Campaign controversy in Estherwood with Police Chief
There's campaign controversy in Estherwood, after Wayne Welsh used the police department's Facebook page to campaign.
ESTHERWOOD, La. (KLFY) -- There's campaign controversy in Estherwood, after Wayne Welsh used the police department's Facebook page to campaign.
Estherwood's Chief of Police is running for re-election and there are some concerns about the way he campaigns.
Wayne Welsh, Esterwood's current Chief of Police, used the police department's Facebook page to share now deleted campaign posts, which was a concern for some people because it is prohibited to campaign on government property.
After News 10 discovered it, we contacted Chief Welsh. Once he was made aware of his post being an issue, he removed the content. "All of my election stuff was deleted from that page," stated Welsh.
His opponent, Robert Keffler, said there were signs indicating where a person can campaign. "When they had elections, they had signs out there that you can't politic within so many feet of city hall. It goes not only for elections, but this is all the time. That's a government building," said Keffler.
Keffler said he did not want to get involved although he knew it was wrong.
Chief Welsh said prior to him becoming Police Chief, there was no Facebook page for the police department. He says he made the page after taking office to keep residents in the loop. "I made it myself. We got together so we could let the citizens know what's going on in Estherwood."
The election is November 8th for the Police Chief position.