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Mostly Cloudy Face-off on Facebook over Long Beach city manager
Residents demand to be removed from group calling for Schnirman’s ouster
A new Facebook group calling for the removal of City Manager Jack Schnirman has raised the ire of a number of residents, who are demanding that they be removed from the group, saying that they were added without their consent.
The group, Send Jack Schnirman back to “Crookhaven,” was launched over the weekend and added roughly 200 members, including this reporter.
The group claims to be dedicated to sending Schnirman back to the Town of Brookhaven, where he was a chief deputy supervisor.
“He and his friends from Crookhaven have ruined the reputation of our great city,” the group writes. “He has come into our city and managed to ruin our reputation, negatively impact our property values and hurt the image of the city we love. Hit the road Jack! We want a city manager who wants to improve our city, not just improve his resume!”
But many Facebook users who were added to the group are crying foul on the group’s wall, demanding to be removed immediately, saying that they were not asked to join and calling on the page’s administrator to come forward.
On the group’s wall, Facebook user Jarredd Enzley is listed as its creator, though it is unclear if that is a real name. Enzley did not respond to a Facebook message sent on Tuesday. Some users said they were added to the group through Enzley’s “friend” account, which was previously called Long Beach Matters.
“In my opinion, the person in charge of the Facebook account Long Beach Matters has no right to put me in the group without my consent,” said resident Dave Yolinsky. “His or her political views do not represent my own. This person created a Facebook account to get information out to the public, and used his newly acquired ‘friends’ to push his own political agenda without their permission.”
Schnirman declined to comment. City Council members said in December that he was selected for the city manager’s position because of his proven leadership ability and his experience dealing with fiscal problems in Brookhaven, after decades of corruption and mismanagement under Republicans who gave the town its nickname, “Crookhaven.”
