Middletown Gives Up All Residents' Email Accounts In OPRA Request

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — So ... earlier this month — when we first learned that Middletown Twp. handed over its entire list of residents' email addresses, only to see that list be used for possibly illegal political campaigning — everyone wondered who made the original OPRA request. That campaign ad, which lacked legally required "paid for by" language, was linked to Committeeman Tony Perry, who has still yet to admit his team made the OPRA request. Perry does however, continue to defend the OPRA request's legality.

After Patch first reported the shocking news that Middletown residents' email addresses can be shared with just about anyone who asks, the Asbury Park Press filed its own OPRA request to ask who made the request.

The only name Middletown Township said it was given was a mysterious email account called Watch07748@gmail.com.

On July 10 of this year, Middletown first received an Open Public Records Act request from Watch07748@gmail.com for all of its Township email addresses. Township administrator Tony Mercantante admitted to Patch he was personally uncomfortable with the request, but also said that Middletown had no choice but to comply. Ten days later, Middletown Twp. gave Watch07748@gmail.com all 11,095 email addresses of residents who had signed up thinking they would receive non-political Township alerts, such as news about garbage pick-ups, road closings and community events.

Instead, on Sept. 29, all 11,000+ residents received an email attacking Sean Byrnes, a Middletown resident and a Democrat who is running to unseat Perry from the Middletown Committee. Perry, a Republican, is former Middletown Committeeman Gerry Scharfenberger's son-in-law and he was never elected to the seat; he was appointed and is now running to hold the seat.

"If someone files an OPRA request for our list of subscribers for email blasts, etc. we must provide it and apparently that is what happened," said Middletown administrator Mercantante earlier this month. "It was filed anonymously, which is often the case and legally permitted," he added.

He said a similar battle over residents' email addresses being subject to OPRA occurred in Union County, and being aware of it, Middletown did not try and fight the July 10 request from Watch07748@gmail.com.

"Middletown did not try to prevent this and did not incur legal fees, but I assume Union County did, since there was litigation over it," Mercantante told Patch. "We were aware of the cases and thus complied."

Tony Perry yet to admit his team made the OPRA request, but defends its legality

Hyperlinks in the email lead back to Perry's Twitter account, but Perry continues to deny his campaign team made the OPRA request.

"The addresses were obtained through the Open Public Records Act ... I went to them (my campaign team) and asked them about this email," said Perry at the most recent Middletown Township Committee meeting. "I asked them where the addresses came from. They were obtained through the Open Public Records Act ... 100 percent legally obtained through the Open Public Records Act."

At that meeting, Committeeman Tony Fiore, a fellow Republican, chimed in to defend Perry.

"Open pubic records are open public records," said Fiore. "No campaign laws were broken."

When the Asbury Park Press filed an OPRA request for all 11,000+ Middletown residents' emails, it was given the same list, with the residents' names blacked out.

Township attorney Brian Nelson told the APP that other towns in New Jersey have tried to fight similar OPRA requests for residents' email accounts, and the municipality always loses.

"This issue is very cut and dry and one which I have personally litigated about a decade ago on two instances, once in Tinton Falls and once in Middletown," Nelson told the Press. "There are numerous decisions spanning a decade right on point, and of course, if the municipality loses, we’re on the hook for legal fees, so we always air on the side of releasing information, which is exactly what OPRA requires."

Past Patch reporting: Middletown: OPRA Request Forced Us To Share Residents' Emails