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"You're Going to Wait": Tamarac Commissioners Vote to Limit Public Comments at Start of Meetings

Commissioners Marlon Bolton, Krystal Patterson, and Vice Mayor Kicia Daniel approved moving public comments to the end of the meetings.

Three Tamarac city commissioners and City Manager Levent Sucuoglu were behind the controversial decision to block public commenting on the city’s official social media channels, Tamarac Talk has learned.

Tamarac Commissioners Marlon Bolton, Krystal Patterson, and Vice Mayor Kicia Daniel backed the move to eliminate online commenting after Patterson accused commenters of saying “nothing but hateful things” during Facebook Live video streams of commission meetings.

Online viewers had previously been allowed to comment in real-time during livestreams before the policy change. Tamarac has also disabled comments on its Instagram, Facebook, and X posts – a decision made without any public input.

“You look on Facebook, every single damn meeting we have, people are on there, and it’s the same people,” Patterson said at the commission’s June 12 strategic planning meeting, according to a recording obtained by Tamarac Talk through a public records request. “They go on there, they say nothing but hateful things. They have nothing productive to talk about in terms of our policy and the decisions that we’re making. And frankly, as far as I’m concerned, it’s toxic.”

A member of City Attorney Hans Ottinot’s legal team said social accounts that post offensive comments could be blocked, after which Sucuoglu said: “We can block the commentary on the entire city account.”

“Please do, please do,” Daniel replied. “And it’s always the same minions, right? They come out at night.”

“Not blocking, turning off,” said Bolton.

“Turn it off,” Daniel said.

A short time later, Bolton said: “Nextdoor too, please,” referring to the city’s account on the hyperlocal social app Nextdoor.

“Yes, everything … turn off all our comments,” said Daniel.

“Yeah, simple,” Bolton said.

He added: “I said, ‘no comments.’ Kicia said, ‘no comments.’ And Commissioner Patterson said, ‘no comments.’”

Tamarac Mayor Michelle Gomez and Commissioner Morey Wright did not voice support for the policy change.

On Tuesday, Tamarac Talk reported exclusively that the city had disabled commenting on its social media channels.

City spokesperson Ciera Campbell said the decision “was reached through a thoughtful and unified process to prevent the spread of misinformation and promote a more focused and informative environment for sharing city updates and resources.”

Before implementing the change, Campbell said, “city leadership ensured the approach aligns with all applicable legal guidelines and is consistent with policies found in other jurisdictions.”

All but a handful of Florida municipalities allow comments on their social media channels. A few have opted to disable the feature, including the city of Hollywood and Alachua and Manatee Counties.

Courts have ruled that government officials have no obligation to open their social media accounts to public comment. However, if they do open up their comments sections, they must not discriminate against any viewpoints or limit who can or cannot comment.

Tamarac’s policy change follows the city commission’s decision in February to limit public participation at the start of their meetings, a move residents said was an attempt to stifle their speech. The move was approved with the backing of the same three commission members who supported putting an end to social media commenting.

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Kevin Deutsch

Kevin Deutsch is an award-winning journalist and author of two nonfiction books. He covers general assignment news and Jewish community issues for Talk Media. He has also worked as a staff writer at The Miami Times, the Rio Grande SUN, the New York Daily News, Newsday, The Miami Herald, The Palm Beach Post, The Riverdale Press, and Bronx Justice News.