Lynnwood councilmember under fire for controversial shirtless Instagram post

LYNNWOOD, Wash. — A Lynnwood City Council member is being urged to resign after facing another ethics complaint.

The controversy concerns an Instagram post targeting middle and high school students.

Lynnwood’s youngest councilmember, 23-year-old Josh Binda, shared a shirtless picture of himself.

It promotes his “Love Conquers All” school speaking tour. The photo shows a tattoo of the same name on his arm, which he refers to in the post.

KIRO 7 heard from parents at Monday night’s city council meeting.

One mother called the post “disgraceful and unacceptable.”

“I feel deeply insulted and angry that a councilman could do something like this to promote himself. He even encouraged kids to tattoo his name on their bodies. Like I don’t know what he’s thinking about,” one attendee said during the public comment portion of the meeting.

Binda appeared at the meeting virtually.

He said he thinks his Instagram post is being taken out of context.

“I am a positive role model for the youth and will continue doing work in being a positive role model. I think it’s easy to sexualize something that was not meant to be sexual at all,” said Binda.

This is not the first time councilmember Binda has been in the hot seat.

Earlier this year, he was ordered to pay a fine for misusing campaign funds.

He was also accused of using Lynnwood City Council chambers after-hours to shoot a promotional video without permission.

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