Dear Middlesex County,

Please accept this electronic request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form or use a particular software platform to submit my request per NJSA 47:1A-6(f), which states that an email from a requestor including all of the information required on the adopted form shall suffice in place of a completed form as a valid government record request.

I HAVE NOT been convicted of any indictable offense under the laws of New Jersey, any other state, or the United States.

I WILL NOT use the requested government records for a commercial purpose.

I AM NOT seeking records in connection with a legal proceeding.

Records requested: all existing recordings of public meetings held in 2024.

My preferred delivery method for response(s) to this request is by E-mail as attachments. However, I recognize that many recordings, especially video recordings, are too large to send via email. If that is the case, I can recommend: 1) uploading the recordings to a Google Drive folder and sharing it with my Google account: ckratovil, or 2) using the free service WeTransfer to send the recordings to my email address: [email address].

I am also open to other methods, including picking up a flash drive or CD/DVD at your office, or receiving the same via US mail at our PO Box: #3180, New Brunswick, NJ 08903. Please confirm you have received this request and feel free to contact me at 732-993-9697 with any questions or to make any necessary arrangements. If you are not the custodian of records, please forward my request to that person and provide their email address to me for future reference.

Thank you very much for your assistance with this request.

Yours faithfully,

Charlie Kratovil

Dear Middlesex County OPRA Center,

I'm following up on my request for 2024 public meeting recordings -- W021418-010225. During the week of January 13, I was provided with a thumb drive by Ms. Andrews and paid $10 cash with the understanding that $8.24 was for the thumb drive I was provided, and that I would come back with additional funds and exact change sufficient to pay for an additional drive with the recordings of the County Commissioner meetings from 2024, once it is ready.

Please let me know when I can pick up a drive with all recordings of the County Commissioner meetings, including the 6pm meetings (which I noted are not available on the county website)

Additionally, once I was able to review the drive that I was provided, I found it contained recordings of:
1) Construction Board of Appeals
2) Council for Children's Services
3) Development Review Committee & Planning Board
4) Lower Raritan-Middlesex County Water Resources Association
5) Water Quality Management Plan Amendment Hearings
6) Ethics Board

I am very grateful to your team for providing all of these recordings and appreciate you sharing them with me. I was under the impression the Planning Board meetings are not recorded, so it was a pleasant surprise to see them included. However, there are many other boards that I was hoping to obtain recordings of but have not yet been provided with them.

In addition to those County Commissioner meetings, I would kindly ask that you provide copies of any 2024 public meeting recordings you may have for the following bodies:
1) Middlesex County Joint Health Insurance Fund
2) Middlesex County Agricultural Development Board
3) Middlesex County Solid Waste Advisory Council
4) Middlesex County Board of Elections
5) Middlesex County Board of Social Services
6) Middlesex County Workforce Development Board
7) Middlesex County Tax Board
8) Middlesex County Mosquito Extermination Commission
9) Middlesex County Open Space and Recreation Public Advisory Committee
10) Middlesex County Arts and History Advisory Committee
11) Middlesex County Senior Citizen & Disabled Transportation Advisory Council
12) Middlesex County Housing & Community Development (HCD) Committee
13) Otlowski Center for Mental Health Care Advisory Council
14) Middlesex County Homelessness Trust Fund Task Force
15) Keep Middlesex Moving Board
16) Middlesex County Local Emergency Planning Committee
17) Middlesex County Aging & Disabled Services Advisory Council
18) Middlesex County Commission on Child Abuse and Missing Children
19) Middlesex County Human Services Advisory Council
20) Middlesex County Local Advisory Committee on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse
21) Middlesex County Mental Health Board
22) Middlesex County Housing Continuum of Care Committee
23) Middlesex County Ryan White HIV Health Services Planning Council
24) Middlesex County Veterans' Advisory Council
25) Middlesex County Insurance Commission
26) Middlesex County COOP/COG Steering Committee
27) Middlesex County Auxiliary Police Academy Advisory Committee
28) Middlesex County Homeland Security Implementation Committee

Thank you kindly.

Yours sincerely,

Charlie Kratovil

Dear Ms. Petrocelli,
Over the weekend, I sent a follow up regarding - W021418-010225. Please confirm if you received it.

I would like to withdraw the portion of my request regarding item 4 of the 28 bodies I identified in my message (Board of Elections) as I am already in touch with that entity and requested their recordings directly. I apologize for any confusion, and I hope to hear back soon about how I can obtain recordings of the other 27 bodies and the Board of County Commissioners. Thanks very much and have a nice day.

Yours faithfully,

Charlie Kratovil

Dear Middlesex County OPRA Center,

Thanks for your reply. The good news is that I don't believe any of the following boards have executive sessions, so there is no need to review every moment of every recording before you release them to me.

1. Middlesex County Agricultural Development Board - does not have executive sessions
2. Middlesex County Solid Waste Advisory Council - does not have executive sessions
3. Middlesex County Housing & Community Development (HCD) Committee
4. Middlesex County Homelessness Trust Fund Task Force
5. Middlesex County Human Services Advisory Council
6. Middlesex County Housing Continuum of Care Committee
7. Middlesex County Ryan White HIV Health Services Planning Council

Can you please confirm which, if any, of the above boards hold executive sessions?

Yours sincerely,

Charlie Kratovil

Dear Middlesex County,

I'm sorry but I cannot agree to pay the county to watch/listen to recordings of public meetings, emphasis on the word "public." By definition, what was discussed during the meetings is now public. If you are trying to make sure that conversations that took place before or after the meetings are not included in the recordings, you only need to listen to the very beginning and the very end to make that determination. For each meeting, it would take at most a minute or two to verify the recording is purely public.

I have also requested videos from the County Commissioner meetings but have not received them. I also mentioned that the 12/30/24 meeting was not posted to the county website and I was assured that it would be posted. It does not appear to be on the county website. To reiterate, I am requesting copies of the recordings for all 2024 public meetings, including the County Commissioners agenda/conference meetings, as well as their "invoices only" meetings, the re-organization, and the sine die meeting.

Please respond and confirm you can supply the requested records.

Yours faithfully,

Charlie Kratovil