Never Be Bullied Into Silence

We live in an era where individuals will take to social media and critique (I am being nice here) others without really understanding the essence of the individual they are addressing. What is unfortunate, and again synonymous with our current society, is that people reading these critiques will accept these posts as reality. It is as if someone, for whatever reason, feels the need to “hijack” the public perception of another individual. As a public official, I see evidence of this every day, as critics of me, the city, or our staff post statements that have no basis or truth to them. While the city holds public meetings, puts out weekly electronic newsletters, posts meeting agendas and minutes on its website, and makes staff available either by phone or in person, there are individuals who will still try to garner public attention by taking to social media with long diatribes criticizing an elected official, city staff or the city’s operation.

While I let most of these misstatements go without a response, there are times when these statements are so faulty and, in many cases bordering on slander that I feel a response is necessary. In many cases, I will state a clarification at a public meeting, or I will, like today, address the issue through my writing a “Mayor’s Message.” This is my way of working to define myself, our staff, and our city. In an era where the public has a cynical view of elected officials, we do ourselves a disservice when we allow severely misleading statements made by individuals who are either misinformed or purposeful in their intent to harm the reputation of another individual to control the public forum.

If we do not work to define ourselves, there will be many people out there who will work to create a vision of us that is far from the truth. As Frost states, “never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.”