Poojah Patel Employee File
Dear Berkeley Heights Township,
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:
Employee/Officer Poojah Patel's employee file, disciplinary file, personnel file, training file, and any/all supervisor file/notes/documents.
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,
F Smith
Dear Berkeley Heights Township,
I have not received a response to this OPRA request and would like a status update ASAP.
Yours faithfully,
F Smith
I did not receive an OPRA request from you. Please resend it to me at this email.
Regards,
Angela Lazzari
Angela Lazzari, RMC
Township Clerk
29 Park Avenue
Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922
908-464-2700 x2220
I still have not received anything from you.
Regards,
Angela Lazzari
Angela Lazzari, RMC
Township Clerk
29 Park Avenue
Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922
908-464-2700 x2220
Dear Angela Lazzari,
see copy and pasted email:
Dear Berkeley Heights Township,
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:
Employee/Officer Poojah Patel's employee file, disciplinary file, personnel file, training file, and any/all supervisor file/notes/documents.
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,
F Smith
Yours sincerely,
F Smith
In response to your OPRA request, enclosed below, I will need an additional 3 business days to complete this request. I will respond to you by December 3rd.
Regards,
Angela Lazzari
Angela Lazzari, RMC
Township Clerk
29 Park Avenue
Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922
908-464-2700 x2220
In response to your OPRA request, enclosed below, and to follow up on my previous email, I will need to request another extension to complete this request. Given the holiday and the additional work build up, with OPRA and other work, I am requesting another extension. I will respond to you by Monday, December 8th. Of course, if we have the records before then I will forward.
Regards,
Angela Lazzari
Angela Lazzari, RMC
Township Clerk
29 Park Avenue
Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922
908-464-2700 x2220
This constitutes the Township’s response to your request under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA), which was received by the Township via email dated November 14, 2025 (“Request”), and sought: “Employee/Officer Poojah Patel's employee file, disciplinary file, personnel file, training file, and any/all supervisor file/notes/documents.”
Please be advised that OPRA does not permit open-ended searches of a public agency’s files, and that agencies are required to disclose “only ‘identifiable’ governmental records not otherwise exempt.” MAG Entertainment, LLC v. Div. of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 549 (App. Div. 2005). Accordingly, OPRA requests “must be well-defined so that the records custodian knows precisely what records are sought,” and may not require the records custodian to undertake any subjective analysis or perform research into the identity of the records requested. See, e.g., Paff v. Galloway Twp., 229 N.J. 340, 355 (2017). Your request is overly broad as it fails to identify any specific record type, but instead requests “files” relating to a former employee as opposed to describing specific individual records that are being sought from such files (to the extent they exist) and also because it requests “any/all supervisor file/notes/documents” without describing the subject matter or other context under which such notes/documents may have come to exist. By way of example, a proper request will identify the type of record sought (such as a “letter”, “permit”, “report”, “complaint”, etc..), a specific time frame, subject-matter, and (if applicable) identifiable sender(s)/recipient(s).
As indicated above your Request is overly broad and would require the records custodian to undertake a subjective analysis in order to locate “files” which fit the criteria you did describe and then determine without any further descriptive elements which records within such files might be responsive to your request. As such, the Request as submitted may be deemed invalid under OPRA. However, in an effort to attempt to process your request, Township did undertake a search and identified potentially responsive records. Please be aware that generally, personnel records are not subject to disclosure pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9 and Executive Order No. 26 (Gov. McGreevy, 2002) and the Personnel Records exemption under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10.
Please see the attached training certificates which have been provided only where the particular certificate confirms the completion of training required for employment as a police officer. Please be advised that any other certificates are not disclosable due to the Personnel Record exemption under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10. Please also see the attached February 2021 Mayoral Executive Order, April 2024 letter and April 2024 memorandum all of which are deemed disclosable personnel records and are being provided to you in connection with your Request. Any remaining records which appear to fit the limited description provided in your request are not subject to disclosure pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-9 and Executive Order No. 26 (Gov. McGreevy, 2002) and the Personnel Records exemption under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10.
Regards,
Angela Lazzari
Angela Lazzari, RMC
Township Clerk
29 Park Avenue
Berkeley Heights, NJ 07922
908-464-2700 x2220