Moab tourism advisory board asks staff to draft letter after members flag repeated media errors

Board members spent the largest portion of the meeting discussing perceived inaccuracies in local news coverage and agreed to a coordinated response.

Speaker 2 opened the item by citing a December 31 article that he said contained a “significant error” suggesting the tourism office had spent $3,500,000 in a way that misrepresented restricted funds and by referencing a prior July story that overstated a branding budget. Multiple members said the errors had led to heated social‑media reactions and that correcting the record was important to preserve public trust and the tourism office’s ability to operate effectively.

Several members urged routing media inquiries and formal responses through the county public information officer (PIO). Speaker 4 noted the PIO had made herself available to answer questions and that budget materials are public and online. Speaker 1 pointed to the county’s web page as a place to house accurate breakdowns and suggested a short explainer or QR code linking to the information.

Speaker 5 moved that the chair and vice chair, working with county communications staff (referred to in discussion as Lisa/Melissa), draft a letter for submission to local newspapers that clarifies how restricted tourism funds are used and requests responsible reporting. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously by those present. Board members also requested that drafts be reviewed by the PIO before publication.

Next steps recorded in the meeting: board leadership will work with county communications staff to produce a draft letter and inform the board when it is ready for review. The transcript records the motion as unanimous; no numeric roll‑call tally is provided.