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Commission moves forward with artist selection despite tainted online survey
Summary
After discovering the online Maui survey was vulnerable to repeat submissions, the commission acknowledged the flawed data and voted to accept the selected artist while asking staff to document the issue and rely on other data points for future selection work.
Staff reported that an online survey used to gather public input on an artist selection returned 4,765 responses but was compromised by a way to submit multiple responses, which tainted the dataset. The presenter said the team would not use Microsoft Forms for similar public ballots in the future.
Commissioners reviewed alternate vote streams (in-person votes, social-media polls and posters) and noted that while the online result was unreliable, the finalist still had support in other channels. One commissioner asked whether the commission was comfortable moving forward with the finalist given the tainted dataset.
A motion to accept the finalist artist was made and seconded; the commission voted in favor. Staff said they will formalize the artist contract, confirm timelines and note the survey integrity problem in the project record.
Members recommended better voting integrity for future community input (for example, validated in-person sign-ups or more secure survey tools) and suggested staff gather corroborating data before using a single online poll as the deciding factor.
