Just the Facts

Potential open records act changes could jeopardize stories that affect the public's health, wallet and ability to stay informed

By: James M. O'Neill
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... Though New Jersey's Open Public Records Act, NorthJersey.com has been able to inform readers about the numerous hazardous materials stored in their communities - Many near schools and homes - and the emergency evacuation plans their towns have in place in the event of a disaster.
..... Through OPRA, we were able to revel the Rutgers athletics' debt had grown to more than $25 million - with half being loans to cover operating deficits.
..... Through OPRA, we were able to obtain documents revealing key missteps that exacerbated the spread of COVID in the state's veterans homes during the early stages of the pandemic.
..... And those are only a few recent examples of how we used OPRA to carry out our watchdog role and show New Jersey residents how state and local government was performing, how officials mad decisions on key issues that affect residents' lies and how they spend taxpayer money.
..... Now advocates warn that new legislation to overhaul OPRA would gut the current law and steer the state away from transparency.
..... The bill, sponsored by state Senator Paul Sarlo, D-Bergen, would limit public access to certain kinds of government documents and related information. The bill was pulled Thursday [03/14/2024] just before a committee was to consider it because it was "not yet ready," Assemblywoman Lisa Swain said.
..... OPRA was first enacted in 2002 and requires local, county and state and agencies to provide the public with access to government records in New Jersey.
..... Here are some examples of the significant investigative work The Record and NorthJersey.com had produced using OPRA.

When veterans homes spiraled amid COVID, OPRA helped reveal glaring missteps

..... Among the information that would never have been made public without OPRA is the detained breakdown in care reported by NorthJersey.com at the state-run veterans homes in Paramus and Menlo Park, where at least 200 residents died during the COVId-19 pandemic.
..... NorthJersey.com used OPRA to obtain hundreds of emails from key managers that showed how unprepared the homes were for the virus, how managers instituted an anti-mask policy, and how they believed COVID was not in the homes even though dozens of residents were getting sick.
..... An OPRA request also included a key inspection report that showed a lack of basic infection control and such questionable decisions as allowing COVID-positive demential residents to congregate with residents whose COVID status was not known.
..... After NorthJersey.com 's stories appeared, the Murphy administration began denying the news organization's OPRA requests for more emails as being too broad. Officials also redacted another batch of requested emails, rendering them useless. NorthJersey.com sued the state, and a judge ruled that those documents should be made available.

OPRA helped show how Rutgers athletics built big debt to stay competitive in the Big Ten

..... A series of stores revealing the cost to taxpayers of Rutgers University's move to the Big Ten Conference - from burgeoning athletics debt to lavish credit card spending - would not have been possible without OPRA.
..... Reporters made nearly 100 OPRQA requests, gaining access to detailed financial records - including debt service schedule, cash flow statements, debt projections and credit cad statements - that help us follow the money and find the true costs.
..... Information gleaned from these documents revealed that the athletics department had borrowed millions from both the university and the Big Ten to paper over shortfalls.
..... Nearly $84 million in loans from the university's internal bank had been used to cover operating deficits - even though Rutgers' own policies didn't allow it. After reporters asked about the practice, it was revised.
..... And a look at credit card spending - more than 30,000 purchases of nearly 410 million - showed as a luau and beach yoga in Hawaii, tickets to Disney World and Broadway shows, luxury hotels in Paris and London, and chilled lobster, seafood towers and Delmonico steaks.

Investigation reveals chemical hazards near North Jersey homes

..... After the Majestic Industries chemical fire in Passaic, we uncovered the latent dangers of hazmats near homes, schools and entertainment venues.
..... NorthJersey.com used OPRA to seek emergency evacuation plans from 21 North Jersey towns to see if they were up to date.
..... Only four towns complied. After NorthJersey.com sued the towns that had denied the request, seven more provided their evacuation plans - with key portions redacted
..... NorthJersey.com used OPRA to seek the state's entire database so we could construct an interactive map showing how close these sites are to residential neighborhoods, listing the chemicals they housed and their health risks. When the state denied the OPRA request NorthJersey.com spent weeks downloading information about each chemical facility individually form an Online database run by the state.

Murphy donor contacted NJ Transit about HQ deal before agency sought bids, emails show

..... The deal-making to move NJ Transit's headquarters to an expensive building by Murphy donors began in March 2021 with some of the agency's top official s touring 2 gateway that April [2021] more than a year before the agency hired a real estate consultant and solicited bids for new office space, according to emails obtained exclusively by NorthJersey.com through OPRA.

Seabrooks case: From Paterson police shooting to NJ takeover

..... After Paterson anti-violence advocates Najee Seabooks was fatally shot by police in early March 2023, NorthJersey.com and Paterson Press used OPRA to obtain footage from police body-worn cameras to understand how Seabrooks' interactions with officers led to his shooting.

Bob Menendez's wife hit and killed a man while driving on Bogota's Main Street in 2018

..... Nadine Arslanian Menendez, federal indicted in a bribery scheme with her husband, Senator Bob Menendez, was behind the wheel when her Mercedes-Benz struck and killed a man on Main Street in Bogota in December 2018, details that had not been reported until NorthJersey.com attained the Bogota Police Department report and dash-cam footage using an OPRA request.

Hot mic catches backroom dealings of Palisades Park council

..... Two hours of audio obtained by NorthJersey.com trough OPRA provided an unfiltered glimpse into the inner workings of a divided Palisades Park Borough Council, backroom deals in the works, what led to an internal fight, and ongoing litigation over a vacant council seat and police issues.

Bergen knocks down tree, trucks in soil at Overpeck Park for a lawn

..... When an environmental advocate noticed workers knocking down about 100 trees in an overgrown section of Overpeck Park near a butterfly garden, he was shocked. Then outraged. Then truckloads of dirt were dumped at the site. OPRA requests helped uncover where the dirt came from and what was going on at the park.

Knowing who police pull over can help and racial profiling. But few NJ towns track it

..... In most of New Jersey, there is no way for residents to know if their taxpayer-funded police departments are stopping Black and brown drivers disporporationately. NorthJersey.com filed public records requests for data on motor vehicle stops from 471 New Jersey departments. Of the 378 that answered, 112 departments provided comprehensive data or an analysis that include the race of drivers. The results varied.

NJ lawmakers cost you millions by holding a second public job. who are they really working for?

..... Nearly a third of New Jersey state lawmakers also work in other government jobs with that not only increase their pensions but also raise ethical questions about whom they serve when they cast votes in the Legislature, an investigation by the Trenton Bureau of USA today Network New Jersey found. The 37 lawmakers holding more than one government job or contracts racked up nearly $2.7 million in additional taxpayer income beyond their $49,000-a-year Statehouse salaries, the investigation found, after sending OPRA request to legal agencies that had lawmakers on the payrolls.

NJ murder-for-hire case linked to Russian mob, forget art

..... NorthJersey.com exclusively obtained through OPRA more than 100 pages of reports and subpoenas, photos, text messages and emails from the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office that provided clues to the motive behind Michael Galdieri's killing, including connections to the Russian mafia, a Brooklyn gang, meth addiction, Online hookups with strangers, and an art deco painting that could be worth millions - or nothing. none of those angles, however, pointed to Sean Caddle, the man who ultimately admitted in court to putting a hit out on Galdieri, who in May 2014 was stabbed to death, with his body left in his burning Jersey City apartment.

NJ has passed out little of its $270 million in homeowner relief

..... After using OPRA to obtain New Jersey's quarterly report to the U.S. Treasury, NorthJersey.com reported that less than 1% of a multimillion-dollar pot of federal money had been distributed to struggling homeowners to catch up on their mortgages, property taxes, homeowner's insurance and other housing costs.

Did wealthy Alpine using its affordable housing trust fund correctly?

..... A NorthJersey.com review of Alpine financial documents obtained through OPRA showed that the borough took hundreds of thousands of dollars from the affordable housing trust fund over eight years and spent it on law firms the borough hired to handle aspects of the settlement talks, a potential violation of its own zoning code.
..... The fund is intended to pay for the construction and maintenance of apartments for low-income families.

..... Staff Writer, Ashley Balcerazk, Megan Burrow, Kristie Cattafi, Scott Fallon, Joe Malinconico, Jean Rimbach, Kate Sobko, Colleen Wilson and David M Zimmer contributed to this story.

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