San Lorenzo Patch Issues New Policy on Recall Election Posts

Starting today, participants in the discussion on the San Lorenzo will no longer be allowed to use the announcements section to post their opinions on this issue.

The announcements section was never intended to be an open forum for political discussions. A number of recent postings not only violate our terms of use, they are potentially defamatory and put both the posters and San Lorenzo Patch at risk of being sued for libel.

Announcements are to give Patch users a place to promote community events or to announce news of a non-profit nature to the community. We reserve the right to refuse publication of any announcements that don't meet this criteria.

If users would like to submit letters to the editor summarizing their opinions about the recall, they are welcome to do so. Letters will be edited for style, grammar, length and libel. They should be sent to the editors listed below.

While we are glad those enthusiastic about the recall have found an outlet on Patch for this discussion, when users violate the terms of use and dominate the discussion board, it doesn't leave room for other users to discuss other issues, which runs counter to our overall mission of serving the whole community, which has a variety of important issues beyond the recall.

In fact, the hostility that routinely permeates this discussion, online and in public, has discouraged users from being able to take advantage of all Patch has to offer.

As part of our new approach to monitoring these discussions, Regional Editor Kari Hulac and Associate Regional Editor David Mills will handle all monitoring of the discussions and will remove any posts as we see fit.

We welcome emails and phone calls from any users who would like more information about what is appropriate or who want to know why a particular post has been removed. Any user that repeatedly violates our terms will be banned from the site.

You can reach Hulac at 925-949-9711 or email her at kari@patch.com. You can reach Mills at 925-286-7741.