A Nasty Attempt to Shun the Public

Legal notices published in the Herald and other legal publications statewide by New Jersey statute will continue to be printed, although concurrent bills were posted for a vote Mon., Jan. 9 at 5 p.m. Jan. 6 that would have ended the practice.
In football, such a play would be called an end-run. We suspect the cleverly-timed voting action was a blatant attempt to fire a broadside into the state’s newspapers by the Legislature.
Unhappy with the demise of the bill, it was reintroduced Tue., Jan. 10 as the 215th Legislature began its work. The new bill A-1618 is sponsored by Assemblyman Jon M. Bramnick, (R-21) and Assemblyman Albert Coutinho (D-29). The battle will continue.
Whoever believes this nation could get along better without newspapers as watchdogs, and who has more faith in government than in the media, probably cheered. The public would have been (and would be) left out in the cold for information, precisely where some politicians, who have their jobs thanks to voters, want them.
The less “they” (public) know, the better, in some politicians’ books. Sen. Jeff Van Drew is against passage. If only he can convince his peers to do the same, but that will be an uphill challenge.
For the public, which relies on such fine-print notices here and throughout the state to inform them of their governments’ actions, that rapidly-posted vote would have meant using a computer, via the Internet, to read what your municipal government was planning to pass. The same holds true for the new bill.
Sponsor of S2072 (which had a companion bill in the Assembly) Sen. Brian P. Stack (D-33rd) may have seen only the positives of saving money since “everyone” has Internet and wireless connectivity. Maybe they do up in West New York, where the senator calls home. The two new co-sponsors also call North Jersey home, but down in Cape May County it’s a far different story.
Not all citizens have the latest “gee-whiz” technology, cell phones that do everything but tie your shoes and make coffee, tablets and pads that play music and movies and otherwise complicate life. Some, including many Herald readers, do not have Internet access, have no computer, and the only mail they receive is from the U.S. Postal Service. Oh, those blessed days of yore.
Senior citizens and minority families might not have access to the gadgets that seem so much a part of daily life in the 21st Century. Still, they have rights to know what their government is doing. They must rely on newspapers for in-depth news coverage of their localities.
Had that ill-conceived legislation passed Jan. 9, you would have had to read legal notices from governments and individuals (those seeking planning and zoning board approvals) on official government websites instead of newspapers. It could still happen, but we certainly hope it does not.
Knowing manpower levels of governments at all tiers is dwindling, who would be charged with posting all that public information? Would it have be posted when someone ran out of other chores, and finally got around to putting it onto the website? Would the public in general know where to go, if they had computers and Internet connectivity?
From experiences we have had with government entities, top to bottom, that would involve much wishful thinking. Government works slowly. If in doubt, try to rush a permit through the Department of Environmental Protection.
Publication of legal advertisements can be enlightening. Who did not pay their taxes last year? How much is owed by them to the municipality? When could an investor go to the tax sale and buy a tax lien?
How much is the local municipality or school budget? When will the elections take place? Such things are posted in legal notices in the Public Notice section of this newspaper and others statewide.
Transparency is the buzzword of government, yet we wonder if it’s uttered just to sound good, or do those who say it really mean it? Good, open responsive government comes only from interaction with the public. It is not for the select few, although they might be elected and hold a vaunted title, to govern as royals. They are public servants, and must never be allowed to forget that fact. They are put in positions of public trust by the people to transact the business of the people. They are not anointed with power and prestige for self-aggrandizing purposes.
Legal notices help keep the public informed. Often, compliance with the law is by a thread. A recent 48-hour of a Middle Township Board of Education meeting, publicized Jan. 6 on the Herald website, drew three parents and two reporters. The subject was the on-going situation of mold in Elementary No. 1.
The Herald has filed an Open Public Records Act request for a copy of the report, the subject of that meeting. To date, it has not been received, although, according to the New Jersey Press Association, the matter is public record.
Now, think about that as an example. The subject of mold never would have come to light had not the Herald brought it to the public’s attention. School officials have been largely reluctant to discuss or disclose anything about the subject, although it spent $122,000 to clean up the mold, and now awaits an air quality report before disclosing the document to the public (parents whose children were afflicted by mold-related illnesses) and media.
This is but one reason why the public needs newspapers and cannot trust government bodies to self-post notices. Who would have known of that special Monday morning meeting unless they lived to read the board’s website?
New Jersey Press Association pledges to maintain scrutiny on the future movements of the ill-conceived legal notice legislation in this year’s legislative session.
More than ever, the price of freedom remains eternal vigilance by the public and newspapers.