City Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth has locked down her social media accounts after a post about her Dutch summer vacation went Pacific Northwest-viral over her comparisons between Amsterdam and Seattle spending on infrastructure and services and the legacy of the slave trade.

Hollingsworth has been unique on the council as she has been increasingly candid and open on personal views on social media and in appearances since her election last fall. This has included matters of faith but also her thoughts on issues ranging from economics to farming.

That openness, at least, on social media, has now changed.

CHS spoke with Hollingsworth earlier this week about the episode as her office was still in clean-up mode and trying to decide how best to respond to criticism and questions over her posts about what she says were observations from a personal trip to Amsterdam during the council’s short August break.

“They (the Netherlands) are able to bring out of those resources that they took out of of other countries,” Hollingsworth told CHS earlier this week. “I was trying to point out this history.”

By Friday morning, Hollingsworth’s messages were no longer available and her private social media account put in locked mode. Continue reading →