Linking Policy

This linking policy is declaratory of the Montclair’s existing administrative practice regarding the establishment of links from and to its website.

The purpose of the City of Montclair’s website is to advance the public’s health, safety, and welfare by providing information for and interacting with the citizens, businesses, and visitors of Montclair. This includes promoting tourism and economic development within the City and region.

For purposes of this policy, an “external link” is a hyperlink from the City’s website to a website maintained by another party. Neither the City of Montclair website nor the external links listed on such website constitute a forum for expressive activity by members of the public. Rather, the purpose of the Montclair’s website and the external links is to provide information about City services, officials, and attractions and to promote the public’s health, safety, and welfare. The City is not responsible for, does not endorse, and cannot assure the accuracy of information on these outside websites. (See Disclaimer of Endorsement below.)

Every request by a person or entity to have the City provide a link from its website to the requesting party’s website must undergo review to determine its relevance and appropriateness to the City website’s mission. The Information Technology Manager, or his designee, will review the merits of the requested link, keeping in mind the criteria and examples listed below, to determine whether the link serves the overall purpose of the City’s website. A request will not be denied because of a viewpoint espoused by the person or entity. Furthermore, the following criteria will be used in considering requests for links from the City of Montclair’s website.

At its discretion the City may provide links to external sites that fall into one of the following categories:

  • Sponsored by governmental and educational institutions;
  • Maintained by organizations in a contractual relationship with, funded or created by the City of Montclair;
  • Corporations, foundations, associations, etc. with a purpose statement devoting itself to assisting the City of Montclair;
  • Non-profit neighborhood associations within the City;
  • Websites of nonprofit organizations that assist people in finding housing or other human and/or social services in Montclair;
  • Non-profit organizations providing employment, non-elective health care, and other services to City residents;
  • Organizations providing the public with information or access to the arts, humanities, culture, or education;
  • Non-profit Montclair business development organizations;
  • Organizations partnering with Montclair to meet the City’s strategic or operational goals.
  • That provide government-related information and/or services in a way that is not available on an official government website;
  • Tourism and convention information related to Montclair and the San Bernardino Region, including major tourist attractions in the region; and
  • Library related links that meet the selection criteria outlined in the Montclair Public Library’s Collection Development Policy.

The City’s website will not provide links to sites:

  • Promoting or exhibiting hate, bias, discrimination, pornography, libelous, or otherwise defamatory content;
  • Associated with, sponsored by, or serving a candidate for elected office, any political party or organization supporting or seeking to defeat any candidate for elective office, or any ballot proposal;
  • Associated with political organizations or other organizations advocating a position on a local, state, or federal issue;
  • Furthering the agenda of a political organization or candidate running for office;
  • Furthering the non-charitable agenda of a labor union;
  • Violating any of the City’s equal opportunity policies; or
  • That are individual or personal home pages.

Linkage to Commercial Websites with Advertising

Certain private commercial websites maintain and display information which provide a public or community service, or other ancillary static or interactive information to aid the public, which is not generally available through a governmental agency due to the cost of compiling, maintaining, and/or displaying such information. To support the cost of compilation and maintenance of this information, these private commercial websites may include advertising or promotional material in the information display. Although the City neither supports nor endorses entities advertised or promoted on such websites, it recognizes that a public benefit is served by providing the underlying information to assist City residents. Accordingly, links to such websites which contain this information, but also display commercial advertising or promotional material, may be included within the City website when the Information Technology Manager or his designee has made a good faith determination that:

  • The City’s independent replication of the information targeted for linkage is infeasible due to financial or other considerations; and
  • No non-commercial website provides the information targeted for linkage; and
  • The information targeted for linkage greatly enhances the usefulness of the City’s website and services it provides

Location and Appearance of Links

The City reserves the right to determine how and where external links will appear on its website; i.e. what page the link appears on and where the link is placed on the page.

Links to the City of Montclair’s Website

Advance permission to link to the City’s website is not necessary. However, the party linking to the City’s website should be aware that its subpages may change at any time without notice.

Entities and individuals linking to the City’s website shall not capture pages within frames, present the City’s website content as its own, or otherwise misrepresent this website’s content or misinform users about the origin or ownership of its content. Any link to the City’s website should be a full forward link that passes the client browser to the City’s website unencumbered. The web browser’s “back” button should return the visitor to the originating site if the visitor wishes to back out.

Disclaimer of Endorsement

The information posted on the Montclair’s website includes hypertext links to information created and maintained by other public and/or private organizations. Montclair provides these links solely for users of the City’s website information and convenience. When users select a link to an outside website, they are leaving the Montclair website and are subject to the privacy and security policies of the owners/sponsors of the external website.

  • The City of Montclair does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of information contained on a linked website;
  • The City does not endorse or recommend any third party website, product, or services, unless otherwise noted;
  • The City of Montclair does not authorize the use of copyrighted materials contained in linked websites. Users must request such authorization from the sponsor of the linked website; and
  • The City of Montclair is not responsible for transmissions users receive from linked websites.
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