City Implements New Public Information Policy

The city instituted a new public information policy last week, which requires city employees to notify Business Administrator Arch Liston when they issue a statements or press releases to the press.  

Subsequently—but not as part of the Mayor's administrative directive—the Hoboken Police Department has stopped providing local reporters with police reports. Although a sergeant would usually read the reports, "a new policy" requires talking to Police Chief Anthony Falco. 

Falco was not immediately available for comment on Tuesday afternoon. But police refused to read the reports over the phone because of "a new policy."

The City Hall policy wasn't announced to local news reporters until the Jersey Journal published a story. Mayor Dawn Zimmer notified the city's employees through an internal memo.

The memo, which outlines new rules about speaking engagements, press releases and puts Liston in charge of the new policy, was dated Feb. 6, 2011.

The policy aims to "provide the City of Hoboken personnel with guidelines for dealing with the news media, speeches and public statements, preparing and distributing press releases."

In response to the city's official new policy, Third Ward Councilman Michael Russo, , issued a press release, asking the mayor to rescind the new policy. 

"This is simply bullying and intimidation of city employees, who could, as a result, be dissuaded from reaching out to the press as a whistleblower," Russo said in a press release.  

Melli said that the policy is put in place to prevent city employees from distributing incorrect information. He said the policy is also supposed to streamline the information that comes out of individual departments. 

Melli said it doesn't affect local reporters ("This doesn't affect you," he told this reporter in a phone conversation) and that employees are still allowed to talk to the press. 

"It’s seems like a reasonable administrative measure," said Councilman-at-Large Ravi Bhalla, adding that employee's comments could be understood as coming from the administration. 

In a press release, Russo said that the policy "sets a dictatorial tone and is contrary to the mayor’s stated positions onopenness and transparency. The public has a right to know what’s happening at cityhall without the filter of the mayor and the business administrator.”