City Hall - 455 Main Street Worcester, Massachusetts

Chairperson Councilor Wally read the item and moved for a roll call vote to adopt the item. Order adopted on a roll call vote of 3 Yeas and 0 Nays.

Chairperson Councilor Wally read the item and recognized the Chief Information Officer, who discussed the potential for creating the application after speaking with the recently hired Commissioner of Public Works and Parks concerning the logistics of the item, as well as a new CRM program that will have more capabilities to modernize and integrate with DPW and other city departments.

Chairperson Councilor Wally recognized Councilor Russell, who provided information relative to where the idea for his motion came from, including that other communities such as Cambridge currently utilize a similar application.

Chairperson Councilor Wally recognized Councilor Toomey, who discussed using Facebook’s tagging location feature as a way to provide information until such a time the application is created.

Chairperson Councilor Wally recognized the Director of Urban Innovation, who discussed the Recycle Smart application currently used by the Department of Public Works and how a new application could be more public facing and help individuals track their inquiries.

Chairperson Councilor Wally moved for a roll call vote to recommend the item be held.

Recommend Hold on a roll call vote of 3 Yeas and 0 Nays.

Chairperson Councilor Wally read the item and recognized the Chief Information Officer, who discussed the city’s process for replacing the current ERP System project in place, which is a homegrown program that has been in place for the last twenty-five (25) years.

Chairperson Councilor Wally recognized Councilor Toomey, who discussed a potential timeline for implementing the integration of such an ERP System, as well as fail safes in place to maintain the information currently kept by the city with the Chief Information Officer.

Chairperson Councilor Wally recognized Councilor Russell, who discussed the pricing of the contract and bidding process for the ERP System with the Chief Financial Officer.

Chairperson Councilor Wally moved for a roll call vote to recommend the item be placed on file.

Recommend File on a roll call vote of 3 Yeas and 0 Nays.

Chairperson Councilor Wally read the item and recognized the Chief Information Officer, who discussed the current plans concerning the Financial System replacement.

Chairperson Councilor Wally moved for a roll call vote to recommend the item be placed on file.

Recommend File on a roll call vote of 3 Yeas and 0 Nays

Chairperson Councilor Wally read the item and recognized the City Clerk, who provided an overview of the presentation concerning the new technologies associated with the city agenda management system.

Chairperson Councilor Wally recognized the Chief of Council, who provided a presentation on the new City agenda portal, with information relative to the new City Council webpage.
Chairperson Councilor Wally recognized Councilor Russell, who discussed the City agenda portal with the Chief of Council and the City Clerk.

Chairperson Councilor Wally recognized Councilor Toomey, who discussed opportunities to interact with both district councilors and at-large councilors with the Chief of Council.

Chairperson Councilor Wally recognized the City Clerk, who demonstrated the usage of the GIS application which can be used to access information concerning the representing Councilors based on property address.

Chairperson Councilor Wally recognized the Deputy City Clerk, who provided a presentation on the agenda management system, with information relative to the historical context of the current program, the new program designed by iCompass, and an example from other communities that utilize iCompass programs.

Chairperson Councilor Wally recognized Councilor Russell, who discussed whether the program will be accessible on iPad and other platforms, whether there are similar programs in other communities in Massachusetts, and the budget for the program.

Chairperson Councilor Wally recognized the City Clerk, who discussed the goals of transitioning to a new agenda program, collaborative effort to provide training for the new program with other boards and commissions, and committees. The City Clerk then presented a demo on the iCompass AgendaNotes App on iPad, and discussed the incorporation of social media usage in the platform.

Chairperson Councilor Wally then discussed when the new program will go live on the City website with the City Clerk and the Deputy City Clerk.

Chairperson Councilor Wally recognized Councilor Toomey, who discussed the differences between City Council agenda and School Committee agenda, and accessibility of board and commissions agendas.

Chairperson Councilor Wally recognized Councilor Russell, who discussed whether the video stream for the meeting will be accessible on the iPad app, and whether users’ annotations on the iPad app will be public records with the City Clerk.

Chairperson Councilor Wally recognized the Chief of Council, who discussed plans concerning the social media websites that will be used to publish information concerning the City Council.

Chairperson Councilor Wally recognized Councilor Russell, who discussed the usage of social media websites for City Council purposes, the challenges concerning the spread of disinformation, and ensuring the correct information is published on said social media accounts.

Chairperson Councilor Wally discussed the responsibility of the administrator of the social media accounts to moderate public comments.

Chairperson Councilor Wally then recognized Councilor Toomey, who discussed challenges concerning the spread of disinformation, and the usage of Facebook page for informational purposes for the public.

Chairperson Councilor Wally brought forth the following Chairman’s Order: Request City Clerk provide City Council with a report including a draft of social media policies and procedures for City Council, in the event that a Facebook page for the City Council is created, including information relative to best practices used in other communities.

Chairperson Councilor Wally recognized Councilor Russell, who discussed the concerns over the Facebook page representing the City Council, and the possibility of City Council Facebook page being perceived as a campaigning tool for the re-elections of incumbent City Councilors.

Chairperson Councilor Wally recognized Councilor Toomey, who discussed the research on the existing social media websites utilized by other communities.

Chairperson Councilor Wally moved for a roll call vote to recommend the item be placed on file.

Recommend File on a roll call vote of 3 Yeas and 0 Nays

Request City Clerk provide City Council with a report including a draft of social media policies and procedures for City Council, in the event that a Facebook page for the City Council is created, including information relative to best practices used in other communities.