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Chapin’s mayor admits he posted a political endorsement on the town’s official Facebook page.
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Mayor Bill Mitchell first denied posting an endorsement of Attorney General Alan Wilson’s campaign for governor to Facebook at a town council meeting on Thursday when confronted by other members of the council and a member of the public who showed a screenshot of the image on his phone.
But Mitchell later told The State he had posted his personal endorsement of the Republican candidate for governor to the town’s official Facebook page, where he serves as administrator, and then subsequently removed it.
“My wife reminded me afterwards that I did put it on there,” Mitchell told The State. “So he was right.”
During a heated called meeting Thursday where the mayor and council members clashed, Councilman Warren Burritt raised the issue of the Facebook post. Mitchell denied making the post, and when a member of the public attending the meeting said he had the post on his phone, the mayor called him up to examine it.
“He had something with wording added to it,” said Mitchell, who declared the post “staged” during Thursday’s meeting.
The chief of police then announced to the crowd that any more disruptions from the public during the meeting would result in them being ejected.
But Mitchell said later he had made a public endorsement of Wilson’s gubernatorial campaign on his personal Facebook page, and subsequently shared it to the town’s page.
“As Mayor of Chapin, South Carolina, I am proud to endorse Alan Wilson for Governor of the State of South Carolina,” Mitchell wrote in a post on his own page, which is topped “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” and features a photo of the mayor meeting Wilson at a campaign stop.
“As local leaders, we depend on strong partnerships with state officials who understand the challenges facing our communities,” Mitchell wrote. “Alan Wilson has consistently shown a willingness to work with local governments, law enforcement agencies, and community stakeholders to address critical issues affecting South Carolina families.”
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Mitchell told The State he had second thoughts about sharing the post on the town’s page, and spoke to someone who works in the office of U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, the candidate’s father, who advised him the post was likely inappropriate. The mayor later deleted the post.
“It was not meant to put it up there and then hide it,” Mitchell said. He now agrees “You can’t endorse a candidate on the town page.”
A spokesman for Alan Wilson declined to comment on the post when contacted Friday. There’s no indication the campaign was aware of the post.
Council members were critical of the mayor’s post Thursday night as injecting politics into the town’s presence on Facebook, which otherwise shares information on public meetings or Chapin’s upcoming Labor Day parade.
“We had people come on and say, ‘Well, is that who we need to vote for because the town’s sponsoring him?’” Councilwoman Vicki Shealy said at Thursday’s meeting.
Burritt told The State later he only raised the issue because the mayor accused council members of skirting the law in some measures they passed over the mayor’s objection.
“He’s touting how he never breaks any law, and I don’t know if he broke a law there, but I don’t think the Ethics Commission would look kindly on that,” Burritt said. “His denying it rubbed me kind of wrong.”
He hoped Chapin could reach a point where the mayor and council could work together more amicably.
“A lot of the focus right now is on the drama, and we’re trying to get passed it and move on to the business of the town,” Burritt said.
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