On January 19, 2009, I wrote to the High Bridge (Hunterdon County) Mayor and Borough Council asking how meetings of the Council’s three-member committees (e.g. the Planning & Engineering Committee) are held in a manner consistent with the Open Public Meetings Act. My letter and Borough Attorney Barry S. Goodman’s February 13, 2009 are on-line […]
Posted inNJ Open Government Notes
More on “effective majority” question
I received a very thoughtful letter from Andover Township (Sussex County) attorney Fred Semrau in response to my questions about how meetings of committees of the Township Committee interplay with the requirements of the Sen. Byron M. Baer Open Public Meetings Act. The correspondence is on-line here. Mr. Semrau concluded that a) the OPMA would […]
Posted inNJ Open Government Notes
RE: Penns Grove Councilwoman’s forfeiture of office
I wrote a letter to Judge David E. Krell, the presiding judge of all the municipal court judges in Cumberland, Salem and Gloucester Counties, asking for his opinion on whether the Westville Municipal Court properly followed state law when it convicted Penns Grove Borough Councilwoman Tami Baytops of “electioneering” in November 2007. My letter is […]
Posted inNJ Open Government Notes
“Effective Majority” argument causes reduction in council committee size
As you can see from the article below, the Spring Lake Heights (Monmouth County) Borough Council has reduced the size of its committees from three to two in order to better comply with the OPMA’s “effective majority” requirement. My letter to the Borough Administrator, which is referenced in the article, is on-line here. I suppose […]
Posted inNJ Open Government Notes
Woodstown now has written contracts with its solicitor
On July 9, 2008, I wrote to Mayor Pfeffer and the Woodstown Borough (Salem County) Council questioning the legality of the Borough not having a written contract with George G. Rosenberger, Jr., the Borough Solicitor. On February 10, 2009, I asked Borough Clerk Cynthia Dalessio for the Mayor and Council’s response to my July 9, […]