Middletown’s improved Website is an example of what transparency in government can to look like. It includes:

• Contact information (telephone numbers and email addresses) and voting records for the councillors.

• All the borough’s meetings on one page.

• “Community-centric police department Web pages including (1) a roster of police officers with mobile telephone numbers and email addresses; (2) a police blotter of the daily logs for the department; and the department’s core values, mission statement and code of ethics. This openness is a most welcomed “must-have” in the wake of recent police news across the country in places like Hummelstown, Ferguson, North Charleston and Baltimore.

• The collaborative nature of the Middletown Industrial and Commercial Development Authority (MICDA) web page that “is tasked with aiding and facilitatiing the redevelopment of older business areas in the Borough, strengthening the downtown area as a commercial center, working to help attract new business development and expansion in appropriate areas, and encouraging the expansion of existing businesses.”

• The incorporation of the The Middletown Business Association (MABA) into the Industrial and Commercial Development Authority’s Webpage – another example of collaboration … and subordination of individual goals, wants and interests. “The MBA is an alliance of businesses and community leaders dedicated to helping shape Middleton’s future. The organization is a positive, unifying voice working to promote Middletown businesses and to market the Borough to attract new businesses. Members of the MBA also helped plan streetscape improvements to make a key downtown Middletown intersection an attractive gathering space for residents and visitors.”

• A visible Emergency Management Agency coordinator’s Webpage.