Littleton board opts out of Website

In a move initiated by a request from Commissioner and Mayor Pro Tem Betty Willis, the town decided to take the advice of the University of North Carolina School of Government Center for Public Technology and withdraw its approval for the Website. 

The letter sighted various reasons why a town should not allow their governmental Website to be designed and hosted by a private citizen.  Among the concerns stated in the letter were:

• Private citizens owning and operating a governmental Website do not have the authority to conduct business on behalf of the town, so conflicts of interest could occur if other business arrangements are made by the Website owners without the knowledge of the government.

• The ownership of a government Website by a private citizen could lead to the elimination of that service, without warning, if the citizen moves or decides to end such an arrangement.  

• Government Websites should be used for the express purpose of transmitting governmental information or allowing citizens, visitors, employees, and business to interact with the governmental unit.  

After reading the letter the board voted four to one in favor of not allowing the website to be handled by a private citizen. Commissioner Terry Newsom was the only dissenting vote.

The letter advised that if the town desires a listing of businesses, for economic development purposes or general advertisement purposes, they should have a private group or a non-profit organization such as a chamber of commerce create a distinct Website for such purposes.

Town citizen Sylvia Alston did her best to get the town to change its mind.  She talked about saving the town money now and in the future. In the end the board was not swayed.

Newsom stated that he voted no on the Website issue to keep his word.

Alston questioned why other commissioners had changed their mind from commitments they had made just hours before the meeting. She was advised that the letter was not received by the mayor until just before the town meeting.

In a discussion about the site Willis talked about the possibility of being sued because of what was on the site or what was left off a site. She noted that in South Carolina they had a situation where the town was sued. She added that while it (a lawsuit) may not ever happen there is a possibility that it could happen.

Alston responded, “I think as long as we continue to think like that, that we will not be progressive. It is not very progressive for us to have our head in the ground, so to speak,” she added.

She also stated that her concerns were that the town had already been paying for the domain name and had hired the expertise, a part time person, but had not created the site. Follow up research revealed that the part time employee Alston was referring to was hired for her computer expertise, not her Website expertise. 

Alston questioned why when she brings things to the board that other towns do, that Littleton does not want to do them. Mayor Hawfield responded that they do what they think is best for the town. Town Attorney Gilbert Chichester recommended that the town follow the suggestion of the Center for Public Technology and not allow a private citizen to design and maintain the town’s Website.

For now it looks like the town will create a Website, but no date has been set for its completion.