Groundwater Authority approves Facebook page with comments off if possible

The Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority voted to allow the authority to establish a Facebook account that would not permit public comments on posts if that configuration is available; if the platform does not permit comments to be disabled globally, the board authorized posting with comments turned off on individual posts when possible and to proceed in the interim. Director John Vallejo made the motion and it was seconded; the motion carried on a unanimous recorded vote.

Board members debated the merits and risks of social media for several hours. Director Vallejo said the authority should avoid “the potential for misinformation, and disinformation” and proposed a one-way information page that directs readers to a specific point of contact for technical follow-up. Vice Chair Peters said social media is “unfortunate reality” but useful for reaching residents who rely on Facebook, calling Westbound Communications’ experience “helpful.” General Manager Carol explained legal counsel recommended not adopting a distinct authority social-media policy and that Westbound would incorporate moderation and monitoring into its scope of work without increasing the existing contract’s not-to-exceed amount.

Public commenters and Policy Advisory Committee members urged caution. PAC member Renee Westelusk said the committee had previously opposed a standalone authority Facebook page when Westbound was not yet on board and asked who would act as page administrator and how frequently the page would be monitored. Judy Decker and others warned of harassment and privacy concerns; caller Mike Fennott said Facebook’s public visibility rules have changed and criticized social platforms as unsuitable for public agencies.

Chris Perez of Westbound Communications told the board a practical approach is to maintain a statement bank and a standard set of responses that refer technical questions to staff or agency resources and to moderate obvious obscenity or illegal content in line with Meta’s terms of service. Chris Perez said “once a week is…usual for an active page” as a minimum posting frequency and that Westbound would coordinate with staff on moderation and response language.

Chairman Heyman called the vote after board members debated an amendment on whether the authority should proceed only if it could entirely disable comments. The board recorded Aye votes from Chairman Heyman, Vice Chair Peters, Director Saint Amond, Director Ettinger and Director John Vallejo. The motion carried.

The board directed staff and Westbound Communications to: attempt to configure posts so comments are disabled where possible; create a standard response bank and clear point-of-contact for technical follow-up; and return to the board with any recommended changes to how comments are handled at a future meeting.

The board also discussed the authority’s larger communications plan and a redesigned website that will host FAQs, a newsroom, and an interested-parties distribution list, with staff saying the site will support newsletter distribution and better document access than the current Squarespace site.