Facebook flap could have been handled better

We’re still shaking our heads over a recent dustup at the Wasilla City Council table that is rooted in an unwelcome Facebook post one council member made about another during this fall’s election season.

We don’t care who said what about whom — the post has since been removed. Nothing about this is the public’s business, except that the council made it public business by going into an executive session in November to deal with the Facebook post.

After an initial failed attempt to discuss the matter in executive session, Councilwoman Taffina Katkus called for an executive session on the matter again at the Nov. 28 meeting. Katkus says she did her homework and that the matter was appropriate fodder for executive session, as defined in Alaska’s Opening Meetings Act.

Subjects allowed to be dealt with in executive session are detailed in AS 44.62.310(c).

Katkus said she asked that the matter be discussed in executive session because it fits under item No. 2 on the list, “subjects that tend to prejudice the reputation and character of any person.”

But Councilwomen Colleen Sullivan-Leonard and Leone Harris disagreed. They say the Facebook flap was a private issue that occurred on personal time and is not city business.

We don’t see trading jabs on Facebook as a matter that should concern the city council, but we don’t support how the situation was handled. Questioning the validity of an executive session is legitimate, but legally sound remedies exist within the scope of the state’s Open Meetings Act, which states that a “governing body can attempt an informal cure by holding another meeting in compliance with the Open Meetings Act. This meeting must have substantial and public reconsideration of the matter. If a lawsuit is filed, the court may void any action taken by the governing body.”

We encourage open and honest government. We especially favor behavior by elected officials befitting of the trust the public has placed in them.

We hope this unfortunate incident serves as a lesson to all involved of the importance of rising above petty, personal squabbles in pursuit of the public interest.