Quote of the Day: We were just about to do that

by: Jason Springer

Thu Dec 18, 2008 at 09:22:59 PM EST

An appellate judge has thrown out a $4,000 bill submitted to the Sierra Club and Hartz Mountain Industries by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority to pay for documents related to a lengthy legal battle by the groups.

The environmental group and the Secaucus-based developer had been asked to pay $1 per page for a 4,297-page appendix that the sports authority submitted to the court. The Sierra Club and Hartz had sued over the sports authority's approval of filling in 8 acres of wetlands at the site of the Xanadu entertainment and retail project.

"We were about to drop the request anyway," sports authority spokesman John Samerjan said. "We thought it was the right thing to just let it go and move forward."

DeCroce Allegations: Serious and Irresponsibly Late in Coming

by: mikeshapiro

Fri Oct 31, 2008 at 01:04:35 AM EDT

Memo to towns: Save your email records

by: Jason Springer

Sat Jul 19, 2008 at 07:33:03 PM EDT

Borough workers had to spend 12.5 hours poring through their inboxes and sent boxes to find e-mails to and from a councilwoman. The borough attorney sifted through the copies for three and a half hours. The governing body's also considering plans to buy a e-mail server to avoid such headaches.

It all started with a feud between Councilwoman Linda Huntley and the head of the recreation commission, Jonathan Dunleavy.

I requested the e-mails in the beginning to see what pertained to recreation and what possibly affected me, he said. And when she said she didn't retain them, it became a second issue: a violation of state law.

Borough Attorney Joseph MacMahon said he has told council members several times in the past several years that e-mails are considered public records and could be requested though he did not advise them on how to retain them.

And for the future, she said she'd conduct borough business by phone or in person.

Oprah Sucks!

by: Jeff Gardner

Thu Jun 05, 2008 at 12:14:43 PM EDT

In preparing my Perth Amboy diary, I searched around the internets for Tuesday's Senate results by municipality. But, the NJ Division of Elections website lists results only statewide and by county, as do various media outlets. The Middlesex County Clerk's website lists only countywide results for the Senate race, with local results only for local races. And Perth Amboy's official website has no election results at all.

But, hey - I have a phone, right?

So, I called the Clerk's office in the city of Perth Amboy for the results, and guess what? I was told they "don't give that information over the phone." Instead, I would have to submit an OPRA form, and they would mail the results to me. Mail me the results?!

When I asked why she couldn't just tell me the results and if the information was some kind of secret, the woman I was speaking to responded by asking who I was. (Apparently, my sarcasm isn't always well-received in these situations.) So, a little white lie later, I was put on hold so the supervisor could weigh in. The supervisor confirmed the office's policy that OPRA requires them to document every such inquiry in writing.

So, she explained, if I wanted the results, I could go to their website, download the OPRA form, print it out, fill it out, and fax it to them. When they received the fax, they would make a copy of the results and mail it to me - or I could come in and pick it up. But, not to worry, the supervisor assured me - it's free!

Well - it's free if you don't count all that paper wasted faxing and copying, the wasted postage, the postal delivery fuel (or mine), and the environmental impact of this transaction multiplied by the thousands or millions of OPRA requests that could have just been met with a simple answer.

No thanks - I still had a phone. So, I called the NJ Division of Elections, who didn't have the information by municipality. But they gave me the number for the Middlesex County Board of Elections, who didn't have the information either. But they gave me the number for the County Clerk's office, who very lovingly gave me the information I wanted.

Thanks for nothing OPRA - it's time you streamlined your process.

Freedom of the Press -- The Victor!

by: mikeshapiro

Tue Mar 04, 2008 at 10:52:07 PM EST

Where is the line?

by: Jason Springer

Sun Dec 23, 2007 at 12:44:37 PM EST

A Superior Court Judge had been asked by the Evesham school board to issue a ruling after the ACLU filed a request for e-mail correspondence regarding the "That's a family video"...

Superior Court Judge John Sweeney rejected a request by the  school board to determine at this time if home computer of board members is a public record. The judge said the New Jersey Government Records Council and not the courts have primary jurisdiction in determining what documents are public.

"The government records council is uniquely qualified to examine the question and a court should not exercise concurrent action," said Sweeney, who postponed further review pending a government decision.

The judge denied the request for jurisdiction under the Declaratory Judgment Act, saying it would be subversive and that would have a "chilling effect" on the public. He said it would encourage public agencies to rush to a courthouse and cause unnecessary litigation expenses.

People have a right, even public people, to the privacy of their homes and their communications.   If there is a reasonable thought that there has been a crime committed, then aren't there already procedures in place for getting at the communications?

As far as public records go, it's not the government's job to do the investigating for you.  Through the Open Public Records Act (OPRA), the ACLU will have to know that the document -- in this case e-mail messages -- exist prior to asking for them.  It would seem that suspecting that the emails exist is not enough to prove that they are in fact real.  But if you can't see the document, how can you prove it exists.  Seems like a catch 22, unless you're carrying a big subpoena with you.  The Judge has said he won't take a concurrent look, choosing to wait for the Government Records Council to rule.  Unless the ACLU has specific examples, past rulings would point to denying the request putting the issue back in the hands of the court.

I think this is a great discussion waiting to happen so that's why I ask you, where is the line?

Democracy Fluorishes In The Sunshine

by: mikeshapiro

Thu Feb 08, 2007 at 08:44:47 PM EST

Governing bodies throughout New Jersey, particularly on the municipal level, are abusing The Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) and the Open Public Records Act (OPRA). The purpose of these Acts is to enhance democracy by allowing the public to see government in action rather than permitting the government to operate behind closed doors. While some municipalities televise their meetings or otherwise record them, many do neither so there is no true record of what occurs at most public sessions. In addition, while minutes of these meetings are public documents under the law and must be available to its citizens, there is no requirement that the minutes be thorough or that they accurately reflect the meeting they are supposed to memorialize. Too often a citizen who requests documents, including resolutions and ordinances, is routinely given the runaround until he rescinds his request. In addition, there are few vehicles for the public to use when an OPRA request is denied by a governing body. Fortunately, change may be in the air.

Precident set for 'unreasonable fees' in Edison

by: mitch

Fri Mar 24, 2006 at 07:08:32 PM EST

The $55 fee that Edison Township charges the public for copies of its council minutes on computer diskette is "unreasonable," a state appeals court ruled yesterday.

The unanimous ruling, which sets a precedent that must be followed statewide, was a victory for the Libertarian Party, which chal lenged the fee as excessive. The appeals court agreed, noting that the minutes are created in electronic form and can easily be copied to a computer diskette.

  "The actual cost of the diskette is far less than $55," Appellate Divi sion Judge Jose Fuentes wrote. "Thus, the only discernible rationale for the fee is to discourage the public from requesting the information in this format. Such a policy is not legally sustainable."

Fuentes said the $55 fee puts "an unreasonable burden on the right of access guaranteed by OPRA," the state's Open Public Records Act...

The case was argued in November before Edison Mayor Jun Choi took office. In January, shortly after his inauguration, Choi said he wanted to make township workings "open and transparent."

"I'm sure we can come up with a mutually agreeable rate. It's a new day in Edison," Choi said. "We have some questions why the previ ous administration even contested this in court."

John Paff, secretary of the Libertarian Party of central New Jersey, said he wanted computer copies of council minutes so he could search them electronically and share them with party members via e-mail and the party's Web site.

"We're very pleased," Paff said. "I'm really hopeful this is going to make a big difference in opening public records."