HIGHTSTOWN: Council clashes on minutes, transparency

By Jen Samuel, Managing Editor
   HIGHTSTOWN — What is the cost of transparency?
   Meeting minutes caused a stirring controversy near the close of the Borough Council meeting earlier this month.
   On. Feb. 6, Mayor Steven Kirson cast tie breaking “no” votes on two minute-related resolutions, proposed by Councilman Robert Thibault. The measures called for changes as to how the Borough Council presents its minutes, including those taken in executive session, to the public.
   Resolution 2012-57, which failed by a vote of 4 to 3, would have provided the public with automatic access to Borough Council executive session minutes.
   In addition to Councilman Thibault, Councilwomen Gail Doran and Susan Bluth voted in favor of Resolution 2012-57.
   "We found in the last year that we bogged down our attorney with issues that we had to run (by) him. There’s always a cost,” said Mayor Kirson on Wednesday. “You have to weigh it against the benefit.”
   Mayor Kirson stressed that the information becomes available to the public once issues are resolved.
   The executive session minutes are not posted on the borough Website, but rather, are available to the public if an individual files an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request. The request can be made once a mandated 90-day waiting period expires post the date of any given executive session meeting.
   Councilman Thibault said on Wednesday that Resolution 2012-57 would have kept the 90-day timeframe but then automatically made those minutes available eliminating the need for the public to file OPRA requests.
   "Anything that we discuss in executive (meetings), ultimately all of it becomes public at a certain point,” Mayor Kirson countered.
   When a member of the public requests executive session meetings, the borough attorney redacts any information that is still considered private, such as ongoing litigation matters.
   Mayor Kirson said, “We’re trying to save some money, so ultimately the benefit to the public is not really there. If it is not going to be redacted, the information has already been made public . . . What we are concerned about is overburdening the attorney.”
   Councilman Thibault disagreed.
   "I did think about the cost and again it was minimal,” Councilman Thibault said.
   Councilman Thibault said that it takes the borough several weeks to produce executive session meeting minutes even after the 90-day waiting period.
   "It takes work for the resident to get the record,” Councilman Thibault said.
   As to why he produced the resolutions, Councilman Thibault stated, “I thought I was in a position to be able to make it easier for people to have access.”
   He said if executive meetings have to be redacted repeatedly, “so be it . . . just to bring it in line with the law.”
   Councilman Thibault said Hightstown should throw open its doors for transparency to show that were are “no backroom deals.”
   He added, “Cut out the hiding. (That’s) not healthy for our democracy.”
   The second measure, Resolution 2012-58, which also failed in a tie-breaking vote of 4 to 3, called for the municipal government to provide timely and comprehensive minutes of Borough Council meetings.
   As with Resolution 2012-57, Councilman Lawrence Quattrone, and Councilwomen Selena Bibens and Lynne Woods voted against Resolution 2012-58. Councilman Thibault, Councilwoman Bluth and Councilwoman Doran again cast “yes” votes.
   Mayor Kirson said, “What’s being requested here (is) that the minutes from the prior session be available for the very next council meeting.” He said during events like Hurricane Irene, that “is not possible.”
   Mayor Kirson said, “It was so absurd,” of Resolution 2012-58.
   Additionally, Mayor Kirson stated that the public has to send a check to view the meeting minutes of the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders. He also said that upon reviewing the municipal meetings in Mercer County, the local governments were not publishing minutes within a two-week time period.
   Still, Councilman Thibault argued, “It just brings the borough in line with a bunch of (New Jersey) court decisions that have said meeting minutes need to be ready . . . by the next meetings.”
   Councilman Thibault also said that the level of detail and comprehensiveness within recently adopted Borough Council minutes “have declined dramatically” in comparison in minutes published a year and a half ago.
   Another item within the stir of controversy at the Borough Council meeting on Feb. 6 was Resolution 2012-59. Mayor Kirson again cast the tie-breaking vote, this time in favor of the measure. It passed 4 to 3.
   Resolution 2012-59 establishes scheduling standards to facilitate public accessibility to meetings of public bodies.
   Bimonthly, the Borough Council meets in executive session at 6:30 p.m. The public session begins within an approximate timeframe of 7:30 p.m.
   Under Resolution 2012-59, all public meetings must begin no earlier than 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
   Thus, the time in which the Water and Sewer Committee meets is now set to change. An exact time and date was not yet available as of press time. In the past, the committee met at 3 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month at the Hightstown First Aid building on Bank Street.
   "You can be sure I’ll be attending,” Councilman Thibault said of the next Water and Sewer meeting. “I’ll certainly learn more . . .We work for the public. We work for residents. We should do everything in our power to provide access to the public.”