Thunder Bay Mayor Hobbs Cancels Facebook and Twitter Accounts

THUNDER BAY – Thunder Bay Mayor Keith Hobbs was first elected with an army of “Hobbits” who from bases on Facebook were able to “storm the Shire” and send the Mayor into City Hall. Hobbs was elected with huge help from social media.

Now, days after being elected to what he says will be his last term at City Hall, the Mayor has dumped his social media presence.

Social Media Bullies Drive Mayor Out

Hobbs is blaming the bullying online as the reason for his decision.

It is the completely wrong move by Mayor Hobbs. In taking this decision, Hobbs has basically surrendered the ability of thousands of citizens to engage with the Mayor and connect easily and directly.

If Mayor Hobbs wanted to send voters the wrong message, he couldn’t have done it in a louder manner. There are over 50,000 people in Thunder Bay who engage on Social Media.

Retreating sends the wrong message.

Thunder Bay has a crime problem, should we have the police retreat?

Should we retreat from fighting racism in our city because some people don’t like the efforts to build our city in a better direction?

The answer to those two questions are a loud NO!

The certainly are online bullies. Mayor Hobbs, in thinking he can retreat from their actions, sends the message to those bullies that they have won.

Time for a Mayor’s Mulligan

Certainly there are places online where we need brighter lights to shine on what goes on. That isn’t a reason to walk away from the vast majority of people who are not only helped but respected Mayor Hobbs for his reaching out to help them.

If this is how his second term is started, perhaps it is time for a “Mayor’s Mulligan” and get focused on the good and ignore the bad.

James Murray