At the December 17, 2024, Board meeting, Finance and Facilities Chair Marianna Emmolo (who was not re-elected and is no longer on the Board), suggested the district should publish the "OPRA log” of requests ‘in the interest of transparency’. A new Item on this month's RIH BOE agenda under Interim Business Administrator Report is “OPRA Logs”.
What is an "OPRA log”?
The "OPRA log” is a list of individuals that requested information under the OPRA law.
The Open Public Records Act (‘OPRA’) is a law codified in the New Jersey Statutes. It was enacted to provide the public with greater access to government records maintained by all public agencies in New Jersey. The law basically says that anyone can request access to government records, which can include invoices, contracts, emails, etc. and it must be provided within 7 days, subject to redaction of confidential information.
What kind of RIH BOE information was requested under OPRA?
There were requests for legal invoices, Dr. Tarchichi’s settlement agreement, Employment Contracts, Board meeting minutes and related emails, and other.
How does publishing an "OPRA log" increase transparency by the Board?
It doesn’t. Publishing a list of requests is an attempt to shame people who requested information from the district. Instead of posting a list of requests for information, the Board should publish the responses to those requests.
What’s the real issue here?
The real issue is there has been an outrageous increase in legal fees in 2023-2024 under Judy Sullivan and Kim Ansh, which they are trying to blame on OPRA requests (and specifically, on a few individuals). Publishing the “OPRA log” this month coincides with a social media smear campaign driven by two former RIH BOE presidents against myself and other community members. Is the RIH BOE really trying to be fiscally responsible? If they were, they would bring OPRA redactions back in house and stop the excessive use of legal counsel.
The Open Public Records Act is law, and the district has to comply with it. Shaming members of the community who ask for information is a bullying tactic and attempt to divert from the real issues at hand.
Below is my letter to the BOE on this topic:
Members of the RIH BOE,
I listened to the December 17, 2024, Board meeting, when the former Finance and Facilities chair Marianna Emmolo suggested that the district should publish the log of OPRA requests on the board agendas and on the district website ‘in the interest of transparency’.
The Open Public Records Act (‘OPRA’) is a law codified in the New Jersey Statutes at N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. It was enacted to provide the public with greater access to government records maintained by all public agencies in New Jersey. By letting the public access records, we all get a clearer view of what our government is up to. It is one tool to support the pillars of our democratic society: accountability, transparency, and citizen engagement.
I have several comments about your decision to publish the log of OPRA requests.
1 - Why have you chosen to publish an OPRA log of requests without publishing the responses to the requests? It seems to be a blatant attempt to shame members of the public for requesting information to which they are entitled by law.
2 - Most districts that publish their OPRA logs ALSO publish the responses to the requests, in the interest of transparency. Are you prepared to do that? I realize some of the information I have received through my OPRA requests might be embarrassing to board members, other community members and even staff, but if your true goal is transparency, you should post the responses for all to see.
3 - The suggestion to publish the log of OPRA requests came from the Finance and Facilities Committee. What the FINANCE Committee should be discussing is FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY. The solution to reducing the outrageous legal fees spent on OPRA requests is quite simple. The way to reduce costs is NOT to shame the public for wanting deserved transparency. The way to reduce costs is to bring 95% of the redactions back in house (as was done prior to 2023) and for the Board to use legal counsel more responsibly and appropriately.
I believe The Busch Law Group provided similar advice back in April of 2023.
Kathie Schwartz
Franklin Lakes