[February 06, 2010] EDITORIAL: Know the rules before playing the game of politics Tweet Feb 06, 2010 (Fort Worth Star-Telegram - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Remember when video phones were a whiz-bang thing of the future, tantalizing but with the very real possibility of mortifying moments? Indeed, technology has its drawbacks. That's why eager beavers trying to harness it to political advantage ought to think through their bright ideas before acting. Text messages, tweets, emails and online social sites, used wisely, can help a candidate for public office fundraise, network and appeal far beyond the usual suspects for votes. But used carelessly, they can be trouble, most of it foreseeable. Not posting-goofy-party-pix-lost-me-a-job-interview kind of trouble. It's use-of-government-resources-to-campaign-could-be-unethical-or-against-the-law kind of trouble. The Texas Election Code -- Section 255.003, to be exact -- says, "An officer or employee of a political subdivision may not spend or authorize the spending of public funds for political advertising." A violation is a Class A misdemeanor, which carries a maximum fine of $4,000 and possible jail time up to a year. That means no government workers making campaign calls during office hours or using office equipment, no campaign mailers printed on official letterhead or duplicated on public copiers. But what about cyberspace cheering? The person who posted a campaign rah-rah for County Judge Glen Whitley on the Tarrant County Office of Emergency Management Facebook page Thursday must not have been thinking about implications. Emergency Management Coordinator Melissa Patterson apparently just wanted to encourage support for the incumbent. But it looked like an official endorsement. And apparently it was sent by county-issued smartphone. Although the Facebook page belongs to her, it looks like the agency's because it carries an official-looking logo and lists the county administration building address and a phone number there. The Twitter page linking to the Facebook posting about Whitley reads, "Official Tweets for the Tarrant County Office of Emergency Management." If this wasn't improper electioneering, it sure could give a reasonable person that impression. County Administrator G.K. Maenius, Patterson's boss, took responsibility for a "total lapse of professionalism in my office" and promised severe discipline once he gathers all the facts and decides what's appropriate. Candidate endorsements of any kind have no place on official or even pseudo-official online sites maintained by public employees to keep residents up-to-date with basic, timely and crucial information. Officeholders -- and their supporters, no matter how enthusiastic -- must keep in mind that even though the law doesn't specify which technological advancements are covered, its basic tenet and the ethical principle behind it are pretty clear: No campaigning that looks like it's on public time or on the public dime. Even if online. To see more of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.dfw.com. Copyright (c) 2010, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]