Commissioners approve media policies

The Yamhill County Commissioners unanimously approved two new policies regarding media relations and social media on Thursday, Aug. 27.

Assistant County Administrator/Public Information Officer Kevin Perkins wrote in a memo the purpose of the media relations policy is to establish parameters for who and when staff are authorized to make official statements to the media on behalf of the county. It applies to when staff are on duty, or when they appear to be on duty, but does not govern their private conduct or speech.

“The goal is not to prevent communication but to ensure the correct information is provided to the media in a timely manner,” he wrote. “Designating staff who are authorized to speak to the media will provide for an efficient delivery of information to the public.”

Commissioner Kit Johnston suggested the slight edit in section two to note county staff that are not designated to communicate with the media “shall” refrain from making public comments to the media, rather than “should refrain.”

He said the policy could enter a gray area without the proper wording.

This was the only change to the draft suggested by the commissioners.

Perkins said there currently is a personnel policy that could “cover an egregious situation,” but the new media relations and social media policies address some gaps left in other policies.

“This makes it explicit for us and employees where they can and can’t act and gives them a procedure to follow,” he said. “Without them having to figure it out on their own.”

The policy indicates all media questions should be referred to department heads or designees, or the county PIO, who may provide routine, factual information to the media and respond to media inquiries.

County staff who are not authorized managers or media designees are required to:

- Refrain from making public statements on county policy, or what appears to be an official statement to media during work hours.

- Refrain from identifying themselves as county employees when commenting publicly outside of acting in their official capacity.

- Refrain from making statements to the media or public in support or opposition to any ballot measure, candidate or petition effort during work hours or while acting in an official capacity.

Should there be multiple requests by the media for live recordings of a meeting or event, the policy allows the county to limit the number of cameras present and require news agencies to pool their coverage.

The policy does not apply to employees when acting in their capacity as a union officer or to a union member during official union business or matters. However, staff must specify when speaking if they are acting in the capacity as a union officer or member and not speaking on behalf of the county.

Elected officials are encouraged to follow the policy, but are not bound to it.

The policy includes a procedure for media outlets to inform the deputy county administrator/PIO about the substance of public comments made to the media and an expected publish date. Media requests for interviews with staff or the board of commissioners should also be forwarded to the deputy county administrator/PIO, it states.

The social media policy is meant to guide and direct employees’ use of official county related social media accounts for the dissemination of public information, Perkins said.

Only designated employees can post on the various county department social media pages and must use county email addresses for access.

Any posts will be considered a public record and direct messages will be considered correspondence and should be retained, unless they are completely unrelated to county business.

The policy specifies the county media pages cannot follow any accounts that are primarily commercial, political or entertainment in nature.

Comments on posts may be removed for several reasons, including the use of profane language, sexual content, not being related to the post or solicitations.

During an emergency, all county associated social media pages should share information provided on the main county page of the Yamhill County Sheriff’s page.

The two policies will go into effect on Sept. 11, after being posted for two weeks.