Delete, Deny, Control the Narrative.
- George Tanguy
- 13 hours ago
- 5 min read
Tracy — Questions surrounding transparency, public records retention, and possible pending litigation are growing in Tracy after an April 13, 2026 City Council meeting video reportedly disappeared from the City of Tracy’s official Facebook page.
The meeting, which had been divided into two separate video segments online, focused heavily on a developing property dispute involving Tracy residents George Tanguy and David Anderson. Both men attended the meeting after being placed on the council agenda.
During the meeting, City Attorney Matt Gross outlined what he described as two possible legal paths the city could consider regarding access to a disputed area near a property line.
According to statements made during the meeting, one option involved the city seeking a court determination regarding the property boundary, potentially extending the city’s access area by several feet for maintenance and contractor access. Gross also stated such action could include a public nuisance claim to prevent items from being placed near the disputed property line.
“Without any legal action, the City is likely going to be rendered ineffective to that area,” Gross said during the meeting.
Gross also discussed a second possible option involving a harassment restraining order against Tanguy and Anderson.
Councilmember Jeri Schons expressed concern about pursuing litigation and asked whether the matter could be resolved without legal action.
Tanguy responded during the public discussion, stating he did not intend to answer questions verbally during the meeting and instead preferred written communication from the city.
“I have no problems communicating with you guys, but the reality is, that property was purchased at auction December 4th of 2025,” Tanguy said during the meeting. “There were four months and 13 days that you guys could’ve reached out and contacted us.”
George then stated on March 31, 2026, George Tanguy made initial contact with Tracy City Administrator Jeff Carpenter regarding concerns about construction workers allegedly trespassing on private property. The interaction was recorded on body camera. During the conversation, Jeff Carpenter stated, “you can talk to the contractors” and “Nope the property is theirs,” in response to concerns raised about the alleged trespassing.
Tanguy then offered to send the video to city council members if asked.
Link of Body Cam Video Provided Below
Tanguy also claimed contractors working near the property were contractually required to obtain written approval before entering the area and argued Minnesota property procedures had not been followed.
“My working relationship with you guys and the City of Tracy is terrible,” Tanguy said. “The past history is bad, and now we’re dealing with this.”
Anderson similarly stated during the meeting that city officials had largely failed to contact him directly after the property purchase.
During the meeting, representatives from Bollig Engineering reportedly stated that, “normally contractors are responsible for acquiring written permission to enter adjacent private property to complete work.”
That statement prompted discussion among council members regarding responsibility for the dispute.
Councilmember Jeri Schons responded by stating, “So the contractors dropped the ball.” Councilmember George Landuyt quickly followed by saying, “I wouldn’t say that.” During the same exchange, Jeff Carpenter stated, “Well we were supposed to own that property but we didn’t win the bid.”
The comments added another layer to the ongoing controversy, as residents continue questioning how the dispute escalated and whether proper procedures were followed before contractors attempted to access the area.
(Was this retaliation against a Tracy citizen for losing a state auction bid?)
The council ultimately tabled the issue and reportedly agreed to hold a future special meeting to deliberate further.
Video Removal Raises Public Concerns
Following the meeting, residents began closely following the issue online. According to multiple citizens monitoring the city’s official Facebook activity, older city posts from December 2023 allegedly appeared above the April 13 meeting videos shortly before the videos were eventually removed altogether.
Some residents now question whether the actions were administrative housekeeping, routine moderation, or an intentional effort to reduce visibility of a highly viewed and controversial meeting.
Citizens have pointed to unusually high public engagement surrounding the April 13 meeting. While previous Tracy council meeting videos reportedly averaged between 800 and 1,200 views, residents claim the April 13 videos surpassed 7,000 views before removal.
Critics argue the timing of the deletion is particularly concerning because the meeting involved discussions of potential litigation and possible future legal action by the city.
At the center of the controversy are allegations that removing the videos and public comments may conflict with Minnesota public records retention requirements and open government transparency standards.
Questions About Minnesota Records Laws
Under Minnesota law, government records can include electronic communications and social media content connected to official public business. Legal experts have increasingly recognized that official government Facebook posts, livestreams, videos, and comments may qualify as public records subject to retention requirements.
Concerns become more serious when litigation is pending or reasonably anticipated.
In those circumstances, government entities are generally expected to preserve potentially relevant evidence, including videos, electronic records, emails, and online communications. Deleting such material after controversy arises can lead to allegations of “spoliation,” a legal term referring to destruction of evidence relevant to anticipated litigation.
Whether any law was violated in Tracy would likely depend on several factors, including:
Whether backups or archives of the videos still exist
Whether the Facebook page is considered an official city communication platform
Who authorized the deletion
Whether litigation was reasonably foreseeable at the time
Whether any retention schedules or preservation obligations applied
The two Part April 13th 2026 video council meeting videos and comments no longer exist on the official City of Tracy Facebook page to including bad technical issues with other recent Council meeting videos.
First Amendment Concerns Also Raised
Some residents have additionally questioned whether deletion of public comments from the city’s Facebook page could raise First Amendment concerns.
Courts in several jurisdictions have held that official government social media pages can function as limited public forums, meaning officials generally cannot selectively remove criticism simply because it is unfavorable. Governments may still moderate content under neutral policies involving spam, threats, obscenity, or harassment.
No evidence has been presented publicly showing why comments associated with the April 13 meeting were removed.
Data Request Filed
On May 22, 2026, Tanguy reportedly submitted a formal Minnesota Government Data Practices Act request seeking copies of both April 13 council meeting videos and related records from the city.
The request was directed to Jeff Carpenter, who has become the focus of public criticism from residents questioning the deletion of the videos.
As of Friday, the city had not publicly responded regarding whether the videos remain archived or whether they will be reproduced in response to the records request.
For some Tracy residents, the issue now extends beyond a single council meeting.
Growing concerns over transparency, public access to information, and trust in local government continue to fuel debate throughout the community as citizens await answers regarding why the meeting videos disappeared and whether the records were properly preserved.
No court has determined that any laws were violated, and no formal allegations or charges have been filed related to the deletion of the videos.
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