Dear South Amboy City,

Under OPRA and the common law right of access, please provide copies of:
1) the resolution adopted for Re-Warding Commissioner compensation,
2) copies of all "scenarios" (maps) submitted to the Re-Warding Commission for consideration, including but not limited to those submitted by Remington Vernick Engineers, Re-Warding Commissioners, and members of the public,
3) copies of all correspondence, including email messages and attachments, sent from the Municipal Clerk to Thomas Lynch, or from Thomas Lynch to the Municipal Clerk, between December 16, 2020 and January 26, 2022, regarding the following topics: wards, ward boundaries, maps, scenarios, Re-Warding, and/or the Re-Warding Commission,
4) copies of the final ward boundary map adopted by the Re-Warding Commission.

Please confirm you have received this request, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Thank you kindly.

Yours faithfully,

Charlie Kratovil

Dear South Amboy City,

Please confirm receipt of my OPRA request. Please be advised the correct dates for item #3 are between December 16, 2021 and January 26, 2022.

Yours faithfully,

Charlie Kratovil

Dear Ms. Meyers,

I have received your response to my request. However, the records provided appear to only address item #3 of my request (emails), and they do not include the any of the attachments to the messages provided.

Please provide the records requested in items #1 (the resolution for compensation) and #4 (the final ward boundary map) of my request, and provide the attachments to the email messages provided in #3 of my request. I believe those attachments would satisfy item #2 (provided there are no additional alternative maps beyond the two identified in the January 5 email from Mr. Lynch). Please swiftly provide the requested records.

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Charlie Kratovil

Dear Ms. Brooks,

Thanks for your response, I accept your apology. However, I do not believe this request has been fulfilled. There were a number of attachments to the email messages your office shared with me in your initial response. Please provide these attachments, as well as the "scenario maps" (and charts) that were shared with you in your capacity as Re-Warding Commissioner

Regarding your statement that "draft documents of the maps etc. are not OPPA-able," I am asking you to reconsider this denial of access. I don't believe the Re-Warding Commission retained counsel, and unfortunately the folks at Remington Vernick Engineers are not attorneys, nor are they well versed in the OPRA. Additionally, even if you find these records are exempt under OPRA, they should be released to me under the common law right of access. I am a journalist who has been covering Middlesex County for over a decade, and I am also engaged in government and politics here. I have reason to believe the alternative maps were shared with at least one individual who did not serve on the Re-Warding Commission. It's fundamentally unfair to release these maps to some individuals but not others. As such, please reconsider the denial and release the requested records to me under OPRA and/or common law. Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Charlie Kratovil

Dear Ms. Brooks,

Thanks for your follow-up question. To clarify, on February 7, I received 3 .pdf files from Linda Meyers consisting of numerous emails responsive to my request. According to the records provided, many of these emails included attachments, but the attachments were not provided to me. For example, on December 16 at 12:50pm, Thomas Lynch sent an email with 5 attachments, apparently Excel spreadsheets with file names indicating they were "Data Worksheets" for each of the five towns undergoing re-warding. Then, on January 5 at 3:34pm, Thomas Lynch sent 4 attachments to you. These attachments were apparently .pdf files comprising the two different ward map "scenarios" (two pairs of corresponding charts and maps) that were submitted for consideration by the Re-warding Commission. I will re-iterate that, even if you find these records to be exempt from disclosure under OPRA, they still should be released to me under the common law right of access. As stated previously, I am a journalist who has been covering Middlesex County for over a decade, and I am also engaged in government and politics here.

Nevertheless, your office has not articulated any legal reason why these records should not be released under OPRA. Rather, you have merely indicated your opinion that they are "not OPPA-able." I will note that other Re-warding Commissions in Middlesex County have released to me each of the charts and maps that they considered. These records were released in response to written requests made to their Clerk's Offices that were identical to the request that I have filed with your office. I respectfully encourage you to reconsider your February 9 denial of access and produce the requested records today. Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Charlie Kratovil