Transparency NJ

On June 26, 2009, the Atlantic County Municipal Joint Insurance Fund Association (ACMJIFA) sent an “OPRA Bulletin” to the clerks of approximately forty member municipalities regarding Mercer County Assignment Judge Linda Feinberg’s May 21, 2009 unpublished opinion in Getts v. Mercer County Clerk’s Office (Docket No. MER-L-696-07). (The Getts opinion is here and the clerks […]

In August 2008, I filed a five count pro se lawsuit against Howell Township in Monmouth County. On June 27, 2009, I received in the mail a signed Consent Judgment that resolved the first three counts of the complaint. The other two counts are still pending. My Amended Complaint and the Settlement Agreement are on-line […]

A question I received from a correspondent: When a public body goes into executive session to privately discuss a “personnel” issue, how much detail on the personnel issue being discussed needs to appear in the resolution that authorizes the executive session? For example, it is permissible for the resolution to simply say that “personnel issues” […]

During a thirty-minute hearing today, June 26, 2009, Atlantic County Assignment Judge Steven P. Perskie ruled that the City of Port Republic did not abide by the Open Public Meetings Act when it failed to issue even redacted versions of its January 2008 closed session minutes when I requested them in August 2008. The vast […]

I received the following question: “I spoke during the public portion of a local board of education meeting and specifically requested that the concern I raised be recorded in the meeting’s minutes. The Board secretary refused to do so and said that the required elements to be included in the minutes are time, attendance and […]