Yorba Linda to debut new website, web address on March 1 and expand social media presence

Yorba Linda is planning a March 1 launch date for a new city website and a vastly increased presence on four popular social media sites.

A new, simpler address – www.yorbalindaca.gov – will lead users to the city site, designed under a three-year contract with CivicPlus, a Kansas-based firm specializing in developing local government websites.

A “dotgov” designation “assures users that they are accessing an official city website, since only government entities are issued a .gov domain,” noted a report to the City Council from Allison Estes, assistant to the city manager.

All “dotgov” domains are administered by the General Services Administration and must follow federal guidelines to avoid suspension or termination. Guidelines include no non-government advertisements and no political or campaign information, Estes stated.

“The purpose of the website is simply to convey information to the public and is not a First Amendment 'public forum' for general discussion of city-related subject matter,” Estes said.

Regarding privacy, Estes stated: “Any private information regarding an individual that is collected on the city's website will be used only for the intended purpose outlined on the website” and the city “will not disclose any personal information to any third party, unless required to do so under federal or state law,” including California's Public Records Act.

Only city-sponsored events will appear on the website calendar, a policy Estes said is also practiced by Brea, Fullerton, La Habra and Placentia. Other organizations are able to post information on government access channel 3 under a separate policy.

Although the library and parks and recreation are on some social media sites, the city's general presence is set to begin March 1, according to a report by city communications coordinator Valerie Passarella.

The sites recommended include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and NextDoor. The new social media policy applies to council members, commissioners, appointed officials and the city staff.

Of special interest in the lengthy policy are regulations regarding public comments on the city postings on the sites. Basically, “the city reserves the right to determine what information shall and shall not be placed on city social media sites.”

Among other policy statements:

--“The city reserved the right at any time to remove any and all comments and content and, to the extent permitted by law, to remove comments and content in violation of its Social Media Sites Terms and Conditions of Use.”

--“Two or more posts containing inappropriate content as outlined in this policy or posts from a spam account may result in the account being blocked from the city's social media accounts entirely.”

--”The city will at its discretion remove posts and all comments related thereto at regular intervals at such time as the event in the post is either past or the post has existed for 90 days.”