Woodcreek works on social media, public comment policy
The city of Woodcreek held a special meeting to address the city’s social media and public comment policies. No action was taken during the meeting, but the public was allowed to comment on the items.
The public comments were largely focused on Facebook posts by Mayor Gloria Whitehead. Whitehead said that Black Lives Matter is a “threat to our lives” and a “Socialist attempt to take over our lives, using guilt and shame… the race card,” in a Facebook post on June 9. She has since said that those comments were not related to race and has continued to defend them. The original post spurred hundreds of comments, many of which have called Whitehead and her comments racist as well as requesting that she resign from her position as mayor.
Some Woodcreek residents came to the defense of the mayor stating that they felt the comments were taken out of context or that she has a right to her opinion.
“It is a shame that one cannot express their opinion as allowed by our First Amendment rights without being shouted down by those that do not agree with that opinion and tag that individual as a racist,” former Woodcreek Mayor Erik Eskelund said in a public comment that was read by the mayor. “It is an either you or me or against me mentality. Every citizen should have the ability to express their opinions without reprisal from those who take your words and twist them to suit their own agenda. I for one stand with you, stand with staff, applaud your stand and there are many more out here who do so too.”
Others continued to call for the mayor to be removed or leave her office.
“Such vile attitudes must not be tolerated in any form in our valley any longer,” a submitted comment from Matthew and Rachel Buchanan said. “Far too long we have turned a collective blind eye to these types of actions and comments and it is time for the rest of us to stand up and say ENOUGH! With her derisive and disgusting comments, Mayor Whitehead has forfeited her ability to be a leader of this community and we hope that the council takes every action available to them to remove her from office. Not only is her presence in such a role detrimental to the social fabric of our town, it shows the rest of the world that the Wimberley valley is tolerant of bigotry in a position of power. We are tired of the reputation of our community being besmirched by those who do not share the inclusive, welcoming values the vast majority of us work hard to project every day. Mayor Whitehead must go.”
The items on the agenda for the social media policy and public comment were for discussion only, meaning that no action could be taken during this meeting. The council generally agreed that both items should be on the agenda for the next meeting with ideas on how to update or alter the policies.
The next regularly scheduled meeting for the Woodcreek City Council is July 8.