Why Should Delaware Care?
The removal of an elected official from committee assignments is a rare disciplinary move for one’s actions. Recent social media comments from a Kent County commissioner led to that punishment.
Kent County Commissioner Jody Sweeney was removed from his committee assignments Tuesday night for social media comments that have caused a backlash.
Sweeney, a Democrat who represents the Camden area in District 5, drew considerable outcry following comments critical of Charlie Kirk after his Sept. 10 assassination.
He already had a public Facebook account that frequently shared messages critical of President Trump and was unapologetic in its criticisms. Earlier this month, Sweeney announced that he would no longer be publicly posting.
“I remain a staunch opponent to Trump and what he is doing to our Country. I will still be attending Independence Central Delaware rallies. I will still support residents of Kent County to continue to move our County forward,” he wrote on Nov. 9. “It’s been real. It’s been fun. But it ain’t been real fun.”
Levy Court President Joanne Masten, who introduced the motion to remove Sweeney from his appointments, read directly from an earlier Facebook post Sweeney made in August – which has since been removed – asking if readers “were butt hurt or your cheeks clenched?” that county residents would have to pay for his pension after he retires.
Masten and other commissioners did not cite any other specific examples of Sweeney’s behavior that they deemed inappropriate, but said his posts “crossed a line.”
Sweeney’s fellow commissioners unanimously voted to strip him of committee assignments and his liaison roles with community organizations.
After the meeting, Sweeney said he stands by all his Facebook posts and that everything he wrote was factual, though he might sometimes have let himself get too frustrated in the comment section of posts.
Masten said she spoke with the county attorney about the possibility of censoring or sanctioning Sweeney, but decided the best option would be removing him from committees, while still allowing him to serve his constituents on the Levy Court.
“It’s what we had to do as a Levy Court organization,” Masten told Spotlight Delaware following the meeting. “Social media posts can get us all in trouble, and we have to as elected officials reinforce accountability and uphold ethical standards.”
Masten added that she has “tremendous respect” for Sweeney, and it made her sad to take action against him at the meeting.
As an elected official, Sweeney cannot be removed from office by his colleagues. He was re-elected last year in an uncontested race and won’t be up for re-election again until 2028.
During the meeting, a number of commissioners noted that Sweeney was “hired” by his constituents who voted him into office, so it is not the Levy Court’s place to fire him.
Sweeney, was first elected to his seat in 2008, left the room before the rest of the Levy Court began discussing his removal, and did not vote on the motion.
He did, however, read a statement at the beginning of the meeting about Masten’s decision to discipline him so publicly during the meeting. Sweeney said he respected Masten’s power to appoint or remove people from committees and as liaisons, but that it would have been more respectful for her to do so during executive session or a private meeting.
“Commissioner Masten should provide the list of new appointments to committees and other community organizations without all the fanfare and attempt at public humiliation,” Sweeney said.
Before leaving the meeting, Sweeney provided his annotated statement to Spotlight Delaware.
Following the meeting, Sweeney told Spotlight Delaware he was “obviously disappointed” that his fellow commissioners punished him for exercising his rights of free speech.
“Removing me from a committee and liaison to a couple of community organizations does not diminish my advocacy for projects those organizations are promoting,” he added.
Sweeney told Spotlight Delaware on Wednesday he was “not surprised” by his fellow commissioners’ vote against him, but he did not understand why they felt the need to turn the discussion into such a public spectacle of humiliation.
All other members of the Levy Court voiced their support for Masten’s decision, stating that elected officials need to maintain a certain level of decorum that Sweeney did not uphold.
Commissioner at-large Terry Pepper said he was on the fence about punishing Sweeney, because he does a great job serving his constituents, but that Sweeney crossed a line with his social media statements that needs to have repercussions.
“I hate it. I don’t want to do it,” Pepper said at the meeting. “But I think that we need to set some kind of precedent so that commissioners are aware that there are some kinds of actions that Levy Court will take in the future.”
Sweeney was serving as chair of the Community Service Committee, and a liaison to six external organizations, including the Delaware League of Local Governments and Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce. All other commissioners serve as a liaison to just two or three community organizations.
Four residents spoke in favor of the Levy Court’s decision during public comment at the end of the meeting.
“I recognize how hard it is to remove your colleague from committees,” said Magnolia resident Kim Petters, a former Republican candidate for State Senate. “But I’m glad you recognize the damage of his actions and his words.”
Petters, and a number of her social media followers, have been vocal about their disapproval of Sweeney and his political posts at previous Levy Court meetings and on social media.
In his statement at the beginning of the meeting, Sweeney accused his fellow commissioners of giving in to pressure by Petters’ group to take action against him.
“Taking action now is buckling under pressure from a single person who organized a group to attack me,” he said.
When asked about his next steps, Sweeney said he will take some space for himself until the Levy Court’s next meeting in December, but he will continue to represent his constituents as best he can.
“You know what? I still represent up to 30,000 people that live in my district,” Sweeney said.
Masten said she does not believe in “chastising somebody forever,” so Sweeney’s banishment from committees and community organizations will remain in effect until January 2027, just more than a year, when a new Levy Court president will be sworn in.