In June, Cook County IT Director Rena Rogers told the county board that the new county website was ready to go live. The new site can be viewed at the same web address, but it looks much different. The site has a number of new features that will allow citizens to get quick answers to common questions. See the new website at www.co.cook.mn.us.
Cook County IT Director Rena Rogers had some exciting news for Cook County commissioners at the June 14, 2016 meeting.
“Last Friday afternoon, June 10, we officially launched the new Cook County website,” Rogers announced. “And like some counties, we didn’t spend $100,000 to do this.”
This new site will allow people to pay property and lodging taxes online as well as, say, fill out a form to fight a traffic ticket rather than call the county attorney’s office to debate the issue, Rogers said.
A county map portal will be available and ePermiting, which allows licensed contractors to apply for building permits online, will also be available as well.
The new website replaces one that was “old and not responsive—i.e. it didn’t play well with smart phones and tablets,” Rogers said.
Rogers added the old site contained outdated content that was, “often inaccurate, inconsistent between departments, cluttered with old information, and impossible to locate what you needed.”
Because it was cumbersome, everyone wanted his or her announcements on the main page.
“A contemporary website is a major, if not the single most, important tool for an organization’s communication. Today static content and a bulletin board is not enough. Just like with Amazon.com, the website is another door to the courthouse and it is open 24-7.”
Rogers and her IT staff wanted to create a Cook County website “that improves service and information dissemination to our constituents, and in doing so improves the relationship between county government and those we serve.”
Cost to create the site was minimal, she said, because, “The skills to create the new website already existed with Cook County staff and there was no need to hire consultants.”
For those who have a hard time using computers, Rogers promises the new website will be easy to use and navigate.
“It incorporates an effective use of social media and multi-media and includes high demand dynamic and static content; and reduces the clutter of seldom accessed static content.”
One big plus is that it is also easy for department heads or their staff to update, Rogers said. This component will, “ensure that content is fresh and responsive to constant changes.”
“It takes a village to create something like this. When we have any projects in IT we also have to keep our infrastructure (requests and incidents) under control. That means when an individual is working on a major project someone else is doing that person’s job in addition to their own,” said Rogers.
“Wow, what great work,” said Commissioner Jan Sivertson, who added that the site was synergistic and Rogers’ energy was evident throughout the process.
“You had a vision and your people came on board,” said Commissioner Garry Gamble. “We live in a 24-7 world and people want immediate access. With consistency in formatting it means I don’t have to relearn everything every time I go to a new page. Excellent job.”
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