Sometimes going beyond the story means getting back to basics. Roselle Park News has established a new add-on, {fyi}, that offers a wide range of information and resource material to readers.
The work that goes into an article incorporates time and resources. Along with making decisions on what gets committed to publication comes the inevitable omission of some action or decision made by those elected or appointed to act on residents’ behalf. While every vote may not technically be newsworthy, every vote is important in conducting the people’s business. {fyi} gives the basic source materials that go behind the headlines.
{fyi} is currently divided into four (4) major sections: Attendance, Agenda, Voting Tally, and Maps. These sections are archived for the Board Of Education (BOE), Library Board of Trustees, Mayor & Council, and the Municipal Land Use Board (MLUB).
Attendance records which officials were present during a meeting and, while not providing information as to the reason(s) why, also provides those who were absent.
Agenda holds the agenda for the four governing bodies while the Voting Tally stores the votes including abstentions.
The Voting Tally separated the votes for municipal ordinances and municipal resolutions. For each vote item in all categories, visitors can simply hover their mouse over the resolution/ordinance/agenda item to bring up the title summary of each. Viewers can be connected to the wording of each on each respective agenda by clicking on the number.
Maps is an interactive sections that gives information on municipal ward boundaries along with contact information on each respective council representative. Additionally, general boundaries for each elementary school is updated every school calendar year. A history of where the street sweeper and snow plows have been on any particular day will also be available so residents can check when each passed by their property. Finally, a map on municipal infrastructure projects – along with relevant ordinance/resolution numbers, vendor awarded each contract, change orders, and cost for each project – will be able to be viewed.
{fyi} goes behind the story and beyond the headline
{fyi} content brings together material from the usually separate forms of local government – town and school – in an easily accessible all-in-one location. Those unable to attend or watch meetings or who simply want the bare essentials can now dig deeper with {fyi} to get information on the legislative procedures that go into the administration of local government.
Feedback and suggestions are always welcome as {fyi} is an ever-growing organic additional feature to the news important to Roselle Park via its Contact page.
The website is www.roselleparknews.fyi and it can be accessed by clicking here.