OGDENSBURG, New York (WWNY) – Four people who live in Ogdensburg are suing Mayor MIke Skelly, claiming Skelly blocked them from his Facebook page.
The four claim “the blocked users cannot view or participate in any discussions concerning the City business reflected in the Mayor’s posts” and because of that, their constitutional rights are being violated.
Contacted by 7 News Tuesday morning, Mayor Skelly had no comment.
The four – Cynthia Layng, Douglas Loffler, Brian Mitchell, and Angela McRoberts – claim in a federal lawsuit filed Friday in Plattsburgh that Skelly blocked each of them after they were critical of the mayor on his Facebook page.
Skelly’s “viewpoint-based exclusion of (the people suing) from his official Facebook profile filters the speech in that forum and causes a chilling effect for others from similarly expressing dissenting viewpoints,” according to the lawsuit.
They’re asking a judge to order Skelly to unblock them, and not block anyone else. They’re also seeking money.
Essentially, they claim Skelly uses his Facebook page as a place to discuss city business.
According to the lawsuit:
– In the case of Layng, in a discussion of a city council meeting, she used the word “idiots” to describe some of the people commenting. That prompted Skelly to block her.
– In the case of Loffler, he criticized Skelly’s leadership skills after Skelly published a Facebook post, stating he wanted blue light bulbs at the Ogdensburg fire department taken down. Those bulbs had been placed to honor an Ogdensburg city police officer who committed suicide. Skelly blocked him.
– In the case of Mitchell, he was blocked twice, once in November 2020 for making a “dissenting comment” and then – having convinced Skelly to unblock him – was blocked again in December when he questioned one of Skelly’s Facebook posts about the fire department.
– In the case of McRoberts, she was blocked after asking questions about city manager Stephen Jellie’s qualifications to be city manager.
The lawsuit claims other people – not named – have also been blocked.
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