By Glenn Rolfe

MILLSBORO — Amid changing times, the town may be taking a page from social media, an area already utilized by its police and fire departments.

Town Council members closed Monday’s meeting with a discussion about starting a Facebook page and even multiple social media sites to better connect with and inform the public.

Neighbors Georgetown and Dagsboro use Facebook, as do the majority of municipalities in Downstate Delaware. But social media for Millsboro has been met with reluctance in the past.

“Years ago, we talked about having a town Facebook page. And the consensus back then was not to do that,” Acting Mayor Tim Hodges said Monday. “It seems to me this might be the time to have the town have their own Facebook page. We certainly have qualified staff now to be able to implement that and manage it.”

Councilman Larry Gum said he believes social media would be constructive, if used properly for instantaneous information and public notice and not as a venue for chitchat.

“I think it is good for notifications. It would be all kinds of different things that the public could instantly have access to,” he said. “I also think there is a possibility of people just venting on the page. So if we did such a thing, I wouldn’t respond to anything. I think to carry on conversation back and forth on Facebook, public, is a mistake. My point was that … it would be a notification page, not a conversation.”

Council members harbored some concern about postings from the public that might be deemed inappropriate and how they may fit into the realm of free speech.

Councilman Bradley Cordrey noted that, as the site controller, the town could delete such comments. “You can pull offensive stuff,” he said. “If you block comments, you are blocking everything.”

As an example, Councilman Cordrey offered a school district’s disclaimer on its social media site that the “district reserves the right to remove offensive or inappropriate posts without notice.”

Councilman Hodges requested that the town’s staff and its solicitor, Mary Schrider-Fox, research the proposal to determine if it “can be done in a responsible way. There is no doubt it would be a very useful tool … to post notices and so forth to the public.”

Ms. Schrider-Fox suggested that research include seeing how other towns have set up their pages and how they are run. “I think that is a legitimate concern, something we have to think about in terms of how we set it up and how it gets managed,” she said.

Photos and information for Millsboro Fire Co.’s Facebook page are usually posted by longtime member Councilman Gum, according to Councilman Ron O’Neal, who is the company’s president.

“We also have to go in there and be very careful about posts that we’ve had to eliminate. But it is a very useful tool. I think it works great for the fire company,” Councilman O’Neal said. “I would be more than willing to support something like that for the town. I think it would be a great information tool.”

Regarding his agency’s management of their social media sites, Millsboro Police Chief Brian Calloway said it does not restrict comments, “unless it is something that is offensive.”

Councilman Hodges said the police department does a good job with its Facebook page.

“I am happy to see your posts and everything. You all use it very effectively,” he said.

The department is also on Instagram and Twitter.

“I would suggest not just using just one platform,” Chief Calloway said. “I would also suggest having your administrator receive some training on the power of social media. That was certainly something that we did. It was very beneficial.”