Clatsop County managers propose board-rules updates; commissioners debate social media, tone and process

County Manager Don Boone presented draft amendments to Clatsop County’s board rules, explaining that changes were prompted by evolving legal issues around elected officials’ use of social media and by the need to clarify liaison roles and travel procedures. The proposed social-media language distinguishes three types of websites — personal, campaign and official — and states that platforms used to conduct county business should be official county sites subject to public-record and other public procedures. The travel-policy changes would increase each board member’s travel budget, allow individual board members to manage their travel allocations within that budget and require board preapproval for Washington, D.C., lobbying travel.

Why it matters: The rules govern how commissioners engage online and how they coordinate travel and appointments. Don Boone emphasized the updates were intended as risk-management and clarifying language; he described additional edits to come and said staff would return with a refined draft later this year.

The presentation prompted a lengthy exchange among commissioners about the board rules’ tone and model. Commissioner Webb and another commissioner suggested the board rules’ preamble and county-manager expectations read negatively and argued for more aspirational, positive language — and at least one commissioner urged a broader overhaul of the “Carver” governance model underpinning current rules. Other commissioners said the proposed changes are timely, limited and necessary and opposed forming an ad hoc committee of two commissioners to rewrite the rules; one commissioner explicitly opposed a two-person ad hoc committee because it could create a quorum or a perception of private deliberations. Several commissioners supported immediately approving the social-media provisions and travel clarifications while continuing to work together on longer-term tone and structure changes.

Board direction and next steps: Don Boone said he would incorporate additional edits requested by commissioners and bring a revised set of rules for future board consideration. Commissioners emphasized that any broader revision should involve the full board and offered to participate in collaborative edits to the preamble and aspirational language outside the formal ad-hoc structure.