FREEHOLD — The Freehold Borough Innovation Committee is taking the initial steps needed to improve the municipality’s website.
Joseph Deroba, Ron DeMarco, Michele Gibson, Joseph McArdle and Annette Jordan make up the committee, whose mission is to empower citizens to participate in government by studying issues and offering recommendations.
Improving the borough’s website is the first task for the committee.
“The process began by identifying customers and stakeholders, including residents, businesses, borough employees, students, the Board of Education, borough committees and commissions, other municipal governments, the county government, the YMCA and potential borough residents and businesses,” said Councilman Ron Griffiths, who is the Borough Council’s liaison to the panel.
“The committee agreed to conduct surveys with as many of those (stakeholders) as possible to begin the process. We agreed to include social media on our website. Draft surveys were written and are now being circulated to customers and stakeholders,” he said.
Griffiths said Freehold Borough department heads are being asked to consider the type of information that can be provided on the website so people do not have to call or visit town hall to obtain information.
Residents may visit www.freeholdboro.org and complete a survey. The survey will be available through July. It can be accessed at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RJMG5FX from the borough’s homepage.
Surveys are being sent to residents through an email blast. Hard copies of the survey are available at Borough Hall, 51 West Main St.
Griffiths said the residents’ survey includes three questions and does not require residents to identify themselves.
“The goal for the survey is to gain citizens’ input on the content, online services and any platforms for social media they would prefer,” he said, adding that there is room for improvement on the borough’s website.
Surveys are also being distributed to borough employees and to members of municipal committees and commissions.
Griffiths said he met with Richard Gatto, the CEO of Downtown Freehold, to discuss the idea of surveying business operators to obtain their feedback as to how the municipal website might be used to attract visitors to the downtown district.
“The committee will study other government websites, identify barriers to making our improvements and compile and analyze the data from the surveys,” he said.
Griffiths said the updated municipal website will offer a more interactive experience and better communication between officials and residents. He said the members of the Innovation Committee need to know what people want on Freehold Borough’s website.