Ridgewood Complaint Prompts Records Unlawfully Withheld To Be Released

RIDGEWOOD, NJ — A former Ridgewood village councilman filed a formal complaint against the village's custodian of records, Donna Jackson, alleging she failed to disclose records, i.e. attorney invoices, in a timely manner. And in a recent meeting, the Government Records Council decided that she "unlawfully denied" access to three of the four records requested, and that she shall disclose those invoices to the former councilman.

An analysis of whether Jackson "knowingly and willfully violated" the Open Public Records Act is pending her compliance with an interim order by the council.

Jeffrey Voigt, a Ridgewood village councilman from 2016 to 2020, sought invoices for January and February 2021 from the custodian's counsel, and from village attorney William Northgrave, who is a member at McManimon, Scotland & Baumann ("the firm"). He complained to the custodian that the village was "consistently dragging its feet" in providing those records, and then filed a formal complaint to the records council.

Jackson, in a records council meeting a few weeks ago, was found to have "unlawfully denied access" to the counsel's January 2021 invoice and the firm's January and February 2021 invoices. She was then ordered to disclose those invoices to Voigt within five business days with appropriate redactions, and to deliver confirmation of compliance to GRC Executive Director Frank Caruso.

Her compliance with this order will determine if there is an OPRA violation. Jackson did not immediately respond to an email request for comment, or a question regarding whether she disclosed the invoices within the five-day time frame.

Although Jackson also denied Voigt access to the custodian counsel's February 2021 invoice, that invoice did not exist within the village's possession at the time of the request, because it had not yet been submitted by the counsel. As such, Jackson was under no obligation to provide it once it was obtained, the records council said.

Jackson argued, in a statement of information that she filed, that her non-disclosure of the records was not a violation of OPRA, because none of them had yet been approved for payment by the village council. She asked for a seven-day extension on the counsel's January invoice, and advised Voigt to submit a request for the firm's January and February invoices following the April 2021 meeting.

Additionally, however, Jackson, the records council found, responded to requests for the firm's invoices in the extended time frame, yet responded after the extension expiration to the request for the counsel's invoice.

Her "non-adherence," however, was excused pursuant to an amendment in the state statute that was added in 2020 in response to the coronavirus pandemic, and it required only that custodians make a "reasonable effort" to respond to records requests within the seven-day time frame normally in place, the records council said.

"There is no evidence to suggest that her response, which fell beyond statutory time frames, was in some way unreasonable under circumstances of the public health emergency," the records council said, adding that needing to contact multiple people and conduct reviews also colored her extension as reasonable.

Still, the records council said, the village of Ridgewood could "benefit from a better tracking system to ensure the response process adheres to basic provisions of OPRA."