Two Oregon mayors announced their resignations back-to-back days this week after each elected official faced outrage for sharing offensive social media posts.
Newport Mayor Dean Sawyer stepped down and Baker City Mayor Matt Diaz is stepping down from their seats in the wake of the online controversies, according to reports.
Sawyer resigned and issued an apology Monday for sharing inflammatory content on a Facebook page used by the law enforcement community, the Oregon Public Radio reported.
As early as 2016, Sawyer shared memes and posts that belittled a slew of different groups, including immigrants, women, and the LGBTQ community, according to the outlet.
One of the reported memes showed a case of Bud Light bottles that included the caption “I called AutoZone to order a case of tranny fluid and this is what I got.”
The beer has faced the ire of conservatives over its partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
“I am sorry – in its simplest and sincerest form,” he reportedly wrote to the city manager and city council president in his resignation letter, later stating. “I now realize that some of my actions and my words have hurt people I love and care about. This is something that I take full responsibility for.”
Sawyer, a former police officer, previously told Oregon Public Radio the content he posted was “stupid” and “juvenile” and don’t reflect his true feelings.
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A day after he stepped down, Diaz, of Baker city, also said he was leaving his seat.
He faced calls for his ouster after he posted a meme on his personal Facebook page last month that shows four pride flags arranged in the shape of a swastika, the Baker City Herald reported.
But Diaz stressed he was not leaving his seat due to the meme, but because he and his family were moving to a different city so he could take a higher-paying job.
“Just as most of Baker City, residents and administration alike, I don’t make enough money to support my family,” Diaz wrote to the newspaper. “Finding a job in today’s society is a long process. For me that process started weeks before the social media incident ever occurred.”
He will resign on July 16.
He previously told residents in a June 20 statement the social media post was “meant to illustrate how the DEI or ‘woke’ ideology is being propagandized and militantly forced on American society” and made clear he is “not a Nazi sympathizer or supporter,” oregonlive.com reported.
“I also hold no hate for those who choose a different lifestyle, religion, or sexual preference than my own,” said Diaz.
