Hunterdon leads NJ counties with best website

(county ratings)                                                               Contact: Ron Miskoff
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     Trenton (March 17) _ An unprecedented survey by academics and good-government groups has found Hunterdon County does the best job of any county in New Jersey at providing detailed and timely information to the public on its website.
     Marking National Sunshine Week, March 14-20, the New Jersey Taxpayer's Association, the Rutgers-Newark School of Public Affairs and Administration, the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government and Common Cause of New Jersey today recognized the Hunterdon County freeholders with their first "Transparency Award" for progress toward open government.
    "The ubiquity of the internet and electronic media has made it easier for government to keep the public informed," said Ron Miskoff, president of NJFOG. "We decided to see whether New Jersey counties are taking advantage of the tools available, and we congratulate Hunterdon County on leading the way."
     During 2009, NJTA, NJFOG and Common Cause worked together to develop a check list of government information that should be readily available on the web. The groups worked with the Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration to refine the criteria. The project fit well with the school's mission, said Marc Holzer, PhD, the dean.
     "Our E-governance Institute conducts projects that evaluate the usefulness of information provided to citizens through government websites," Holzer said. "This county-level project in New Jersey can greatly enhance citizens' knowledge and public officials' awareness of how information can be more easily accessible to citizens, thereby enhancing good government."
     Graduate students, assistant professor Dan Bromberg and research associate Marc Fudge reviewed county websites during the fall 2009 semester, and again during the spring 2010 semester. They looked at five areas: the availability of contact information for county officials; contact information for county employees; public meeting information; details of how the counties allocate resources; equipment issued to employees, such as county cars; descriptive details of the workings of county departments.
     After getting the nuts-and-bolts of what is on the websites, the researchers evaluated them for overall content and usability, whether the sites are easily navigable and how much information is readily accessible. Aroon Manohar of Kent University served as an additional investigator to review the data, with a particular emphasis on reconciling differences in student evaluations of the same sites.
     The participating groups then shared their findings with the counties, giving them a chance to respond before the public release. County comments did lead to some adjustments in the evaluations, but did not change the overall results.
     The 49 criteria ranged from routine matters such as timely posting of meeting agendas, annual budgets and audits, to information on procurement, collective bargaining and employee perks. But this study is intended as the first word, not the last, in a dialogue with county, state, municipal and school officials about how to ensure open government.
     "Common Cause New Jersey sees great usefulness in the evaluation of the websites that indicates how transparent county government is, or how much more needs to be done to improve transparency," said Deborah Mohammed-Spigner, a member of the organization's board.
     Generally, the websites are good at providing contact information for elected officials, but less so at those for employees conducting daily business. They offer timely information on current meetings, but only a few have archived audio or video recordings of previous ones.
     County websites are strong at publicizing job openings and volunteer opportunities, but weak at details of employee contacts and qualifications. There is relatively little data on department headcounts, and what sparse information that exists on individual hirings, firings and retirements is often buried.
     Most, but not all, counties post budget information in a timely fashion. Fewer than half posted their most recent audit reports. Very few or none had variance reports, checkbook registers, bonding reports or data on unfunded liabilities (such as accrued unused sick and vacation time) other than budget lines.
     Another major shortcoming is a lack of data on the websites about what officials or employees get county cars or gasoline, laptops, cell phones and PDAs, credit cards or other perks.
     Those gaps show the need for ongoing scrutiny of websites along with other government functions. In the future, the participating partners hope to extend this project to municipalities, school boards and authorities.
     "Improvements in government transparency are the most cost effective way to fight government waste and legalized corruption in New Jersey"  said Neil Coleman, vice president of the NJTA.

Neil Coleman, VP of NJTA