Citizen Watchdog Summit with the Franklin Center for Government & Public Integrity

We’ve all heard stories of wasteful spending, egregious cases of government abuse and overreach, of double dipping politicians, and even closed door meetings. But why aren’t these stories being told in the media?

That’s where engaged citizens like YOU come into play. We need your help to be government watchdogs in New Jersey.

To learn more, join us at the Atlantic City Convention Center on Saturday, May 18.

The Board of Directors of People for Open Government (POG) invited you, and any council colleagues you chose, to meet with us in a public forum to discuss problems with the way the City Council conducts its business. In reply, you have said that, instead of such a meeting, POG should send you a list of remedies to the problems we have identified. POG expects the City Council and city administration to be willing to meet with citizen groups on public issues. Such meetings would foster the accountable and transparent government to which POG is dedicated. Inasmuch as you are unwilling or unavailable to meet with us, this letter will inform you of our thinking.

A former police officers’ private investigation into the dealings surrounding the hospital sale has come to a screeching halt after he was barred from accessing records from a related agency.

Ex-Hoboken cop Ed Mecka filed a lawsuit in the Hudson County Superior Court last week against Hudson Healthcare, Inc., (HHI) after his request for access to the organization’s records was blocked.

According to the complaint, Mecka filed an OPRA (Open Public Records Act) request to obtain materials from a July HHI Board of Directors meeting, including a list of attendees at the meeting, and a resolution passed by the board. Mecka’s request, however, was blocked by the HHI, who, according to the complaint, claimed that it was not a “public agency,” and therefore not subject to the Open Public Records Act.

Mount Arlington must release more records of cell phones used by municipal employees, a state appeals court ruled today.

The court rejected an appeal filed by the borough and upheld a decision by the state’s Government Records Council, which had ordered the borough to release call destinations for municipal cell phones.

The borough had released some records, but removed both the numbers called and the destinations, the court said.

The records are being sought by Gayle Ann Livecchia, a borough resident, who submitted Open Public Records Act demands for calls in September and October 2007.

Livecchia wants to know if employees used their cell phones for personal business without reimbursement and if employees — including, specifically, JoAnne Sendler, who was borough administrator at the time — made personal calls from home during working hours, the court said. She is seeking a list of the towns and states called, but has not requested the phone numbers involved, agreeing that would be a violation of privacy.

Fifteen days after the attorneys for Appellant CAMPBELL (WILLIAM D. CAMPBELL vs.
CITY OF HOBOKEN) submitted an OPRA (Open Public Records Act) request to the City of Hoboken, the law firm finally received two response packets.  The first packet, dated October 14, 2010 City OPRA LOG # 10-1696, consists of 10 pages while the second packet, dated October 15, 2010 City OPRA LOG # 10-1695, consists of 29 pages.   

For the record, there is no question that the law firm faxed the OPRA request to the Hoboken City Clerk’s Office on September 29, 2010 @ 4:02pm and entered into the OPRA LOG file the following business day, September 30, 2010 @ 9:36am. 

The recent layoff of Hoboken’s Assistant Public Information Officer has added yet another lawsuit to the growing and costly list of Hoboken legal challenges.

The Law Office of C. Elston &Associates, LLC, Wall, New Jersey filed a Notice of Appeal with the New Jersey Civil Service Commission on behalf of WILLIAM D. CAMPBELL ("Appellant “ or “Campbell”) for his recent layoff from the permanent position of assistant Public Information Officer in the Department of Administration for the City of Hoboken.

Fees charged by state and local governments to provide public documents to the public will be lowered across New Jersey under a bill signed into law yesterday by Gov. Chris Christie.

The legislation prevents government agencies from charging residents more than the cost of copying to obtain public documents.

The bill was backed by Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union), Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) and the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey.

"This marks the end of a barrier that for far too long kept the public from having access to government," said ACLU-NJ Open Governance Project attorney Bobby Conner. "Now public records will be more available to everyone, not just those who can afford it."

In response to an appellate court ruling, a number of towns in New Jersey have lowered fees for copying open public records. Others are waiting for Gov. Chris Christie to weigh in on the matter.

The Appellate Division of Superior Court ruled in February that beginning July 1 public entities could only charge the actual costs of making copies, including paper and toner.

“For most, if not all public agencies, the actual cost for copies will be less than the prior rates under OPRA,” said Lisa Ryan, spokeswoman for the state Government Records Council said. “So, access to records will be cheaper.”

A bill approved by the Legislature, which reached Christie’s desk on June 28, sets a uniform rate of 5 cents per page for letter-size documents and 7 cents a page for legal size. Previously, the rate was 75 cents for the first 10 pages, 50 cents for the next 10 and 25 cents for every page after that. Under that rate, a 100-page report would cost more than $20, a far cry from the proposed rate’s $5.

New Jerseyans would gain greater access to public records and more awareness of government meetings under two bills introduced today by state Sen. Loretta Weinberg.

"We want to change the culture of those people who are custodians of records, of public officials, who think it is their responsibility and duty to keep these things from the public," Weinberg (D-Bergen) said at a news conference in Trenton. "The public owns everything we do."

One measure would update the 2001 Open Public Records Act and rename it in honor of Martin O’Shea, a retired newspaper reporter and editor who bedeviled government officials with detailed requests and a willingness to take denials to court. O’Shea died in December.

The other measure, involving the Sen. Byron M. Baer Open Public Meetings Act, would affect how officials publicize upcoming meetings, and require they list the precise time when the meeting will be open to public comment. It also would add provisions involving electronic communication.

Longport Mayor Nicholas Russo is at his wits' end after his town put up a costly fight staving off a resident who filed excessive records requests to simply "bust chops."

Russo has proposed amending the state's Open Public Records Act, which provides guidelines for interaction between the public requesting government information and the agencies that provide it. Under his proposal, there would be a limit on the number of requests individuals and private agencies could make during a certain time.

Open government advocates have cringed at the idea of putting any type of restriction on records requesters. The current law, some say, already offers solutions for records requests that pose to substantially disrupt operations in towns, big and small.

Moreover, advocates say municipalities that put off investment in e-governance technology — such as providing a searchable electronic database of government documents on the Web — do more to hurt taxpayers than help them.

"It's just a reality that a government agency needs to come to terms with," said Bobby Conner, an open government attorney with New Jersey's American Civil Liberties Union. "(Lawmakers) should not legislate to address problematic requesters."

ANDOVER TOWNSHIP — A new local ordinance will keep legal payouts in the public eye — and put the township at the forefront of one facet of open government.

The “public reporting of civil judgments and settlements ordinance” — the first of its kind in New Jersey — was passed unanimously by the Township Committee Monday night.

The law requires officials to “make every effort to publicly announce the amount and terms” of lawsuit settlements and judgments against the township that result in public money being spent.

The ordinance was suggested by state open government activist Martin O’Shea, who passed away in December. O’Shea had suggested the model ordinance to Andover last summer, but the committee tabled it at the time, citing a lack of funds to advertise it in local newspapers.

Want a copy of that municipal budget so you can see how your money is being spent? Want the minutes to that meeting to see how the mayor and council or freeholders voted on a particular issue? Okay, but they’re going to cost you.

Governments and agencies, with the help of the Legislature’s hazy wording in the state’s Open Public Records Act of 2001, have been charging copying fees that are more than five times the actual costs.

At a time when elected and appointed officials are being investigated by the dozens, taxpayers should be encouraged to dive into the murky waters of local, county and state government. But exorbitant copying costs are discouraging them.

The law allows most agencies to charge at least 75 cents per page for the first 10 pages, 50 cents per page for the next 10 pages, and 25 cents for each additional page. That means a 20-page document costs a taxpayer $12.50.

That’s about 10 times what a copy chain charges.

For decades, some residents could not get court documents they were entitled to see because the judiciary had limited guidelines on which records were available for public viewing.

That's expected to change next month when a new rule recently adopted by the state's highest court to goes into effect. Evidence admitted in New Jersey courts are just some of the records specifically defined as "open for public inspection" in the state's new guidelines.

Records not open to residents after Sept. 1 will include financial information in divorce proceedings and what the court calls "personal indentifiers" such as Social Security, driver's license, insurance policy and credit card numbers.

"We have to take into account the need for openness while taking into account the need to protect those who are most vulnerable in our society," said Justice Barry Albin, who chaired a 21-person committee whose 35 recommendations were accepted and slightly modified by the justices last month.

PUBLIC RECORDS

Access to government records can be as difficult as walking a high wire across the Grand Canyon. The public’s right to know must be balanced against the government’s obligation to keep certain records confidential.

The New Jersey's Open Public Records Act (OPRA) has made releasing records easier than it once was, but the law can be confusing. The New Jersey Press Association, The Record and the Herald News are sponsoring a one-day seminar that will help people walk the OPRA tight rope.

For everyone interested in government records:
• Editors & Reporters
• Elected & Appointed Local Officials
• Municipal Clerks*
• Attorneys
• Citizen Activists
* This seminar has been approved by the Department of Community Affairs for 4 continuing education units (CEUs) in Records for Municipal Clerks (RMC).

U .S. Rep. Albio Sires of West New York attended the Hoboken St. Patrick's Day dinner on Feb. 22, and he brought his own leprechaun who had no pot of gold for the Mile Square City.

Yet, as transcripts of the June 6, 2008, state Local Finance Board meeting reveal, the panel's chairman and sprite, Richard Turner, who also doubles as mayor of Weehawken, had offered the Mile Square City council members something better than a pot of gold. He gave them priceless advice - approve the municipal budget already. Unfortunately for Hoboken taxpayers, it was ignored.

City Council members Beth Mason, Dawn Zimmer, Peter Cunningham, Michael Russo and Theresa Castellano were all present, according to the transcripts released by The Jersey Journal's HobokenNow blog. After reading the transcripts, you come away wondering "what were they thinking?"

Councilwoman Beth Mason filmed meeting, but refuses to release the video

Why was Hoboken taken over by the state? For not adopting a 2008 budget by June 6, 2008. We know, we know, the state takeover of Hoboken was a while ago. But we figured everybody should be able to read the following transcripts from when several Hoboken City Council people went down to Trenton last June to speak with the Department of Community Affairs regarding Hoboken's budget mess.

John Paff

Andover Township is expected to be the latest municipality to make its government records more financially accessible to the public.

The Township Committee unanimously introduced an ordinance Monday night significantly lowering costs of all paper documents and audio recordings of meetings.

Paper copies will cost 7 cents per page, and CD audio recordings of meetings will cost 40 cents each, if the ordinance is approved.

Andover is on a wave of change for many towns that are changing their Open Public Records Act fees as .......

City must pay $10K for lawyers in lawsuit settlement

A lawsuit by Councilwoman Beth Mason seeking information about city cell phone records was settled two weeks ago after two court appearances.

Now, Mason will get to comb through a year's worth of city cell phone records from July 1, 2004 to June 30, 2005.

The agreement even includes the phone records of police officers, with the only exception being any calls placed in connection with ongoing criminal investigations.

According to the settlement, the city is not required to provide the phone numbers of the cell phones in use.

However, the city must provide the names of the cell phone users unless it offers a detailed explanation as to why they cannot. They are also allowed by law to withhold the incoming and outgoing numbers.

Record requests that, in the opinion of the Hoboken Law Department, create a legal concern/liability for illegal dissemination of "lawfully protected information" should only be made available to City Council members who have attended a "government official" OPRA training seminar.

For several years, Hoboken Community Activist Beth Mason has been in the forefront advocating "transparency" in government.  Mason and I, along eleven Hoboken citizens, were founding members of People for Open Government, a Hoboken-based civic organization dedicated to campaign finance reform, ethics, OPRA, public access and other open government issues. 

In addition, Mason serves as the president of the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government which seeks to increase transparency, accountability, honesty and democracy in government at all levels by defending and expanding public access to government records and meetings. Mason, as a private citizen, built a reputation across the State as a leader in government reform.

POLITICAL TRANSITION:

On July 1, 2008, Mason's political status changed from "private citizen" to "government official" when she was sworn into political office representing Hoboken's Second Ward as "Councilwoman Beth Mason." With several "private citizen" initated OPRA lawsuits against the City of Hoboken still pending in the Courts, Councilwoman Mason now finds herself in the political quagmire of suing herself as a Hoboken Government Official.

"New Jersey has an exceptional number of issues around open government and open meetings," said Beth Mason, the foundation's president. "Sunshine Week offers a tremendous opportunity for New Jerseyans to learn about what works, what doesn't and solutions on the horizon."

Two New Jersey lawmakers want to make it easier for citizens to learn what their elected officials are up to.

Sen. Loretta Weinberg and Assemblyman Joseph Cryan on Tuesday plan to discuss proposed legislation to improve public access to government.

The legislation is being touted in conjunction with Sunshine Week, a nationwide effort by media organizations to draw attention to the public's right to know.

The measures will be discussed at a Statehouse event sponsored by The New Jersey Foundation for Open Government.  New Jersey has an exceptional number of issues around open government and open meetings," said Beth Mason, the foundation's president. "Sunshine Week offers a tremendous opportunity for New Jerseyans to learn about what works, what doesn't and solutions on the horizon."

Councilwoman Beth Mason may be close to settling one of her lawsuits concerning transparency in government - this time with the Hoboken Municipal Hospital Authority.

"The lawyers have worked out the basis for an agreement," said Ira Karasick, an attorney for HMHA.

Both sides stress the agreement has not been finalized and must be approved by HMHA's board of directors - by no means a sure thing. The board next meets March 26.

"The board wants to resolve the litigation," said George Crimmins, HMHA's executive director. "It's a matter of what that resolution is."

During the "new business" portion of tonight's council meeting, Councilwoman Beth Mason read a multi-page statement in response to a letter Corporation Counsel Steven Kleinman wrote to the Hoboken Reporter two weeks ago criticizing Mason.

Beth Mason, reading her letter.  At one point she suggested Kleinman resign or barring that, that the council should hire its own attorney.  Kleinman responded that the letter was "factually accurate" and that he wrote it on his own time.

Beth Mason filed her first lawsuit against the city in March 2004. She filed her second just six months later. Then she filed another, and another, and four more after that.

Even after winning a seat on the City Council here in May 2007, Ms. Mason, 47, has continued to press her cases, leading other officials here to complain that she is a one-woman litigation machine, costing the city time and hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Ms. Mason, a management consultant, contends that the suits she filed before her election are simply intended to better understand how this city on the Hudson River is spending its $79 million budget.

Dear Editor:

As the Hoboken Corporation Counsel, I feel obligated to respond to the recent statements made by Councilwoman Elizabeth Mason regarding her lawsuits against the City. Her comments follow her most recent courtroom defeat, in which a respected appellate court found that her requests for public records were vague, inappropriate "fishing expeditions," making it impossible for the City to properly respond.

Dear Editor:

James Madison, chief draftsman of the US Constitution, wrote, "A popular Government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance. And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."

The state Supreme Court is considering whether to extend the deadline to sue for failure to turn over documents under the state Open Public Records Act and if a government should pay legal fees for forcing a lawsuit.

The high court heard arguments yesterday in an appeal by Hoboken Councilwoman Elizabeth "Beth" Mason, who wants to see the 45-day deadline extended to two years and the Hoboken government ordered to cover her attorney costs. Mason contends the open records law has no specific deadline -- lower courts have held it is 45 days -- and claims she was forced to sue when the city failed to respond in a reasonable amount of time.

The tug-of-war between Councilwoman Beth Mason and City Hall over public access to municipal records reaches the state Supreme Court today.

A decision in the case could have broad implications for the Open Public Records Act.

The specific issues raised by Mason's suit are how long a person has to file a lawsuit if an OPRA request is not fulfilled, and whether a plaintiff should be awarded attorney's fees if requested documents are provided after a lawsuit is filed, but before a court decision is made.

2nd Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason

Hoboken’s Corporation Counsel Steven Kleinman was pleased with the court’s recent decision to knock down 2nd Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason's appeal of a case against the city to get information on the city's park plan.

Before Beth Mason became the city's 2nd Ward councilwoman last summer, she had filed a number of lawsuits to force the town to give her various records.

But last week, she suffered a legal setback when she learned that a year and a half after losing one of her suits against the city in the Hudson County Superior Court, three judges from the court's appellate division reaffirmed the previous decision, knocking down her appeal.

Initiative and Referendum Petition

Hoboken Sunshine Act

We the undersigned, registered voters of the City of Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey, under the initiative and referendum power granted by N.J.S.A. 40:69A-184 et. seq., hereby propose the following Ordinance:

Short title: This Ordinance may be cited as the “Hoboken Sunshine Act” and is referred to below as the “Act.”

Findings: The people of the City of Hoboken find that good government depends on knowledgeable citizens who have broad access to government meetings and who have ready and inexpensive access to a wide range of government information. Such access enables them to participate fully in public affairs, help determine governmental priorities and to hold their public officials accountable. Inadequate or delayed public access to meetings and information allows corruption to flourish undetected and unpunished. Government secrecy allows backroom deals to set public policy in the interest of the few rather than the many. It is therefore the policy of City of Hoboken to (a) promptly make agendas, minutes, resolutions, ordinances, and certain other records available to the public on the Internet, (b) have meaningful electronic versions of other government records available at an affordable cost, (c) make photocopies and other records available at an affordable cost; (d) to increase the opportunities for public participation at all government meetings and to make such participation more meaningful and (e) to otherwise endeavor to make the City’s government a model of openness and transparency. It is understood, accepted and intended by the people of the City of Hoboken that this Act will impose responsibilities upon the City’s officials and employees greater than what is required by the Open Public Meetings Act and the Open Public Records Act.

Happy 5th birthday
New Jesery
 Open Public Records Act!

Read our expanded OPRA related reference materials.

TRENTON — The state's Open Public Records Act helps the news media expose the doings of government and empowers residents to learn how and why their tax dollars are spent.

But it has also become a staple in political campaigns, as operatives look for records to prove allegations that an opponent held a no-show job, engaged in a shady business deal or received a favorable tax arrangement.

"OPRA may have had an unintended effect," said Carl Golden, who was press secretary for Govs. Thomas H. Kean and Christie Whitman. "It proved to be an absolute bonanza for opposition research people in political campaigns."

TRENTON -- The political establishment, according to the Greek philosopher Socrates, is like a large horse "by its size and laziness."

And the government, he went on, needed people to arouse and annoy it, like a gadfly does to a horse.

While rabble-rousers have been around for some time, the enactment five years ago of the state Open Public Records Act, OPRA, has given New Jersey's so-called "gadflies" even more ammunition.

"It's a vital tool," said Readington Township resident Don Baldwin.

Baldwin, 58, and fellow township resident Ed Dudzinski unearthed documents which detailed Readington paying a public relations firm $100,000 to release information about the township's attempt to purchase land surrounding Solberg Airport. Dudzinski has spent more than $1,500 on requested documents.

OPRA is just another way to dig deeper into an issue, said Baldwin.

"I see a red flag somewhere, and then through OPRA, I'm able to flush out the details or dismiss it," Baldwin said.

TRENTON — The state's Open Public Records Act helps the news media expose the doings of government and empowers residents to learn how and why their tax dollars are spent.

But it has also become a resource in political campaigns, as operatives look for records to prove allegations that an opponent held a no-show job, engaged in a shady business deal or received a favorable tax arrangement.

"OPRA may have had an unintended effect," said Carl Golden, who was press secretary for Govs. Thomas H. Kean and Christie Whitman. "It proved to be an absolute bonanza for opposition research people in political campaigns."

TRENTON — The political establishment, according to the Greek philosopher Socrates, is like a large horse "by its size and laziness."

And the government, he went on, needed people to arouse and annoy it, like a gadfly does to a horse.

While rabble-rousers have been around for some time, the enactment five years ago of the state Open Public Records Act, OPRA, has given New Jersey's gadflies even more ammunition.

"It's a vital tool," said Readington resident Don Baldwin.

Baldwin, 58, and Ed Dudzinski unearthed documents that detailed Readington paying a public relations firm $100,000 to release information about the township's attempt to purchase land surrounding Solberg Airport. Dudzinski has spent over $1,500 on requested documents.

OPRA is just another way to dig deeper into an issue, Baldwin said.

"I see a red flag somewhere, and then, through OPRA, I'm able to flush out the details or dismiss it," Baldwin said.

TRENTON — Carl Golden knew there was trouble when the request came in.

Reporters wanted to see phone bills from lawmakers' offices, and Golden could easily surmise what would happen if the media got ahold of the records.

"There were some very interesting calls on some of the lines," Golden said in a recent interview, recalling a story from the mid-1970s, when he was a staffer for the Assembly Republicans.

The bills would show lawmakers making long distance calls to relatives, ringing up "Dial-A-Joke," even touching base with local bookies, all at taxpayers' expense. At the time, however, New Jersey was under a weak law governing access to public records, and lawmakers fought the request for months, buying time as they kept the information secret.

Golden, who would later serve as press secretary for Govs. Thomas Kean and Christie Whitman, and who still advises politicians on handling the media, said officials today could not duck such a request because of the tougher Open Public Records Act approved five years ago this week.

TRENTON — The political establishment, according to the Greek philosopher Socrates, is like a large horse "by its size and laziness."

And the government, he went on, needed people to arouse and annoy it, like a gadfly does to a horse.

While rabble-rousers have been around for some time, the enactment five years ago of the state Open Public Records Act, OPRA, has given New Jersey's so-called "gadflies" even more ammunition.

"It's a vital tool," said Readington Township resident Don Baldwin.

Baldwin, 58, and fellow township resident Ed Dudzinski unearthed documents which detailed Readington paying a public relations firm $100,000 to release information about the township's attempt to purchase land surrounding Solberg Airport. Dudzinski has spent over $1,500 on requested documents.

TRENTON — Carl Golden knew there was trouble when the request came in.

Reporters wanted to see phone bills from lawmakers' offices, and Golden could easily surmise what would happen if the media got ahold of the records.

"There were some very interesting calls on some of the lines," Golden said in a recent interview, recalling a story from the mid-1970s, when he was a staffer for the Assembly Republicans.

The bills would show lawmakers making long-distance calls to relatives, ringing up "Dial-A-Joke," even touching base with local bookies, all at taxpayers' expense. At the time, however, New Jersey was under a weak law governing access to public records, and lawmakers fought the request for months, buying time as they kept the information secret.

For the first time, the state Government Records Council issued fines Wednesday against officials who were found to have willfully violated the state's Open Public Records Act.

The council, created to enforce the 2002 public records law known as OPRA, has never finalized cases before in which it found a clear record that officials chose not to comply with a records request.

In separate cases, two records custodians -- South Bound Brook Clerk Donald E. Kazar and Gwendolyn Morrison, leasing director of the Paterson Housing Authority -- were each personally fined $1,000.

HOBOKEN - The city's tax collector thumbed his nose at the City Council and mayor this week after refusing to file a financial disclosure form as required under a city law approved in March.

Louis Picardo, who makes roughly $112,000 a year as the city's tax collector, had previously refused to file a disclosure statement, which requires officials to list sources of income and interests in property.

A city code enacted in the 1980s specifically requires a tax collector to file, but Picardo and others said they received an opinion from then-city attorney Joseph Sherman stating the state's local government ethics law enacted a decade later had invalidated the local code.

The March ordinance was unanimously approved and specifically mentions 25 city positions that are required to file the statements, along with members of the city's various boards and committees already required to do so under state law. City Council members made it clear that the ordinance was intended to close that apparent loophole.

The first thing to remember is that you have a right to know.

Government documents — budgets, environmental studies, contracts — are yours to see. The same goes for meetings of elected bodies. If your town board or city council is meeting, you are allowed to sit and listen.

There are exemptions — times when documents or meetings can be closed — such as when it comes to security issues or private employee matters. But for the most part, open government laws guarantee that you're entitled to know what your government is doing.

New Jersey updated its open records law five years ago with the idea of giving the public a better view of what happens in government.

But open government advocates say New Jersey's law keeps more documents out of the public eye than similar Freedom of Information, or FOI, laws in other states — especially when it comes to records concerning the Legislature.

"It is probably in the bottom tier of FOI regimes," said Mitchell Pearlman, former director of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission and author of a forthcoming study on New Jersey's new law.

Pearlman said the law is flawed because it allows the governor, state agencies and each house of the Legislature easy ways to exempt records that they think should not be made public.

Still, the Open Public Records Act can be a useful tool for curious citizens and, especially, journalists.

TRENTON -- In a display of détente, Police Director Joseph Santiago yesterday made public the department's daily crime report, an internal document generated each morning for department commanders that summa rizes major crimes from the prior 24 hours.

The release of the report followed a faxed request by The Times for detailed information from the police for the past day, as directed by Executive Order 69, the 1997 state order that requires timely release of information to the public, within a maximum of 24 hours from a request being received.

Often, far too often, government officials from City Hall to the White House have impeded, delayed or even outright refused to release information to the public.

Recent court decisions have upheld the public's right to know, ordering government officials not only to release the information, but also to pay penalties for violating the state's Open Public Records Act.

In April, a state Superior Court judge struck down rates charged by the City of Hoboken to copy public records.

HAMILTON -- Hundreds of residents who have requested public documents from the township clerk's office during the past six years may have been severely overcharged and should be given refunds, a citizens group has charged.

Members of the government watchdog group Citizens Campaign have uncovered a 6-year-old township resolution that calls for charges of 5 cents per page for copies made of public documents held by the clerk's office.

Court makes it easier for Open Public Records Act (OPRA) 
requestors to recover their attorney fees.

Court ruling bolsters public records act
Citizens entitled to attorney's fees

TRENTON —A Somerset County woman who hired a lawyer in order to access government records under the Open Public Records Act is entitled to an award of "reasonable attorney's fees," a state appellate court ruled Tuesday.

Hoboken Mayor David Roberts is inviting residents interested in the future of St. Mary Hospital to submit resumes to serve as community representatives on its Board of Advisors.

The Board will consist of 11 members, six of whom will be private citizens and four who must be Hoboken residents.

At least two of the Hoboken must have expertise in finance of private or non-profit organizations, or have extensive expertise in non-profit organizational management.

The other members will be formed of Hospital staff and the State of New Jersey.

Those interested should send their resume to the Mayor's office, City Hall, 94 Washington Street, Hoboken, NJ, 07030. For further information, contact 201-420-2000. 

See Political Commentary

One assumes that New Jersey's Open Public Meeting Act became law four years ago not to make it easier for government to make a profit when people ask for public records or to make it burdensome by simply making it a costly effort to obtain documents.

Last week, a state appellate court ruled that Edison in Middlesex County placed "an unreasonable burden on the right of access guaranteed by OPRA .Such a policy is not legally sustainable."

The case stems from Edison officials refusing to provide the minutes of a public meeting unless the person requesting them waited a month for the transcript to appear on a municipal Web site or pay $55 for a copy to be placed on a computer diskette.

It should be noted that the court noted that the fee should be limited to "the cost of material and supplies." Labor, time and other costs should not even be considered.

Also last week, state Superior Court Judge Carmen Messano, sitting in Jersey City, ruled that rates Hoboken charges for copying public records for the public are excessive. A suit over the issue was brought by city resident Elizabeth Mason.

Messano said that although Hoboken followed state law that allows charges of up to 75 cents per page for the first 10 pages, it was still too much money and the cost should have been closer to private markets. Local copy shops charge 6 to 9 cents for each page. The judge also threw out the city's $28 charge for blueprints.

While the City Clerk James Farina said he does not charge for a typical open records request unless it is for a substantial amount of information, Hoboken said it will reassess its rate structure.

Mason is correct when she said that she expects the judgment to have statewide ramifications. Her case, and the one in Edison, were decided in the spirit of OPRA - as they should have been. Fees for public records should be reasonable and not an obstacle. Considering recent court rulings, the state Legislature should revise its copying fees, but municipal and county governments should not wait for Trenton to act and review their costs for providing public documents.

In a decision that may have statewide ramifications, State Superior Court Judge Carmen Messano struck down the rates that Hoboken charges to copy routine public documents.  Hoboken's 75 cent a page fee is not inline with "real costs" considering that local copy shops charge 6 cents per page.

Although New Jersey State Law N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5 allows charges up to 75 cents per page for the first 10 pages to copy routine public documents, the judge ruled that Hoboken's fees should be more inline with real costs.

The City will now try to determine the actual costs for copying pages and move to amend the City ordinance.