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Gorge commission communications panel prioritizes website text update over data hub if budget allows
Summary
At a Communications Committee meeting, staff said website copy edits are nearly complete and urged a review plan; commissioners conditionally agreed to prioritize the website over the VSI/ESI data hub if doing so doesn’t affect an imminent budget deadline or partner commitments.
The Communications Committee of the Columbia River Gorge Commission on Tuesday debated whether to prioritize a near-final website text refresh or keep on the original timetable for the agency’s VSI/ESI data hub, with staff and commissioners flagging a June 30 budget deadline as the key constraint.
Sage, the staff member leading the website and portal work, told the committee that “I received Commissioner Weisfeld’s comments, so I appreciate those and your edits, and I integrated those,” and offered two review options: circulate a populated Word document for edit or integrate content directly onto the site for commissioners to review. Sage said many pages are close to done and that the VSI data hub had been planned for a July launch but that doing both tasks by July may be too much.
The committee chair said staff hoped for an August go-live for the full website but preferred the commission have a trial run before publishing. “We were hoping for a go live date of the August 1…but I would say sometime in August,” the chair said, and suggested presenting a draft to the full commission for a thumbs-up before public launch.
Commissioner Alex Johnson, speaking as a relatively new commissioner, urged delegation to the communications committee for detailed text review. “There’s a communications committee that’s already reviewed the text… it seems like a lot of process for small refinements,” Johnson said, arguing that the commission’s full monthly meeting may not be the best venue to resolve minor copy edits.
Staff also cautioned that the ADR budget closes on June 30. One staff member told the group, “June 30 is a drop deadline. If an invoice isn’t in, it’s not paid,” a hard financial constraint that could affect whether staff have the funding to shift priorities or pay consultants sooner.
After discussion, commissioners signaled informal agreement to prioritize finalizing website text first if that can be done “without impact to budget” and without disrupting partners who committed to the VSI timeline. Sage and Executive Director staffer Connie will convene after the meeting to assess budget implications and report back to the committee.
Next steps: staff will circulate the draft Word document and a recommended timeline for review, assess ADR/BSI funding timing with the finance office, and present a recommendation to the communications committee about whether to flip priorities or remain on the existing schedule.
