Freehold Township Committee Voices Opposition to Expanded Open Public Meetings Act Requirements

A state Senate bill designed to expand requirements of the Open Public Meetings Act would prove too onerous for municipal government to operate, according to Freehold Township Mayor David Salkin said. Salkin and other members of the Freehold Township Committee voiced opposition to the bill during Tuesday evening’s workshop meeting.

The intent of S1351 is to revise laws “concerning meetings of public bodies to provide greater public access to meetings and to information about meetings,” according to the bill as introduced.

The bill is sponsored by state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-37), former Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, and Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney (D-3).

It calls for a ban on the use of smartphones by council members during public meetings and requires any municipality with a website to post its agenda online three business days in advance, as opposed to the current 48-hour requirement.

Salkin said the bill would require that no discussion take place on items other than what is included on the agenda.

“You wouldn’t be able to brainstorm anything. If someone had a good idea that wasn’t on the agenda, you wouldn’t be able to discuss it. It would be impossible to run a subcommittee meeting,” Salkin said.

Other requirements council took issue with in its resolution include:

• notice be given for all subcommittee meetings, which would increase need for staff to prepare minutes, council said;
• start times be given for both public portion and executive sessions for public meetings; council said those times would be speculative and unreliable;
• the ruling body of the municipality may not discuss or act on any matter not listed on the agenda; council said this would eliminate the possibility of government to discuss any matters for which it is impossible to give three business days’ notice, including those raised during the public comment portion;
• allow the public to comment on emergency matters, which council said would unnecessarily slow down the meetings;
• allow members of the public three minutes each to discuss any matter council will vote on before it votes on it, once again slowing down the pace of the meeting;
• eliminate attorney-client privilege as a reason for executive session, which council said would inhibit its ability to obtain legal advice, which would be detrimental to the public;
• mandate each council member state their reasons why they voted a certain way on every matter and the identity of every member of the public who spoke to be included in more extensive minutes, which council said would increase cost for preparing minutes; and
• additional costs for posting and maintaining website information by posting schedules of meetings, agendas, notices of emergency meetings, minutes, resolutions, and ordinance to the extent not already set forth in the minutes and closed meeting resolutions for at least five years.

Salkin asked Freehold Township Administrator Peter Valesi to draft a letter on behalf of the committee opposing the introduced bill.

“Transparency is a good thing but this bill goes beyond that,” Salkin said.

, Sweeney’s office stood by the proposal. Sweeney didn't respond to a request for comment on Wednesday, but a representative of his office replied via email.

"While the Senate president believes implementation would be at a bare minimum of cost, any potential costs are outweighed by the need for greater transparency," wrote Chris Donnelly, of the Senate Majority Office.