To: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
From: LUKE SMUDE, ASSISTANT TO THE CITY MANAGER
TITLE
title
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION REGARDING THE PROCESS TO REPLACE THE CITY'S WEBSITE AND CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
end
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
As part of the Strategic Plan, City Council directed staff to pursue the improvement and/or replacement of the City's website with a modern, responsive design that is visually appealing, user friendly, simple, informative, and easily searched.
In order to procure the next website and content management system provider, staff recommends the formation of two working groups, one with staff and a subcommittee of the Mayor and City Council and the other, with staff and a few members of the community selected by the City Manager. The working groups would assist with 1) the preparation and release of a Request for Information (RFI) from prospective website vendors, 2) evaluation of the RFI responses, 3) development of the criteria for the selection of a qualified vendor, and 4) selection of the vendor and identification of the desired contract services.
BACKGROUND
Since 2002, the City has utilized the same vendor for its website and back-end content management solution. In that time, user needs and expectations for the City's website have changed dramatically. Rather than a source of information, users expect the City's website to be an intuitive conduit to vital services where community members can find what they need quickly and easily. This expectation has only been enhanced over the past two years as the pandemic pushed individuals to engage online more than ever to obtain the goods and services required to carry out their daily lives.
There has been a great paradigm shift in municipal websites. Jurisdictions across the country have embraced a service-based delivery model focused on placing the services most used by the community prominently on a stripped-down homepage that includes a mobile-responsive design, intuitive navigat...
Click here for full text