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Communications capacity and misinformation emerge as top threats in West Linn budget talks
Summary
Communications staff warned that misinformation and limited proactive capacity make public engagement difficult; councilors agreed clear, narrowly focused asks and robust storytelling are essential to pass future measures.
During the workshop the communications challenge emerged as both strength and threat: West Linn has strong community trust and multiple outreach channels, but staff warned the city faces an "information crisis" that makes education and trust-building for ballot measures difficult.
Danielle Choi, the city’s community relations coordinator, told the group: "We're in an epistemological crisis. There's an information crisis." She said the communications team spends most of its time reacting to requests and lacks the capacity for long-term proactive campaigns needed to explain complex funding packages. Councilors and staff agreed that targeted, specific asks supported by clear storytelling and visible early wins (phase‑1 projects) would be more likely to succeed than large omnibus measures.
