With cheaper and easier Internet access, governments can disseminate information directly to the public. People with access to the Web can acquire massive amounts of information that once would have been much more difficult to obtain. Nevertheless, whether by design or out of necessity, municipal governments in the Newark metropolitan area still have not perfected the release of information to the public.
The fact that this problem exists does not mean that governments are always deliberately trying to limit access to information. The cost of establishing and maintaining websites can be a burden, especially for municipalities with small staffs and small budgets.
Nevertheless, it is also possible that governments are not interested in providing easy access to information. Establishing a website and adding content on a regular basis is not nearly as difficult as it used to be. Indeed, the quality of a government’s use of the Web illuminates its willingness to allow easy access to information.
Masters of Public Administration students in Rutgers University’s School of Public Affairs and Administration, under the direction of Professor Suzanne J. Piotrowski, studied administrative transparency in local, state and national government. They also evaluated 10 websites of municipalities in the Newark metropolitan area.
The students developed 16 criteria to reach balanced judgments about the information provided by each website. They made evaluations for each municipality on the existence of websites; access to information on the dates, times and locations of public meetings; the availability of agendas; minutes; budgets; and contact information for the government.
The students evaluated 10 Newark-area websites between March 27, 2008, and March 31, 2008. All information presented in this article is related to content available on these websites during this five-day period.
The findings of the full evaluation demonstrate vast differences with regard to the information available and the aesthetic appeal and appearance of the websites.
Township of Belleville
www.bellevillenewjersey.org
Strengths
• Belleville’s website provides basic information about the municipal government, such as contact information for the town hall and municipal clerk, as well as a calendar that includes upcoming council and other town meetings.
• The website provides an array of local information and a variety of forms for residents.
Weaknesses
• Meeting minutes or agenda documents are not provided on the township’s website.
• No budget documents are included on the website.
Recommendations
• Add past meeting minutes and upcoming meeting agendas to the website.
• Restructure website to better organize community information.
City of East Orange
www.eastorange-nj.org
Strengths
• The website for East Orange is easy to navigate and manageable for users who want to locate information about upcoming town meetings and events.
• General contact information, including the clerk’s information, is easily accessible.
Weaknesses
• East Orange’s website does not have a professional appearance.
• General municipal information is available but is not presented in an intuitive way.
• No meeting agendas, minutes or budget documents are available on the website.
Recommendations
• East Orange should strongly consider including meeting minutes, agendas and information about the municipal budget on its website.
• The city should put greater emphasis on providing meaningful information as opposed to superficial information such as the extensive profiles of city council members.
City of Elizabeth
www.elizabethnewjersey.org
Strengths
• Elizabeth’s website contains general contact information as well as a 2008 meeting calendar, which includes the time and locations of all upcoming meetings.
• The website is very informative and easy to navigate.
Weaknesses
• There are no meeting minutes posted on the city’s website for the current or previous year.
• Only two meeting agendas are posted for the previous year and none for the current year.
• Budget information for the city is not posted.
Recommendations
• It is recommended that Elizabeth post meeting minutes and meeting agendas on a regular basis.
• The city should also post budget information informing citizens of its financial situation.
Town of Harrison
www.townofharrison.com
Strengths
• The website for Harrison provides departmental contact phone numbers.
• The website also provides a relatively user-friendly calendar of events for the town.
Weaknesses
• The website is poorly designed, especially in reference to navigation.
• There is no general contact information or budget information.
• The town provides only one set of meeting minutes and an agenda.
Recommendations
• The website should provide substantially more information in a user-friendly format.
• The town should consider making the departmental contact information more extensive, posting more public information and creating an online contact mechanism.
Township of Hillside
www.townshipofhillside.org
Strengths
• Hillside’s website includes when and where meetings and events are within the township.
• The website also provides phone and fax numbers and e-mails for many of the various departments within the township.
Weaknesses
• The website lacks a meaningful location for meeting agendas and meeting minutes.
• The township also fails to provide a budget or even some form of budgetary summary.
Recommendations
• The website should provide readily accessible and easy-to-locate minutes and agendas for meetings.
• The website should also provide budgetary information.
Township of Irvington
www.irvington.net
Strengths
• Irvington’s website is organized and very easy to navigate.
• A municipal calendar posts the starting date, time and location of all upcoming council meetings.
• General contact information is also posted on the home page.
Weakness
• No meeting minutes or agendas are posted on the township’s website.
• The township does not have a budget or any financial documents posted.
Recommendations
• Irvington should post meeting minutes and agendas of all meetings held in the previous and current year.
• Budget information and financial documents should be posted on the township’s website.
• A “Search” option should be added to improve navigation.
• Information about the Open Public Records Act and instructions on how to file a request should be posted.
City of Jersey City
www.cityofjerseycity.com
Strengths
• Jersey City’s website contains detailed information about schedules of council meetings including date, time and location.
• The website has an abundance of information that is helpful to residents, including regularly posted minutes and agendas, full general contact information, as well as a full budget.
Weakness
• Although meeting minutes and agendas were available, it was very difficult to distinguish meeting minutes from meeting agendas because all the documents were labeled as meeting agendas.
Recommendations
• It is recommended that the city distinguish between meeting minutes and meeting agendas to avoid confusion.
• A strategic plan should be posted to inform citizens of future plans.
Town of Kearny
www.kearnynewjersey.org
Strengths
• Kearny’s website contains detailed information regarding council meetings. Other events are easily found under the “Calendar” tab at the top of the main page.
• Contact information is also very accessible by going to the “Contact Us” link in the menu to the left on the main page.
• The website enables users to access a budget summary through the “Department and Division Directory” tab, under the “Finance Department” link.
Weaknesses
• While the main number for the town of Kearny is provided on the main page, a general physical address is not.
• Meeting agendas and minutes are not provided anywhere on the site for either past or upcoming meetings.
• Neither of the language tabs that are supposed to translate the website into Spanish or Portuguese are functional.
Recommendations
• Add meeting minutes and agendas for upcoming meetings to the website.
• A complete budget should be made available.
• Ensure that the language translation tabs for Portuguese and Spanish are fully functional.
City of Newark
www.ci.newark.nj.us
Strengths
• Newark’s website is set up well: It has a search function and a trail to show users where they are within the website. It also has translation options and an announcement area directly on the home page.
• Each page within the site has the main phone number and city hall address posted.
• The site also has prominently displayed the link for the proposed 2008 budget.
Weaknesses
• In general, this website is structurally and conceptually confusing, making it hard to navigate despite the tools it has available.
• The calendar that delivers city meeting information is extremely difficult to read due to its colored boxes.
• The site has only two council meeting agendas available, and no minutes are posted.
Recommendations
• We recommend that Newark update and post current agendas and meeting minutes.
• The calendar should be redesigned in an easier-to-read format.
Township of South Orange Village
www.southorange.org
Strengths
• The South Orange website has more than 40 meeting minutes from 2007 posted to date, as well as eight from this year’s meetings.
• The website also has a quick and easy-to-use e-mail form for general questions, as well as phone numbers and addresses for many departments.
Weaknesses
• The massive amount of information posted on South Orange’s website is actually very difficult to navigate.
• One cannot access e-mail addresses for specific departments such as the clerk’s office. The only available e-mail is a general contact e-mail form.
Recommendations
• The website needs to be laid out in a more user-friendly fashion.
• The township should consider a better means of providing the minutes and agendas and other important information.
• E-mail addresses for departments, especially the clerk’s office, would also be a helpful addition to the South Orange Village website.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The information available on the evaluated websites varies widely. Intuitively it seems that the relative ease of access to information depends on a combination of each municipality’s commitment to disseminating public information and availability of resources. Moreover, the manner of posting information varies widely.
South Orange Village, for example, posts a wealth of council meeting information. Its website, though, is organized in a manner that makes access confusing and burdensome.
We also found that the aesthetic appeal of the websites varies greatly. The websites for the cities of Newark and Jersey City look like those of professional organizations.
However, the website for Harrison looks as if little commitment has been made to aesthetic appeal or to the website itself. Additionally, in keeping with the spirit of transparency, it would be helpful if the process for making an Open Public Records Act request were easily accessible on the website.
Most important, however, we found that the majority of the municipal websites failed to provide information about council meeting agendas, minutes and recently adopted municipal budgets.
To correct this situation, we offer the following recommendations:
• Each website should have the main municipal contact phone number and mailing address at the bottom of every webpage.
• Municipal budget information should be easy to find, preferably with a link from the home page.
• Moving forward, all agendas and minutes should be easily accessible, preferably with a link from the home page.
• Council agendas should be posted within a minimum of three days prior to the next meeting.
By John Sowden, Josepah Allen, Kareemah Harris, Mancera Harris, Andrew Schwab, Yanique Taylor, Michael Vorgetts, and Rachel Weissenburger under the supervision of
Professor Suzanne J. Piotrowski in “Administrative Transparency,” School of Public Administration, Rutgers-Newark, Spring 2008. Contact: spiotrow@newark.rutgers.edu.
Posted September 2008.
