Politics & Government

Washington Twp. Website Ranked 27th Among N.J. Towns

A Monmouth University study ranked the best municipal government websites in New Jersey.

Washington Township's website was recognized as one of the best in New Jersey by a Monmouth University study and honored for its "overall content."

The site was listed as the overall 27th best municipal government website in the state.

A research team from the Monmouth University Polling Institute and Graduate Program in Public Policy examined 86 different content items dealing with information for citizens, citizen interaction, online government services and social networking. They also evaluated the "ease of use" based off of how long it took researchers to locate some basic information.

Find out what's happening in Westwood-Hillsdalefor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Mayor Janet Sobkowicz said she was "thrilled" about the recognition.

The township lauched their current website in 2010 under the guidance of webmaster Heather Henry, a township resident. Sobkowicz said Henry "works very hard" to keep the site full of content.

Find out what's happening in Westwood-Hillsdalefor free with the latest updates from Patch.

"[Residents] know they're going to get a lot of information on there," Sobkowicz said.

Westwood's website also fared well in the study, ranked at 41st in the state. 

The Hillsdale website came in at 327th place in the state, though the report did not specify how recently researchers visited it. The borough site was upgraded last summer.

Have a question or news tip? Contact editor Jim Leggate at Jim.Leggate@patch.com, or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.

Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.