John Paff, a political watchdog from Somerset County, has been fighting for two years to get answers about a meeting that took place in Hoboken in 2006.

CLOSED QUARTERS? According to John Paff, an invitation-only meeting called by Mayor David Roberts in 2006 to discuss the school district was in violation of the Open Public Meetings Act. But there was no governmental body willing to follow through on Paff’s allegation.  

In an area known for its corrupt politicians and - lately - lawsuits over access to public records, governmental openness is very important to taxpayers.

But not all of them have time or money to fight for it.

This is especially true if it's happening in a different town than their own.

Initiative and Referendum Petition

Hoboken Sunshine Act

We the undersigned, registered voters of the City of Hoboken, Hudson County, New Jersey, under the initiative and referendum power granted by N.J.S.A. 40:69A-184 et. seq., hereby propose the following Ordinance:

Short title: This Ordinance may be cited as the “Hoboken Sunshine Act” and is referred to below as the “Act.”

Findings: The people of the City of Hoboken find that good government depends on knowledgeable citizens who have broad access to government meetings and who have ready and inexpensive access to a wide range of government information. Such access enables them to participate fully in public affairs, help determine governmental priorities and to hold their public officials accountable. Inadequate or delayed public access to meetings and information allows corruption to flourish undetected and unpunished. Government secrecy allows backroom deals to set public policy in the interest of the few rather than the many. It is therefore the policy of City of Hoboken to (a) promptly make agendas, minutes, resolutions, ordinances, and certain other records available to the public on the Internet, (b) have meaningful electronic versions of other government records available at an affordable cost, (c) make photocopies and other records available at an affordable cost; (d) to increase the opportunities for public participation at all government meetings and to make such participation more meaningful and (e) to otherwise endeavor to make the City’s government a model of openness and transparency. It is understood, accepted and intended by the people of the City of Hoboken that this Act will impose responsibilities upon the City’s officials and employees greater than what is required by the Open Public Meetings Act and the Open Public Records Act.

Video cameras today are like the quill pens used hundreds of years ago to chronicle the actions of government, and New Jersey residents have a common-law right to use them to record public meetings, the state Supreme Court ruled yesterday.

While it said governmental agencies can impose "reasonable guidelines" to make sure the recording does not disrupt their official business, the high court unanimously ruled in favor of Robert Wayne Tarus, a gadfly from Camden County who was arrested after he tried to videotape two Pine Hill Borough Council meetings in 2000.

The justices found the Pine Hill mayor was "arbitrary and unreasonable" in ordering the police chief to arrest Tarus -- a longtime critic of the mayor and council --because the borough had never adopted formal guidelines for videotaping public meetings.

TRENTON — Lawmakers, often criticized by the media for not cutting government spending and lowering property taxes, turned the table on newspapers Monday, saying they don't help matters by charging governments to publish legal notices in print when it could be done for free online.

But the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee indefinitely postponed voting on a bipartisan measure that would allow Internet postings to replace traditional newspaper advertisements.

"Democracies die behind closed doors. A government operating in the shadow of secrecy stands in complete opposition to the society envisioned by the framers of our Constitution."
--- Judge Damon Keith, of the 6th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals, 2002.

The Hoboken Reporter newspaper reported that on February 7, 2006, Mayor Roberts' education initiative held an invitation-only event for about 40 community leaders who have a stake in the city's educational system.

The meeting, which was closed to the press, was held at the house of Stevens Institute of Technology's President Harold Raveche. Roberts said that the press was not invited to the meeting so that it would not be politicized. According to Roberts, attendees included almost every Hoboken elected official from the City Council and the Board of Education, district administrations, city educators, and local business and civic leaders.

Roberts' education initiative was launched Tuesday night at an invitation-only event for about 40 community leaders who have a stake in the city's educational system.

The meeting, which was closed to the press, was held at the house of Stevens Institute of Technology's President Harold Raveche. Roberts said that the press was not invited to the meeting so that it would not be politicized. According to Roberts, attendees included almost every Hoboken elected official from the City Council and the Board of Education, district administrations, city educators, and local business and civic leaders.

Even though there was more than a quorum of both the City Council and Board of Education, the city's attorney, Joseph Sherman, said that the meeting did not violate the state's Sunshine Law. Sherman said that the event was "a social gathering" where no action was taken, and the focus of the meeting was to allow people to talk in general terms about "education in Hoboken in the 21st century."

Why is it that residents walk in and out of a Town Council meeting in West New York within 10 minutes; yet, in Hoboken, residents may wind up in the middle of three hours of heated debate?

The Reporter spent the past month sitting in on public meetings in Hoboken, Jersey City, North Bergen, Secaucus, Union City, and West New York. At some meetings, politicians did a good job of explaining the proposed town ordinances and fostering open discussion, while other meetings were quick and saw speedy votes.