a80213Tina Mayer with response to a80205 and a8020 · Tina Mayer’s two February 5, 2008 letters...
Transcript of a80213Tina Mayer with response to a80205 and a8020 · Tina Mayer’s two February 5, 2008 letters...
New Jersey Libertarian PartyOpen Government Advocacy Project
John Paff, ChairmanP.O. Box 5424
Somerset, NJ 08875-5424Phone: 732-873-1251- Fax: 908-325-0129
Email: [email protected]
February 13, 2008
Hon. Arthur R. Ondish, Mayor andMembers of the Mount Arlington Borough Council419 Howard BoulevardMount Arlington, NJ 07856 (via Fax to 973-398-8662)
Dear Mayor Ondish and Council Members:
I write, both individually and in my capacity as Chairman of the New JerseyLibertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project. I am in receipt of Assistant ClerkTina Mayer’s two February 5, 2008 letters as well as her February 6, 2008 letter, all ofwhich were copied to you.
Ms. Mayer’s position, which is apparently shared by you, is that the Council’s publicmeeting minutes need to be “approved” before they can be released. I respectfully disagree.
The relevant part of the Senator Byron M. Baer Open Public Meetings Act states
“[E]ach public body shall keep reasonably comprehensibleminutes of all its meetings showing the time and place, themembers present, the subjects considered, the actions taken, thevote of each member, and any other information required to beshown in the minutes by law, which shall be promptly availableto the public to the extent that making such matters public shallnot be inconsistent with section 7 of this act” (emphasis added).
N.J.S.A. 10:4-14.
By requiring that all minutes be made “promptly” available, the Legislatureexpressed its strong policy favoring adequate disclosure. South Jersey Publishing Company,Inc. v. New Jersey Expressway Authority, 124 N.J. 478, 493 (1991). Since the minutes Irequested were from meetings held as early as October 8, 2007, the Council’s apparentposition is that making the public wait from that date until February 11, 2008—a period of136 days—satisfies the “promptly available” requirement.
New Jersey courts have repeatedly held that the term “promptly” in the Meetings Actrequires that draft minutes be publicly disclosed prior to the meeting at which formal
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approval is to occur. Liebeskind v. Mayor and Municipal Council of Bayonne, 265 N.J.Super. 389, 394, 395 (App. Div. 1993) (minutes to be publicly available within two weeksafter each meeting and at least three business days before the next meeting); MartinO’Shea v. West Milford Township Council, et al., PAS-L-2229-04, final order, (July 14, 2004)(minutes to be publicly available no later than 48 hours prior to the next meeting) (seeExhibits 1 and 2); Martin O’Shea and John Paff v. Kearny Board of Education, HUD-L-856-07. final order (May 8, 2007) (minutes of public meetings to be available no later than threebusiness days prior to the next meeting) (see Exhibits 3 and 4).
The most extensive discussion of this issue in a New Jersey court decision isMatawan Regional Teachers Association v. Matawan-Aberdeen Regional Board ofEducation, 212 N.J. Super. 328 (Law Div. 1986). The court interpreted the statutoryrequirement of making the minutes available “promptly” in light of the Meetings Act’spolicy “favoring public involvement in almost every aspect of government.” Id. at 330. Thecourt held that making minutes promptly available implements the Act’s overall purposeby, among other things, “[p]roviding all persons with the opportunity to take action prior tothe next meeting of the public body.” Id. at 331.
All of these cases are contrary to the Council’s present policy of “approving” itsminutes as a necessary prerequisite for releasing those minutes to the public.Additionally, the Borough’s policy is also contrary to paragraph I from the New JerseyMunicipal Clerks’ Study Guide (see Exhibits 5 and 6).
If I need to litigate this issue, I will. But, I am hoping that you will discuss thismatter with your attorney and alter your policy so that litigation will not be necessary.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
John Paff
cc. Fred Semrau, Esq., via email
New Jersey Libertarian Party Open Government Advocacy Project
John Paff, Chairman
(temporary) 2106 S Cypress Bend Dr Apt 102
Pompano Beach, FL 33069-4457
Phone: 954-978-6054 - Fax: 908-325-0129
Email: [email protected]
March 19, 2008
Jacqueline P. Gioioso, Esq.
Scarinci & Hollenbeck, LLC
1100 Valley Brook Ave
Lyndhurst, NJ 07071 (via Fax only to 201-896-8660)
RE: Meeting minutes Disclosure Policy
Mount Arlington Borough Council
Dear Ms. Gioioso::
I write, both individually and in my capacity as Chairman of the New Jersey
Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project. I am in receipt of and thank you
for your March 7, 2008 letter.
Your letter states that the Borough Council would, at its March 10, 2008 meeting,
revisit the question of public release of “draft” meeting minutes. I am very interested in
learning what, if anything, the Council decided on that topic.
Would you please advise me, or ask your client to advise me, of the Council’s present
position on releasing “draft” minutes of its public council meetings?
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
John Paff
cc. Mayor and Council, via Fax to 973-398-8662
Fred Semrau, Esq., via email to [email protected]