For the following questions, please keep your responses brief. We ask that you limit your comments to 100 characters.
What is a disruptive statement?
A statement
- containing personal attacks, profanity, commercial advertising or content which is entirely off-topic, and/or
- from a user who has falsified their registration information with the intent to post multiple statements in one topic or to misrepresent their city of residence.
- that promotes, fosters or perpetuates discrimination on the basis of race, creed, color, age, religion, gender, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, national origin, physical or mental disability or sexual orientation. Further, the County of Humboldt also reserves the right to delete comments that are: (i) spam or include links to other sites; (ii) clearly off topic; (iii) advocate illegal activity; (iv) promote particular services, products, or political organizations; (v) tend to compromise the safety or security of the public or public systems; or (vi) infringe on copyrights or trademarks.
Why does Open Town Hall monitor for disruptive statements?
OpenGov is a non-partisan company dedicated to building public trust in government and broadening civic engagement. Many people will not participate if the forum has disruptive statements.
Does Open Town Hall find many disruptive statements?
No. Disruptive statements are quite rare - less than one in a thousand statements are disruptive.
What does Open Town Hall do if they find a disruptive statement?
Open Town Hall
- moves the statement to a different web page,
- describes the problem in an email to the author, and
- invites the author to change the statement.
Does Open Town Hall ever edit or delete statements?
Never. Only the statement's author can edit or delete a statement.
If I disagree with someone, can I post my opinion?
Yes. Open Town Hall encourages open dialog which, by necessity, includes disagreements.
How do I know if my statement is a 'disagreement' or a 'personal attack'?
Personal attacks are disparaging remarks which impute motives to a person's action. Statements of fact, or of your own opinion are generally not personal attacks.
Here are some examples of statements which are, and are not, personal attacks.
| Personal Attack |
Not A Personal Attack |
| He lied. |
He said he did X, but in fact he did Y. |
| She misrepresented the truth. |
I don't trust her. |
| He is greedy. |
He is making plenty of money. |
| It is merely a power play on her part. |
She will announce her candidacy soon. |
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