Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate shuts down Facebook pages over misconduct guideline fears

Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate has shut down his two Facebook sites indefinitely — but other councillors are unlikely to follow suit. Here’s why.

THE two Facebook pages operated by Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate have been shut down because keeping up with new misconduct guidelines was “too hard”.

The mayor used the Christmas break to quietly close down the two pages “indefinitely”.

The move comes after members of the public flooded Cr Tate’s mayoral Facebook page with expletive laden posts and insults on December 22 after the profanity filter was not set up correctly.

Sources told the Bulletin the decision to shut down the pages was also linked to strict new misconduct guidelines introduced for councillors earlier this month.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate has shut down both of his Facebook pages. Picture: Jerad Williams

Sources said it was “too hard” for Facebook conversations to remain “spirited” with the threat of misconduct referrals to the Local Government Discipline and Remuneration Tribunal.

“Everyone deserves a holiday, even my face from Facebook,” Cr Tate said.

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“My personal site, and official Mayoral social media site, will be switched off for now.”

The tougher Code of Conduct includes provisions that councillors must “treat people in a reasonable, just, respectful and non-discriminatory way”.

Deputy Mayor Donna Gates is also “taking a break” from the social media site, posting the news on Facebook.

Councillor Gail O'Neill sees some pitfalls with Facebook. Picture: Jerad Williams

“Merry Christmas to you and your family. My page is taking a break for now,” she wrote.

The page is still accessible by the public.

Other councillors who operate social media sites have continued posting to their pages.

Labrador councillor Kristyn Boulton went yesterday posted photos of the chaos at Harbour Town Shopping Centre during the Boxing Day sales.

She said Facebook was how she communicated with her community.

“This platform gives me immediacy and a direct line to my residents if there’s a council issue I need to alert them or if residents need to contact me about anything that’s occurring in their neighbourhoods,” she said.

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Coolangatta councillor Gail O’Neill said she used the site as a way of passing on information about events and issues in the area.

But she did see there could be some pitfalls with the site.

“It’s pretty vulgar what they say (on Facebook),” she said.

“It’s the one thing about social media that I hate that it gives a voice to the people that maybe don’t need to be heard.”

Paradise Point councillor Cameron Caldwell and Palm Beach councillor Daphne MacDonald both said the site was a good way to engage with the community and pass information on.

Earlier this month Cr Tate was fined after the Tribunal upheld a complaint for a post the mayor made about Mudgeeraba councillor Glenn Tozer in February.

Cr Tate was also ordered to attend counselling “about his misconduct and how not to repeat it”, with a focus on “appropriate use of social media by councillors”