New City Website Easier, More Transparent

Transparency is something that both residents and city officials have asked for over the years, and now it could come at the click of a mouse.

John Wisniewski, IT Director with the city, is one busy guy, as he's had to coordinate the launch of the new site based on recommendations from the Mayor's taskforce on communications, along with his other duties of answering a phone that never stops ringing.

However, he was able to sit down with Muskego Patch to give a preview of the features of the new site, and it's admittedly exciting to navigate.

Some of the features that users will find especially useful include:

• Expanded on-line bill pay: allows residents to pay citations, permit fees as well as tax bills and other user fees

• Alert sign ups: you will be able to receive alerts on your phone or in your in box for police alerts, the neighborhood watch newsletter, game cancellations from parks and rec, and more.

• Meetings on your calendar: if you follow Common Council, Public Safety or others, you can use your smart phone app to have these events put on your calendar through iCal

• Meeting agenda: easier to find, and if you missed a meeting, you can watch a video of the meeting, click on the topic you're interested in hearing discussion on and the video will load to that spot

Wisniewski said the goal was not only to make information easier to find, but to "engage the public more and make the site more interactive. This can be a powerful tool for residents and provide complete transparency."

The exact launch date for the site hasn't been determined, but Wisniewski was confident that the early part of January would be a safe bet. 

"We don't want to just push this through - we need to get it right the first time," he said.

A 'walk through' of the site will be made at a Common Council meeting, and possibly a presentation to the public beyond that if the need arises.