Angry residents, spurred by a report from a conservative news site, descended on Gilbert Town Hall on Jan. 23 to call for the abolishment of the town’s Office of Digital Government and redirecting the funds elsewhere in the town.
Some of the residents speaking at the Gilbert Town Council meeting also called for the department’s director, Dana Berchman, to be put on administrative leave pending investigation or outright be fired as a result of the report from AZ Free News, which alleged Berchman and her department is charged with monitoring the social media and emails of town employees to ensure adherence to a progressive agenda.
The Office of Digital Government is the town’s marketing and communications arm. Monitoring employees’ social media and emails is not part of its mission, but the employees maintaining the town's social media accounts do note responses to their posts or when someone tags them in their own post, town officials said.
