City of Bloomington Single Domain Name Policy

• Introduction
• Section I: Process for applying for an exemption
• Section II: Exception criteria
• Section III: Conditions applied to exempted domains

Introduction

The City of Bloomington will maintain a single website. The policy embodied by this document provides interpretation regarding the use of alternate Domain Names. In recognition of the diverse offerings and people served by the City's website, this interpretation provides for exceptions to the use of the City of Bloomington's primary domain name, www.ci.bloomington.mn.us, in limited circumstances. Therefore, this policy establishes exception criteria, an exception process, and means by which an organization seeking an exemption can appeal exemption determinations directly to the City's technology policy makers.

Policy

1. Requests for separate domains should be made consistent with the process outlined in Section I.
2. Requests for separate domains should be evaluated consistent with the criteria outlined in Section II. Organizations with existing separate domains should be evaluated against these same criteria and, where appropriate, be given direction by the Communications Administrator on how to comply with the ordinance and this interpretation of it.
3. Organizations whose request for a separate domain is accepted should comply with the conditions set forth in Section III.

Section I: Process for applying for an exemption

1. All applications for an exemption from the single domain policy should be signed by the director of the department.
2. All applications for an exemption from the single domain policy shall state in writing which exception criteria the organization believes applies to its request.
3. Applications shall be submitted to the City's Communications Administrator (CA) who will make the preliminary decision of whether an exemption should be granted. If the City's CA determines that the application does not conform to the exception criteria, the CA shall give the applying department options as to how they can achieve their purpose without the exception.
4. Appeals from the preliminary decision are to be made in writing to the City Manager. The City Manager is the final step in the appellate process.
5. All domain names exempted from the policy should be owned by the City and managed by Communications staff.
6. All registrations for exempt domain names shall be made by Communications staff. This is to avoid the complications that arise when multiple organizations interface with registration companies.

Section II: Exception criteria

This section outlines criteria for evaluating applications for exception to the City's Single Domain Name Policy. Each criterion would not need to be present for the exception to be granted. Conversely, an application identifying one or a few of the stated criteria would not automatically be approved. Rather, each application should be viewed from the totality of the circumstances as guided by the criteria below. Further, applicants should feel free to suggest additional criteria they feel are appropriate to their application.

1. Requests to purchase separate domains to "park" or otherwise take out of the public domain:
   Communications staff should purchase and hold on to any reasonable alternative domains suggested by City organizations to keep them out of the public domain. This should be done to protect these domains from misuse by others.
2. Domain aliases:
   It is assumed that a City organization employing a domain name alias would have the alias domain point back to the organization's webpage on the City's website. Therefore, issues of look, feel and navigation do not arise. Criteria for an exception to the policy for an alias domain include:
   1. The site provides or markets a service that one would not necessarily expect to be provided by a municipal government.
   2. The site provides or markets services to large or focused customer base.
   3. The applying organization should be long term and stable in nature.
   4. The site or service should involve a single line of business.
   5. The site should not conflict with City's existing branding efforts.
3. Separately hosted domains:
   In addition to the criteria listed above applications for a separately hosted domain should have one or more of the following:
   1. The site is over arching all or a large portion of City government and has a functional domain name with a specific purpose (example: bloomingtonarts.net).
   2. The site is an intergovernmental organization or some type of partnership targeted at a regional audience.
   3. The majority of the site's content is provided by organizations outside City government.
   4. The site's content is maintained by both City and non-City sources. The site's communication plan or originating organization has a separate marketing budget.
   5. The site’s originating organization has a separate governance structure or board.
   6. The site competes for business against organizations in the private sector.
   7. The site is not in conflict with the will of the Mayor or City Council.
   8. The site conforms to the conditions stated in section 3 of this document.

Note: It is our expectation that requests for separate domain names would be very rare.

4. Exceptions generally would not be granted for:
   1. Events (www.funrun2010.xxx) - too much resource is required to market a site for a limited period of time.
   2. Dot com - we are not a commercial enterprise and should stay away from the .com ending (we don't want businesses using .gov).
   3. Entire or substantial parts of City departments.

Section III: Conditions applied to exempted domains

1. All City websites utilizing an exempted domain name shall be clearly labeled as being affiliated with the City of Bloomington and contain, at a minimum, the official logo of the City of Bloomington and a prominent link back to the City's main website.
2. Unless the originating organization can comply with the criteria indicating that it is sufficiently independent from the City (e.g. section II, 3, e), exempted City websites utilizing an exempted domain name shall make reasonable efforts to comply with the general look, feel and navigational standard developed for the City's main site.

For more information, contact:

Janine Hill, Communications Administrator
PH: 952-563-8819; TTY: 952-563-8740, FAX: 952-563-8715
E-mail: jhill@ci.bloomington.mn.us

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