It has been brought to the Mayor’s attention by several residents on the Mayor’s personal Facebook page that Lorie W. Barnwell has hijacked the Mayor’s Facebook friend’s list for nefarious purposes.

Lorie W. Barnwell and her husband, Bill Barnwell, are clearly not friends or supporters of the Mayor as evident from their numerous derogatory posts aimed at criticizing the Mayor.

The Mayor wanted his supporters to be aware that he did not authorize nor request her Laurie Barnwell to troll his social media account.

This is UNPRECEDENTED that an elected official would “hack” or “hijack” another official’s personal Facebook account in an attempt to co-opt, and sway the Mayor’s supporters with false allegations and slanderous statements.

This “wolf-in-sheep’s-clothing” maneuver is not only an invasion of privacy but clearly an attempt to manipulate the residents or Warren for nefarious and self-serving purposes.
Mayor Fouts has never connected with Laurie Barnwell or Bill Barnwell on any of their social media channels, nor had ever engaged them in any fashion on any of their social media channels.

While it is widely known that Warren Mayor James Fouts enthusiastically endorsed Laurie Barnwell during the last election, and all experts are in agreement that Mrs. Barnwell was elected exclusively due to the Mayor’s endorsement, sadly, it would seem that “No good deed goes unpunished!”
To that end, Mayor Fouts is extremely disappointed by this betrayal of trust from someone whom the Mayor enthusiastically supported and would again like to reiterate his position on social media code of conduct and ethics, which strictly forbids any kind of personal attacks, obscenities, and disparaging of persons based upon race, religion, creed, gender or disability. The Mayor has had these rules in place for several years, and would greatly appreciate everyone’s cooperation in adhering to these rules.

This wretched attempt at retribution orchestrated by Lorie Barnwell, Bill Barnwell, and/or a slew of their anonymous “surrogates”, will surely, though not surprisingly, lead to further personal attacks aimed at the Mayor. Finally, Mayor Fouts wants to be clear that he has not, nor will he ever, engage in this type of behavior and justly condemns persons who are willing to stoop so low. Elected officials are leaders by example, and communication between elected officials and their constituents should be constructive and free from cynicism.