New Jersey Libertarian Party Open Government Advocacy Project John Paff, Chairman P.O. Box 5424 Somerset, NJ 08875-5424 Phone: 732-873-1251- Fax: 908-325-0129 Email: lpsmc@pobox.com February 13, 2008 Hon. Arthur R. Ondish, Mayor and Members of the Mount Arlington Borough Council 419 Howard Boulevard Mount 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 Jersey Libertarian Party s Open Government Advocacy Project. I am in receipt of Assistant Clerk Tina Mayer s two February 5, 2008 letters as well as her February 6, 2008 letter, all of which were copied to you. Ms. Mayer s position, which is apparently shared by you, is that the Council s public meeting 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 N.J.S.A. 10:4-14. [E]ach public body shall keep reasonably comprehensible minutes of all its meetings showing the time and place, the members present, the subjects considered, the actions taken, the vote of each member, and any other information required to be shown in the minutes by law, which shall be promptly available to the public to the extent that making such matters public shall not be inconsistent with section 7 of this act (emphasis added). By requiring that all minutes be made promptly available, the Legislature expressed 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 I requested were from meetings held as early as October 8, 2007, the Council s apparent position is that making the public wait from that date until February 11, 2008 a period of 136 days satisfies the promptly available requirement. New Jersey courts have repeatedly held that the term promptly in the Meetings Act requires that draft minutes be publicly disclosed prior to the meeting at which formal
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 weeks after each meeting and at least three business days before the next meeting); Martin O 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) (see Exhibits 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 three business days prior to the next meeting) (see Exhibits 3 and 4). The most extensive discussion of this issue in a New Jersey court decision is Matawan Regional Teachers Association v. Matawan-Aberdeen Regional Board of Education, 212 N.J. Super. 328 (Law Div. 1986). The court interpreted the statutory requirement of making the minutes available promptly in light of the Meetings Act s policy favoring public involvement in almost every aspect of government. Id. at 330. The court held that making minutes promptly available implements the Act s overall purpose by, among other things, [p]roviding all persons with the opportunity to take action prior to the next meeting of the public body. Id. at 331. All of these cases are contrary to the Council s present policy of approving its minutes 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 Jersey Municipal 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 this matter 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 2
Exhibit 1
Exhibit 2
Exhibit 3
Exhibit 4
Exhibit 5
Exhibit 6
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: lpsmc@pobox.com 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 fcs@dks-law.com