Bulgarian politician fired over Farmville addiction

It was really only a matter of time, wasn’t it?

A city councilmember in the Bulgarian town of Plovdiv was ousted in a close vote because fellow councilmembers were really sick of (all the requests for barn roof wood?) Dimitar Kerin’s supposed addiction to the Facebook game of Farmville. Bulgarian news agency Novinite reports that the playing of Farmville during important budget meetings was first discovered two weeks ago, and City Council Chair Ilko Iliev’s pleas to councilmembers to quit it and pay attention fell on deaf ears.

Finally, Iliev initiated a rather passive aggressive vote against one egregious offender:

The proposal to remove Kerin from his respective municipal committee came from Todor Hristov, a former member of Kerin’s party, who has argued that Kerin “needs more time for his virtual farm.”

Thus, Kerin was removed from his committee with 20 votes in favor and 19 votes against; as a result, he has lost the additional pay he received as a member of a municipal committee.

Kerin didn’t go down without a fight, though:

The troubled councilor, Dimitar Kerin, has defended himself by saying he was not the only one in the City Hall watering virtual egg plants. He said he had reached only Level 40, whereas Daniela Zhelyazkova, a councilor from the rightist Democrats for Strong Bulgaria party, was already at Level 46.

Mashable adds that a study last year indicated Kerin may not be alone, and that 8% of companies have canned an employee for social media activities.