Cook County Board's Twitter Feud

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Sep 28, 2010 5:40PM

Oh, Twitter. Even though you bring us joy sometimes, you can also stir up feuds. Twitter feuds between friends, enemies, and frenemies is nothing new, nor are feuds between, say, media outlets. But the raucous over Twitter has now extended to the Cook County Board of Commissioners. We've posted before about Com. Tony Peraica (Rep., 16th) and his tweeting habit from board meetings. Whether we agree or disagree with his views, the Tweets are also a good way to stay up-to-date on what was generally happening at the meeting and sometimes vote-by-vote reports on important ordinances. But one Commissioner had enough and introduced what he admitted to be an "Anti-Twitter" ordinance. Commissioner Joseph Mario Moreno (Dem., 7th) introduced the ordinance to prevent Peraica from tweeting during meetings but the ordinance was shot down earlier today. Moreno expressed concerns about the information Peraica was relaying, calling it often "inaccurate" while Peraica saw it as " a clear violation of freedom of speech."

CBS 2 delves a little deeper into the issue and it seems this goes beyond Twitter and into a real-life feud between Moreno, who is leaving the board in December, and Peraica.

But before the vote, observers quietly said the measure is more "anti-Peraica" and the west suburban commissioner's sometimes spicy comments about the proceedings.

There is no love lost between Moreno, a Southwest Side and suburban Democrat who was ousted in the primary, and Peraica, a Republican and prolific Tweeter. For months now, they've been talking openly in meetings about how they won't miss each other once Moreno leaves office in December. Tuesday's committee meeting to discuss the Twitter legislation is expected to be a continuation of that fight.

A fellow commissioner told CBS 2 under condition of anonymity, "I really get the impression this is about Moreno sticking it to Peraica." So, in a way, this warms our hearts a bit. In an age when so many kids are creating their feuds exclusively online with YouTube videos, passive aggressive Facebook posts, and harassing each other via MySpace, it's good to see one online kerfuffle that's actually based in good old fashioned real life partisan politics feuding. Old school meets new school, indeed.