City arts staff demonstrated a new submission-and-review workflow the commission will use for project proposals: each submission will be available in a shared Teams channel as a PDF with a linked SurveyMonkey rating sheet that commissioners can complete. The system includes the ability to create per-commissioner tabs and track reviewer completion.

A staff member explained the review flow and the new recommendation options: move a project forward for discussion (short-term, low-cost), hold it for the biannual project meeting (larger projects with budget requests), or mark it as not moving forward. “When you click the link, this is what you’ll see, and it’ll have each of the submissions that have been received here,” the staff presenter said while walking commissioners through the interface.

Commissioners flagged a mismatch between internal evaluation items and the public submission form — specifically an internal rating item labeled “increasing space for arts and culture” that does not appear on the applicant-facing submission. Staff said they will separate internal-evaluation questions from the public form so commissioners can rate projects on internal priorities without asking applicants to answer those same questions.

The commission also discussed whether to set a numeric passing score to reduce ambiguity when the committee’s weighted ratings conflict with commissioner recommendations. One commissioner noted that a low-rated project might still be feasible if there is budget and capacity, suggesting that the threshold decision should be sensitive to project quantity, budget and timing. Commissioners agreed to review the form and comment prior to the next meeting.

A proposal from Whidbey Playhouse and three other submissions are in the shared folder for review; staff said four submissions exist now and commissioners should complete their ratings within the specified window so results can be tallied fairly.

Next steps: staff will separate internal evaluation items from applicant-facing questions, schedule any necessary follow-ups, and commissioners will use the Teams folder and SurveyMonkey links to complete reviews ahead of future meetings.