New task force will establish communication guidelines for elected officials and candidates

Mayor Meghan Lahti has established a new Council standing committee to be known as the Mayor’s Task Force on Public and Social Media Communications Guidelines for Elected Officials and Candidates. This follows Port Moody City Council direction in November 2025, that a communications policy be developed for Council’s consideration that includes social media and would apply to Council and guide declared candidates for the upcoming election.

“This new task force will develop a Council policy outlining best practices and guidelines for communication in the public realm for elected officials and municipal electoral candidates,” says Mayor Lahti. “The overall goal is to establish shared expectations of how social media can be used to communicate as a member of council or a prospective member of council – to create a framework that fosters integrity, transparency, and respect in communications, particularly as it relates to City business. I’m confident this task force will do good work, and I look forward to their final recommendations coming to Council in June.”

The task force’s work is intended to guide public messaging from elected officials and candidates to protect confidential information, the City’s official communication channels, and participants, and promote constructive dialogue. The guidelines will encourage open expression of diverse viewpoints while maintaining professionalism and civility in all forms of communication.

The members of the task force, appointed by Mayor Lahti, are:

• four members of Council – Councillor Haven Lurbiecki (chair), Councillor Samantha Agtarap (vice-chair), Councillor Diana Dilworth, and Councillor Amy Lubik;
• three community members: community changemaker Nicole Blades, communications expert Rosemary Lodge, and Freedom of the City award recipient (2024) Robert Simons; and
• one City staff liaison – Deputy City Manager Kate Zanon.

The task force will meet on the first Tuesday of each month to develop and draft the proposed guidelines, with the goal of presenting completed draft guidelines to Council for consideration by mid-June 2026.

Note: this is a corrected version of a news item that was originally published on January 29, 2026. The first paragraph has been corrected to clarify that the Mayor established the Council standing committee following Council direction to develop a communications policy that includes social media and would apply to Council and guide declared candidates for the upcoming election.