Gorge Commission executive committee to assign Avarna recommendations to committees, set standing agenda items for budget and scheduling

The Columbia River Gorge Commission's executive committee agreed by voice to have its chair draft a committee memo and ask standing committees to review and prioritize recommendations from Avarna's report, staff and commissioners said at a remote executive committee meeting.

The action, proposed by Chair Alex Johnson (Commissioner Alex Johnson), follows a staff presentation mapping Avarna's 10 recommended action steps to prior climate-equity recommendations. Joanna (staff) told the committee staff had begun addressing several action items and recommended a crosswalk to identify overlap and next steps.

"At least for me right now, it just feels like there's a lot there, and we can't do it all at once," Joanna said, urging commissioners to give staff direction on which actions to prioritize. Chair Johnson proposed that EXCOM focus on process ' rather than attempting to complete every item in a single meeting ' recommending a standing forward-looking agenda item to plan six to 12 months ahead and a standing item to review budget timing and legislative issues.

Why it matters: The Avarna recommendations intersect with the commission's upcoming management plan review and the commission's equity work. Commissioners were intent on ensuring staff time and committee work are aligned so priorities are clear as the commission faces constrained budgets from both states.

Commissioner Roger Nichols raised concerns about representation in the draft crosswalk, saying staff had included tribal engagement but had "the absolute lack of anything connecting with the largest minority group in the entire Columbia River Gorge, which is the Hispanic community." Joanna and other staff responded that Latino/Spanish-speaking communities are included under the commission's equity recommendations and the pair team work, but commissioners asked for clearer, explicit references in the crosswalk and engagement plans.

Commissioner Valerie Fowler urged more pre-meeting materials and a yearlong calendar so commissioners can reserve in-person meetings for policy discussion rather than staff briefings. Fowler asked staff to prepare and circulate a calendar of staff briefings and proposed that in-person meeting time be devoted primarily to commissioner deliberation on policy.

On next steps, Chair Johnson said he would redraft a committee memo describing committee roles, how items map to committees (for example, economic vitality, communications, rules), and a proposed process for how EXCOM will review and prioritize committee outputs. "I'm happy if folks are happy for me to do this," he said, and asked staff to circulate the draft a week before the next EXCOM meeting. Commissioners agreed by voice to proceed; the committee did not record a roll-call tally.

Staff also briefed commissioners on near-term deadlines: staff said Oregon's budget submission is due at the end of July and Washington's budget development process runs until Sept. 15. Jeff (staff) said the pending rules hearing will be held at the July commission meeting, and promised materials roughly two weeks in advance due to the rules package size.

The meeting closed after a brief check for public comment; none were received, and Chair Johnson adjourned the executive committee.

The commission requested that staff and the chairs of standing committees review the Avarna recommendations and report back to EXCOM with prioritized actions and any resource needs.