The Baltimore City Council has upgraded its legislative website to allow citizens to better track bills and meetings, according to the council president's office.
The council paid Granicus, a Denver-based company, $35,000 to perform the upgrade, according to Lester Davis, the spokesman for City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young.
Using Legistar 5.0 software, the council's newly designed legislative site will include minutes from every legislative meeting of the council and its committees, allow users to email alerts of legislative issues and create calendar reminders of pending hearings or meetings, among other features.
"As a legislative body, one of our core functions is making sure the citizenry has an opportunity to participate in local government," Young said in a statement. "The move to Legistar 5.0 will provide concerned citizens, community leaders, business owners, and everyone in between with additional tools to monitor the city's legislative process and weigh in along the way."
The City Council has used Legistar program to display City Council legislation and actions since 1999. The upgraded site is located at baltimore.legistar.com.
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