Social media posting by public figures isn't for amateurs -- a lesson Detroit Councilman George Cushingberry has learned through repeated embarrassments by letting unpaid aide Richard Clement represent him.
A fresh flap is a tipping point. Cushingberry, a serial headline-maker this year, has temporarily deactivated one of his three Facebook pages.
George Cushingberry Jr. says an aide posted: "The Detroit Fire Department is the best bed and breakfast place to work." (Facebook photo)
That move follows a heavily criticized post Friday, Kim Russell reports for WXYZ (video below):
It said "The Detroit Fire Department is the best bed and breakfast place to work. Especially for young people. Apply today!"
It sparked outrage.
More than 100 comments on Facebook from around the country criticized him. Firefighters called him disrespectful.
Family members of fallen firefighters commented that they wished their loved one worked somewhere as safe as a bed and breakfast.
"Looks like the councilman is trying to put out some fires of his own on his Facebook page," read one comment.
Critics include Michigan Citizen columnist Sam Riddle, who tweets Saturday that the councilman's post is "BS about those that'll die for us 24/7. Firemen do helluva job. . . . Show love not disrespect."
Cushingberry acknowledges to WXYZ that his social media aide, whom he doesn't name, made a "bad choice of words."
He wrote in a private Facebook message that a staff member made the post. . . .
Late Friday night the page posted that it would be going inactive. A message to 7 Action News from his page said: "I will not be posting anything else for Mr. Cushingberry. He is getting a dedicated person to do this part of social media. I am moving on to something else."
Richard Clement, who was alongside Cushingberry during the Jan. 7 traffic stop, no longer will be his unpaid social media manager. (Fox 2 phgoto)
Amid another controversy three weeks ago, Clement told Fox 2 reporter Alexis Wiley (who's now the mayor's press secretary) that handling social media for Cushingberry was "my job." Clement, who has a state medical marijuana permit, was a passenger in the councilman's car Jan. 7 when Detroit police ticketed Cushingberry -- an incident under internal review.
In his Jan. 10 interview, the aide told Wiley he had posted several colorful items on the now-inactive Facebook page titled "Councilman George Cushingberry Jr. Detroit City Council." (He also has two personal pages.).
One, denying that the pair had visited a strip club Jan. 7, said: "We never saw a tit Fox news is full of shit."
Another post that week told The Detroit News to "go to Hell." Clement, posting as Cushingberry, also handled an online question about the traffic stop by replying: "My assistant likes pot a lot."
Related coverage:
- Michigan Chronicle Editor: Cushingberry 'Needs To Resign From The Council Leadership,' Jan. 29
- Dawsey: We Deserve Better Than The Cushingberry Follies, Jan. 10
