May 6, 2005

LETTER FROM CHAIRPERSON PUBLISHED IN GATES CHILI POST

Susan Swanton
284 Gatewood Avenue
Rochester, NY 14624
sswanton@ggw.org
585-247-0142 [home]
585-455-4450 [cell]

Gates Chili Post
Chili Avenue
Rochester NY 14624

Dear editor,

My congratulations to the Town of Gates and to Councilwoman Elaine Tette for the revised www.townofgates.org web page. I am proud that my suggestion from my 2003 campaign for Gates Town Supervisor to improve the town's web site has occurred and that Rochester Free-Net, a locally run 501 ( c) 3 not-for-profit volunteer organization, is hosting the Town’s web site. This too was a recommendation I had made many years ago to the Town Supervisor.

Many town forms and much information about different town departments are now online. The addition of approved minutes for the Town Board is excellent. The deeper a web site, the stickier a site, [i.e. the greater the content] the more often a web site's audience will return. The addition of minutes from other town boards and commissions, notably the Zoning and Planning Boards, would further improve the town web site, along with email addresses for all officials, particularly elected ones. Consider too posting agendas one week prior to a scheduled meeting.

The addition of feedback forms for the public would provide for two way communication that all good web sites offer. Also return of the history web pages that were on the old town web site would help area students. Finally adding the Town of Gates' Codebook to the town web site would really be super. Most other town web sites include this information and make it searchable.

One final suggestion to save money for the town would be to use the volunteer formatters which Rochester Free-Net can provide, rather than take the more costly method of using town hall employees or grant funds as is being done now. The Rochester Free-Net with over 112 volunteers is eager to assist local not for profit organizations develop an online presence and would be happy to match the Town of Gates' formatting requirements with the volunteer skills available through Rochester Free-Net. Please see our web page at www.ggw.org.

Meanwhile kudos to the Town for listening to me and improving the Town of Gates' web site.

Sincerely,
Susan Swanton