March 7, 2012

Training in Use of State Sunshine Laws Offered at Princeton Public Library Meeting

A recent public program to discuss residents’ rights under New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA) and the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA) attracted a particularly engaged audience in the Community Room at the Princeton Public Library Saturday.

“We thought it would be helpful to offer training for residents on their rights under OPRA and OPMA” (more commonly known as the “Sunshine Law”), said Planet Princeton publisher Krystal Knapp, who along with the library and the non-partisan Citizens Campaign, sponsored the morning program.

While lawyer Walter Luers, a public records expert who has successfully represented many New Jersey residents in public records and public meetings cases, came prepared to do most of the talking, audience members eagerly took him up on his offer to answer their questions as he went along. Mr. Luers, an attorney from Oxford, N.J., who is the president of the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government (www.njfog.org), never made it to the end of his notes.

Veterans of the Princeton Fair Tax-Revaluation Group and others concerned with the transparency of meetings held by the Transition Task Force and its subcommittees asked and learned about the proper way to request documents under OPRA, and what does and does not constitute a policy-making meeting under OPMA rules. “There’s not a more powerful tool than the Sunshine Law,” observed Heather Taylor, board member of the American Civil Liberties Union-New Jersey, who was present at the meeting.

OPRA is a New Jersey law that governs public access to government records maintained by public agencies in the state. The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey defines a “government record” as “any record that has been made, maintained, or kept on file in the course of official public business, or that has been received in the course of official public business.” Government records come in many formats, including paper records, electronic files, and audio recordings.

Like the Freedom of Information Act, which operates at the federal level, requests for state and local information under OPRA must be made in writing. Typically they should be addressed to a municipality’s “Records Custodian,” or, as a fallback, to the municipal clerk, who is required to forward the request to the appropriate staff member, or tell the resident seeking information who that person is. Once they have received the request, records custodians have seven business days in which to respond by telling the information-seeker whether their request will be filled immediately, or if it requires more time.

Mr. Luers suggested that “more time” could extend to about a month, but not much more than that. He emphasized the importance of using the correct wording in making the original request (including describing the format in which you want to receive the records), and he advised those who find themselves waiting for their requests to be filled not to send in daily requests that will only inundate (and probably aggravate) records custodians. He discouraged the use of the word “information” in a request as too vague, and encouraged listeners to be specific about the time frame they’re asking about.

Mr. Luers counseled using common sense rather than resorting to all-or-nothing anger when working with municipal staff members. Getting at least some of the documents one has requested is “a foot in the door,” and the documents in-hand may often lead to other pertinent records, he noted.

Mr. Luers also reported that obtaining copies of a municipality’s financial register over a period of years is a good way “to see where the money is going.”

Borough Mayor Yina Moore and Township Mayor Chad Goerner will probably be glad to know that Mr. Luers nixed a suggestion that municipal mayors be required to review incoming OPRA requests, saying that it would be an inordinate, and inappropriate, amount of work for them. “Be careful not to burn out your public officials because they’ll tune you out,” he observed. Not riling public officials also means, he said, refraining from using petitions or “four-page emails” to make a request.

The Sunshine Law

“You cannot hold meetings by email,” said Mr. Luers in response to a question about New Jersey’s OPMA. “Coming to a consensus by email is against the law.”

New Jersey‘s OPMA is designed to ensure that decision-making government bodies in the state conduct their businesses in public except in specific circumstances where exclusion of the public is needed to protect the privacy of individuals, the safety of the public, or the effectiveness of government in such areas as negotiations or investigations of individual members. Every public body must publish its meeting schedule by January 10 or within seven days of its annual organization’s meeting, whichever is later. A 48-hour written notice must also be given for any regular, special, adjourned, or unscheduled meeting.

Mr. Luers will lead another discussion on maximizing the use of New Jersey’s OPRA and OPMA in a free “webinar” on Tuesday, March 13, from 6 to 7 p.m. To register, visit http://thecitizenscampaign.com/eventlist/125-webinar.


February 15, 2012

Public Input Is Integral to Task Force Mission As Team Members Discuss Ways to Achieve It

On February 8, at the second meeting of the Transition Team Task Force charged with shepherding Princeton Township and Borough through consolidation, some members expressed differing views as to how many of their sessions should be open to public input. Dorothea Berkhout commented that because the team will make recommendations to the Borough and Township, rather than decisions, she was not sure it qualified as a public body under the Open Public Meetings Act. Colleague Brad Middlekauff added that it may be less efficient to solicit public input at every meeting. Team member Jim Levine suggested forming a committee to keep the public informed.

However, Chairman Mark Freda said that keeping the proceedings public was an integral part of the team’s mission. “The message to me by the majority of the people has been clear. We will do the absolutely best we can to perform this process in public,” he said. “Public participation in this process is critical.”

Township Administrator Jim Pascale said that according to the Township attorney, the task force must conduct its business in public, since it is a public body. The only exception would be if a topic under discussion legally falls within the parameters of an executive session. Bernie Miller said the group should “think about what is legal and what is the public’s perception of what we’re doing. This cannot be done behind closed doors.” The group agreed they should find an attorney, but in the meantime ask the governing bodies to amend its resolution so that they can make use of the attorneys for the Borough and Township.

In other action at the meeting, the Task Force agreed to form several subcommittees in the areas of personnel policies; public safety and merging police departments; public works, engineering and recreation; and finance. While the finance committee is already full, the Task Force is looking for volunteers to serve on the other four, and several more are expected to be named in coming weeks.

The personnel subcommittee held its first meeting on February 13. The future of Princeton’s municipal employees, 18 of whom will lose their jobs by the consolidation deadline of January 1, 2013, was the focus of the meeting. Currently, Township and Borough employees have different benefits regarding sick leave and pay increases. It was suggested that the periodic pay increases that Township employees receive based on longevity be grandfathered in.

To express interest in serving on a committee, send a resume and cover letter no later than 5 p.m. Friday, February 17 to either: Linda McDermott, Township Clerk, 400 Witherspoon St., Princeton, N.J. 08540, or lmcdermott@princeton-township.nj.us, or Delores Williams, Borough Deputy Clerk, 1 Monument Drive, Princeton, N.J. 08540, or dwilliams@princetonboro.org.


January 18, 2012

Unannounced Meeting Illegal But Inadvertent Borough Attorney Says

An unannounced meeting to discuss applicants for Princeton Borough’s representatives on the consolidation transition task force got Mayor Yina Moore and members of the Council into hot water last week. But this violation of the Open Public Meetings Act was not intentional, according to the Borough’s attorney Maeve Cannon.

At Council’s regular meeting last week, Ms. Cannon said that a December 28 meeting of Council members Jo Butler, Jenny Crumiller, and Kevin Wilkes, which was attended by then Mayor-elect Moore and Councilwoman-elect Heather Howard, was an inadvertent violation, since those on the committee may have thought that it was legal because only three council members were present, which would not constitute a quorum. Ms. Moore and Ms. Howard had yet to be sworn in when the meeting took place, but as future members of Council would be voting on the issue.

Councilman Roger Martindell said at the January 10 meeting that the procedure needed to be remedied. He also criticized the criteria for choosing candidates, saying those with an affiliation to Princeton University or residency outside the Borough should not be eliminated. Princeton Township chose its representatives early this month.

The Council has been contacted by about 30 members of the public interested in serving on the committee, said Ms. Butler, though some said they only wanted to volunteer for a subcommittee. Eight candidates were selected as finalists by the Council members. Four people will be selected, including three full members and one alternate.

The eight finalists С Alexi Assmus, Mark Freda, W. Bradford Middlekauff, Bruce M. Topolosky, Patrick Simon, James Levine, Hendricks Davis and Adrienne Kreipke С were subsequently interviewed at an open session of the Council on January 3. Council members Barbara Trelstad, Mr. Wilkes, and Ms. Butler were chosen to select a slate of four candidates from those eight. They were to be voted on at a special meeting last night, January 17.

In other business at the January 10 meeting, the Council was given a preview of its 2012 budget. Maintaining a zero tax rate increase is a goal for the year, chief financial officer Sandra Webb said in an overview of the projected budget. Councilman Martindell, who chairs the Finance Committee, commented that no major initiatives or significant labor contracts are proposed for 2012 as the Borough prepares to merge with Princeton Township.

“The less we do financially, the better, and this budget reflects that,” he said. Mr. Martindell added that the committee will meet with its counterparts in the Township, not only about the 2012 budget but to get a head start on the challenges likely to be posed by consolidation.

Ms. Webb told Council members that the budget proposals are preliminary, since 2011 had yet to be closed out. Figures included a $420,000 increase in spending, or 1.63 percent over 2011. No reduction in state aid is anticipated and department budgets are not being increased.

Since Princeton University has increased its voluntary payment to the Borough by $500,000 for 2012, the Borough will be using less of its operating surplus. Mayor Moore said she thought some of the surplus might be used to provide some relief for property owners who are struggling to pay taxes that rose after the 2010 tax revaluation. Mr. Wilkes suggested some of the money be used to focus on how to improve recyling and trash collection in the downtown area.

Ms. Howard commented that this is the time to make sure the state follows through on its commitment to pay 20 percent of the transition costs. She also suggested that the Borough and Township should send a list of help with budgetary flexibility that might be needed during the consolidation process.

At the meeting, the Council voted to accept Princeton University’s voluntary contributions (PILOT) of $1.7 million. Ms. Trelstad and Mr. Wilkes thanked the University for this increased payment, which includes $250,000 earmarked for transition costs. The University has also agreed to pay $300,000 for the expansion of the firehouse.

Speaking just before the vote, Ms. Butler expressed concerns that not enough was done during the negotiations. “It looks like something that could have been drawn up on the back of an envelope,” she said. Ms. Butler used the City of Boston as an example of how to do it better, saying the city sent a bill to its nonprofit organizations for 25 percent of what they would owe if they were not tax exempt. The Borough’s previous agreement with the University involved more detailed work, she said. “I hope going forward we can have a more comprehensive approach.”

Mayor Moore said she shares Ms. Butler’s concerns. “This opens doors to further the conversation where needs and benefits are assessed and integrated,” she said. “I look forward to furthering that discussion this year.”