FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE – FEBRUARY 12, 2019
The Committee adopted a resolution to concur in the recommendation contained in the report.
Recommendations #3 and #4 do not require City Council approval.
Councillors: Sharron Bryce (Chairperson), Bob Hawkins, Jason Mancinelli and Barbara Young were present during consideration of this report by the Finance and Administration Committee.
The Finance and Administration Committee, at the PRIVATE session of its meeting held on February 12, 2019, considered the following report from the Administration:
RECOMMENDATION
1. That the Council Support Policy be amended to include the City Council Website Content Management Governance policy as outlined in Appendix A and the general housekeeping amendments as outlined in the body of the report.
2. That the City Clerk conduct a review of the City Council Website Content Management Governance policy one year from the date of approval and report back with the results to the Finance and Administration Committee.
3. That item FA18-3 be removed of the list of outstanding items for the Finance and Administration Committee.
4. That this report be forwarded to the February 25, 2019 City Council meeting for approval.
CONCLUSION
To provide a website content management governance policy through which the City of Regina Administration can ensure content on each member’s Regina.ca webpage is managed by using best practices, to protect the integrity of City Council and the City.
BACKGROUND
In May 2018, a review of the Mayor and Councillors’ webpages on Regina.ca was conducted and members of City Council were consulted in preparation for the redesign of Regina.ca and to determine if any interim improvements could be made to the current webpages.
DISCUSSION
As a result of the review it was identified by both City Administration and members of Council that a website content management governance policy should be established. The intent of this policy is to regulate and manage the content members of Council wish to publish on their webpages located on Regina.ca. This policy would not regulate the content published to their own personal website or social media accounts.
A policy of this nature is vital to ensure best practices, consistency, branding, standards, rules and integrity are maintained. Pending approval, the Council Support Policy – Appendix B will be amended to include the Website Content Governance Policy as outlined in Appendix A of this report. The policy defines acceptable content vs. unacceptable content, outlines the content review process, states when accessing an independent member’s website or social media link, that a disclaimer will be posted advising the user that they are about to leave the City’s website and how members of Council will be supported.
Research was conducted on how other municipalities/counties across Canada manage their Council’s website content and what industry best practices are used. The City of Calgary, City of Edmonton and Strathcona County were identified as the only entities that publish content to the same degree that the members of Regina City Council are wanting to publish. All other Canadian municipalities researched only publish the following content:
- Mayor/Councillor’s Bio
- Mayor/Councillors Photo
- Ward representation
- Contact Information
- Committees appointed to serve on
The Canadian municipalities mentioned above do not currently have a formal website content management governance policy in place. However, the City of Calgary and Strathcona County are looking at putting a policy of this nature in place.
Given the research conducted and pending the adoption of this policy, Regina may be the first Canadian municipality to set the stage for a website content management governance policy for members of a City Council.
General Housekeeping
In addition, the following general housekeeping amendments will need to be made to Section 1.0 of the Council Support Policy:
Ward Newsletters: This category will need to be split into two categories: Paper Newsletter and e-Newsletter, with the following criteria included under the
e-Newsletter category:
Councillors may publish monthly newsletters annually and use any portion of the annual allowance approved by City Council for expenses associated with the creation and publishing of ward e-Newsletters. Communications will be available to assist members in preparing e-Newsletter articles and the City Clerk’s Office will be able to assist with the publishing of the content to produce the e-Newsletter.
Ward e-Newsletters shall include city information for distribution throughout the member’s ward.
In an election year expenses can only be incurred for e-newsletters published before June 1.
Communications: This category requires the words “Communications Branch” to be changed to “Citizen Experience Department”.
RECOMMENDATION IMPLICATIONS
Financial Implications
None with respect to this report.
Environmental Implications
None with respect to this report.
Policy and/or Strategic Implications
None with respect to this report.
Other Implications
None with respect to this report.
Accessibility Implications
None with respect to this report.
COMMUNICATIONS
None with respect to this report.
DELEGATED AUTHORITY
Notwithstanding that the recommendations contained in this report are within the delegated authority of the Finance and Administration Committee, the Committee is requesting that City Council consider and give its final approval.
Respectfully submitted,
FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE
Ashley Thompson, Secretary