The Bee Cave Bee

Long serving Lakeway Mayor Joe Bain has publicly admitted he used a fake NextDoor online ID to post comments and give voting advice about the candidates in the current City Council election. Calls are coming from many people including the affected "change" candidate Tiffany McMillan for his immediate resignation. City Manager Steve Jones has so far not replied to our e-mail questions about the situation.

Here is full apology from his own public blog:

"An apology to Lakeway

I would like to apologize to the citizens of Lakeway and the Lakeway community for my actions on social media. Several months ago, I created an account on Nextdoor.com under the pseudonym of "John Smart" to communicate on social media about matters relating to city business. Multiple times on multiple issues I posted as "John Smart", including on matters related to the current election. That account has been closed.

My reason for doing this was because when I wrote anything as Joe Bain in these online forums, I felt my messages were perceived as representing the City of Lakeway government or office of the mayor. I was uncomfortable with this perception because, at times, I felt the need to express my opinion as an individual and as a citizen of Lakeway without perceived bias some people have about elected officials.

I generally wrote these messages in an attempt to correct inaccurate information or post factual information in the online discussions - recently these messages included information about the proposed police facility bond and the Lakeway City Council election involving three candidates. I asked pointed questions and advocated for candidates I support - but only as a citizen.

This was an error in judgement on my part and I regret that my actions that were not in line with the character of the City of Lakeway, its City Council or its citizens. The citizens of Lakeway placed their trust in me to be their mayor and and I understand I have violated that trust.

In an attempt to restore that trust and be fully transparent in my actions online and offline, I will no longer participate in these online discussions unless I am specifically invited to as Joe Bain, the mayor of Lakeway. I am also working on new ways to engage and inform citizens through events that I hope will bring our community together and give our citizens a stronger voice in government.

Ultimately this issue is a result of my attempts to communicate with the citizens of Lakeway, but I know now that I went about it the wrong way.

Please accept my humble apologies. I promise to continue to serve you in the manner befitting the mayor of Lakeway."
Should he now resign or what should happen?"

Here are some screen shots of his exact words and posts:

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