Background: For the second year in a row since Douglas
Petty became Lodi superintendent, his office is trying to withhold a copy of
the “Detailed Budget” from being released to the public even after it was
officially requested via the Open Public Records Act. Last year, after a long battle, I received a
copy of the “Detailed Budget Appropriations and Revenues 2020-2021 School Year”. This year, Douglas Petty and his Interim Business Administrator Dennis Frohnapfel (who had many problems in many
districts) took their deceipt to a new level.
Both are claiming that a “Detailed Budget” does not exist. They are also alleging that not one board
of education member was provided a copy of the detailed 2021-2022 budget before
they voted to approve and raise Lodi property taxes. How can you have a “budget committee”
without a detailed budget? How can 9 BOE
members all vote on a budget without ever seeing what’s in it? Even Capizzi and Quatrone provided board
members with a detailed budget.
The detailed budget is not for me. It’s for the public. It’s one of the most
viewed public records on this blog so there is an interest in it. It’s public funds. It belongs to the public.
Below is an email exchange showing what you are
dealing with in Lodi. Douglas Petty,
Matthew Giacobbe, the overpaid interims, and a disengaged board have set Lodi
back greatly in the transparency area.
It is a battle to receive any public records today in Lodi, and when you
do, they are full of illegal redactions.
Lodi deserves better. Lodi deserves
a superintendent and board that serves the public and promotes transparency. Lodi deserves a superintendent and board capable
of hiring a competent BA (and not just double-dipping, pension collecting interim
that is never held accountable for his temporary stints).
Email Exchange:
From: rcurioni
To: Douglas Petty <douglas.petty@lodi.k12.nj.us>
Cc: Dennis Frohnapfel <dennis.frohnapfel@lodi.k12.nj.us>, Rosalia
Mykietyn <rosalia.mykietyn@lodi.k12.nj.us>
Date: August 9, 2021 at 4:34 PM
Subject: Re: FW: RE: Subject: Detailed Budget for 2021/22
Mr. Petty,
Please refer to James Sekelsky's emails from last year.
Someone in your office tried to pull the same thing last year before James
Sekelsky personally delivered me a copy of the detailed budget for
2020-21. By law, you are required to post a user friendly budget. I
already had access to that. I submitted an OPRA request for the "detailed
budget"- a public record that I have been receiving for years. You are
aware that there is a very big difference from what I requested and what I
received. You may not want the public to see your budget but that does not
allow you to claim that it doesn't exist.
To claim that a "detailed budget" doesn't exist
for the first year ever, you are alleging that all 9 BOE members blindly
approved a 70 million dollar budget without ever seeing what's in it. You are
alleging that your user friendly budget is based on nothing- you just pulled
numbers out of the air.
You and the interim BA get paid very well. You are paid with
public funds and are supposed to serve the public. Instead of looking for
reasons to withhold public information, you should aim to be more transparent.
Please review my email exchange with James Sekelsky from
last year before he provided me a copy. If you do not have those emails,
I can forward them to you at your request.
Ryan Curioni
---------- Original Message ----------
From: Douglas Petty <douglas.petty@lodi.k12.nj.us>
To: rcurioni
Cc: Dennis Frohnapfel <dennis.frohnapfel@lodi.k12.nj.us>, Rosalia
Mykietyn <rosalia.mykietyn@lodi.k12.nj.us>
Date: August 9, 2021 at 1:49 PM
Subject: Re: FW: RE: Subject: Detailed Budget for 2021/22
Mr. Curioni,
As our Business
Administrator/Board Secretary confirmed in his email response to you earlier
this morning, the document you are requesting does not exist. I can
confirm that pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:22-8, we have published the
district’s user –friendly budget summary on the district’s website: http://www.lodi.k12.nj.us/
and can be found in the Quick Links Section and under the Business Office Tab.
v/r
Douglas Petty
On Mon, Aug 9, 2021 at 9:21 AM rcurioni <rcurioni@optonline.net>
wrote:
-------- Original message --------
From: rcurioni
Date: 8/9/21 9:17 AM (GMT-05:00)
To: Dennis Frohnapfel <dennis.frohnapfel@lodi.k12.nj.us>
Cc: Rosalia Mykietyn <Rosalia.Mykietyn@lodi.k12.nj.us>
Subject: RE: Subject: Detailed Budget for
2021/22
Mr. Petty,
Can you please confirm that the district no longer uses a
"detailed budget" or possesses a "detailed budget" for
2021-2022. I provided the format I was seeking in the email I submitted
yesterday. It is the same format that was provided to me last year and has
been provided to the public at least since 1999 after being requested.
Mr. Frohnapfel put in writing that the record does not
exist. It is unbelievable that a detailed budget would not exist. The userfriendly
budgets on line must be based on a detailed budget.
I am asking that you confirm whether or not the record
exists before I pursue a complaint. I am disappointed in the lack of
transparency coming from this district.
Thanks.
Ryan Curioni
-------- Original message --------
From: Dennis Frohnapfel <dennis.frohnapfel@lodi.k12.nj.us>
Date: 8/9/21 8:42 AM (GMT-05:00)
To: rcurioni
Cc: Rosalia Mykietyn <Rosalia.Mykietyn@lodi.k12.nj.us>
Subject: Subject: Detailed Budget for 2021/22
August 9, 202
Good Morning Mr. Curioni:
The document you are requesting does not exist. I
provided you with the same document provided to our Board Trustees
and any other individual requesting the same..
Dr. Dennis R. Frohnapfel, R.S.B.A.
Interim SBA/Board Secretary
---------- Original Message ----------
From: curioni
To: Rosalia Mykietyn <Rosalia.Mykietyn@lodi.k12.nj.us>
Date: August 8, 2021 at 12:53 PM
Subject: Re: OPRA Request
Hi Ms. Mykietyn,
You sent the budget information that
is available on-line. I requested the "Detailed Budget" like
the one linked below:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Oi65NCIahuVqRCqhAOAV7WZbgEcOmypZ/view?usp=sharing
Last year, James Sekelsky delivered
me copy of the detailed budget. I have it in front of me now. I
attached a screenshot.
Once again, I am requesting the
Detailed Budget as described above to be emailed to me.
Thank you.
Ryan Curioni
