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Council plans town halls, FAQ and clearer public comment rules to counter recurring misinformation
Summary
Councilors proposed regular town halls, a citizen report-card survey and a website FAQ to dispel recurring misinformation; they also discussed revising meeting rules and a decorum policy to reduce personal attacks during public comment.
St. Helens councilors used the work session to address repetitive misinformation recurring in public testimony and explore new outreach tools.
Members recommended a program of stakeholder town halls, periodic “council report cards” built into the city’s regular survey and an FAQ page on the city website to respond to commonly repeated errors such as misstatements about billing or meeting procedures. Councilors suggested accepting written questions before town halls and publishing answers online so staff and volunteers can prepare accurate responses rather than relying on ad hoc remarks.
The group also discussed meeting procedures to reduce personal attacks. Ideas included adding a brief statement at the start of meetings explaining public-comment norms, limiting comments on work sessions to agenda items, and providing a short follow-up Q&A segment after public testimony for clarifying questions. Several councilors said having a visible non-uniformed or uniformed presence by public safety staff has improved civility.
Councilors asked staff to draft a set of options — including sample opening-script language, a proposed FAQ page and a town-hall schedule — for the governing-rules review. They also requested a memo process that would let staff answer repeated public questions in one consolidated bulletin posted on the website.
