Ridgecrest Groundwater Authority pauses launch of its own Facebook page, asks staff for vetted social media policy

At a public meeting of the Ridgecrest Groundwater Authority, board members heard a recommendation from their communications consultant, Westbound Communications, to establish an independent Facebook page and requested staff return with a vetted social media policy before launching any page.

The proposal, presented by Carol (General Manager), said the page would give the authority another venue to reach the community and that Westbound would help manage posts and prepare prewritten responses. "We would establish some, prewritten information or responses that could be provided," Carol said, describing the plan as an additional avenue for outreach beyond city postings.

The recommendation drew repeated concern from board members and several members of the public about moderation, First Amendment limits and the potential for misinformation. "I don't support creating a Facebook page for this purpose," said John Bledo, a member of the public, arguing that agency pages become overwhelmed with misinformation that can drown out official messaging. Director Vallejo and others voiced similar reservations about the platform's risks.

Public commenters urged caution. Judy Decker, who said she helped draft the authority's community engagement policy, told the board she would "echo 500%" Vallejo's concerns and asked whether Westbound's work on Facebook would require a contract amendment, how many hours would be needed, and what the total cost would be. Don Decker and Renee Westilas warned about quick escalation of heated, potentially violent comments and asked how rapidly a page could be taken down.

Board members pressed for legal review and an explicit moderation policy. Director Saint Amond said he wanted a policy "vetted by legal before we give them authorization to put out a Facebook page," and several board members asked Westbound to prepare a draft policy modeled on existing county examples. Carol and Westbound said moderation would follow a written policy, including removal of comments that violate the policy and use of pre-prepared responses to correct inaccurate information.

Rather than approve a page at the meeting, the board provided direction to staff. A motion was made asking staff to return with a proposed social media policy, including legal review and options for alternative outreach approaches; counsel advised that board direction would be sufficient and a formal vote was not required. The board agreed to have staff bring a policy and additional outreach options back at a later meeting for review before any page is created.

Votes at a glance from this meeting: the agenda and the consent agenda were adopted earlier in the meeting by recorded voice votes. Adoption of the agenda and approval of the consent agenda were passed unanimously by the directors present.

The board asked staff to include cost estimates, the hours Westbound would allocate, and any required contract amendments in the follow-up report. Staff said they would also explore alternative outreach methods and legal implications before the board considers launching a social media account.