New Jersey

Sarlo’s OPRA stink bomb needs to be defused | Editorial

Published

2 years ago

March 10, 2024

Sarlo’s OPRA stink bomb needs to be defused | Editorial

Just when taxpayers got used to the notion that public records actually belong to the public, our most powerful lawmakers have decided that it’s time to choke off access.

In a state notorious for government corruption and poor transparency, New Jersey’s Legislature will attempt to gut the venerable but dated Open Public Records Act, which is a ludicrous idea if you only consider the treacheries that were revealed by the OPRA law.

It is a cortex-snapping litany: Because of OPRA, reporters were able to shake free internal emails and other documents that exposed the causes of the meltdown of our veterans’ homes during the pandemic. Because of OPRA, law enforcement was fundamentally changed in our state, after records showed major disparities in how police use excessive force. Because of OPRA, inspection records for a group home led to a state investigation of the alleged abuse of a severely disabled woman. Because of OPRA, the Office of the Medical Examiner was found to be a dysfunctional joke — bungling crime investigations, mangling corpses, and misplacing body parts.

These are just a few recent examples of how one news organization – this news organization – uses OPRA. But it is used every day by reporters, activists, and citizens who seek information from various departments and agencies about taxpayer funds, pollution levels, public safety, and countless other government functions that would otherwise never see the light of day.

Now that transparency is imperiled, because a bill that aims to overhaul the 22-year-old OPRA law puts severe constraints on anyone seeking such information, which validates a level of distrust in government that is quintessentially New Jersey.

In other words, if there has ever been a time to share your opinion with your local state representatives, this is it, with hearings scheduled Monday morning for both chambers.

“It’s Sunshine Week, and to schedule a bill of this magnitude on such short notice – in two committees at the same time – is a message to the public that says, ‘Don’t bother us,’” said former Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, whose attempts to reform OPRA in the past fell short. “It’s a disgrace. People need to make calls.”

While no one disputes that OPRA needs an update – particularly to quell data mining by retailers — the bill (S-2930) authored by Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen) is a contemptible assault on government transparency.

Among its provisions: Access to email and call logs would largely be exempt, as requests for government-related emails would need to include a “specific subject matter” and “discrete and limited time period.” The request would also have to name a specific government employee whose email can be searched, not merely a department.

But the greatest change could be what happens when an OPRA request is denied, which is often. Currently, the government agency has to cover a legal fee if a requester successfully challenges a denial. But Sarlo’s bill leaves this longstanding fee-shifting provision up to the discretion of a judge who hears the case or the Government Records Council (GRC).

So even the government wrongly denies access to a public record, the petitioner might still be stuck with the legal tab. That will have a chilling effect on attorneys willing to take such a case.

Worse, all provisions are retroactive — including the fee shift change, so attorneys already arguing cases on the assumption that they’d be paid after a successful court challenge can still be denied payment.

Sarlo’s bill even allows agencies to deny requests that it believes could lead to “harassment,” and bans metadata, which is the encrypted information on an electronic file that shows its source.

Just like that, the public’s right to know is not American scripture, but a quixotic dream of the past.

Nicole Rodriguez, the president of NJ Policy Perspective, put it this way: “When documents are created by public officials on public salaries with the public’s trust,” she said, “there’s no good reason to restrict public access to that information. Yet that’s exactly what this bill does.”

Sarlo claims he consulted all stakeholders, but there is no evidence he listened to any besides the League of Municipalities, which has long sought to reduce the relentless torrent of commercial requests for records – a legitimate concern that demands a solution, but not one that involves strangling public access. The New Jersey Press Association, for one, said Sarlo didn’t keep his word to share a copy of the bill before it was posted, and called the process “a disservice to the public.”

Sarlo didn’t even bother to consult Marc Pfeiffer of the Rutgers-Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, who ran the GRC when the law was enacted in 2002. Pfeiffer’s take is blunt: “Bludgeons create a mess, and rapiers are surgical. This bill uses a bludgeon to try to deal with outliers that exist within OPRA.”

The reason for this overkill: Our elected officials seek to give government departments and agencies more freedom to stonewall public requests for information, which makes a state with a lousy reputation for transparency even more opaque.

Weinberg calls it “a real gut punch,” adding that “Democrats should be about protecting democracy – or so I’ve been told. Reducing a citizen’s access to their own government is not a way to do that.”

Apparently, our Legislature think it’s New Jersey’s way, but taxpayers don’t have to agree. Make the call.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.

Source link

Click to comment

New Jersey

Natural Daylight Time: What is it, and why New Jersey should adapt this practice instead

Published

11 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Natural Daylight Time: What is it, and why New Jersey should adapt this practice instead

We’re now officially less than a week before we spring forward in New Jersey, and everyone has an opinion on it. The clock change, by the way, will happen on Sunday, Mar. 8, 2026. We’ll essentially skip the 2 a.m. hour and gain the extra hour of daylight in the evening.

But the reality is, we don’t gain a thing when we do this. We’re so conditioned to believe we gain sunlight, but all we’re doing is shifting the clocks. Animals don’t do this, and are unaffected by what a clock says.

ALSO READ: Snow vs. no snow: How most in NJ feel after latest blizzard

Our pets, on the other hand, are forced to change with our practice of doing this. It really is an outdated practice, but we can’t stop it just like that simply because we’ll either complain about it being too dark during winter mornings under daylight saving, or getting dark too soon during summer nights under standard time.

It should be a lot simpler. And for those of us in New Jersey, it can be. Here’s what I think we should do.

Time clocks calendar thumbs up green check approve sunrise sunset

Canva (Townsquare Illustration)

Leave the clock, adjust our day

When I worked on a golf course, all we did was adjust when we came in based on when the sun came up. During the longer days, we started at 6 a.m. And when the sunrise was later than 6 a.m., we adjusted our start time to 7 a.m.

Why can’t we just do this when it comes to work and school? Leave the clocks in standard time since that’s the one truly aligned with the Earths rotation. During the winter, make the regular workday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., then adjust it to 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the summer. It’s just that simple.

In other words, we’d be following Natural Daylight Time. Just get rid of the clock change, and adjust our day based on the sunrise. Problem solved.

Final flakes: When does snow season end in NJ?

Gallery Credit: Dan Zarrow

Significant or historical events in New Jersey for March (in chronological order)

Here are some of the historical or significant events that impacted New Jersey or happened in the Garden State during March. Is there an event missing? Let us know with an email to dan.alexander@townsquaremedia.com.

Gallery Credit: Dan Alexander

The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 weekend host & content contributor Mike Brant. Any opinions expressed are his own.

Source link

New Jersey

Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware lawmakers react to U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran

Published

23 hours ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware lawmakers react to U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran

The United States and Israel announced a major military assault against Iran Saturday morning, sending shockwaves through the Middle East. The massive aerial attack killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

President Trump says “heavy and pinpoint bombing” of Iran will continue for as long as necessary.

The strikes sparked demonstrations in Philadelphia and across the country. Reaction from Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey lawmakers to Operation Epic Fury was swift.

Pennsylvania lawmakers react

CBS News Philadelphia was at an event Saturday night at Villanova University with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.

While the governor didn’t have time to take our questions, he said in a statement:

“In going to war with Iran, the President has not adequately explained why this war is urgent now, what this military campaign may look like, or what the strategic objective is.”

Both Pennsylvania senators expressed views of support for the strike.

Republican Dave McCormick released a statement, writing: “They (Iran) are the world’s number one sponsor of terror. The president has given the ayatollahs a chance for a deal, and they have rejected a path to peace and prosperity.”

Democrat John Fetterman posted on social media: “President Trump has been willing to do what’s right and necessary to produce real peace in the region.”

Delaware senator shares concern

Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware is concerned the move by the Trump administration further destabilizes the region.

“I’m hopeful that this phase of war will come to a quick conclusion,” Coons said over a Zoom interview with CBS News Philadelphia. “I’m alarmed President Trump launched a full spectrum war against Iran with our ally Israel without meaningfully consulting the American people.”

New Jersey lawmakers split on strikes

New Jersey Senator Andy Kim, a democrat, called the attack an appalling action by the president.

“He literally called this a war and said American lives could be lost and to be able to do this with justification, no congressional authorization, and most importantly American people don’t want this.”

South Jersey Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew arguing the attack removed a critical threat to national security:

“What we are witnessing now is a decisive response to years of aggression. The leadership of the world’s largest state sponsor of terror has been dealt a powerful blow. We killed one of the most evil men in the world….”

In:

Source link

New Jersey

Pa., N.J., Del. Democrats decry U.S. attack on Iran: ‘Americans do not want war’

Published

1 day ago

February 28, 2026

Press Room

Pa., N.J., Del. Democrats decry U.S. attack on Iran: ‘Americans do not want war’

U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Chester County, said in a post on X that although “Iran is a very bad actor on the world stage … the American people have not been given any evidence of an appreciable change, and Congress did not authorize any action.”

“President Trump, who promised no wars, is now again putting the lives of our men and women in uniform in grave danger all while trampling all over the Constitution,” she said.

“Trump promised Americans no new wars,” state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-Philadelphia, said in a post on X. “Every word out of his damn mouth is a lie.”

U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Delaware County, said in a post on X that Trump has “done nothing” to prove that the military action will make Americans safer.

“The people of Iran deserve peace and democracy, but the United States must support these goals without plunging our nation into another endless war,” Scanlon said.

U.S. Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Philadelphia, joined Kim in calling for a vote on the War Powers Resolution “to stop Trump’s reckless warmongering.”

“After claiming last June he ‘completely and totally obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear program, President Trump launched yet another illegal, ill-conceived attack on Iran,” Evans said in a statement. “These escalations only put American lives, at home and abroad, at greater risk and drag our country towards another endless war.”

In a post on X, U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Montgomery County, called the military operation in Iran the result of “the erratic decision-making of an irrational President.”

“Americans do not want war,” Dean said. “Americans do not want to send their sons and daughters into foreign conflict. Americans do not want to live in fear of an ever-escalating, volatile situation.”

In a statement, U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., lambasted the military action as “a reckless new war of choice with no clear strategy and no clear end point.”

“‪This is not how a democracy goes to war,” Coons said. “Less than five years after the end of the longest war in American history, the United States is once again staring down another open-ended conflict with a hostile country in the Middle East that could cost the lives of many American service members.‬”

U.S. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., said in a statement that Trump’s “reckless actions demonstrate a troubling lack of clear foreign policy strategy” and also called for a vote on the War Powers Resolution.

“He has inched us closer to war on a whim and the last thing we need is another open-ended war in the Middle East,” she said. “Escalation without a clear strategy risks putting Americans in harm’s way and sets a dangerous precedent, signaling to adversaries like China and Russia that there are no consequences to aggression.”

U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., said in a post on X that he is praying for “our brave troops and our steadfast allies who stand with us during this challenging and noble mission.”

“The president has given the ayatollahs a chance for a deal, and they have rejected a path to peace and prosperity,” McCormick said.

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., joined Republicans in praising the operations.

“President Trump has been willing to do what’s right and necessary to produce real peace in the region. God bless the United States, our great military, and Israel,” he said in a post on X.

Pennsylvania Treasurer and GOP gubernatorial candidate Stacy Garrity said in a post on X that she “will always stand with the brave men and women of our military who serve with strength, discipline, and honor to protect our nation.”

This story may be updated.

WHYY News reporter Phil Davis contributed to this story.

Source link