On WestbrookMaine.com

Four good things about the City of Westbrook's website:

• 'Agendas and Meetings' section

If I remember correctly, the city wasn't always all that diligent about posting upcoming meetings or the agendas and minutes of those meetings. But the 'Upcoming Meetings' is somewhat thorough (it neglects to mention today's School Committee meeting), and the 'Meeting Agendas' and 'Meeting Minutes' sections are up to date, at least as far as the City Council is concerned.

• GIS

I've already written about the fun you can have with the website's Geographic Information System.

• List of boards and committees

A nice consolidation of all the boards and committees of the city. It also includes a brief description of each.

• News updates

The City does a decent job of posting updated 'news you can use' on the site's homepage.

And four things that can be improved on the City of Westbrook's website:

• Link to a city-created channel on YouTube.com or PortlandMe.tv

Leap ahead of the curve by creating a C-SPAN-like Internet channel and post long-form video of City Council meetings, School Committee meetings, Mayor call-in shows, etc. It's only a matter of time before posting such content on the Internet will be the norm for all of Maine's cities and towns. Why not be one of the first?

• Revamp photos

Replace the stagnant photo of a pontoon boat on a body of water (Highland Lake?) with a vibrant slideshow of photos that features the location and the date of the photo taken. Also, update photos each season, so viewers are not treated to an autumn scene in, say, the middle of July. You could even make it a contest out of it, a la Maine.gov.

• Re-post the city's promotional video

Sure, I poked some fun at the video, but it wasn't actually that bad. Re-post it, but this time in a more prominent location.

• Update information about representatives

Ed Symbol is no longer on the City Council, but his photo and contact information are still posted on the council page. And Colleen Hilton is no longer the chairwoman of the School Committee, but, according to the website, she is. Moreover, the e-mail address listed on City Councilor Dotty Aube's online profile seems to be inoperable. Small things, for sure, but important.

- John C.L. Morgan

P.S. To see another appealing city-related website (besides this one, of course), click here. I love the clean lines and text, the use of video, and the comprehensive nature of this site.

We Don't Stink No More!

Follow these directions and everything will be okay: First, throw some popcorn in the microwave. Next, call up the City of Westbrook's website, www.westbrookmaine.com and scroll down the homepage until you see a (lime? sea? pukey?) square entitled "Community Videos." See it? Great. Now retrieve your popcorn before it burns.

Okay, now that you've gotten your popcorn, click on the aforementioned square and pick from one of the four videos to watch. Lean back and enjoy Westbrook's sales pitch to people who don't live in Westbrook. Then come back here and read a couple thoughts about the vids.

Done already? Well here are those promised thoughts:

1. It sure is nice to be reminded of what Westbrook looks like with sunshine, green grass, and blue sky.

2. The voice-dubbers are definitely not from around here. At least they don't sound like it. Even the most articulate and enthusiastic among us don't pronounce "Westbrook" with such excitement and specific enunciation. Frankly, they're a little creepy.

3. A drinking game surrounding the number of times the dubbers refer to the "Westbrook Renaissance" would require an O'Douls version. Otherwise, Maine Med should expect a case of alcohol poisoning whenever these videos are consumed. C'mon, every city in this country is trying to claim a "renaissance." Why not be original and proclaim, I don't know, that "We don't stink no more!"?

4. Why is this feature buried in the bottom of the homepage? Shift it to a more viewer-friendly position on the homepage so the prospective Westbrookians it targets might actually, you know, see it. I'm a 'Brook blogger looking for material and it took me about a month to find it.

5. BruChu, Johnny O'Hara called and he wants his Kenny G cd back. Seriously, what's with the (insert derogatory adjective here) music playing in the background of the Big Man's Big Speech, not to mention throughout the videos?

6. I. Smell. A. Spoof.

- John C.L. Morgan

Nightstand Reading

I was bored the other night, so I did what any self-respecting Brookophile would do in a fit of ennui: I read the city's Strategic Economic Development Plan & Process report.

The 53-page report, compiled by Old Orchard Beach-based Biscaye Consultants and Scarborough-based PolicyOne Research, is like other reports described by political columnist Al Diamon in that it relies on jargon and is inconclusive. But it's still an interesting read.

Take, for example, one of the ideas that the March 2007 report features concerning the Exit 47 area, the site of the proposed Stroudwater Place (page 14): "A vision is needed for mixed use retail focus at Exit 47: Bloomingdales, P.F. Chang, Barnes and Noble, Crate and Barrel, and a civic convention center." Hmm, sounds familiar. But then it should, as Jason Snyder was one of the thirty-two interviewees for the report (see page A14 for a list of the other thirty-one).

Speaking of development, the city's planning structure faced criticism on page 18. Indeed, the sentiment, "[t]he problem in this area 'not being business friendly' is with the process, not the people" nicely encapsulates the numerous complaints of the City's processes and governing bodies concerned with economic development. Respondents groused about the Council's requirement that a proposal must be read twice before it is approved, complained that planning board members don't understand and respect the Westbrook business community's needs, and worried that the potential for wholesale political change every two years creates an "unpredictable" and "risky" environment for developers. These critiques were but three specific complaints amid a cacophany of generalisms that the City of Westbrook just takes too damn long when deciding to approve or oppose a business proposal. On the next page, though, the City also receives a couple compliments that it is relatively easier to deal with than other towns and cities in the Greater Portland area are.

I could continue to write more about this report (and I just might), but I've got a life to, you know, live. Meanwhile, I recommend you click on the city's website (westbrookmaine.com) and click on the tab that reads '2007 Economic Development Summit Report' on the right-hand side of the site Despite its fifty-three pages, it really is a quick and interesting read.

Assuming you're good at wading through some dense and seemingly meaningless prose.

- John C.L. Morgan