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Megan Cook, Russ Nelson and Ann Groves Lloyd are mayors of small towns in Maryland, Montana and Wisconsin.

Nelson has been the mayor of Belgrade, Montana, for 20 years.

Karen Rose has been with Sarasota County Schools in Florida for more than three decades serving as a special education teacher, middle school principal and since 2020 on the local school board.

Over their tenures, the quartet and local officials across the country have seen the exponential growth of social media and its impacts on civil discourse, as well as the increasing intersections between divisive national politics and whats happening at the community level.

Rose, who became chair of the Sarasota County School Board in November, said shes worked for and with multiple superintendents and times have definitely changed.

We took great pride in no one knowing our political affiliation. We kept each other in check. It was a matter of pride, Rose said.

Now, Florida conservatives (including Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis) and progressives (including some outspoken teacher unions and Democratic-leaning school boards) clash locally over COVID and vaccine rules, controversial books in libraries, the states so-called Dont Say Gay law restricting elementary school teachers from talking to young students about gender identity and sexual orientation and how to teach Americas racial history.

Rose said she saw some previous superintendents let politics take away from the focus on academic achievement.

Cultural wars were being let in and taking hold, she said.

Rose, a Republican, said the current superintendent, Terry Connor, (who was hired last year) has shown a focus on academic achievement and data-driven solutions.

But thats not stopping the politics at board meetings, she said.

There is clearly an organized agenda that is political in the boardroom during public comment, Rose said. Its very organized.

Rose said Democratic advocates will speak during the comment period, noting a recent hearing where 67 people spoke, with only three focused on academics.

Some of the recent comments have been geared toward Bridget Ziegler, who has served on the Sarasota school board since 2014 and was a co-founder of the lightning rod conservative education group Moms for Liberty, which has become a GOP political force.

Liberal activists and other critics have called for Ziegler to resign her post amid a police investigation of her husband, former Florida Republican Party Chairman Christian Ziegler, over an alleged sexual encounter with his wife and another woman. Christian Ziegler could face video voyeurism charges for allegedly videotaping the encounter. Bridget Ziegler has never faced any legal allegations in the episode. She did not respond to an interview request.

Social media and national political tensions have changed the landscape of local politics and discourse at school boards, city councils and other bodies.

Rose saidpolitical advocates, as well as some media outlets, have focused on Florida controversies, including debates over controversial and mature content at libraries. Those debates, along with fights over drag shows at libraries, other public venues and local businesses, have been happening across the country.

They continue to talk about book banning. This board has not banned one single book, she said.

Conservative and progressive advocates increasingly view local councils and school boards as venues to mobilize supporters and address issues of concern.

Carlos Guillermo Smith, senior policy adviser for Equality Florida (an LGBTQ rights group), said the group has a long history of mobilizing parents and community members to attend school board and council meetings when issues of concern arise.

We have also had a regular presence at the Sarasota school board meetings, especially in the wake of recent Moms For Liberty/Ziegler scandals, he said.

Anti-war and pro-Palestinian activists have pushed liberal jurisdictions, including San Francisco, to approve resolutions condemning Israels war in Gaza after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks and calling for a ceasefire. Other progressives advocated for spending cuts and shifting money away from police after the death of George Floyd in 2020.

Among conservatives, Mark Lee Dickson, a Christian pastor and anti-abortion rights advocate from Texas, has gotten 65 cities and seven counties in Texas, Nebraska, New Mexico and other states to pass Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiatives. The measures aim to signal communities oppositionto abortion rights and resistance to having abortion clinics in their jurisdictions.

Florida has seen local fights over school curriculums, controversial books, drag shows at public venues, COVID rules, LGBTQ rights and what teachers should can teach about sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms.

Frustrations with and more cautious approaches related to social media are common refrains from local officials wary of viral controversies and local rumor mills.

In small-town Montana, where Belgrade has a population approaching 13,000 people, Nelson avoids social media and its penchant for unpleasant and contentious discourse.

Im not on Facebook. Im not on social media, said Nelson, who has been in office since 2003 and won reelection in November for a final term before his expected retirement. You can call me, or if you need me, you can text me. Thats my technology.

The more contentious nature of local politics whether it comes from social media criticism or its mirroring of national fights over hot-button issues or former President Donald Trump also can discourage potential candidates for local office and can lead to shorter tenures for some city, county and school district staff, Nelson said.

Good people see how challenging it is and dont enter the game, he said.

Ann Groves Lloyd is the mayor of Lodi, Wisconsin, a town of just over 3,200 residents near Madison. Groves Lloyd describes herself as a progressive feminist and small-town mayor on her social media profile on X (formerly Twitter).

The progressive mayor is a vehement critic of former President Trump, is no fan of U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and is not sure she can find compromise or common ground with conservative adherents of alt-right media such as Alex Jones or those getting worked up about drag shows.

Groves Lloyd also said she saw already rough civil discourse get even rougher during the debates over COVID mask mandates, vaccines and shutdowns.

It was pretty toxic, she said. For me, personally, I took a giant step back from social media. I used to post a lot of mostly progressive things on Facebook.

Now, the Wisconsin mayor keeps her ideological posts to X, which has a national and international focus.

She also worries about social media rumor mills and rabbit holes leading constituents astray.

From a city perspective, we just wish people would pick up the phone and call us. We are constantly fighting the rumor mill, she said.

Some activists counter that local governments and school boards are not always forthcoming with information or friendly with constituents who are less connected or come from opposing political camps.

Still, social media and live and replayed online broadcasts of meetings allow more residents and local businesses to engage with and keep tabs on local matters.

The more information that we share with the public about whats happening in town, the better. We also have a live feed for all of our council, board and commission meetings. If residents arent able to make it, they can always watch the recordings from our website, said Cook, mayor of Easton, on Marylands Eastern Shore.

The town is using social media as another way of sharing information with the community. Its a quick, easy and efficient way to share information, she said.

Even Nelson said social media helps drive interest and council meeting attendance on hot-button issues such as dogs, fireworks and marijuana,referring to city regulations and decisions on dispensaries after Montana voters legalized cannabis for recreational use in 2020.

Social media allows more residents and local businesses to keep tabs on city councils, county commissions and other local bodies. It can also create more local political tensions that mirror national divisions.

A police officer in Mobile, Alabama, talks to a man protesting a drag story hour at a local public library.

While many local elected offices are nonpartisan, partisan politics has increasingly become part of local elections and governance.

In Montana, Nelson, a self-described moderate Republican, voiced frustration with the far right conservative agenda from the state legislature impacting and dictating policy paths to local entities.

Conservative state lawmakers have passed laws requiring local school districts to open their enrollments to out-of-district students, and looked to put limitsonsome municipal zoning powers, including efforts to develop more affordable and multifamily units statewide.

National political and social media tensions including those centered around former president Donald Trump are increasingly evident in local elections and at local government meetings.

Back East, Easton, which has a population of close to 17,500, is part of Talbot County, which saw a contentious fight that drew national political and media attention over a Confederate statue in front of the county courthouse.

The Talbot Boys statue, erected in 1916, was relocated to a private memorial park in Virginia in 2022 after a vote by the county council. Cook said Easton has been able to avoid some of the wave of national divisiveness, but she has definitely seen a greater interest from Democratic and Republican groups in local races, as well as more questions from voters about her own party affiliation.

In town elections, we dont run on a party system, which I love. It shouldnt matter what youre registered as, if you need assistance from the town were going to be there, said Cook, a Democrat, who was elected mayor last year after serving as Town Council president.

That being said, I was asked more during my last campaign what I was registered as than I have before and both Central Committees seemed to want to be involved.

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Local Lightning Rods: Social media, national partisan divisions, culture wars have changed tone and tenor of local ... - Wyoming Tribune