On December 10, 2008, the Borough of Lake Como (Monmouth County) paid $52,500 to James Gavin and $7,500 to Brian Gavin to settle the pair’s separate federal lawsuits. In their lawsuits, filed May 25, 2007, the Gavins, who list addresses in Mansfield Township, Warren County, claimed that on May 28, 2005, the Lake Como police […]
Posted inNJ Open Government Notes
Appellate Division examines OPRA’s “personnel” exemption
Employees of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s office (BCPO) must seek permission before they can work for another employer. The BCPO manual states that an employee’s “outside activity or employment must not . . . give any improper appearance of conflict of interest.” A newspaper requested records of BCPO employees’ outside employment activities presumably so that […]
Posted inNJ Civil Settlements
Gloucester Township pays $35,000 to man who fell down stairs while in police custody
On February 2008, Gloucester Township or its insurer paid local resident Robert J. Tarves $35,000 to settle a lawsuit claiming that he was seriously injured during a December 2005 drunk driving arrest. According to the lawsuit, Gloucester Township Police Officer Michael Miller took Tarves into custody because he “was adversely affected by intake of alcoholic […]
Posted inNJ Open Government Notes
Permissible uses of OPMA “personnel” exception
In two recent letters, I’ve questioned the propriety of the Hanover Township (Morris County) Committee’s use of the exception in the Sen. Byron M. Baer Open Public Meetings Act that allows “personnel” discussions to take place in closed session. (See N.J.S.A. 10:4-12(b)(8). My letters are on-line here. My basic contention is that a public body […]
Posted inNJ Open Government Notes
March 26th: Open Public Records Act Seminar
The New Jersey Press Association, The Record and the Herald News are sponsoring a one-day seminar on New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act. The seminar will be held Thursday, March 26 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Bergen Community College’s Ciccone Theater, 400 Paramus Road, Paramus. Cost is $10 per person, which includes a […]