Dear Pompton Lakes Borough,

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:

I am requesting any communications regarding Chief Derek Clark’s retirement, including discussion of potential dates, notice of intent to retire, the borough’s acceptance of said retirement, and communications regarding an exit contract, and said exit contract.

My preferred delivery method for response(s) to this request is by E-mail as attachments. Please confirm you have received this request. 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.

Yours faithfully,

Debbie

Dear Elizabeth Brandsness,

In the attachment, I do not see any of the following which was requested in the OPRA:

Discussion of retirement dates
Derek Clark’s notice of intent to retire
The borough’s acceptance of his retirement date

Given that the borough administrator was aware of the pending retirement as of at least April 25, 2025, which is long before Clark’s contractual end date of December 31, 2026, it seems that a decision was made for early retirement. Is there no written documentation of any part of the early retirement process and decision for the chief of police?

Yours sincerely,

Debbie P.

Dear Kathy Troast,

To clarify, this OPRA request is asking for:

Any communications regarding Chief Derek Clark’s retirement, including discussion of potential dates;

Notice of intent to retire;

The borough’s acceptance of said retirement;

Communications regarding an exit contract, and said exit contract.

The attached information states former Chief Clark’s retirement date as January 1, 2026, accepted by the council on June 25, 2025. To be clear, is Derek Clark still considered the current chief of police if his official retirement date is January 1, 2026? (And is this because on January 1, 2026, Clark gets a raise which increases his pension, which also seems to mean that the 10% longevity amount is increased as of that date?)

Also, does the borough maintain that there is nothing in writing showing that Chief Clark put in notice to retire before June 25, 2025? There is an email circulating on social media, written by Michael Carelli on April 25, 2025, stating that the town of Pompton Lakes would need an announcement for chief of police, also stating that there was a pending retirement and that the town would need to promote a new chief via a waiver. It does seem like the town was aware months ago that Chief Clark would be retiring. Are there zero other borough communications in writing regarding the retirement?

Yours sincerely,

Debbie P.

Dear Kathy Troast,

Is the borough truly claiming that Chief Clark only gave verbal notice and that not one council member nor borough employee acknowledged the police chief retirement in writing? Below are two questions from the original OPRA and both were answered with “no responsive documents.”

“Any communications regarding Chief Derek Clark’s retirement, including discussion of potential date: no responsive documents

Notice of intent to retire: no responsive documents”

If the borough maintains that there are no responsive documents which include the chief’s notice of intent to retire, nor that any borough employee or council member even discussed what a potential retirement date would be, what day did he walk in and declare his intent to retire? Is there a record of the verbal notification? Does the borough not have any written record aside from the June 25, 2025 resolution that his last day would be modified to January 1, 2026, despite his contract previously ending on December 31, 2026?

Yours sincerely,

Debbie P.