"Maplewood NJ Website Looks Pretty, Lacks OPRA Information"

You’ve probably heard the famous words of Justice Brandeis: “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.” With that in mind, the Sunlight Foundation is working to shine a light on government operations by ensuring that public information is easily accessible over the internet.

Here at Watchdog Wire – New Jersey, we are taking that mission to the local level by auditing municipal websites. First up is Maplewood Township.

This quaint suburban town is nestled between the quite upscale Millburn and extremely challenged Irvington. The township’s website is user friendly, with easy-to-find navigation on left rail. The town bills itself as being “green,” so the background graphics of park and river support that nicely.

Residents or prospective homeowners or renters can easily find information about taxes due, paid, and the rates for any property in town through a search form. There is also a whole-site search box on every page, which would be even more useful if it would allow results to be sorted by date.

However, for those trying to shine light on waste, fraud or abuse that might be taking place, the website does not offer complete transparency. For example, while most agendas for public meetings are posted 48 hours in advance, pursuant to NJ’s Open Public Meetings Act, transcripts of those meetings are not always available on Maplewood’s site. Some are, some are not, and there doesn’t seem to be any reason for the inconsistency.

Of more concern is the lack of an OPRA notice. New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act law, known as OPRA, was enacted in 2002. It is designed to promote an informed citizenry by setting a clear process by which anyone may request information. The State website and most municipalities contain prominent links to OPRA request processes to make it easy for people to access public data. Maplewood’s website does not contain any OPRA links or other information about their local process.

According to New Jersey’s Government Records Council, a core purpose of OPRA is to provide “one-stop shopping” to the public when it comes to accessing local government records. One of the problems the law addressed was the vast number of municipal government forms, variety of office hours and locations of officials, and a general perception that it was difficult for the public and press to access municipal government records.

A transparent town would embrace OPRA’s goals by including it in a prominent place on its website. Notifying residents about how to request information might also save the town clerk from the hassle of sorting through improperly routed requests — and perhaps save the town from potential litigation as well!

nohero

Apr 22, 2015 at 12:16pm

There should be an OPRA link on the front page. The form to make a request is under the "Clerk" tab right now.

joan_crystal

Apr 22, 2015 at 12:44pm

Nohero: Thanks for the information. I don't think most of know where it is on the website or even that it is there. Agree that an OPRA link on the front page would be helpful.

IndaSechzer

Apr 22, 2015 at 5:29pm Edited

It is very hard to find. while it is under "government" then "clerk" it is listed as "Vital Record" - not exactly user friendly - too nested.

I usually find it by going to Google and searching for Maplewood NJ OPRA.

However the actual form has been updated instead of a poorly scanned ghostly sheet it is now a form that can be completed in a word processing program and then emailed to the clerk. that is progress- you just have to find it.

There should be a link or button on front page also there should be a link/ button for the Document center which is also impossible to find or search.

IndaSechzer

Apr 23, 2015 at 7:42am

Also, the minutes of the closed session meetings are never posted online. And closed and open minutes are only posted on the town bulletin board in the lobby a few hour prior to the next TC meeting. That is not "promptly, as indicated in OPMA, and give the public little time to review and comment. The law states:

N.J.S.A 10:4-14. Minutes of meetings; availability to public Each public body shall keep reasonably comprehensible minutes of all its meetings showing the time and place, the members present, the subjects considered, the actions taken, the vote of each member, and any other information required to be shown in the minutes by law, which shall be promptly available to the public to the extent that making such matters public shall not be inconsistent with section 7 of this act.