KingsportTN.gov has been recognized by Juggle as one of the top city government websites in the state of Tennessee. Below you'll find an interview with Tim Whaley, Director of Community and Government Relations for the City of Kingsport.
- KingsportTN.gov is a top-notch web portal; what has been your role in its development?
We began the process of redesigning about two years ago. Over time, benign neglect had seen the original web portal, designed in 1996 or so, stagnate. Very few on staff had HTML skills to even update the old site.
- Can you summarize the history of Kingsport’s web portal?
With the gradual obsolescence of the city’s original site, several departments had outsourced their websites away from the singular City of Kingsport portal with domain names not all affiliated with the city. Working together, I think we migrated all but two or three of the departmental websites back onto the KingsportTN.gov domain. Now, we once again have a one-stop-shop on the web that preserves the core City of Kingsport identity and branding through all of our various departments. Fragmentation had become so serious that several of the departmental websites were not easily identifiable as City of Kingsport functions.
- What are the overarching objectives of Kingsport’s current e-government initiatives?
First and foremost is to be the destination of choice for our citizens in discovering more about their local government, providing an easy web portal to get up-to-date on city governmental actions, and comment on those actions, as well as scrutinize financial records, review past Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting minutes, or just check out the latest city job openings or bid opportunities, all at a glance. Second, with so many site selection firms in the economic development sphere now utilizing the web, it’s critical that the website serve as Kingsport’s front door to the world. We have also placed a ton of demographic and other economic data at the users fingertips should they so chose to use it. And, one of our highest complements so far came from a bond rating firm that found the amount and volume of city financial data very easy to find and use. So in a nutshell, it’s all about governmental transparency and marketing the community to the world.
- From a marketing standpoint, what are some of the strategies that you have utilized to draw attention to the information and services provided by KingsportTN.gov, both on- and off-line?
We used all media channels at launch and continue to plug the website in press releases and on our local government access channel on cable television. We’re pleased that a community of 45,000 produces anywhere from 475 to 1000 unique visits a day depending on the time of year and local events at the time.
- How has citizen feedback influenced the development of Kingsport’s e-government services?
This is really a new area for us and our region, but we are taking the first steps toward adding additional e-government services. Right now, services are basically limited to providing two-way communication with elected and appointed officials, as well as requests for services. Only limited payment functions are currently available although we are working with our finance department to get the third-party and merchant account agreements in place necessary to move forward with providing new payment options. This is really the service most in-demand, the convenient web-pay option for city services.
- What is the most-used feature or service on the site?
Given the economy, it’s probably no surprise at all that job-related visits are probably about the top used feature, followed closely by the limited-bill pay features we offer, as well as map features, general news topics and events calendars.
- What were some of the goals or crucial features for the new version of the website?
Ease of use, by both city staff and the viewing public. This was Job 1. It allows our staff to keep the website up-to-date through a customized, open-source content management system that anyone with an understanding of Microsoft Word can master.
- What have been some of the biggest hurdles in developing the newly revamped KingsportTN.gov, and how did you overcome them?
Really, the biggest hurdles involved just getting our department heads to realize we have to take the web seriously and that our citizens expect current, up-to-the-date information with easy ways to contact those people responsible for providing public services. Things have come together nicely overall.
- Where do you see e-government heading in the next 2-3 years? Are there any exciting new features or services currently in the works for Kingsport’s web portal?
Clearly, mobile is the future, as are streamlining requests for new services and handling customer issues. We have a ways to go to get there though. As media changes overall, people are looking to remove filters and get straight to the source of information without gatekeepers or interpretation. We have a real opportunity to advance government, really reconnect the public with their government, and things like streaming video of meetings, video archiving of meetings indexed to agenda items, some of the things like that which are out there but really cost money and manpower to get to.
- What else that you would like to tell us about KingsportTN.gov?
We really appreciate this award and hope folks will check out the site, drop us a line, and let us know how we can get better!