Columbia County launches County Compass podcast to give residents direct updates after Hurricane Helene

County Manager Scott Johnson launched Columbia County’s new podcast, County Compass, in an introductory episode that recounted the county’s response to Hurricane Helene and pledged to deliver ‘‘straight from the source’’ information to residents.

Johnson said the county learned during the storm that residents were ‘‘starving for information’’ and that traditional channels were insufficient while outages were widespread. ‘‘Over 99% of our residents were without power,’’ he said, describing long outages and heavy cleanup costs. Johnson said he personally went 14 days without power and credited roads-and-bridges crews and other county employees with making the county’s roads passable by the Monday after the storm.

The county used social-media video updates during the outage, Johnson said, praising PR Director Cassidy Harris and production staffer Chris Lloyd for creating frequent Facebook videos and professional footage. The positive response to those updates helped inspire the podcast, he said: ‘‘We’ve got to tell our citizens something about what’s going on.’’

Johnson framed County Compass as an effort to provide fact-based context amid widespread misinformation. Citing a passage he attributed to economist Thomas Sowell, he said many people prefer emotionally satisfying narratives over analytic explanations and that the podcast’s aim is to give residents verifiable information from county leaders and staff.

He also addressed a circulating claim that the county had ‘‘sold every piece of property’’ to a private developer who then placed gas stations across the county. ‘‘That is absolutely ridiculous,’’ Johnson said, adding that the county cannot simply sell land like a private owner. He explained that the county must surplus property, typically follow a bid process, and that a separate development authority — not the county itself — handles some property transactions. Johnson emphasized that private businesses locate according to zoning: if a parcel is already zoned commercial and a business meets code, the business may build, but the county does not select tenants.

Johnson said he does not use personal social media and relayed an anecdote about his late mother believing an unvetted Facebook post, using it to illustrate how quickly misinformation can take hold. He pledged that the podcast would include guests with differing opinions and would not ‘‘alter the truth.’’

The county aims to publish County Compass weekly, Johnson said, and invited listeners to send story ideas to the PR office. The episode closed with a reminder to consult Columbia County’s official website and social channels for more information.

The episode focused on emergency communications and public information rather than any new policy action; no formal motions or votes were recorded in the episode.