Cheney council addresses social networking

The Cheney City Council addressed city employees’ and council members’ use of social networking websites in two resolutions adopted Tuesday.

“We see these as an important sort of business tool,” said Mark Schuller, human resource manager for the city.

He noted that a few departments in the city government have been using sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube to announce events, post videos and more.

Schuller said the policy sets guidelines for city employees, such as getting permission for using a particular site, what they can post, who has administrative access to post and keeping records as required by the state’s Public Records Act.

He noted that the Parks and Recreation Department maintains a Facebook page where it posts upcoming events, registration deadlines and the hours for the swimming pool.

“I imagine this will be kind of a work in progress,” said Councilman Bob Stockton, noting the changes in technology that happen every day.

In the policy that affects council members, Stockton made a note of the section that stated “Council members are strongly discouraged from ‘friending’ other council members.” He said he appreciated this, since it would comply with the Open Public Meetings Act – a state law that requires the city to conduct its meetings in public.

The policy also strongly suggests that council members set their privacy settings to restrict who can post content.

Schuller said the policy also restricts council members from posting how they are going to vote before a public meeting.

“It’s to keep you out of trouble,” he said.

The council also recognized Special Olympian Scott Tobin, who made headlines in February after sinking a basketball shot from beyond half court.

This time, Tobin was recognized for his track and field abilities. He attended the 2010 USA Special Olympics National Games in Lincoln, Neb., July 18 through 23.

Tobin brought a slide show of his trip to show the council. While he was there, he picked up a silver medal in the 4x100 relay, a gold medal in the shot put, a gold in the running long jump and a gold medal in the 100-meter dash. In that race, Tobin won the gold by only six hundredths of a second.

“They call me Lightning Tobin now,” he told the council.

“You really are my hero,” said Mayor Tom Trulove. “And here I thought you only played basketball.”

The mayor presented Tobin with a certificate of achievement.