44°
Jay Shapiro launched Glen Rock 2.0 this month after seeing the recent turnover in municipal jobs: a new mayor, council members, police chief and members to the education board of trustees.
"Everyone is starting with a clean sheet of paper, and the question becomes: what ideas/tasks/changes should they fill that sheet with over the next few years?" Shapiro told Daily Voice.
"I created the Glen Rock 2.0 website to try to solicit answers to that question, not with my own opinions, but with a crowd sourced compilation of ideas from everyone in town."
The website functions similarly to Reddit or ProductHunt.
Anyone who wants to post on the site must register with their email, Twitter or Facebook.
They are then granted approval to post topics for discussion, comment on other posts, and up-vote or down-vote various posts and comments.
Topics being discussed on the site range from recreation, transportation, infrastructure, and community events to education, beautification, safety, and government transparency.
Shapiro, who has lived in Glen Rock since 2014, said more than 100 people have used the site in its first week.
He expects that number to grow
"The way that I look at it, November's election was a vote in general for change, but this website provides the ability for Glen Rockers to vote for the specific initiatives that they'd like to see acted on," said Shapiro, who is also CEO of the company AppMakr.
Shapiro plans on presenting some of the most popular ideas on the site to Glen Rock's mayor and council in February.
"We can come to them and say, 'the people of Glen Rock have had a conversation, and these are our priorities.'"
Shapiro hopes his virtual suggestion box will improve the quality of life for everybody in town.
"Glen Rock is already an amazing place to live," he said.
"I'm hoping that through this website, we can make it even better."
Click here to follow Daily Voice Fair Lawn-Glen Rock and receive free news updates.
