NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 28, 2999

TOWN LAUNCHES
ELECTRONIC MAILING LIST SERVICE

CARY, NC – Cyber citizens now have another free way to get information about the Town of Cary—an electronic mailing list service. By logging onto the Town’s homepage—www.townofcary.org—and clicking on the pink "mailing service" icon, citizens can sign up to automatically receive email about current Town news and events. Specifically, the Town is currently emailing news releases and public service announcements as well as the contents of its weekly newspaper display ad which contains updates on the coming week’s meetings, public hearings, government access television schedule, and events.

"Getting information out to citizens is very important to us," said Cary’s Public Information Officer Susan Moran. "This mailing list service should be a great addition to the numerous tools we already use to connect with the community."

Just launched, Cary’s electronic mailing list service topics will continuously be expanded to let users target specific areas of interest, such as planning, zoning, public safety, and parks, recreation, and cultural resources.

"Our goal is to add at least one new topic a month as interest dictates and staff-time allows," said Moran, "so we hope folks will visit often to update their subscription."

While Cary’s mailing list service is currently topic-based, activities are underway to also add a geography-based portion as well that would allow citizens to get information about some issues based on particular areas of the Town, such as a particular voting district or Downtown or the Highway 55 corridor. The geography feature should be available within the next few months.

The Town began putting the technology in place for the new mailing list feature following last year’s hiring of a fulltime webmaster and a recommendation from the Information Services Advisory Board, a Council-appointed citizens group that offers ideas on ways to enhance communications with the public.

Other information vehicles used by the Town include: 24 Hour Town Hall--a 24-hour telephone service that has pre-recorded messages about hundreds of topics of interest--319-4500; BUD, the monthly utility bill insert; Cary Connections—weekly display ad on page A-5 of The Cary News; Town Hall TV—Cary’s government access channel on Time Warner Cable channel 11; and the Block Leader Program--a grassroots communications effort between the Town and neighborhoods designed to give residents the latest information on environmental issues.

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