By Kevin J Sabo For the Advance
The County of Paintearth has a new communications and media policy.
Policy 575, which pertains to county communications, media relations, and social media was presented to the county council for their approval at the regular meeting on Oct. 2. The new policy sets guidelines for all staff and council members for the correct distribution of information within and outside the county, including guidelines for social media usage.
The inclusion of social media into the policy was not seen favorably by all council members.
“I’m not in favour of the social media myself, in light of the events of the last 10 days,” said Coun. George Glazier.
Glazier was referencing the events that led to the disqualification of UCP candidate Todd Pawsey, a county employee. Pawsey was disqualified from the UCP nomination for “insensitive” posts on his personal Facebook page dating back to 2013.
During the discussion, CAO Michael Simpson made sure to say that this policy was not in connected to the incident with Pawsey, and that it has been in development for awhile.
“It’s a good tool for dialoging with ratepayers in your division,” said Simpson.
The social media portion of the policy also allows for the set-up and maintenance of social media accounts, to be maintained by Simpson or his designate. Before the end of discussion on the new policy, Simpson did say that the move to social media platforms is not being brought in as a replacement to traditional media, but as a supplement to it.
After the discussion Coun. Doreen Blumhagen moved to accept the policy, and all council members voted in favor.