Memorandum
City of Lawrence
City Manager’s Office
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TO: |
Mike Wildgen
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FROM: |
Lisa Patterson
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CC: |
Debbie Van Saun Ron Hall
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Date: |
July 21, 200
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RE: |
Webmaster position: electronic government coordinator/ electronic communications coordinator
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In addition to eGov initiatives, the city has responded to the demand for 24/7 information with an expansive array of information on the internet by creating web sites using a part-time student intern, the executive secretary, the communications manager and individual department clerical and support staff. This decentralized arrangement creates challenges in managing the content, integrating the data and hosting as well creates an inequality among department sites and provides very limited capacity for growth.
The addition of eGov applications has added significant demand to Information Systems staff to manage the additional servers and data integration and maintenance issues. The increased expectation for city information to be provided on the web has added to the workload of the department web contacts and the communications manager. This group of 13 individuals range from clerical staff to analysts that have attended basic web development training who are challenged to fit web site development and maintenance into existing positions. The city’s ability to recruit qualified student interns has greatly diminished since the inception of the city’s web site. Qualified students are attracted to more lucrative use of his or her skills. Additional challenges created by the use of an intern are the turnover in employment and limited time.
The city’s sites have grown into dependable, reliable resource housing city information for the community. To date, the support required this resource have been provided by “band aides” from existing city staff. If the stability of the web site and information is to be secure, additional resources need to be dedicated. The webmaster will provide the technical expertise and the coordination needed to maintain and grow the sites.
Impact of the position
A City Webmaster position would be assigned to manage the content, design, updates, and data integration of City department web pages. This position would facilitate enhancement of department sites, determine web design standards, coordinate HTML content management, and preside over data integration issues between web data presentation and backend legacy systems.
The position will allow an expansion of electronic communications with the community and provide the expertise to develop advanced functions on the web site.
In addition to managing the content, navigation and back end technical support of the web site, the webmaster can serve as the coordinator future eGov projects. The ability to connect the vast amount of relevant internal data to the web will require the dedication of more resources than are currently available via our current web site management structure.
eGovernment Initiative
The need for the webmaster was first identified in the EGovernment Strategic Implementation Plan in 2002 via “A future consideration is the hiring of a webmaster to coordinate, update, and implement design standards involving the City’s web page”. The position of webmaster was included in the 2003 eGov program improvements submitted by Information Systems. In the 2005 and 2006 budget, program improvements for the webmaster position were submitted by Public Information.
A City Commission goal in 2002 made the implementation of eGovernment services a priority in order to more easily provide information to citizens. The City of Lawrence developed an eGovernment Strategic Implementation Plan identified seven eGov projects for phased implementation through a forum sponsored by Innovation Groups and the Kansas City Mid-America Regional Council together. The seven identified projects in 2002 were;
· Internet Mapping, launched spring 2003
· Paperless Commission Agenda, renamed Web-based Agenda, launched Jan. 2004
· Online Utility Billing, launch May 2003
· Online Job Applications, launching Fall 2005
· Online Recreation Class Enrollment, launched Fall 2003
· Building Construction & Permits, on-line reviewing launched October 2003
· Employee Intranet, operational Fall 2004
In addition the initiatives in the 2002 plan, these initiatives have been identified ;
· Businesslinks
· Intranet Improvement
· Legal Notices online
· Public Documents online
· Utility Billing online improvements
· Business Licenses online
· Complaint Tracking/Work Orders online
· Time and Attendance
· On-line licensing renewal, launching summer 2005
· Employee paystub information online
Threats to Current Situation
Summary
The need for a position to manage the electronic government function for the city was first identified in the 2002 EGovernment Strategic Implementation Plan, the tool that has guided the city in providing on-line services. To move to the next level and continue meeting the expectations of citizens and of commissioners, additional resources are needed. The service of “24/7 service” is greatly challenged if it continues to rely on the medley of support that has, to date, successfully developed the city’s current web sites. The need for combined and designated content management and technical support has never been greater.
Peer Cities
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Web position(s) |
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Douglas County |
1 FTE, webmaster |
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City of Lenexa, KS |
1 FTE, web designer plus use of department support and Stellent content management software, approx. cost $100K includes all program modules |
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City of Manhattan, KS |
2 FTE plus department support |
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Columbia, MO |
1 FTE, Electronic Government Coordinator |
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Topeka, KS |
2 FTE, Electronic Communications Mgr/ Webmaster and Web Design |
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Ames, IA |
0- assigned responsibility to several positions |
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Waco, TX |
1 FTE plus department support |
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Lincoln, NE |
1 FTE |
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Norman, OK |
1 FTE, Web Designer / Producer |
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Stillwater, OK |
1 FTE, Web/Application Support Specialist |
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Contractor 20 hours/week plus dept. staff maintain pages |
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1 FTE plus department support |
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1 FTE plus department support |