OPINION: Accountability Needed For Social Media Behavior

            Hate speech should never be accepted, especially not when endorsed by an elected representative. 

            Joe Feltes, a member of the Arcadia city council and Trempealeau County board of supervisors, found himself in some hot water recently after he shared on Aug. 17 a social media post that called Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden a “ret***” and his pick for vice president, Kamala Harris, a “wh***.” 

            That post was pointed out by a county employee who expressed his disappointment that someone representing the county would share something using that kind of language and discrimination. With it came hundreds of comments, some in support of Feltes’ character and a few even supporting the post itself. The vast majority of the comments, however, were from people who were disgusted that anybody — much less an elected official — would spread such hate. 

            Let’s be clear: I’m not attacking the board member’s character. I don’t know him personally, but I’ve heard good things about how he has helped support others in times of need. I’m also not questioning employment at his day job, that’s a separate issue. 

            But, there is but one simple reality: Feltes endorsed hate speech that discriminated against people whose lives he could impact as a member of the county board. The genie is out of the bottle and he simply shouldn’t be allowed to serve on the board any longer.  

            I don’t want to gloss over the term used to describe Harris. Feltes has to work with women on both the county board and city council. What names does he call them if they disagree with him? 

            The use of the “R-Word” to make fun of someone who he believes has a cognitive disability is no different than using a racial slur. What makes this especially bad is that in his position on the county board, Feltes has the ability to impact county residents with disabilities. Feltes has a direct vote on how finances are budgeted, and the integrity of that vote should be called into question based on his evident lack of concern for people with disabilities. 

            While it is the board member’s personal social media page, it is still a public platform and Feltes has accepted the responsibility of representing the public. Generally, people react one of two ways when they see that kind of language and Feltes reacted in a way unbecoming of someone who willingly accepted the responsibility of being a public official. 

             The problem is that there doesn’t seem to be much anybody can do outside of recall elections.

            Neither Trempealeau County nor the city of Arcadia has any sort of code of conduct for its elected officials. Both follow the same code of ethics, which is pretty much limited to them benefiting either financially or politically from their positions. But there isn’t anything that so much as mentions hate speech. 

            In this case, the public didn’t vote for Feltes to be on the county board. He was appointed by the board members and they should share the blame. We are pretty much stuck with someone who openly discriminated against women and people with disabilities.  

            When the post was shared by the county employee, Feltes has ample opportunity to express regret in the comment section, but never did. He reportedly removed the post, but only after it seemed to garner much attention. 

            While most of us can agree that the post was tasteless and that a person who would spread such hate speech shouldn’t be representing the public, there doesn’t seem to be much that can be done. 

            This would be a good time for elected officials to implement a code of conduct. The public needs to be able to trust that elected — or appointed — officials will be held accountable.

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