Town Of Westfield Wants Legislature To Look At Public Records Act

WESTFIELD, NJ — The Westfield Town Council will hold its next regular meeting on Tuesday at 8 p.m. The packet of resolutions and proposed ordinances is here.

Among other issues, the council will vote on 2020 rates for the Westfield Memorial Pool. There are separate rates for residents and non-residents. For a family of four or fewer, for instance, the proposed rate for residents is $425 for the season. For a non-resident, it's $725. But there are separate rates for couples, parent/child, individuals, seniors, and a family with child care. See the link above for the list.

The council will also vote on a resolution encouraging the state legislature to form a commission to study how local governments fulfill OPRA, the state's Open Public Records Act. The Open Public Records Act is intended to make it easy for citizens, journalists, and other interested parties to get public records from a governing body. However, snags have come up around the state. Some municipal staffs have spent hours responding to requests. And some government bodies have found ways to stall on requests, waiting several days and then telling the applicant that the form was not filled out properly.

The resolution on Westfield's agenda apparently has roots in a suggestion from the League of Urban Municipalities. More than 130 other New Jersey towns have already passed similar resolutions requesting a state review of the law, according to an NJ.com story earlier this month.

The Westfield version of the proposed resolution says that the town has had to rely on the municipal attorney to review many OPRA requests, costing additional fees of over $20,000 last year. The town responded to 768 OPRA requests in 2017, 987 OPRA requests in 2018, and 1,150 in 2019, the resolution states.

It notes that OPRA, while "well-intentioned," is 18 years old and has not been amended to keep up with current technology.

It also says that the act has been "fraught with abuse and misuse, and has become an unanticipated financial cost to the taxpayers of New Jersey."

The Westfield resolution requests that the proposed commission include mayors, municipal clerks, municipal managers, law enforcement heads, privacy experts, members of the media, open government advocates, and others. The resolution can be viewed in the packet.

The agenda for the Tuesday meeting also includes a proposed ordinance to expand the board of the District Management Commission in town, and to establish the Westfield Access and Inclusivity Council.