(June 8, 2015) -- Below is the full text of a June 1, 2015 press release issued by the City of Long Beach announcing a City website redesign and new "content management system." The press release didn't disclose its cost, nor did mass emailings and social network dispatches from Mayor Robert Garcia who associated himself with the project at a June 1 press event.

To our knowledge, LBREPORT.com is the only Long Beach news outlet to report the details below in connection with the new website's unveiling.

In October 2011, then-Councilman/now Mayor Robert Garcia proposed to allocate $350,000 from oil revenue for a new City of Long Beach website. Some taxpayers criticized the action at the time and Councilmembers reduced the publicly authorized amount to $150,000.

However by the time the Council took that public vote, internal city documents show that city management had already told then-Councilmembers and then-Mayor Foster that the costs for such website work (after management says it checked with other cities and vendors) indicated an average cost estimate of roughly $480,000. In addition, city staff told the Council that considerable internal staff time would likely be needed to implement the new website at a cost not yet quantified.

Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske (who has since exited the Council) disclosed staff's information during Council debate on the item, to no visible effect. A Council majority went on to vote 6-3 (Schipske, Gabelich, Neal dissenting) to approve the new website/content system among a number of items tapping oil revenue. (The other items included $1 million in "start up costs" for a jail-to-new-courthouse prisoner transfer tunnel [sum spent before project halted] and $350,000 for "ShotSpotter"/gunfire location technology [not implemented; Council reallocated the sum to LBPD overtime in Nov. 2012.]

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In February 2013, city management sought Council approval to spend up to $212,486 to hire two outside vendors: one for a new "content management system" and another for implementation services. Funds from LB's Harbor, Gas & Oil, Airport, Public Works & Development Services Departments would be used to pay the additional cost above $150,000.

The Council voted 7-0 (DeLong, Neal absent) to approve this sum as well as additional sums in City expenses that city staff didn't publicly quantify. The $150,000 City share would come from uplands oil revenue plus $22,486 in Port funds and $10,000 each from the city's Oil & Gas Fund, Civic Center Fund, Airport Fund and Development Services Fund plus additional sums not yet totaled. In its agendizing memo, city management stated there would be "additional costs to add departmental web sites currently using another web CMS [content management system] to the new enterprise system. The estimated cost to migrate each of these sites ranges between $25,000 and $50,000 and would be borne by the migrating department."

LBREPORT.com asked city management at the time for information on how many migrating departments would be paying; we received no response.

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In a mass emailing and on his website at the time (Feb. 2013), Vice Mayor [and soon to be declared Mayoral candidate] Robert Garcia didn't mention costs. Instead, he told recipients:

...Last night, the City Council gave final contract approval, to a proposal we made a year ago - to launch a new city website that would replace our outdated and current site. The new longbeach.gov, launching later this year, will feature the latest content management software, will provide additional city hall services including expanding our online payment system, neighborhood mapping, online permitting, social media integration, and much more.

Most importantly, it will make government more efficient, innovative and accessible to our residents. Our current website is antiquated and we need to provide more services for residents and businesses.

I'll keep everyone informed of the launch date.

Thanks again, with your support we are paving the way to a bright and sustainable future.

Go Long Beach

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In mid-January 2014, city management sent an internal memo to then-Mayor Foster and City Councilmembers, which then-Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske made public as part of her "Open Up" Long Beach series. City staff's internal memo indicated that the firm that was supposed to provide the implementation services subsequently indicated it couldn't provide those services for the proposed amount and city staff had hired another implementation firm.

"The project has required a considerable amount of internal staff resources to keep it moving forward due to the limited dollars available for vendor implementation services," said Curtis Tani, then Director of Technology Services in the memo, which told the electeds that a month earlier [Dec. 2013] the project team "finalized the website's new design and planned to begin working with City departments this month [Jan. 2014] to create their website content and enter it into the new system. However progress on the project has ceased as the vendor has stopped its efforts, demanding a substantial change order ($77,000) to implement the website design. Staff felt the demand was particularly unreasonable and has terminated the relationship with the firm."

Mr. Tani's memo said city staff was searching for a new entity to assist in implementing the new website "and will likely need to return to Council for additional funding to complete the project."

LBREPORT.com knows of no other public reference to the website's cost prior to the June 1, 2015 city press release (below) which announced the new website's debut...with no mention of costs.

LBREPORT.com sought to test the new website's transparency on this matter. We went to the website's "contracts" page (which appears to us to be basically the same as the old website's contract page.) We entered the name of the company indicated in City Hall's release as having designed and coded the site. (We don't have other information such as contract/bid number, date and the like.) We got nothing.

Accordingly, LBREPORT.com will be making a request under the CA Public Records Act (state freedom of information law) for the contract and related documents to learn how much the new website cost. We'll report it to you as soon as the City provides that information.

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Below is the City's June 1, 2015 press release:

[City press release text]

[Headline] City Unveils Redesigned Website; More Powerful, Efficient and User-Friendly

Today [June 1], the City of Long Beach unveiled its brand new website. The site, www.longbeach.gov, is built on a new powerful, efficient, and user-friendly content management system that will help users surf Long Beach with greater ease.

"Launching a new City website that is dynamic and user-friendly has been a top priority of mine," said Mayor Robert Garcia. "The new site has many new features, including neighborhood mapping and an open data portal. Our goal is to create a 24-hour online City Hall."

The homepage provides quick access to the most popular services, such as paying utility bills and applying for permits, as well as featuring new stories, the award-winning LBTV, and employment opportunities. Two calendars display both events and city-sponsored meetings, to keep people up to date on what's happening in Long Beach. A responsive content management system (CMS) allows content to be displayed properly on both mobile devices and desktop computers.

"With the Internet at nearly everyone's finger tips on phones and tablets, the website is the City's front door," said City Manager Pat West. "Features like LinkLB, our new e-mail notification system that everyone should sign up for, allows us to offer a wider welcome."

LinkLB is one of several new interactive features. Users can sign up for e-mail updates from Council Districts, the Mayor, City Departments and specific services. Other features include MapIT, an interactive map that allows users to locate parks, points of interest, and resources across the City. Visitors to the website also can download City apps, including Go LBPD, Go LGB, LBPL Mobile, Go Long Beach Animal Care Services and the original Go Long Beach app.

"The City's new website is extremely customer friendly. The outstanding design and features of the new website help visitors quickly get the information they want," said Robb Korinke, Technology and Innovation Commission Chair.

The website also features OpenLB, the City's open government portal that is the community's first and last stop for data, statistics and other information.

"The rollout of the site is a major accomplishment," said Chris Wilding, Interim Director of the Technology and Innovation Department. "This is only the first phase involving 12 departments and most elected officials. Phase Two will bring others onto the new CMS."

The responsive CMS also will boost the site's rankings in Google's new search algorithm, making it easier for www.longbeach.gov to rise higher in the search results. In addition, the Google Translate feature allows users to select one of four languages: English, Spanish, Khmer, and Tagalog (which Google recognizes as "Filipino").

The new website is based on the Ektron CMS. Technology and Innovation staff, assisted by Thinklogic, an area firm, designed and coded the site.

Developing. LBREPORT.com will continue to pursue this story...because taxpayers (the public consumers) have a right to know how their money is spent.