Study: Glen Rock Has 18th Best Municipal Website in NJ

A priority for officials in recent years, Glen Rock's municipal website was recently named the 18th best in the state by Monmouth University's Polling Institute.

The university's polling institute determined the borough's municipal website was the easiest to use among the 540 evaluated in the state.

The project evaluated each website based on 86 content items in 2012, including information for citizens, interaction, social networking and more.

The "ease of use" category scored whether the mayor's contact information was available, if a building permit form was posted online, if the municipal budget was present, as well as trash/recycling information. The quicker it took to find the information, the higher the municipality scored on the "ease of use" category.

Neighboring Ridgewood was nowhere to be found on any of the lists (ranking #88 overall), though Bergen County was well-represented with Franklin Lakes, Englewood, Fort Lee and Bergenfield all in the overall top 20.

The value of municipal websites is high these days, according to the pollsters.

“Websites are probably the single most important tool for citizens to find local information,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. “According to a poll we conducted in 2011, Garden State residents are far more likely to visit a municipal website than to call or write a town official.”

Glen Rock has further updated its website since the poll was conducted and focuses heavily on social media.

In 2012, the borough hired Heidi Blauvelt to head communications. Blauvelt frequently updates the borough's Facebook page (now with 1,033 Facebook 'Likes') and answers general queries from residents.

The Glen Rock Police Department is also among the most active law enforcement agencies on Facebook. Detective James Calaski posts recent crime blotters, weather warnings, safety advisories and even a popular historical crime blotter series.

Meanwhile, Ridgewood's website has a solid amount of information and videos of meetings are posted quickly, but a limited social media presence and lacking citizen interaction drop it in Monmouth's rankings.

Mayor Paul Aronsohn said a revamping of the website would be a priority under his administration. Progress has, thus far, been slow.