LouisvilleKy.gov: A site with the right priorities
City's site puts the business of government first with visitors
- By Rutrell Yasin
- Jan 14, 2011
Louisville, Ky.’s
website is a good indicator that municipalities are getting the message that public-sector websites need to be less a purveyor of window dressing and more an intelligent browser of civic business.
For example, an icon labeled “Your Tax Dollars at Work” shows where Louisville gets its money and how officials spend the tax dollars, including what they pay for new fire engines. It also outlines how Louisville spends economic stimulus law money.
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The site also features MetroTV, which includes videos and downloadable MP3 files of city press conferences, Louisville city council programming and highlights of local performances.
Services are mapped via a 311 slide show that gives residents access to a directory for animal services and adoption; courts and jury duty; health and wellness; housing and social services; online bill payment; parks and recreation; public safety; and streets, sidewalk and trees.
In addition to links to permanent services, the slide show features seasonal or city news announcements, such as how to recycle Christmas trees, the completion of a project to deliver cleaner drinking water to Louisville and the opening of a new animal adoption center.
Last, but in the right order of civic usefulness, the site includes a media news section with a nod to city politics. It includes photos and text about Greg Fischer’s inaugural address as the city’s 50th mayor.
About the Author
Rutrell Yasin is is a freelance technology writer for GCN.