Dear Records Custodian Wynne,

Please accept this electronic request for public records made pursuant to the Open Public Records Act and the common law right of access. I am not required to use an official form or software platform under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(f).

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 these records in connection with a legal proceeding.

I exercise all rights afforded to me as a resident of New Jersey under the New Jersey Constitution, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, the common law right of access, and all statutory protections provided by OPRA. No purpose or justification for this request is required under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(f).

I may not be subject to retaliation, discrimination, obstruction, or adverse action for submitting a public records request. This request must be construed liberally in favor of access, consistent with OPRA’s presumption of transparency, and any ambiguity must be resolved in favor of disclosure.

If any portion of this request is unclear, OPRA requires you to contact me for clarification rather than deny access.

If any portion of this request is denied, in whole or in part, OPRA requires you to cite the specific legal exemption for each withheld record and provide a written index describing each withheld item, consistent with N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g).

If any responsive record does not exist, please provide the required written certification of non-existence pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g). If you assert that no records exist, please certify that a reasonable search was conducted across all systems and departments where responsive records are maintained.

If records exist electronically, please produce them electronically along with any associated metadata maintained in the ordinary course of business.

Please also preserve all responsive records pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9.

Please note that OPRA requires a search of all locations where responsive records may reasonably be maintained, including but not limited to: email systems, servers, electronic files, attachments, individual mailboxes, shared drives, archives, backups, and storage systems.

This request is not dependent on how the Borough organizes or labels its records.

If any record contains exempt material, OPRA requires the release of all non-exempt portions with appropriate redactions.

If any responsive record is withheld, in whole or in part, please confirm whether the record exists and identify it in the required index.

Records requested:

1. A complete copy of the ADA-related complaint email that I sent on November 11, 2025 to Borough Clerk & Records Custodian Karen Wynne and Borough Attorney Jonathan Cohen, with carbon copy to Borough Administrator & Chief Administrative Officer Ryan Michelson, Mayor Joseph Altomonte, and myself, including the full email body, all attachments, and all associated metadata (to/from/cc/bcc, date, time, and subject line).

2. A complete copy of the supplemental email related to that ADA complaint that I sent on November 12, 2025 to Borough Clerk & Records Custodian Karen Wynne and Borough Attorney Jonathan Cohen, with carbon copy to Borough Administrator & Chief Administrative Officer Ryan Michelson, Mayor Joseph Altomonte, and myself, including the full email body, all attachments, and all associated metadata (to/from/cc/bcc, date, time, and subject line).

3. All emails dated between November 11, 2025 and the present that mention or refer to my ADA complaint email of November 11, 2025 or my November 12, 2025 supplemental email, where any of the following individuals are senders or recipients (including cc or bcc): Borough Clerk & Records Custodian Karen Wynne, Borough Attorney Jonathan Cohen, Borough Administrator & Chief Administrative Officer Ryan Michelson, Mayor Joseph Altomonte, Council President Deana Gunn, Council Members Brian Livesey, Arlan Feiles, Steve Russell, Suzanne Reynolds, Charles Ross, or myself. This includes both emails sent to or from me and internal emails among those Borough officials.

4. Any internal memoranda, notes, logs, or other records dated between November 11, 2025 and the present that document the receipt, review, handling, forwarding, or processing of my ADA complaint email of November 11, 2025 and/or my November 12, 2025 supplemental email, maintained by or for Borough Clerk & Records Custodian Karen Wynne, Borough Attorney Jonathan Cohen, Borough Administrator & Chief Administrative Officer Ryan Michelson, Mayor Joseph Altomonte, or Council President Deana Gunn.

These are discrete, identifiable government records. No explanations, interpretations, or creation of new documents are requested.

My preferred delivery method is email with attachments.
If you are not the custodian, please forward this request to the correct custodian and notify me of their contact information.

Thank you,
John Certo

Dear Records Custodian Karen Wynne,

This is a records preservation notice issued pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9 and the common law right of access. Please preserve, maintain, and not destroy, delete, alter, overwrite, conceal, or modify any records responsive to this OPRA request, as well as any records responsive to all OPRA requests I have previously submitted to the Borough of Matawan, while each request is pending and until each is fully and finally resolved. This preservation obligation applies immediately upon receipt of this notice.

This duty applies regardless of routine or automated deletion policies, email retention limits, backup overwrites, document management schedules, device replacement, or any other internal records management practice.

This preservation obligation applies Borough-wide and includes records maintained by any department, office, official, employee, contractor, or agent acting for or on behalf of the Borough.

This preservation obligation applies to all formats and locations where responsive records may reasonably be maintained, including emails, attachments, drafts, internal notes or memoranda, logs, tracking records, databases, shared drives, cloud storage, third party systems used by or for the Borough, metadata, and system generated records maintained in the ordinary course of business.

This notice is issued by me solely in my capacity as a private New Jersey resident exercising statutory and constitutional rights under the New Jersey Constitution, the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Open Public Records Act, and the common law right of access. No adverse action, retaliation, obstruction, or discriminatory treatment may lawfully result from the exercise of these rights.

If any responsive record is later asserted not to exist, please provide the written certification of non existence required by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(g), certifying that a reasonable search was conducted across all systems and departments where responsive records are ordinarily maintained.

This preservation notice does not modify, restart, or toll any statutory response deadlines under OPRA and is issued solely to ensure compliance with existing legal obligations.

This obligation continues through any administrative review or appeal related to these OPRA requests.

Thank you.

John Certo