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Victoria County, Texas, Selects Accela Civic Platform to Transform Legislative Management
[September 25, 2014]

Victoria County, Texas, Selects Accela Civic Platform to Transform Legislative Management


SAN RAMON, Calif. --(Business Wire)--

Accela, the leading provider of civic engagement solutions for government, today announced that Victoria County, Texas, has selected Accela Legislative Management solutions (formerly IQM2) on the Accela Civic Platform.

The Accela (News - Alert) Legislative Management solution, including key features such as Agenda and Minutes, will replace the county's paper-based processes and provide increased efficiency to staff as they produce and distribute content related to county meetings. Accela acquired IQM2 earlier this year to extend the value of the Accela Civic Platform by offering a complete cloud solution to unify the experience of preparing, deciding and sharing the results and content of public meetings online.

Serving over 87,000 residents, Victoria County boasts a rich history and a growing population due to its location between Houston and Corpus Christi. The county commissioners handle hands-on service delivery as well as policy-making budget decisions. The commissioners meet wekly to discuss county business, and these events are open to the public.



Accela Agenda and Minutes will streamline the county's public meetings while saving time and money. Victoria employees will more easily develop and share content, making it simple for citizens to participate in the decisions that impact their lives and their community. The Commissioners Court agendas are typically 15 to 20 items on a weekly basis with 500- to 800-page packets. The existing process to prepare the agendas and packets in their entirety takes several hours and requires the involvement of staff from various departments, including administrative assistants and computer specialists.

"We wanted to provide transparency to the public and more immediate access to local government business and other affairs of interest," said Robert Cortez, county clerk, Victoria County, Texas. "Another key consideration was financial with regard to the cost of human resources and the use of paper to produce agendas and associated packets. I wanted to ensure that the product would meet all the standard requirements and that it would meet both immediate and future needs of Victoria County at a best value. The opportunity of entering into a month-to-month agreement, at a fair price to include a no-cost cancellation option, made it the smart choice for Victoria County. Now we'll be able to use tools to streamline and automate the minutes and voting process, simplify distribution and foster citizen engagement through a customized publicly available portal."


Accela Legislative Management is a solution on the Civic Platform, which provides the foundation for creating the two-way flow of information that makes engagement possible and helps to build the bridge between agencies and citizens. The Civic Platform streamlines critical agency functions like land and asset management, licensing, legislative management, recreation and resource management, right of way management, and public health and safety.

"We're excited to offer government agencies a way to save time and money while improving public access to information," said Maury Blackman, president and CEO, Accela. "Victoria County, Texas, is a leader in showcasing how technology should be used to increase civic participation and make local government more effective, and the team at Accela is looking forward to helping them achieve their goals."

About Accela

At Accela, we believe that engagement makes all the difference. We're ushering in a new era where democracy thrives when government works directly with the people, coming to citizens on their terms through mobile devices, social media and networks, and open data. By streamlining critical agency functions like land and asset management, licensing, legislative management, recreation and resource management, right of way management and public health and safety, the Accela Civic Platform bridges the gap between agencies and citizens. We help build better communities by powering thousands of services and millions of transactions daily for agencies of all sizes.

Accela is headquartered in San Ramon, California, with offices in San Francisco, New York, Melbourne and Dubai. For more information, visit www.accela.com.


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