New Jersey Libertarian PartyOpen Government Advocacy Project

John Paff, ChairmanP.O. Box 5424

Somerset, NJ 08875-5424Phone: 732-873-1251- Fax: 908-325-0129

Email: lpsmc@pobox.com

February 13, 2008

Hon. Arthur R. Ondish, Mayor andMembers of the Mount Arlington Borough Council419 Howard BoulevardMount 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 JerseyLibertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project. I am in receipt of Assistant ClerkTina Mayer’s two February 5, 2008 letters as well as her February 6, 2008 letter, all ofwhich were copied to you.

Ms. Mayer’s position, which is apparently shared by you, is that the Council’s publicmeeting 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

“[E]ach public body shall keep reasonably comprehensibleminutes of all its meetings showing the time and place, themembers present, the subjects considered, the actions taken, thevote of each member, and any other information required to beshown in the minutes by law, which shall be promptly availableto the public to the extent that making such matters public shallnot be inconsistent with section 7 of this act” (emphasis added).

N.J.S.A. 10:4-14.

By requiring that all minutes be made “promptly” available, the Legislatureexpressed 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 Irequested were from meetings held as early as October 8, 2007, the Council’s apparentposition is that making the public wait from that date until February 11, 2008—a period of136 days—satisfies the “promptly available” requirement.

New Jersey courts have repeatedly held that the term “promptly” in the Meetings Actrequires that draft minutes be publicly disclosed prior to the meeting at which formal

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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 weeksafter each meeting and at least three business days before the next meeting); MartinO’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) (seeExhibits 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 threebusiness days prior to the next meeting) (see Exhibits 3 and 4).

The most extensive discussion of this issue in a New Jersey court decision isMatawan Regional Teachers Association v. Matawan-Aberdeen Regional Board ofEducation, 212 N.J. Super. 328 (Law Div. 1986). The court interpreted the statutoryrequirement of making the minutes available “promptly” in light of the Meetings Act’spolicy “favoring public involvement in almost every aspect of government.” Id. at 330. Thecourt held that making minutes promptly available implements the Act’s overall purposeby, among other things, “[p]roviding all persons with the opportunity to take action prior tothe next meeting of the public body.” Id. at 331.

All of these cases are contrary to the Council’s present policy of “approving” itsminutes 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 JerseyMunicipal 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 thismatter 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

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