News-Press, Cape cuts web links

Cape cuts Web link to group Civic association specifically banned;new rules adopted, by Don Ruane druane@news-press.com July 20, 2005
Visitors who browse Cape Coral's Internet site to learn more about the area won't find a link anymore to one of the city's oldest civic groups.
The Cape Coral Civic Association, a 42-year-old group that helped incorporate the city in 1970, according to its president, was specifically banned from the site's list of links late Monday night by the city council. The council voted 5-3 to not include the civic association after discussing some of the critical comments civic association President Ralph LePera and others in the group have made about council members.
The council also adopted a written policy for links by a 6-2 vote. It allows links to economic development partners such as chambers of commerce, and building and real estate associations. It also allows links to other government agencies, social service organizations, special purpose districts, hospitals, transportation hubs and public or private educational, entertainment, cultural and sports institutions.
That's the path the city council blazed for itself this week while establishing a written policy on what it will allow on its official Internet site.
The decisions highlight the interplay of politics, business and providing a positive image when a city or county decides what to include on its Internet site. Some cities and counties in Florida are guided by written policies, but others are not.
"I'd rather have more information out there than less," Mayor Eric Feichthaler said. The vote against the civic association was "totally political," but in keeping with a long-standing policy of the association, said LePera, whose wife, Alex LePera, is a council member. She, Councilman Richard Stevens and Feichthaler voted against blacklisting the association. LePera and Stevens also voted against the policy. "They, in their infinite wisdom, thought they were doing something to hurt Cape Civic. Guess what? It didn't hurt," Ralph LePera said. "They probably increased our membership."
Taxpayers shouldn't have to support links to nongovernment sites, Ralph LaPera said. The public can find those sites easily by searching the Internet, he said.
Cape Coral surveyed the Web sites of 16 cities and counties outside of Southwest Florida and included policies from nine in a report to the council on what links others include. The report included no information about government sites in Lee County.
But officials with Lee County, Fort Myers and Bonita Springs said Tuesday they do not have written policies on what links should be included on their sites.
The vast majority of the 412 local governments in Florida have an Internet site, said Frank Hagy, chief information officer for the Florida League of Cities. If they have links it's usually to government sites, he said. Linking to other organizations raises a fairness issue, said Hagy, who helped organize Orlando's site five years ago. "The concern we all had was what if you open it up to one and the KKK wants to put one on," Hagy said.
The Cape Coral council retained the authority under the new policy to decide which links will be included on its Web site.
In Lee County the decision to create a link to an outside organization is up to the department heads, said Assistant County Manager Pete Winton. They can ask the administration of the Board of County Commissioners for guidance if they have questions about the appropriateness of a link, he said. The county's site links to other government agencies and in some cases to social service agencies related to a county department's needs, such as human services.
"We have links to government and nonprofit areas," said Fort Myers City Clerk Marie Adams. The city's manager of information services makes the call about adding a link, she said.
Fort Myers' site links to city-related attractions, local media, the Boston Red Sox, chamber of commerce and art league. Bonita Springs avoids links to sites with illegal or immoral content, said city clerk and treasurer Dianne Lynn. The city has links to Turtle Time Inc., the ChildSafe Network and the chamber of commerce, but not to any civic associations. "There is no written policy. If someone e-mails us with a suggestion we take that into consideration. You can never have enough information out there," Lynn said.
Cape Councilman A.J. Boyd said opinion columns have no place on the city's site. He also expressed concerns about how the city could watch for material objectionable to the city on sites accessible from the sites linked to the city's site. "You should not have things that are negative or disrespectful," Boyd said. "I want what's best for this site to entice people to move their businesses and families to Cape Coral."