we saw that...

mayor roy blames city council for unupdated city website

**updated 2:40 pm cdt tuesday 24 april 2007**

Mayor Roy never said or implied that the Council is thwarting us from updating the website; he used the word recalcitrant about an entirely different subject.

Indeed, we are planning a major website overhaul, and as you correctly point out, the site is still regularly updated, although the Mayor hasn't uploaded a welcome letter yet.

As you may know, the City recently changed its logo, and because of this, we're going to redesign the color scheme and layout of the website. The new site, which should be launched within a couple of months, will be modeled after NYC's website, a very simple, fluid webpage that is easily and constantly updated. Coming very soon, the site will feature a section entitled "Office of the Mayor," which will feature press releases, biographical information, and more.

Additionally, we will be launching a number of other pages-- an Economic Development page filled with information on doing business in Alexandria, a tourism or visitor's page that will complement the CVB's site, and a new website for the Historical District Preservation Commission, which will showcase our historic properties.

This is all work in progress, and you're absolutely right: The Council doesn't have anything to do with whether or not we update the site. Mayor Roy knows this. I know this. Unfortunately, the article did make that mistaken implication.

One more thing: the way the previous administration had the website set up doesn't really work for us; any time you want to update the site, you have to call KJA and ask them to upload content. We want to ensure that we can upload content in-house.

- Lamar

--
Lamar White, Jr.
Assistant to the Mayor
City of Alexandria, Louisiana

City's Web site a little behind
Alexandria's official Web site, www.cityofalexandriala.com, needs some work.

Click on "press releases," and two items pop up, the most current one posted June 26, 2006. And clicking on the release titled "Red, White and Blue at the Zoo" does nothing.

Click on the "Mayoral Welcome" icon, and all you get is "Coming soon a letter from Mayor Jacques Roy."

Roy said the Web site and government access Channel 4 need revamping and that he's being hampered by a recalcitrant City Council.

re·cal·ci·trant –adjective
1. resisting authority or control; not obedient or compliant; refractory.
2. hard to deal with, manage, or operate.
word net: 1.stubbornly resistant to authority or control; "a fractious animal that would not submit to the harness"; "a refractory child" [syn: fractious]