Ultimately, the council did not think Martin should be disciplined f…

During the Longmont City Council’s pre-session Tuesday, Mayor Joan Peck passed out a sheet of paper with a screenshot of a comment that Councilwoman Marcia Martin wrote on Facebook.

In the post, which is about 11 sentences long, Martin appears to be responding to an individual who complained about illegal camping at Dickens Farm Nature Area before Memorial Day.

“Everybody was upset because … they are scared of homeless people and they wanted to go tubing,” Martin said during Tuesday’s pre-session, trying to provide context to her Facebook comment. “The discussion was about constitutional rights.”

Peck said that she had received a personal email from a resident who was “very unhappy about” Martin’s post and wanted feedback from the council about how to officially respond.

“First of all, is this the type of behavior we expect of our councilors? What action should we take, if any?” Peck asked. “The possibilities are do nothing, reprimand, censure, remove as liaison from boards and commissions. …Those are our options.”

Ultimately, the council did not think Martin should be disciplined for her Facebook post, believing she was exercising her freedom of speech.

Some council members alluded to how they would have handled the situation differently, though.

“Unless it said ‘we the council say this,’ I believe it is a freedom of speech issue,” Mayor Pro Tem Aren Rodriguez said. “It’s, stylistically, not me. … I don’t engage on Facebook. I find it personally to be a waste of my time.”

Councilman Tim Waters shared Rodriguez’ sentiment.

“I don’t care, honestly, what any of you put on your Facebook pages unless you are representing me or city council in doing so,” Waters said. “Then I would care about it.”

Martin said she was trying to explain how everyone has constitutional rights and that the city could only do so much with respect to dealing with complaints about homelessness.

“(I) was essentially trying to say, you have to treat homeless people like people,” Martin said at the pre-session.

However, in the course of trying to convey that message on Facebook, Martin used one expletive, which was edited.

Martin said about one social-media user, “I looked at your Facebook page, and it’s pitiful. All you do is complain about stuff that isn’t just perfect for YOU. What a whiner, blaming other people all the time.”

Martin made the comment on her personal Facebook account and made clear that it did not reflect the will of the council or the city.

She also stood by her remarks.

“I am in fact doing my best to get people to act right by educating them,” Martin said. “If you look at that dialogue, that’s the string under that post, go count the likes and see who the public in general agrees with. …That’s all I have to say.”