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Press Releases and Media Relations <br />Commissioner Halkiotis referred to the Crisis Management issue. He <br />commented that the communications via email worked very well during Hurricane Floyd. <br />They learned about dealing with the non-English speaking population. He feels there <br />needs to be a group of people, non-EMS people, to form an advisory group from certain <br />elements of the population to make suggestions and recommendations so that the <br />Hispanic population is informed during an emergency. He feels there needs to be an <br />advocate. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that the Advisory Board on Aging was concerned <br />about how the frail seniors were handled during emergencies. Outsiders sometimes <br />bring a different perspective and we need to figure out which groups need to be <br />contacted. He made reference to pages 6-7, Generating and Crafting Press Releases. <br />He mentioned that the new Assistant to the Manager position is a liaison between the <br />Manager and the Board of County Commissioners in posting information on the County <br />web page. It is important to identify a person who is responsible for automatic press <br />releases. If something fell through the cracks, such as notifying the Hispanic population <br />about emergency issues, this person would handle that. <br />Internet Site <br />Commissioner Brown mentioned the feedback of sending this report to the IT <br />Committee. Their review of it was that all of the things listed on this page needed to be <br />done. There is not a web master. It is dangerous to think that things can continue to be <br />added to the web page. There could be significant cost impacts to the County's website. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis asked why there was not a web master. <br />Commissioner Brown said this needs to be a new position. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that there is not a separate web master for the <br />Orange County school system. <br />Commissioner Brown said that the Board could ask Buck Tredway if he would <br />like to be trained, but it is a much bigger job. The IT Committee suggested that <br />information not be added on by different people. Keeping the web site current and <br />accurate is the job of the web master. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that he is troubled about budgetary issues. Before <br />he would vote for a new position he would want to be convinced that a full-time web <br />master needed to be hired. He suggested hiring a consultant. <br />Commissioner Jacobs said that the Board needs to articulate what they want for <br />this plan as far as the level of service. He feels that some of the other issues need to be <br />decided regardless of what they decide for the level of service they want to give the <br />citizens of Orange County. <br />John Link said that when he goes to a web site, he is instantly impressed if it is <br />on the ball and up to date. It is death if the web site is clearly not being updated. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis referred to a class at Orange High School that received a <br />grant from Cisco Systems for $60,000 for the students to learn to be web masters. He <br />feels that there are resources between the high schools and the University for this. <br />Commissioner Brown said that people expect the government web sites to be <br />accurate. She also mentioned a side issue that was discussed at the IT Committee <br />meeting. This issue was the software that the Planning Director wants to purchase for <br />the Planning Department. This would enable the County to use the web site as a citizen <br />access point for all of the information and data about planning. She said there are some <br />core decisions that need to be made about the network and the information we want to <br />provide to our citizens.