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Commissioners press consultants on survey integrity and controls for comment map
Summary
Commissioners questioned how the consultants will prevent online bias, duplicate responses and misinformation on the project website; OHM Advisors said they will use Typeform with backend filters, limit features such as social sharing, and provide administrative moderation.
Commissioners raised repeated concerns about the integrity of an opt-in survey and the public comment map on the consultants’ project site. Commissioner Fournier warned that open online tools can be manipulated — invoking the “Boaty McBoatface” example — and asked whether the survey would allow multiple submissions, require registration, or include education for respondents. “So my questions are all surrounding...how do we verify that?” Fournier asked.
Adam Cook said the team intends an opt-in survey targeted at experienced ordinance users rather than a statistically valid random sample and that Typeform will be used for responses; backend checks can filter repeat attempts. Consultants also agreed to disable a social-share button and to add moderation and rate-limiting controls for the comment map to limit automated or malicious posts. Commissioners emphasized the need to document how the city will validate and respond to misinformation arising from public comments on the map.
