Dr. Mike Bird is already in hot water before he is sworn into his seat on Hudson Council. He’s facing a hearing with the Ohio Elections Commission in January. His reaction to this serious problem may have caused him another legal hurdle, this time at the federal level.
Bird is a political neophyte. Whoever is giving him advice clearly is either incompetent or misleading him without any concern about his reputation. When you are a public official, you have to respect the First Amendment rights of others. This is a lesson Dr. Bird is about to learn the hard way.
A quick visit to Bird’s Facebook page shows that he recently wiped it cleaned. Not even a picture is currently showing and all of the posts have disappeared. Only the intro information remains. That means that anyone who reacted to or commented on one of Bird’s posts was silenced. This might not seem to be a big deal at first glance since this was a campaign page, but that’s not exactly the case. A similar case is pending with the United States Supreme Court. Appellate judges have already ruled on the side of the First Amendment.
As a certified candidate, Bird is required to abide by the First Amendment rights of those reacting to and commenting on his posts. They existed and now they do not.
Dr. Bird is facing some heat so he may have taken it all down in reaction to that thinking he could start with a new slate. But, that’s not how it works when you are an elected official. There were people who were silenced. One of those affected constituents is considering filing a First Amendment case against Dr. Bird in federal court. He may soon have legal issues on more than one level. If he simply changed the privacy settings, he would be wise to return them to public status immediately.
The affidavit Dr. Mike Bird submitted to the City of Hudson leaves additional questions. The obvious one is how can he claim to have not coordinated with Clocktower Collaborative when we know he and his campaign treasurer Chris Mason received the planning emails. His campaign finance report shows that he had a meet and greet/coffee at the home of MJ Lehman. Lehman has been eager for a change in Council since she lost her no bid contract with the City of Hudson. MJ Lehman was also on the Clocktower Collaborative emails in which Jane Howington asks people to host these events for the candidates. Birds accepted as he knew the plan from the 501c4’s emails. Lehman and Bird followed Howington’s instructions and held the event. That could be interpreted as campaign coordination. Now, the affidavit also leaves the question of whether Bird committed perjury.
As mentioned in a previous article, the attorney who notarized Dr. Bird and Dr. Goetz’s affidavits is the same lawyer representing Nicole Kowalski in her lawsuit against the City of Hudson. This attorney is with Summit Democratic Party Chair Tom Bevan’s law firm. Bevan also was included in the Clocktower Collaborative emails and his party sent out mailers attacking Bird and Goetz’s opponents, causing another possible issue of campaign coordination. This is quite a tangled web. Bird and Goetz should be wondering who they can actually trust because the evidence indicates they have been led astray.
Bird is about to take his spot on Hudson Council. This is likely to cause him even more issues. When a resident emails his City account about the Clocktower Collaborative emails, his negative campaign rhetoric, or violation of First Amendment rights, it will automatically be public record. And if those residents are met with silence from Dr. Bird, that silence will also be easily recognized since there will be no record of a response. He has been ignoring messages from people in Ward 4 thus far and that is not acceptable from any council member regardless of tenure.
Welcome to the show, Dr. Bird. Buckle up.
