Public info ordinance fails to gain approval
Council members cite costs in voting against rules for Web site
BY LAYLI WHYTE Correspondent

TINTON FALLS — By a vote of three to one, the Borough Council decided to let policy dictate, rather than to legislate, making public records available on the borough's Web site.

At last week's council meeting, an ordinance that would have required the borough to post all ordinances approved by the council on the Web site within 48 hours of being passed and to remain on the site for no less than one year was voted down by all but one council member, mainly due to concerns about possible additional costs.

"At the base of this," said Councilman Paul Ford, "is the question: Should documents be readily available for public consumption? Yes. No question. I fully support this. My concern all along has been about cost."

Councilman Michael Skudera, who has been spearheading this initiative, assured the council that there would be no additional costs associated with this ordinance, and he said that until that night, he had not heard any negative comments about a plan that he said would only serve to create more transparency in government.

State Assemblyman Richard Merkt, (R-25th Legislative District) was on hand to applaud the council for putting forth such an ordinance.

"Congratulations on what I think is a very unique ordinance," said Merkt. "It may very well turn into a model for other towns. I think it is a great way to expand accountability and a great way to expand accessibility. I am pleased to see you have taken a lead in this."

"Councilman Andrew Mayer, who was sworn in at the meeting after winning election on Nov. 4 to fill an unexpired term that will end June 30, 2011, had previously served on the borough's Technology Advisory Committee. He said that it took many volunteers to get the borough's new Web site up and running and that he would have liked to see the committee have the chance to review the ordinance before it was brought to the council.

"It was given to the committee," said Skudera.

"It was never on the agenda for review," responded Mayer.

Mayer said that the ordinance, as written, could be broadly interpreted to include all digitally recorded audio, which would add additional work for Karen Mount-Taylor, the borough clerk, as well as other employees.

Mayer explained that the software chosen for the Web site had initially been envisioned as something that would be easy to operate and allow all department heads to post information in a timely manner, but the software that was chosen has not been

simple to use.

Skudera did receive support for this ordinance, not only from Merkt, but also from Beth Mason of the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government. Mason was not able to attend the meeting, but Skudera read a letter she sent aloud and entered it into the record.

"I support whole-heartedly your efforts," Mason's letter stated. "We lack transparency at all levels of government and on Wall Street. Denial of access to public information is one of the biggest problems plaguing our communities."

There was also concern from Borough Administrator Brian Dempsey concerning the amount of work already being done by Doreen D'Annunzio, the borough employee tasked with monitoring the Web site."

Not every person is computer-savvy," he said. "I don't see where we're going to be able to get away with this. Webmasters and IT [information technology] people aren't unheard of in municipalities, but right now, we're not replacing people who are leaving, which means we're asking fewer employees to do more."

Mayor Peter Maclearie said that the information is already being posted on the site as a matter of policy, but if it is legislated the way the ordinance spells out, it may put the borough in a position where it would be unable to comply with its own law."

If the clerk takes a sick day or is out of town," he said, "and you legislate that this has to be done in a certain number of days, we won't be able to comply. Do we have to legislate this rather than have it as our own policy?"

Mount-Taylor said that on two occasions so far, her only employee has had to ask D'Annunzio for assistance in posting something to the site, and that she had to give this employee a day and a half to get that done.

"There are costs associated with this and the extra time spent doing it," she said, adding that this is especially true in her office, where two employees recently left and have not been replaced in a costsaving effort.

While three councilmen and the mayor called for the posting of information to remain policy, Skudera did not back down with his belief that it should become a law, and in the end, was the only councilman to vote in favor of the ordinance.

"I don't write policy," he said. "I'm a councilman. I write legislation."

All council members agreed to leave the issue open to revisit in the future.