HomeMy WebLinkAbout20131063.tiffWELD COUNTY
CODE ORDINANCE 2013-3
IN THE MATTER OF ENACTING CHAPTER 4 COMMUNICATIONS, OF THE WELD COUNTY
CODE
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF THE COUNTY OF
WELD, STATE OF COLORADO:
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners of the County of Weld, State of
Colorado, pursuant to Colorado statute and the Weld County Home Rule Charter, is vested with
the authority of administering the affairs of Weld County, Colorado, and
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners, on December 28, 2000, adopted Weld
County Code Ordinance 2000-1, enacting a comprehensive Code for the County of Weld,
including the codification of all previously adopted ordinances of a general and permanent nature
enacted on or before said date of adoption, and
WHEREAS, the Weld County Code is in need of revision and clarification with regard to
procedures, terms, and requirements therein.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Board of County Commissioners of the
County of Weld, State of Colorado, that the following Chapter of the Weld County Code be, and
hereby is, enacted to read as follows:
Add the following:
CHAPTER 4
Communication
ARTICLE I
County Social Media Policy
Sec. 4-1-10. Introduction.
Sec. 4-1-20. Definitions.
Sec. 4-1-30. Social Media Content Policy.
Sec. 4-1-40. Official County Social Media Sites.
Sec. 4-1-50. Violation.
Sec. 4-1-10. Introduction.
A. Policy. The Weld County Board of Commissioners will determine, at its discretion, how
its web -based social media and online community presence will be designed,
implemented and managed as part of its overall communications and information
technology strategies and functions. County government social media and other
web -based resources may be modified or removed by the County at any time and without
notice as necessary to maintain the integrity of both communications and information
technology functions.
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B. Purpose. The Weld County Board of Commissioners wishes to represent Weld County
appropriately, consistently and positively on the internet. Collaborative technologies are
fundamentally changing how information is provided, received and how the County can
engage its citizens. To aid in meeting the goals of the County, the purpose of this policy is
to establish procedures for creating and maintaining a social media and online community
presence which is in accord with policies and directives established by County
government.
C. Scope. This policy applies to any pre-existing or proposed social media web sites and
online community accounts created by County employees during the course and scope of
their employment and includes all sites and accounts described in the remainder of this
document. This policy does not govern personal use of social media web sites during work
hours. This behavior is prohibited as outlined in the Weld County Code Sec. 9-3-10
County Network and Internet Acceptable Use Policy. This policy does not govern personal
use of social media by employees when they are not acting on behalf of Weld County.
Sec. 4-1-20. Definitions.
County Social Media — those social media web sites established for the benefit of Weld
County with authority granted as outlined in this policy. Includes all employee social media
accounts established at the request of or with approval of the Weld County Board of
Commissioners. Weld County social media does not include employee personal social media
accounts.
Social Media web sites — social media web sites focus on creating and fostering online
social communities for a specific purpose and connect users from varying locations and interest
areas. These web sites can offer many different ways for users to interface such as instant
messaging, blogging and commenting, microblogging, status updates, online forums, web site
link sharing, video conferencing, sharing photos, videos, etc. Examples of social media web sites
— FaceBook, YouTube, and Twitter.
Social Networking — these websites offer a way for registered users to communicate with
each other on the internet, usually offering many ways to connect to other registered users such
as microblogging, instant messaging, photo sharing, etc.
Public Information Officer or PIO — the individual designated by the Board of County
Commissioners to address the public and media on the Board's policies. For purposes of this
Chapter, the Public Information Officer does not include departmental public information officers
designated by department heads or elected officials.
Sec. 4-1-30. Social Media Content Policy.
Every day people discuss, debate, and engage Weld County Government in many online
conversations. Weld County recognizes the vital importance of participating in these
conversations and is committed to participating and listening in meaningful ways. This policy
addresses official county social media sites maintained by county employees. Any department
addendums to this policy must be reviewed by the IT Governance Committee and the Board of
County Commissioners before implementation.
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Sec. 4-1-40. Official County Social Media Sites.
A. Official County use of social media is intended to broaden the reach of communication and
engagement with the community and stakeholders, while utilizing new platforms that offer
methods of communicating beyond traditional sources of information such as the county
website. Official social media tools should be used to:
1. Deliver public information, customer service and E -Government to county
residents.
2. Advance countywide goals such as creating a culture of engagement.
3. Communicate directly to the public especially during emergencies.
4. Increase government transparency and efficiency.
B. Existing Sites. The Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) through the Public
Information Officer (PIO) maintains the countywide social media sites on Facebook,
Twitter, and YouTube. Elected Official and Department Head designated individuals
may post to the countywide social media accounts. Departments are encouraged to
contribute content to existing county social media sites in lieu of their own presence.
Departments may not create their own social media sites.
C. Requesting New Sites. New social media sites on Facebook and Twitter or future social
media outlets may be requested through this four -step process:
1. The Elected Official / Department Head must approve of the request.
2. The request will be submitted to Web Governance, which will provide a
recommendation to the BOCC for approval or denial of the request.
3. The request will be submitted to IT Governance, which will provide a
recommendation to the BOCC for approval or denial of the request.
4. The request will be submitted to the BOCC for final approval or denial.
If approved, PIO will create pages with proper settings, look and feel to ensure
consistency; transfer administrative rights to the agency; and retain an administrative role.
D. Publishing.
1. Publishers. The Public Information Officer (PIO) will serve as the lead staff person
for official county social media sites. Mandatory duties include serving as the lead
contact for an account, developing the engagement framework for posting
information and responding to feedback, adhering to policies, and ensuring the
social media site is regularly updated. Department staff may manage day-to-day
operations of a social media site, but in close consultation with the PIO. Only
county staff will serve as publishers; publishers will attend mandatory training
sessions. Volunteers, interns, contractors and board/authority/commission
members are not eligible to administer official accounts. Employees with
authorization to publish to County Social Media have the obligation to monitor
County Social Media for any inappropriate postings. If any posting appears
inappropriate, or the publisher is unsure, the PIO must be informed.
2. Department Heads and Elected Officials Role. Department Heads and Elected
Officials are responsible for all information posted by their employees, and will
monitor content on all official social media sites to ensure a consistent countywide
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message and for adherence to this policy. Department Heads and Elected Officials
have the right to:
a. Request that a particular message be posted on multiple social media
sites.
b. Coordinate and/or publish information to any social media site during an
emergency.
c. Direct offices and departments to modify social media content based on
best practices and industry norms.
3. Posting Guidelines. Social media content competes for attention in personal
social media news streams. Official county social media sites need to be clear,
precise and follow industry best practices for posting updates. Three tenets
county social media publishers must follow regarding the types of content to share:
a. Relevant: Information that helps residents and pertains to their daily lives.
b. Timely: Information about deadlines, upcoming events, news or related to
current events.
c. Actionable: Information to register, attend, go or do.
4. What Not to Post:
a. Information about items in litigation or about claims that could be brought
against the county.
b. Nonpublic information of any kind; always check with your Department
Head or Elected Official if unsure.
c. Personal, Personnel, sensitive or confidential information of any kind.
d. Medical or private information that violates a person's Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protections.
e. Legal requirements and County guidelines towards the protection of
confidential, sensitive, and internal use information still apply.
E. Links. As an extension of the county's communications platform, social media sites
should include links that direct users back to the county's website for more information,
forms, documents or online services as necessary. Agencies must use a link shortener to
meet the requirements of character -limited platforms and to track the number of clicks and
shares of a link. Instructions to establish these accounts will be provided during training.
External links to media articles or other relevant content are permitted on official county
social media sites to share information, pending department head approval.
Comments. Social Media at Weld County will be a one-way push of county generated
communications to the Social Media subscribers. Comments posted by authorized
publishers must be related to official County business and must not contain personal
opinions.
G. Emergencies. During emergencies, all social media content and postings must be
coordinated with the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and Emergency Public
Information Officer as part of its Emergency Support Function 15 protocols. OEM/PIO also
reserves the right to establish new social media sites during emergencies as needed that
will support an incident.
Embedding Icons and Content. Social media icons and content players such as
YouTube videos may be embedded on county web pages. Social media content from
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select partners such as the state or federal government may be embedded. PIO reserves
the right to use agency media content on countywide web pages, social media sites and
other platforms.
Facebook. Publishers will be required to attend a mandatory pre -launch workshop that
covers many Facebook page features including:
1. Understanding Publisher and Personal Roles. PIO will grant administrative
rights to page publishers. All publishers must use their own personal Facebook
profiles to access the official Facebook site (the public will not know publisher
identities). It is a violation of Facebook's terms of service to create additional
personal profiles or to create a generic personal profile to administer a business
page.
2. Wall Settings. When PIO creates a new page, all site features that allow the
public to post their own topics, pictures or videos will be disabled. The County
Facebook page is not an "open forum" or a place for people to share comments
about any topic they choose. Temporary exceptions for turning on site features
that will allow the public to post their own topics, pictures or videos wall may be
used and granted by OEM and or PIO in cases of emergencies where situational
awareness of an unfolding event would be helpful.
3. Comments. Public comments will be disabled.
4. Updating from Mobile Devices. If publishers use personal devices such as an
iPhone, iPad or Droid with Facebook apps, official county social media sites can be
managed from these devices. However, be aware the app does not provide the full
set of page management features found on Facebook's desktop browser version.
If a publisher loses a personal phone and someone accesses the Facebook app,
then an official county resource is at risk. If you are publisher and use a
smartphone, then you must protect county information by using a passcode on
your personal device. If a publisher loses a phone, PIO and IT Information Security
must be notified immediately and administrative rights will be temporarily removed.
5. External Links. Links to media articles are permitted, but vary the sources and
limit the number of times external links are shared. Extreme care should be
exercised when linking to media articles to ensure that the image and reputation of
Weld County is protected.
J. Twitter. Publishers will be required to attend a mandatory pre -launch workshop that
covers many features of Twitter including:
1. Retweeting. Limit retweeting to information from appropriate, credible sources
such as government agencies, authorities/boards/commissions, and industry
leaders.
2. Replying. Weld County's use of social media is intended to be a one-way
communications push and replying to Twitter Tweets is discouraged, but may be
authorized by the Elected Official or Department Head. Replying through an
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official account is equivalent to serving as an official online spokesperson for the
county.
3. Following. Follow select Twitter accounts such as all Weld County government
agencies, other government entities, media, key partners/non profits and
industry -specific groups. Do not follow all followers.
4. Comments. Unlike Facebook and its threaded conversations, Twitter accounts
can only delete their own comments, not anyone else's tweets.
K. YouTube.
1. A Weld County Government YouTube channel provides a media platform ideal for
the dissemination of information, such as public education about government
services, tourism and economic development opportunities throughout the county,
to a large public audience. Because of the nature of YouTube, a large public
following and propensity to encourage viral videos, all videos proposed to be
included on the Weld County channel must receive approval from a department
head and the Board of County Commissioners. The PIO will assist with videos
including the uploading of approved videos to the YouTube channel. To ensure the
integrity of the channel, only the PIO is designated to upload the videos and
maintain the channel.
2. Channels. PIO maintains the county's only YouTube channel. Any other agency
needing a YouTube video must work with PIO to publish clips to the county's
channel by contacting PIO[ilweldgov.com.
3. Planning Video. When planning video programming, county communicators
should contact PIO and Web staff to review options.
4. Disclaimer. All YouTube channels must contain the following disclaimer on the
home page and in the description of each video:
Please note: Weld County is not responsible for the content provided on
"related" and "promoted" videos that are accessible from this county's
YouTube channel. All viewers should note that these related videos and
comments expressed on them do not reflect the opinions and positions of
Weld County government or its elected officials, department heads and
employees.
5. Comments. Comments will be disabled on all YouTube videos.
6. ADA Accessibility. To ensure ADA accessibility departments also may publish a
text only script on a web page and provide the link to PIO to include in the video's
description.
7. Embedding Video Players. YouTube video players may be embedded on the
county website and other appropriate venues.
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L. Promotion. Promoting official social media sites is one key to success. Include social
media website addresses, widgets, icons or mentions on printed publications, county
webpages, signs and other places of high visibility. Staff may choose to promote the
mobile phone versions of sites, too:
Facebook: m.facebook.com/(account name here)
Twitter: m.twitter.com/(account name here).
M. Ideas for Other Platforms. The Web Governance Committee will continuously evaluate
social media technologies to promote established county goals and policies. Agencies are
required to work with the committee if there is interest in pursuing new tools or new ways
to use existing tools.
N. Open Records and Records Retention. Communications received through social media
are public records that generally should be considered as "correspondence" for the
purposes of the Colorado Open Records Act. Generally, such social media responses
need to be retained as long as administratively necessary before it can be destroyed.
O. Security. Credentials for official county social media sites should be managed according
to the county password policy. Passwords should maintain complexity requirements and
use uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. Passwords to
social media sites should be changed at a minimum of every 30 days. In the event of a
security breach, or suspected breach, passwords should be changed immediately. A Weld
County official email address should be used to establish an official social media site when
possible. Credentials to county social media sites should be protected and limited to
authorized personnel. Refer to the county's Information Security policy for more
information.
Related Policies. Departments that use social media are responsible for complying with
applicable federal, state, and county laws, regulations and policies. This includes
adherence to established laws and policies regarding use of county electronic resources,
copyright, records retention, Colorado Open Records Act, First Amendment, federal and
state privacy laws, HIPAA, and Weld County human resource regulations and information
security policies.
Sec. 4-1-50. Violation of Policy.
Violation of these standards may result in the removal of agency social media sites or
disciplinary actions against specific publishers. The Board of County Commissioners and the
Director of Finance and Administration who oversees information resources and technology
retains the authority to remove pages.
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED by the Board that the Clerk to the Board be, and hereby is,
directed to arrange for Colorado Code Publishing to supplement the Weld County Code with the
amendments contained herein, to coincide with chapters, articles, divisions, sections, and
subsections as they currently exist within said Code; and to resolve any inconsistencies regarding
capitalization, grammar, and numbering or placement of chapters, articles, divisions, sections,
and subsections in said Code.
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BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED by the Board if any section, subsection, paragraph,
sentence, clause, or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held or decided to be
unconstitutional, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions hereof. The
Board of County Commissioners hereby declares that it would have enacted this Ordinance in
each and every section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause, and phrase thereof irrespective
of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, or
phrases might be declared to be unconstitutional or invalid.
The above and foregoing Ordinance Number 2013-3 was, on motion duly made and
seconded, adopted by the following vote on the 10th day of June, A.D., 2013.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
WELD COUNTY, COLORADO
ATTEST:
William F. Garcia, Chair
Weld County Clerk to the Board
Douglas Rademacher, Pro-Tem
BY:
Deputy Clerk to the Board
Sean P. Conway
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Mike Freeman
County Attorney
Barbara Kirkmeyer
First Reading:
Publication:
May 1,2013
May 8, 2013, in the Greeley Tribune
Second Reading: May 22, 2013
Publication: May 29, 2013, in the Greeley Tribune
Final Reading: June 10, 2013
Publication: June 20, 2013, in the Greeley Tribune
Effective: June 25, 2013
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