Full and Unredacted Minutes, Audio, and Video of Missing County Commissioner Meetings (May–July 2025)
Dear Sussex County,
Please accept this electronic request for public records made under the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA) and the common law right of access. As mandated by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-6(f), I am not required to complete any proprietary form or use any specific platform—this email, which contains all required information, constitutes a valid and enforceable government records request.
I HEREBY CERTIFY under penalty of N.J.S.A. 2C:28-3 that I have not been convicted of any indictable offense under the laws of New Jersey, any other state, or the United States.
I FURTHER CERTIFY that the records sought herein will not be used for any commercial purpose, and are not being requested in connection with any legal proceeding.
Please be advised that the prompt and complete production of these records is required by law. The County’s failure to comply, delay, or improper denial will be treated as presumptive evidence of institutional noncompliance and may be referred to appropriate oversight authorities and, if necessary, for judicial enforcement.
Records Requested:
I hereby demand the immediate production of the following unredacted records, which are presently missing, for all meetings of the Sussex County Board of County Commissioners held between May 1, 2025, and July 31, 2025, specifically including, but not limited to, the following dates and sessions:
July 23, 2025, 6:00 PM (Commissioner Meeting Room, 1 Spring Street, Newton, NJ)
July 9, 2025, 6:00 PM (Commissioner Meeting Room, 1 Spring Street, Newton, NJ)
June 25, 2025, 6:00 PM (Commissioner Meeting Room, 1 Spring Street, Newton, NJ)
June 11, 2025, 6:00 PM (Commissioner Meeting Room, 1 Spring Street, Newton, NJ)
May 28, 2025, 6:00 PM (Commissioner Meeting Room, 1 Spring Street, Newton, NJ)
May 14, 2025, 6:00 PM (Commissioner Meeting Room, 1 Spring Street, Newton, NJ)
For each of the above meetings, I demand the following:
Full and complete meeting minutes (including all draft, approved, and amended versions, with no redactions other than those strictly required by law);
Audio recordings of each meeting in their entirety, with timestamps and metadata preserved;
Video recordings of each meeting, including any archived, backup, or unofficial footage;
All associated agendas, attachments, exhibits, handouts, and public documents referenced or distributed during these meetings;
Executive session minutes or summaries for each meeting (if any portion of the session was closed to the public, provide a redacted and unredacted version, and cite the precise statutory exemption for any withheld portion per N.J.S.A. 10:4-13);
Transcripts (if any have been prepared, whether in draft or final form).
Should any record be withheld, redacted, or claimed exempt, I hereby demand a detailed privilege log (Vaughn Index) identifying the nature of the record, the precise legal basis for each claimed exemption, the date, author, recipient, and a summary sufficient to enable independent judicial review, as required by OPRA and controlling case law.
This request is made pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., N.J.S.A. 47:1A-6(f), and the common law right of access. Strict and timely compliance is both a statutory and fiduciary obligation for all public officers and employees.
Failure to strictly comply with OPRA, including any improper delay, obstruction, or blanket denial, will be treated as a willful violation subject to legal challenge, public disclosure, and immediate referral to the appropriate state oversight authorities.
Yours faithfully,
Government Accountability Project.
Dear Ms. DiMaso:
This correspondence serves as a formal follow-up and second demand regarding my original Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”) and common law right of access request, transmitted electronically on August 7, and acknowledged as received by the public record.
To date, no lawful, substantive response has been provided, nor has any extension of time been properly sought in accordance with N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5(i). The statutory period for compliance has now elapsed or is imminently expiring. As you are aware, OPRA does not permit indefinite or unexplained delays; such conduct constitutes a de facto denial subject to judicial review. See Mason v. City of Hoboken, 196 N.J. 51, 57–58 (2008); Burnett v. County of Bergen, 198 N.J. 408, 422 (2009).
I now place you and Sussex County on clear notice of the following:
Any continued noncompliance, partial production without legal justification, or blanket denial will be treated as a willful violation of OPRA and the common law right of access, giving rise to a presumption of bad faith and institutional noncompliance.
Should your office fail to produce the requested records in full, with a proper Vaughn-style privilege log for any withheld portions, I will initiate an enforcement action in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-6, seeking immediate injunctive relief, statutory attorneys’ fees, and any other relief to which I am entitled.
Final Opportunity to Cure:
You are afforded five (5) business days from the date of this letter to:
Produce all responsive records identified in my original request;
Provide a privilege log identifying any withheld records with precise statutory exemptions;
Cite the specific OPRA or OPMA provisions supporting each claimed exemption.
No further extensions will be granted. Upon expiration of this deadline, if compliance remains incomplete, litigation will commence without further notice.
Govern yourselves accordingly.
Respectfully,
Government Accountability Project.
Good morning,
Please accept this email on behalf of Sussex County.
The County is in receipt of your August 7^th OPRA request as noted in the
attached email.
Audio and video recordings are available for the May 14, 28, June 11, 25
and July 9, 2025 meetings on the website, that link is: [1]Meeting
Schedules - Sussex County
The video for July 9 is available at
[2]https://www.youtube.com/live/36Bvt9UIMGc...
The audio and video for July 23 meeting is available at
[3]https://www.youtube.com/live/dZ1Hkm6Nig8... and
[4]https://www.youtube.com/live/k08sGBl7z7s...
There are no approved written minutes responsive to your request for the
dates requested. Please see Pusterhofer v. N.J. Dep’t of Educ., GRC
Complaint No. 2005-49 (July 2005): The Council determined that no unlawful
denial of access occurred because the custodian certified that no
responsive records existed and there was no evidence in the record to
refute her certification. See also Pavlenko v. Twp. of
Delran (Burlington), GRC Complaint No. 2010-325 (March 2012).
This concludes your request.
Serena DiMaso, Esq
Florio, Perrucci, Steinhardt, Cappelli & Tipton LLC
91 Larry Holmes Dr.
Easton, PA 18042
Cell: 848.893.6669
[5][email address] / [6]www.floriolaw.com
Licensed in NYS
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named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient,
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communication in error, please notify Florio Perrucci Steinhardt Cappelli
& Tipton LLC immediately by replying to this e-mail. Please delete all
copies of this message and any attachments immediately.
From: Government Accountability Project
<[OPRA #79307 email]>
Sent: Thursday, August 7, 2025 7:43 AM
To: Serena DiMaso <[Sussex County request email]>
Subject: OPRA request - Full and Unredacted Minutes, Audio, and Video of
Missing County Commissioner Meetings (May–July 2025)
Dear Sussex County,
Please accept this electronic request for public records made under the
New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA) and the common law right of
access. As mandated by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-6(f), I am not required to complete
any proprietary form or use any specific platform—this email, which
contains all required information, constitutes a valid and enforceable
government records request.
I HEREBY CERTIFY under penalty of N.J.S.A. 2C:28-3 that I have not been
convicted of any indictable offense under the laws of New Jersey, any
other state, or the United States.
I FURTHER CERTIFY that the records sought herein will not be used for any
commercial purpose, and are not being requested in connection with any
legal proceeding.
Please be advised that the prompt and complete production of these records
is required by law. The County’s failure to comply, delay, or improper
denial will be treated as presumptive evidence of institutional
noncompliance and may be referred to appropriate oversight authorities
and, if necessary, for judicial enforcement.
Records Requested:
I hereby demand the immediate production of the following unredacted
records, which are presently missing, for all meetings of the Sussex
County Board of County Commissioners held between May 1, 2025, and July
31, 2025, specifically including, but not limited to, the following dates
and sessions:
July 23, 2025, 6:00 PM (Commissioner Meeting Room, 1 Spring Street,
Newton, NJ)
July 9, 2025, 6:00 PM (Commissioner Meeting Room, 1 Spring Street, Newton,
NJ)
June 25, 2025, 6:00 PM (Commissioner Meeting Room, 1 Spring Street,
Newton, NJ)
June 11, 2025, 6:00 PM (Commissioner Meeting Room, 1 Spring Street,
Newton, NJ)
May 28, 2025, 6:00 PM (Commissioner Meeting Room, 1 Spring Street, Newton,
NJ)
May 14, 2025, 6:00 PM (Commissioner Meeting Room, 1 Spring Street, Newton,
NJ)
For each of the above meetings, I demand the following:
Full and complete meeting minutes (including all draft, approved, and
amended versions, with no redactions other than those strictly required by
law);
Audio recordings of each meeting in their entirety, with timestamps and
metadata preserved;
Video recordings of each meeting, including any archived, backup, or
unofficial footage;
All associated agendas, attachments, exhibits, handouts, and public
documents referenced or distributed during these meetings;
Executive session minutes or summaries for each meeting (if any portion of
the session was closed to the public, provide a redacted and unredacted
version, and cite the precise statutory exemption for any withheld portion
per N.J.S.A. 10:4-13);
Transcripts (if any have been prepared, whether in draft or final form).
Should any record be withheld, redacted, or claimed exempt, I hereby
demand a detailed privilege log (Vaughn Index) identifying the nature of
the record, the precise legal basis for each claimed exemption, the date,
author, recipient, and a summary sufficient to enable independent judicial
review, as required by OPRA and controlling case law.
This request is made pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., N.J.S.A.
47:1A-6(f), and the common law right of access. Strict and timely
compliance is both a statutory and fiduciary obligation for all public
officers and employees.
Failure to strictly comply with OPRA, including any improper delay,
obstruction, or blanket denial, will be treated as a willful violation
subject to legal challenge, public disclosure, and immediate referral to
the appropriate state oversight authorities.
Yours faithfully,
Government Accountability Project.
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