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ARCHIVED DCNews ARTICLES
WEBSITE REVISED, INTERNET PRESENCE BOLSTERED
e-Services Emphasized, Public Favorites Enhanced
Bexar County, TX. At a recent conference attended by her senior deputies, Margaret G. Montemayor announced the completion of the 5-month effort of totally revising the District Clerk´s website, both in appearance and philosophy.
"The old website served faithfully for four years but is now tired and ragged at the edges due to heavy use. It will be archived with fondness and good memories.
Internet technology has also advanced drastically during that time, and our customers have made it known--read that as demanded--that they are ready for more Internet services.
The new website is our response. It is not a superficial makeover but an entirely new revision. The public had favorite pages and we will of course keep those pages for them. But the new website is an embodiment of our--and the State of Texas´--initiative in using technology to bring government services to the people instead of waiting for them to come to our counters.
The website is up 24/7, serving the needs of our constituents. You and your division team mates should be familiar with it, use it as a management and customer service tool, promote it, and keep it current."
FAX AND e-MAIL EMPOWER AND INVOLVE THE PEOPLE
District Clerk´s Office spokesperson Elva Abundis reiterated that all electronic mail in the District Clerk´s office are addressable by members of the public.
" Margaret Montemayor is a strong advocate of open and accessible government," Abundis said. Fax and e-mail empower the public by giving it the means of instant and undeniable communications with their government. This is the way government was originally meant to be, and it took the power of electronic communications to bring government back to its rightful owners.
All offices and many homes have fax machines. You don´t have a fax machine?  There are free web-based fax `machines´ in the Internet. Send and receive! Fax machines may not even be needed because all popular word processing applications and many proprietary programs are capable of sending fax messages straight from the screen.
You don´t have a computer? All branches of the San Antonio Public Library, partly funded by Bexar County, have rows of internet capable computers for free use by the public.
You don´t have an e-mail account? Try the free web-based e-mail utilities offered by many Internet companies like MSN, Yahoo, Netscape and a host of others.
The lesson is there to appreciate: Instant communications. How people love it!"
DC LOGO ADOPTED
The District Clerk´s Office officially and for the first time adopted a logo as shown. The design is a graphic depiction of the tremendous strength that results from hard work, teamwork, and as represented by the five colors used, cultural integration.
 The logo will not replace the seal which will continue to be used in proper and dignified applications. The seal imparts certain legal characteristics to documents and objects to which it is affixed and will not be used indiscriminately. Most seals tend to look alike, are lacklustre and look severe, but there are deliberate reasons for that.
The logo is a representation of who we are, what we are, and how we work. It is a rallying point and symbol of our esprit de corps. It is not as formal as our seal and it will find applications where the seal will be considered improper, undignified and even illegal.
 The logo may appear in grayscale but it will be illustrated in color as much as possible. Start looking for it in the Bexar County Courthouse.
The District Clerk´s Office Logo:
Copyright (C) 2003 Bexar County District Clerk. All rights reserved
ELECTION OFFICE KICKSTARTS ELECTORATE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM
Program Open to County Employees
Commissioners Court announced the launching of Adopt-a-Precinct, a citizen-based program to train volunteers to be election judges and voting trainees.
Election Administration Cliff Borofsky stated that unlike past elections, there are enough election judges this year. However, a cadre of trained volunteers could be instantly sworn in as election judges if the need should ever arise. They could then proceed to oversee election procedures at polling places and assist voters--within very strict constraints--with the new electronic voting system that will be implemented for the first time during the September 13 constitutional amendment polling.
Volunteers are being sought from all sectors. Civic organizations, retirees, schools and businesses of all sizes will be enjoined to participate. Volunteers will undergo a one-day training session the day prior to elections to prepare them for duty in polling places.
Adopt-a-Precinct is an ongoing program and not being organized just for the coming elections. The ultimate goal of the program is raising voting awareness and increasing citizen involvement in the electoral process of government. County employees are eligible to volunteer for Adopt-a-Prescinct.
Touch Screen Voting Will Make Voting Easier, More Accurate
It will also eliminate the paper ballot, manual counting and all the inaccuracies associated with the old paper ballots. The computerized system, dubbed iVotronic by its private developers, received approval from the state Supreme Court just in time for it to be used for the first time in this coming polls.
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