ELKINS — An Elkins City Council member is calling for civility and communication after a reported uptick in “nasty” comments and bashing on social media toward city officials.

During Elkins City Council’s July 24 meeting, Fourth Ward Council member Nanci Bross-Fregonara spoke candidly on an observed uptick in social media bashing and “just real nasty comments” toward council members and other city officials.

“Folks, this nastiness has got to stop,” Bross-Fregonara said. “It’s come to the point where nobody would want to serve as a public servant anymore because of the comments that are made against us personally. None of us are here because of a power trip of any type.

“This is Elkins City Council. We all decided to run and to serve because we truly felt that we could play a role in improving the lives of others in this city. We’re not out for a personal vendetta.”

Bross-Fregonara also spoke about noticing an increase in people expressing complaints or problems on Facebook instead of contacting city officials. She wanted to encourage people to reach out to the proper city administrators before making such comments because, as she explained, “a lot of times these situations can be alleviated if folks just contact the right person.”

She also added that, if someone is “frustrated” with the response they’ve received for their problem, they can contact their council members.

Bross-Fregonara said she has witnessed the increase in harsh comments during the past two years, especially in the last six months.

“It’s ironic, because at this point, the city has an incredible website that has lots of information on it, and we’re totally promoting public participation and encourage people to come to council meetings and committee meetings,” Bross-Fregonara told The Inter-Mountain.

“There’s a tendency for the public to express opinions or to bash either City Council members or city employees without really taking the time to find out what exactly the situation is, and what the council and the city are capable of doing.”

Bross-Fregonara described this kind of behavior as harmful due to people making assumptions, accusations and even threats of lost support “without all the information.”

She added that while she fully advocates for people expressing their opinions on matters, and believes that this is what she and the other council members signed up for, she also believes there has to be some responsibility, on everyone’s part, to have all the facts before making assumptions.

Bross-Fregonara said it was important for, not only the public, but also City Council members and committee members, to show respect for one another and be civil across the board.

“I think the there’s a real need for everyone to talk to each other. Not just posting on social media,” Bross-Fregonara added in a later statement. “When I was canvassing this spring, I spent hours having conversations with constituents and I learned so much about what is important to voters these days. One of the big challenges for many of them was simply being heard. We all need to figure out a way to communicate by also listening and finding common ground.”

Bross-Fregonara explained that, while it may seem like city officials are only listening to one group or ignoring another, the truth was they all receive different voices, opinions, requests and concerns coming in at all times, which they need to balance.

“There’s always so many different facets of every decision,” Bross-Fregonara told The Inter-Mountain. “It takes a lot. It takes a lot on the part of representatives to listen to all those voices, and to listen to those who actually do the work and actually do the enforcement of rules and regulations to hear what their concerns are as well. Sometimes there’s really nothing we can do. It’s either out of our hands, legislatively, or there’s been court cases that have told us that we can’t do X, Y or Z.

“As hard as you might want to fix all the problems, it’s a challenge.”