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CREST HAVEN – In response to a suggestion by County Commissioner Will Morey to increase transparency in government, the other members of the Board of County Commissioners in attendance said they did not see a need to take further steps toward openness.
With Commissioner Melanie Collette absent, Morey addressed his remaining colleagues at the Tuesday, Nov. 26, meeting, saying the board could increase transparency by making the audio recordings of its meetings available to the public 24 hours after the meeting.
He also repeated a recommendation he made two weeks earlier, that commissioner meetings be held at 7 p.m. so working people could attend. The board holds its meetings on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month, with a caucus meeting at 2 p.m. followed by the regular meeting at 3.
“I think we are transparent,” Commission Director Leonard Desiderio replied.
Vice-director Andrew Bulakowski agreed, saying audio of the meetings is livestreamed on the internet.
Commissioner Bobby Barr said: “I don’t know how we could be more transparent.”
Referring to a scorecard in a Herald special report on transparency Nov. 20 that ranked South Jersey counties, Bulakowski told his fellow commissioners he thought Cape May was about average.
“I think we are in the middle of the road with what the county is doing,” he said.
In fact, Cape May and Burlington counties were at the bottom of the scorecard, scoring a 1 out of a possible 6 on transparency. Atlantic and Cumberland counties scored 5 out of 6. The areas of transparency on the scorecard included remote monitoring of live meetings; meeting times after business hours; videos available within 24 hours; audio available within 24 hours; remote participation available; and documents available before the meeting.
Of the six categories, Cape May County provides only remote monitoring via audio of its meetings.
The quality of the audio has long been questioned, and at the Nov. 26 meeting resident Mary Fox said that it was difficult to hear the commissioners in the meeting room.
“You all talk very slowly and away from the microphone,” Fox said.
Morey asked the commissioners to “take another step” and make the audio of the meetings available the next day. Barr said the audio is available to the public as soon as the meeting minutes are approved; he said that was decided at the annual reorganization meeting, and he felt it was inappropriate to change the rules at this time.
Barr then deferred to County Counsel Jeff Lindsay for his opinion on the matter, and Lindsay said it was true that rules are adopted at the reorganization meeting.
Morey continued to press the case for increasing transparency, saying, “It feels to me that we as a board are holding off the residents and taxpayers from getting information.”
But Bulakowski and Barr pushed back.
“I take exception to the statement that we are holding something back from the public,” Bulakowski said. “These are open public meetings.”
“I also take great exception to the statement that we are holding something back,” Barr said.
Morey brought up the fact that Desiderio’s home city, Sea Isle, where he is mayor, makes recordings of its meetings available to the public within 24 hours.
“Why should the county not do the same?” Morey asked.
Desiderio said he does not see a lot of people requesting recordings of meetings, whether video or audio. Bulakowski added that he had never had anyone ask for recordings of meetings.
Lindsay said the audio recordings are not official transcripts. “It’s always been my opinion that the audio is a draft used to prepare the minutes, and then they are trashed,” he said, adding he believes the Open Public Records Act has not declared the recordings “non-exempt” from OPRA requests.
Morey said when he looks at what other counties provide, Cape May County comes up lacking.
“We are a county that likes to punch above its weight,” Morey said, “but in this regard we are punching below our weight.”
“This is not a big-ticket item. People might like to have access to meetings if something comes up.”
Morey requested an answer on whether the board would consider his proposals, but hearing nothing asked Desiderio, “Will you answer my question?”
“We’ve heard from everyone – we’ll let it go for now,” Desiderio replied.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
