Costa Mesa’s website to have new look starting Monday

Costa Mesa will continue its move toward transparency and technological upgrades Monday when officials plan to launch the city’s revamped website.

The site is expected to make it easier to find basics, such as a departmental directory, public meeting agendas and employee compensation and contracts.

More than 1,200 pages were transferred from the old site to the new one, said city spokesman Bill Lobdell.

Last year, Costa Mesa tapped private company Vision Internet to give the site a much-needed upgrade. During the last 12 months, a slew of new features had been tacked onto the old site’s interface — such as a transparency section and area to look up the city’s settlements with individuals — and now the front page will have a new look, too.

City news is listed in a column along the right side of the page, and the hot-button issues of the day — such as the proposed expansion of the San Diego (405) Freeway, proposed City Charter and November election — line up the left side of the page. For at least the short term, a video will be posted of Lobdell showing residents how to navigate the new design.

The city is also going paperless. Residents can submit complaints of code violations through the site, along with public records requests and apply for various permits. Under a drop-down tab along the front page, residents can get the latest information on the city’s outsourcing initiative. An update of services up for outsourcing is listed, along with the latest on which services will stay in-house and which might be privatized pending the conclusion of a lawsuit with city employees.

The redesign cost about $10,000 of city money, with another $40,000 kicked in by the Costa Mesa Conference and Visitors Bureau, Lobdell said.

The City of Costa Mesa’s website can be viewed at https://www.costamesaca.gov/.

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Twitter: @JosephSerna