Audio from work sessions and the minutes from closed
sessions show that the Lodi mayor and council and Alan Spiniello took great
measures to hide their discussions and actions from the public. Their discussions should have taken place in
public in the council chambers and on video tape. Being they were so deceptive and deliberate
with their efforts, an OPRA request was submitted on April 27, 2020. On May 6, 2020, I was notified that my OPRA
request would not be filled on time.
Things to consider with the Luna administration’s OPRA
delay:
1) I have submitted
OPRA requests during the pandemic for payroll, bills, and resolutions. Those requests were met within 7 business
days. Therefore, you can deduce that the Luna administration delayed this OPRA
request for the Department of Community Affairs complaint and its
communications with Bob Brown and others to move the BOE elections.
2) The items
requested are recent items and should not be difficult to retrieve.
3) Alan
Spiniello is still being paid over $221,000 for his very limited, part-time
work. Lodi is paying more than it ever
did and is receiving much less services in return.
4) Those
responsible for OPRA requests have not been laid off or furloughed. They are receiving full pay.
3) There is
less traffic in the borough hall because of the measures implemented during the
pandemic.
Side note:
Governor Phil Murphy has used the pandemic to weaken the Open Public Records
Act. The worst mayors and city councils
in New Jersey had lobbied the legislature and the governor for the past year to
weaken OPRA. Murphy used the pandemic to
strip away transparency in government. The
media hasn’t covered that or Murphy’s other abuses during the pandemic. New Jersey and New York have the worst numbers in the country. Its residents have lost constitutional
freedoms. Cuomo and Murphy endangered
nursing homes with their dangerous policies
which resulted in the loss of countless lives. They failed to protect the most vulnerable because they do not value human life.
Yet the media gushes over them and does everything imaginable to drive
their approval numbers.
