Council Opposes Changes to Open Public Meetings Act

A new bill that would set new requirements for the Open Public Meetings Act would impose too much of a financial burden on the taxpayer, and in some cases, ultimately serve as a detriment to the public interest, in the opinion of the Galloway Township Council.

The council passed a resolution Tuesday night to oppose Bill S1351, the intent of which 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.

One of the council’s issues pertains to a requirement that minutes would include recordings concerning public business among a majority of members that occur prior to the official meeting itself. The council believes this would be an unprecedented expansion of the Public Meetings Act, as it would make pre-meeting discussions part of the official meetings. It also believes that to do this would be “unworkable, and an ineffective imposition on municipalities.”

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.

“It’s overly burdensome to comply,” Mayor Keith Hartman said. “That’s time and money spent on compliance.”

Hartman added that the council prides itself on its transparency, and that there was some discussion of whether the issue of the school budget discussed Tuesday night should be done in executive session.

“We decided that was something that needs to be done in open session,” Hartman said, adding that litigation and contract negotiations are the only issues they feel need to be discussed in closed session.

“There are parts of it I do like,” Councilman Dennis Kleiner said during the meeting. “But I thought the restrictions and time frames were excessive. I support this resolution because the excess is so overwhelming that the good points get lost.”

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.

On Tuesday night, Township Solicitor Michael Blee commended the council on its compliance with the Open Public Records Act.

“This act has a significant economic impact,” Blee said.

According to Township Clerk Lisa Tilton, the League of Municipalities and 566 clerks statewide are also in opposition to the bill.

“It would have a big impact on any municipality,” Tilton said.