacy. Photos, videos, or other media of City employees taken during regular work hours may be posted without obtaining a waiver.
C. Employee Responsibilities
1. Any employee authorized to post items on any of the City's social media sites shall review, be familiar with, and comply with the City's Social Media Policy, the social media sites' use policies and terms and conditions and any related guidelines issued by the Communications Manager.
2. Any employee authorized to post items on any of the City's social media sites shall not express his or her own rized
personal views or concerns through such postings. Pastings on any of the City's social media sites by an fik City employee shall only reflect the views or concerns of the City.
3. While City employees may use their personal social media platforms to express their opinions and views, employees may not use their personal social media accounts) to speak on behalf of the City.
D. Adherence to Laws, Regulations and Policies
1. All City social media sites shall adhere to applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and policies, including all applicable City policies or guidelines.
2. Any person representing the City on any social media site shall conduct himself or herself at all times as a professional representative of the City and in accordance with all City policies.
E. Public Records
1. The City is subject to the California Public Records Act. Entries, articles, postings, direct or private messages to the City and other contents uploaded or submitted to a City social media site or page are open and available to the public free of charge and access restrictions. To the extent possible, all City social media sites shall clearly indicate that any article and any other content posted or submitted for posting are subject to public disclosure, searches and retrieval as required by law.
2. Except as otherwise removed or deleted, all City social media content will be located on the internet platform to which the content was originally uploaded or submitted. Such content shall be available to the public as long as the City user account associated with the social media platform remains active. The City does not maintain any social media postings or content in additional electronic or hardcopy form, unless such postings or content has been printed, downloaded, filed or otherwise saved by the Department or Division staff responsible for the social media site or page.
3. Removed postings and content will be retained by a third-party vendor.
F. Content Standards
Any City social media site that elicits or allows comments from the public shall be designated as a limited public forum for First Amendment purposes. As such, and in order to promote the City's goals articulated above and remain in compliance with other laws, City social media site content and comments containing any of the following forms of content shall not be allowed and shall be promptly removed:
a. Profane or threatening language or content;
b. Sexual content or links to sexual content;
c. Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, ancestry, age, religion, gender or gender expression, marital status, AIDS/HIV, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, medical condition, political activities or affiliations, military or veteran status, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation;
d. Solicitations or commerce, including but not limited to, advertising of any nongovernment rela it, or business or product for sale; e. Conduct or encouragement of illegal activity; f. Information that may compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems; g. Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any other party; h. Potentially libelous or defamatory comments; and
i. Private or personal information published without consent.
2. Users posting to the City's social media sites shall be informed that the City disclaims any and all responsibility and liability for any materials that the City deems inappropriate for posting.
3. These guidelines will be posted on the City's website and must be made available to social media users by hyperlink.
6. Policy History and Citations
This policy #202 is an amendment to the original policy issued on January 3, 2012.
This policy was issued on May 23, 2024 and approved by: Dan Buckshi City Manager 5575094.2 Skip navigation
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City of Roseville / Government / Departments & Divisions / Public Affairs & Communications / Social Media Policy = Social Media Policy
The City of Roseville (the "City") maintains multiple City-sponsored social media sites as a way to provide communication on events and information important to the community and the public has the ability to engage on these City-sponsored social media sites by responding to or posting content. This Social Media Policy ("Policy") outlines the City's standards for content posted by the public on City-sponsored social media sites.
The City of Roseville reserves the right to restrict or remove any messages or postings with the following content:
1. Content that promotes, fosters, or perpetuates discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, sex, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, military or veteran status, or other protected class.
2. Content that violates a legal ownership interest of any other party, including, but not limited to infringement of a copyright, trademark, or any registered mark.
3. Defamatory statements, or any material contained in them, holds up an individual or groups of people to public ridicule, derision or embarrassment, or is libelous.
4. Obscenity. The content, or any material contained in it, contains obscene matter or any other matter that is prohibited under the provisions of Chapter 7.5 (beginning with Section 311) of Title 9 of Part 1 of the California Penal Code, and as such laws may be amended or supplemented.
5. Use of vulgar, offensive, threatening or harassing language.
6. Unlawful goods, services, behavior or activities. The content, or any material contained in it, promotes or encourages, or appears to promote or encourage, the use or possession of unlawful or illegal goods, services, ror activities.
7. Support or opposition of any ballot issue or candidate for office. The content, or any material conta contains political campaign speech. "Political campaign speech" is speech that: (1) supports or opposes or antears to support or oppose a ballot measure, initiative, or referendum, or (2) refers to any candidate for pLET'S CHAT
8. Religion. The content, or any material contained in it, advocates or opposes a religion or religious belief.
9. Violence. The content, or any material contained in it, contains an image or description of graphic violence, including, but not limited to: (1) the depiction of human or animal bodies or body parts, or fetuses, in states of mutilation, dismemberment, decomposition, or disfigurement, and (2) the depiction of weapons or other implements or devices associated in the advertisement with an act or acts of violence or harm on a person or animal.
10. "Adult"-oriented goods or services. The content, or any material contained in it, promotes or encourages, or appears to promote or encourage, a transaction related to, or uses brand names, trademarks, slogans or other materials which are identifiable with, films rated "X" or "NC-17", video games rated "A" or "M," adult book stores, adult video stores, nude and/or topless clubs and other adult entertainment establishments, adult telephone services, adult Internet sites, and escort services.
11. Comments unrelated to the topic of the forum; hyperlinks to material that is not directly related to the discussion;
12. Spam or commercial promotions; content containing any unsolicited or unauthorized advertisement or solicitation (i.e. spam, junk mail, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or other promotional materials).
13. Promotion or advertising of any businesses or commercial enterprises, unless they are providing support to city services.
14. Posts or links that contain malicious software (malware) such as viruses, worms, trojans, rootkits, spyware, adware, or any other unwanted software.
15. Information that may tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems.
16. This Policy works in conjunction with and does not override existing or new policies or agreements.
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CITY OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO
COUNCIL POLICY
Subject: Effective Policy
Page Date Number
CITY USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
1 of 4 11/14/22 137
Background and Purpose
The City Council, as the legislative body of the City of San Juan Capistrano, hereby adopts the following policy to establish a process for appropriate use of online social media sites for City related communication, business, and marketing, as well as guidelines related to social media commenting. This Policy shall apply to members o the City Council, all City appointed officials, employees, members of City commissions, committees and boards, City contract personnel, City volunteers, and members of the public, as is appropriate.
This City Council Policy shall establish oversight and administration for use of Social Media Platforms to further the communication efforts of the City. This Policy applies to all users and visitors to the City's social media sites.
Definitions
For purposes of this policy, the following definitions apply:
"City Manager" shall mean the City Manager of the City of San Juan Capistrano, or their designee(s).
"City Manager Weekly Update" shall be defined as the periodic electronic publication distributed by the City Manager.
"City Official" shall mean any elected or appointed City Councilmember/ Board Director or commissioner sitting on a legislative body of the City. "City Social Media Platform" shall mean any Social Media Platform that the City establishes, manages, maintains, updates, or causes to be established, managed, maintained, or updated on behalf of the City, to serve the public, regardless of whether or not the City owns the servers, equipment, networks or software platforms on which such platforms reside. For the purpose of this policy, City Social Media Platform refers only to Facebook.
"City-Sponsored/City-Endorsed Programs, Services, or Events" shall mean any program, service, or event that is developed, implemented, and/or funded (including by in-kind materials and services) partially or in its entirety by the City. Additionally, the Cit may choose to post content from organizations with which the City has an established formal relationship.
CITY OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO
COUNCIL POLICY
Subject: Effective Policy
Page Date Number
CITY USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
2 of 4 11/14/22 137
"Content" shall mean any information, data, document, text, music, audio, photographs, graphics, videos, messages or other material uploaded and/or posted on a City Social Media Platform.
"Designated City Staff" shall mean any person designated by the City Manager who represents the City of San Juan Capistrano and establishes, manages, updates, and/or maintains a Social Media Platform.
"Service Provider" shall mean any person or entity that owns, operates, or maintains a Social Media Platform.
"Social Media Platform" shall mean any internet-based websites, mobile applications, blogs, wiki pages, user-generated video and audio sites, and any other online social network for the purposes of disseminating information. "User" shall mean any member of the public accessing a City Social Media Platform.
General Guidelines
1. The City shall only use Facebook as its Social Media Platform.
2. City Content to be posted: articles from the City Manager Weekly Updates will periodically be posted on a timeline established by the City Manager; additional emergency and or timely content of community wide interest may also be posted as amerined anthor cine conger.
3. The City's website (sanjuancapistrano.org), or any successor website, will remain the City's primary and predominant form of internet communication.
A. Wherever possible, City Social Media Platform (i.e. Facebook page) will link back to the City website for additional information, forms, documents, online services or additional content necessary to communicate with or conduct business with the City.
B. Where appropriate, content posted to City Social Media Platforms will also be available on the City's official website.
4. No City Department or Division may establish its own City Social Media Platform.
CITY OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO
COUNCIL POLICY
Subject: Effective Policy
Page Date Number
CITY USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
3 of 4 11/14/22 137
5. Any Content posted on any City Social Media Platform shall be consistent with the current communications efforts, goals and initiatives of the City, as determined by A. Al cagent posted by Designated Staff shall be preapproved by the City B. Any Designated City Staff who post Content on the City's Social Media Platform shall not express their own personal views or concerns through such content.
6. The City Social Media Platform shall comply with the terms, conditions, privacy policy, and any other usage rules and regulations provided by the Service Provider.
7. The City Social Media Platform shall comply with any style guides, specific usage standards, and any other City branding as determined by the City Manager.
8. The City Social Media Platform shall adhere to applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations and policies, including all applicable City policies and guidelines.
9. The City Manager reserves the right to monitor, update, modify, control, add or remove City Content, and/or temporarily deactivate any City Social Media Platform at any time.
10. The ability to comment will be disabled on posts, video, etc.; however, any visitor to the site may reshare a City post.
11. On every post the City shall provide contact information for members of the public to submit comments or correspondence to the City related to the content posted.
12. All City Officials shall comply with City Council Policy 136, Transparency Laws and Social Media Policy (Attachment 1), when resharing City content on personal social media accounts.
13. Thatority does not monitor or maintain City Official Social Media accounts or
CITY OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO
COUNCIL POLICY
Subject: Effective Policy
Page Date Number
CITY USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
4 of 4 11/14/22 137
Records Management and Privacy
Content posted on a City social media platform may be subject to disclosure pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Cal. Gov't Code Section 6250 et seg.) and will be retained in accordance with the City's record retention policy.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: City Council Policy 136 - Transparency Laws and Social Media Policy
CITY OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO
COUNCIL POLICY
Subject: Effective Policy
Page Date Number
TRANSPARENCY LAWS AND
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY 1 of 3 2/16/2021 136
Background and Purpose
The City Council, as the legislative body of the City of San Juan Capistrano, hereby adopts the following policy regarding the private use of social media by individual members of the City Council. This policy is adopted, in part, in light of California Assembly Bill No. 992, which authorizes members of a legislative body to use social media to communicate with the public, subject to statutory exceptions.
The City of San Juan Capistrano recognizes that social media has become an integral channel of communication for individual members of the City Council with members of the public. However, such communications must be balanced against legal obligations with respect to transparency in the conduct of the people's business. For example, the Brown Act requires that legislative bodies of public agencies deliberate and take action openly. (Gov. Code §§ 54950 et seq.). Moreover, communications regarding City business on private accounts may be subject to disclosure under the Public Records Act. (Gov.
Code §§ 6250 et seq.) To that end, the following protocol will be followed.
Definitions
For purposes of this policy, the following definitions apply:
"City" shall mean the City of San Juan Capistrano.
"City business" shall mean information relating to the conduct of the public's business or communications concerning matters within the subject matter of the City's jurisdiction, including, but not limited to, pending or potential City projects, past or prospective City agenda items, or City budgets or expenditures involving City funds. "City official" shall mean any elected or appointed City Councilmember/Board Director or commissioner sitting on a legislative body of the City. "Social media platforms" means an online service that is "open and accessible to the public." "Open and accessible to the public" means that members of the general public have the ability to access and participate, free of charge, in the social media platform without the approval by the social media platform or a person or entity other than the social media platform, including any forum and chatroom, and cannot be blocked from doing so, except when the internet-based social media platform determines that an individual violated its protocols or rules. Examples of social media platforms include Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, TikTok and Reddit.
CITY OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO
COUNCIL POLICY
Subject: Effective Policy
Page Date Number
TRANSPARENCY LAWS AND
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY 20f3 2/16/2021 136
Policy/Protocols
1. Public Records Act: City officials should be aware that their posts, comments, and responses about City business on social media platforms, whether on public or private pages, may be subject to disclosure under the Public Records Act.
2. First Amendment: City officials should also be aware that their private social media accounts may be transformed into public forums where members of the public may have First Amendment rights. In determining whether a private social media page has become a public forum, courts have examined factors including:
A. How the public official is referenced on the site (i.e., is he or she referenced as "Mayor" or "Chair", or simply "Jane Doe"?);
B. How the page is titled (i.e., is the account registered as a governmental account or a private account?);
C. How the public official "invites" users to use the page (i.e., in cases in which the account was deemed a public one, the public official solicited the public's opinion on City matters);
D. Whether the public official is "transacting" City matters on the site (i.e., posting about matters before the City);
E. Whether City employees help maintain and operate the site; and F. Whether the public official uses the site to engage directly with the public (i.e., replying to constituent comments regarding City business).
Whether an account is private or public is fact-specific and depends on the totality of the circumstances. If there are reasons to believe that a City official's private social media page has turned into a public forum, City officials should refrain from blocking members of the public from the page or deleting comments with which they disagree. It is recommended that City officials include a written policy, clearly visible on the official's social media platform, establishing guidelines for comments, content, and the right to restrict or remove content deemed inappropriate or in violation of the stated policy. 1
1 Recommendation for City Officials to include a written policy establishing posting guidelines to their individual social media platforms was incorporated into this policy on November 1, 2022.
CITY OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO
COUNCIL POLICY
Subject: Effective Policy
Page Date Number
TRANSPARENCY LAWS AND
SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY 3 of 3 2/16/2021 136
3. Brown Act: City officials may engage in separate conversations or communicate platform. Pursuant to City Council Policy 137, City Use of Social Media (Attachment platforms.2
4. However, a City official may not do either of the following on a social media platform:
A. Discussion by a majority: Discuss City business with a majority of members of the same legislative body. That includes communicating, posting, sharing, commenting, or using digital icons (i.e., a thumbs up or an emoji); and
B. Direct Responses: Respond directly to another member's communication, comment or post if the two are on the same legislative body of the City and the topic concerns City business.
5. Failure of an City official to abide by this policy, following its adoption, may result in one or more of the following:
Removal from office (for commissioners); or
Censure (for commissioners or elected officials).
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: City Council Policy 137 - City Use of Social Media 2 Reference to City Council Policy 137 was incorporated into this policy on November 14, 2022.