Administrative
Report
H.10., File # 22-3559 Meeting Date: 4/5/2022
To: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
From: CHRISTOPHER BENSON, INFORMATION TECH DIRECTOR
TITLE
APPROVE AN AGREEMENT WITH GRANICUS FOR CONTINUOUS ON-PREMIS USE OF THE
EXISTING GRANICUS CIVICA WEBSITE CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR NO COST
AND A TERM THAT ENDS WHEN THE CITY STOPS USING THE CIVICA SOLUTION FOLLOWING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A NEW WEBSITE SYSTEM.
APPROVE AN AGREEMENT WITH GRANICUS FOR CIVICA CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
SELF-HOSTING SERVER SETUP AND WEBSITE MIGRATION TO THE CITY NETWORK FOR AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $2,500 FOR THE TERM APRIL 5, 2022 - APRIL 4, 2023.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Granicus is no longer supporting the Civica Content Management System (CMS) which hosts the Redondo.org website. As the City has not yet chosen a new CMS platform, Redondo.org has to be migrated back to the City’s network. The attached Granicus Continuous Use Agreement (CUA) allows the City to operate the website up to the point the City stops using the Civica CMS solution.
Granicus will also assist with the on-site self-hosting server setup and the migration of the website back to the City.
In order to identify a replacement website system, the City Manager intends to create working groups with no more than two City Council members, key staff and two or three citizen participants to research prospective CMS systems and eventually recommend a solution to the Council for consideration of approval. An item to discuss the website CMS selection process will be presented to the City Council on April 19. Per the recently adopted strategic plan, a new vendor agreement is scheduled to be finalized by October 1, 2022 or earlier, if possible.
BACKGROUND
Between 1995 and 2003, the City’s website was hosted and maintained by Beachnet, an ISP run by students in the Redondo Unified School District. Due to support issues and design discrepancies across departmental web pages, where the viewer was unable to discern if they were on an actual City of Redondo Beach website while navigating pages, the City realized that it needed a more robust, cohesive and easier to manage solution that would enable staff to focus on content rather than web design.
CMS is a tool that allows users to create, manage and modify website content without the need for specialized technical knowledge. By 2003, website CMS options were becoming more readily available. This was appealing to the City as it did not have staff who could write html code and the
H.10., File # 22-3559 Meeting Date: 4/5/2022
available. This was appealing to the City as it did not have staff who could write html code and the City was not going to hire staff with that specific technical expertise. As a result, the City issued an RFP for CMS solutions and ultimately selected Civica, a leader in this space at the time. This enabled the City to create a unified, branded website presence where staff could update content independently.
A minor refresh of the Civica website was completed in 2010. In 2017 the website was upgraded to the latest version of the Granicus Civica CMS platform which included a redesigned interface. Later, in early 2018, by leveraging the SiteImprove monitoring service, IT staff modified the City's website to achieve level AA ADA compliance. This work is ongoing as we actively utilize the SiteImprove service to monitor the web site for errors. The service will continue to be used on any new CMS platform. Migration of the Civica CMS platform to a self-hosting server maintained by the City will allow for the continued use of the City’s website without disruption to the public while the City pursues a replacement product.
COORDINATION
The CUA and on-site self-hosting setup agreements were coordinated between the City Attorney’s office, IT staff and Granicus.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no cost associated with the CUA. The self-hosting server setup has a one-time cost of $2,500.
APPROVED BY:
Mike Witzansky, City Manager