There just never seems to be an end to the histrionics surrounding the town of Garland. And it’s high time citizens in this southern Sampson town demand more of their elected officials.

In less than six months, the town has changed clerks and deputy clerks some four to five times, a revolving door brought on by reported personal issues between employees and one or more of the town’s leaders. The mayor resigned Friday unexpectedly and, on the heels of that resignation, law enforcement had to be called to the town hall, where a visitor reportedly broke the glass partition that separates the public from the administrative portion of the building while having what is believed to have been a heated debate with the town clerk, who, in turn, took out papers against the individual for communicating threats. (See story on 1A)

And, if that isn’t enough, board members are often side-stepping the N.C. Open Meetings Law, or outright violating the law’s intent by conducting the public’s business outside of citizens’ earshot and often in groups of two or three.

Couple all those things with a private social media page, unbelievably titled Garland News and Information, which allows people to hide behind a dark cloak of anonymity and post purported dirty laundry about employees, town leaders and other residents, as well as violate copyright laws, and one can easily see how off-the-rails things in this small town have become.

Sadly, not everyone posts anonymously, either. At least one fairly well-known relative of a Garland commissioner posts under her own name about town issues, and belittles town employees using phrasing such as “mental health” breaks, “decompression leave” and referring to them as “hand-picked.” It leaves one to wonder how this person knows so much about supposed town business when not a member of the actual board.

Gossip-mongering about town employees might be acceptable fodder to some, most particularly those on the Garland News page, but it crosses the line of civility and walks a razor thin edge between violating laws as they pertain to employees, be they government hires or those working in private business.

While social media should be no place for rumors and innuendo of any kind, though it often is just that, it most certainly should not be a place tied so blatantly with local government that residents view what is spewed there as truth versus what we see it as — ignorant, unverified gossip and hate speak.

Garland is a good little town, with hard-working residents who do their best to live normal, calm lives, raising their families, paying their taxes, going to church and minding their own business.

We even believe the majority of those on the town board, including departed Mayor Austin Brown, began their tenure as elected officials with the best of intentions. But somewhere along the way, many of them, it appears, have gotten tangled up in a quest for what they perceive as power and intertwined it with a strong bend toward listening to, and spreading, gossip of their own.

Though Brown declined comment on why he resigned so suddenly, other than to cite a need to focus more on his family, we have little doubt the young man got tired of the histrionics that often would not allow him to do his job. His sole comment on the matter seems to bear that out: “I pray my departure will end the constant drama and move the dark cloud that is over our wonderful town, and that our town will move forward together.”

It’s a wonderful sentiment and one we hope can happen; however, we don’t believe it can until every member of Garland’s Board of Commissioner makes a commitment to rise above the fray, refusing to be a part of sophomoric social media behavior.

Tonight, the board will meet to decide next steps in replacing Brown. We hope they will come together with a strong determination to do what is in the town’s best interest — — and not their own —and then, above all else, actually do it.