Press Release | Office of the Mayor | Mayor Wild Held His First Successful Twitter Town Hall on Website Redesign

For Immediate Release | Official Press Release

PRESS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE MAYOR

36601 Ford Road | Westland, Michigan | 48185

Office 734.467.3200 | Fax 724.721.2310

Mayor Wild Held His First Successful Twitter Town Hall on Website Redesign

Westland, MI - Mayor Wild answered questions and gathered intelligence from citizens on the City of Westland's web redesign during an open access town hall on Tuesday afternoon. This was the Mayor's very first Town Hall through an online forum, Twitter, and was conducted at his desk as he replied to all of the tweets in 140 characters or fewer.

The Mayor's old followers, as well as over a dozen new followers, used the #WestlandWeb to discuss how the City's website could be improved in order to aid in the process of a city website redesign that will be taking place this summer. There was a unanimous agreement among Tweeters that the current site underserves the residents with its crowded layout and outdated design. The Mayor also announced during the Tweet Up that new features, such as, an interactive near-real time crime-mapping utility and enhanced online options will be interpreted into the new site.

"As a public official in today's day and age, I am lucky to have many tools and technologies at my disposal to increase citizens' access to information on what's happening at City Hall, and on the flipside, to hear the concerns and needs of residents," said Mayor Wild. "This Twitter Town Hall was one example of an interesting and lively approach to keep in touch with residents, and it exceeded my expectations."

Mayor Wild was answering nearly one tweet per minute for the entire hour that the Twitter Town Hall lasted and thanks to the recommendations of residents will be considering a live customer service chat for the new website. That recommendation and more will be relayed to the vendor that is chosen from the bidding process. A request for proposals was sent out last week and the bidding period was open until Wednesday, May 1st. The redesign, content migration, training and implementation of the new website is estimated to take between 4-6 months.

For more information, contact Shannon Ackron, Administrative Secretary at (734)467-3200.

The City of Westland is the 10th largest city in Michigan with a population of over 84,000. The city's residential development is an excellent blend of single family homes, apartments and condominiums. The broad selection of housing opportunities is complimented by over 1500 acres of well-maintained parks and nature trails as well as a highly rated municipal golf course. Also available is a skate park, ice arena, a state-of-the-art Library and novel city park themes that are fun and family-friendly.

Westland has the location, land, infrastructure, and leadership, under Mayor William R. Wild to attract new industry and help existing businesses redevelop properties and to maintain competitiveness in today's global economy. Six modern platted industrial parks on 320 acres are served by class "A" internal roads, with up to date utilities and rail access available within two of the parks. Westland is conveniently located within the center of southeastern Michigan's expressway system, minutes north of Detroit Metropolitan Airport, and ideally located between downtown Detroit and Ann Arbor.

Westland is the area's premier "Shopping and Dining Destination". Westland Shopping center, one of the country's original four regional malls, boasts 80 retail stores and has anchored Westland's commercial district for more than 30 years. Westland's diversity and progressive planning offers residents a wide variety of life experiences, and make Westland truly the "All American City".