"People stop you in the deli isle and say, 'I don't like that' cause they know who you are. In the big cities you don't get that kind of feedback." Johnson maintains the state should have more transparency, not less, saying the new Web site should be "an addition to, but not a replacement for (the newspaper)."

An active attendee of public meetings, Barbara Toomer, secretary for the Disabled Rights Action Committee, said she isn't into the computer age. "I'm not an online searcher, I don't do online very well," she said.

Toomer said she gets most of her information regarding UTA paratransit meetings through the mail. Toomer's frustration with openness in public meetings has more to do with what goes on at the meetings.

"The meeting was crowded with people from paratransit, but we walked out of that public hearing realizing they only wanted to tell us what to do and have no information from the public," Toomer said.

Johnson said she tries to be supportive of the statewide Web site despite her initial concerns.

Smith-Mansfield said the state Web site offers support to those who have concerns.

"We train people how to post on the site and if they have a problem then we help them through it."

The process of developing the Web site is open to criticism, according to Smith-Mansfield, "We appreciate feedback. We rely on people telling us where problems are."

"I think there is an obligation, if you are having open government, you ought to try to get the word out as efficiently as possible," Campbell said.

In the future, the state Web site and Utah Legals Web site, utahlegals.com, have expressed an interest in cross-linking the two sites to better inform the public.

E-MAIL: cneugebauer@desnews.com