FARGO (KFGO/KVRR) — A since-removed social media post by a City of Fargo employee after the killing of Charlie Kirk sparked a short debate at Monday’s city commission meeting.
Commissioner Michelle Turnberg tried to add an item to the agenda on the city’s social media posting policy and staff feeling unsafe. Turnberg’s attempt to add the item came after she shared a snapshot of a post by Ryan Slapnicka on Facebook.
Slapnicka is Fargo’s Health and Safety Manager. In the post, he used profanity regarding MAGA and Charlie Kirk.
Mayor Tim Mahoney says the employee pulled down the post within five minutes and said he regretted it. Mahoney says Human Resources will meet with him and make recommendations to the city administrator. After that, the report will be sent to the city commission.
“You’re not supposed to post on Facebook if you’re a City of Fargo employee of anything that could be harmful to the City of Fargo,” Mahoney said. The difficulty in this is freedom of speech.”
“Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences,” Turnberg said. “You can post it last week, take it down. You can post it today. You can post it tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean you are free from consequences.”
City attorney Nancy Morris said the commission does not have the right to remove an employee; that is left to the city administrator.
Turnberg’s addition to the agenda was voted down 3-2, ending the debate.
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