GOP: Politics at play in e-mail disclosures
Kahle says council members need municipal accounts
BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer
An Oceanport councilwoman is calling for borough email accounts for the municipality's governing body in order to protect the council members, as well as the pockets of taxpayers.

Ellynn Kahle councilwoman

Councilwoman Ellynn Kahle said her request comes in the wake of multiple Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests filed by at least one resident seeking e-mail correspondence concerning borough business.

"We are using our own e-mails and we open ourselves to liability," said Kahle in an interview after the Aug. 16 municipal meeting.

"If we had access to an e-mail account through the borough, it would be there for the record," she said. "It would be a complete record right there of all the business coming and going."

At the meeting, Kahle, a Republican, said that for the past year, she and other Republicans on council have been "inundated" with OPRA requests from Belmar Avenue resident Allan Johnson.

She further explained that Johnson filed a complaint with the Government Records Council (GRC) earlier this year after he did not receive e-mails he requested regarding borough business conducted by Republican Councilman Hugh Sharkey.

Lucille Chaump mayor

"The only reason I am saying anything is because it has been going on now for a year, and it is costing taxpayers money," Kahle said.

"[Johnson] did not get information he requested from his OPRA request, so he filed a complaint, and now we have all these legal fees because our lawyer had to look at it," Kahle said, adding, "This is not fair to our taxpayers because of partisan politics."

As a solution, Kahle said she is looking into the cost and possibility of public e-mail addresses for council members.

"If we had access to an e-mail address through the borough, all the information would be sent to the record keeper in the borough," Kahle said. "There would be a complete record right there of all the business coming and going."

But Mayor Lucille Chaump said a public e-mail address for council members is not possible under the borough's current computer system.

"I was told that the way the system is set up now, it wouldn't work," Chaump said last week.

"Even if we were to get e-mail addresses through our Web site, if [a] council [member] were to open an e-mail at home, it would not be recorded with the borough.

"You would need another server," Chaump said.

Chaump further explained that she and the council have been advised by

Borough Attorney Scott Arnette not to use e-mail to discuss borough matters.

"Our borough attorney told us that any e-mail must be copied to the clerk, but he told us we should not being doing borough business through our e-mails," Chaump said.

Johnson, an electrical contractor, is the husband of former Democratic Councilwoman Linda Johnson.

Kahle said that she and the other three Republicans on council are being targeted by Johnson because of their party affiliation.

"I do not have a problem with citizens filing OPRA requests - that is their right," Kahle said in an interview after the meeting. "My problem is that only the Republicans on council are getting OPRA [requests].

"Any time any Republican says they talked to someone, [Johnson] files an OPRA request. It is strictly party lines and it is pure harassment. I have had enough of it.

"With [the OPRA filed for Sharkey's e-mails], [Johnson] got the information [from another source]. So it is not about getting the information, it is about trying to trap someone."

But Johnson said this week that he has only filed four OPRA requests seeking information on borough business conducted by Kahle. He also said that he only was only seeking certain e-mail correspondences from Kahle pertaining to Monmouth Park racetrack.

"I have been to different public meetings and [Kahle] is pretty adamant about shutting down Monmouth Park racetrack with regard to fecal contamination and run-off," Johnson, who was not present at the meeting, said in an interview last week.

"I just wanted the information," he said, adding, "I put in an OPRA request and got back nothing [from Kahle]. It is just not fair for her to deny public access to information."

Johnson confirmed that he had filed an OPRA request in November seeking information on a Shrewsbury police study that Sharkey discussed at a public meeting.

"He said he had an e-mail from a policeman in Shrewsbury," Johnson said, adding that he wanted to read it.

When Johnson did not receive a copy of the e-mail, he filed a complaint with the GRC and the GRC decided against Sharkey, according to Johnson.

The investigation into the complaint also involved the borough clerk, according to Kahle.

"You are supposed to send a copy of all e-mails to the borough clerk, and if you didn't, and someone files an OPRA request, she doesn't have the information to give out," Kahle said.

"So our lawyer is involved and costing taxpayers money, and now Kim Jungfer [borough clerk] could be fined, and it's all due to partisan politics," she said.

But Johnson said his requests have nothing to do with politics.

"This is not political," Johnson said. "This is not personal.

"It just so happens that it is [the Republicans] who won't divulge the information," he said. "If someone was to deny public access to information, regardless of political parties, I would OPRA them."

Kahle further said at the meeting that when Johnson files an OPRA request with Oceanport that deals with another town, he also files an OPRA request in that other town.

"It is impeding us in sharing services with other towns," Kahle said. "Why would anyone want to get involved with us when someone is constantly filling out OPRA requests for every e-mail?

"This has gone too far," she said.