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 and citizen 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).

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. I may not be subjected to retaliation, discrimination, obstruction, or adverse action for exercising my lawful right to request public records.

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), including certification that a reasonable search was conducted.

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.

If any record contains personal identifiers of private individuals, please redact only those specific fields and produce the remainder of the record.

For purposes of this request, the terms wedding, marriage, and ceremony include civil marriage ceremonies and any other lawful officiation performed by the Mayor in an official capacity.

𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱:

1. For the period January 1, 2010 through the present, any logs, lists, registers, calendars, spreadsheets, reports, or other tracking documents maintained by the Borough of Matawan, the Office of the Mayor, or the Municipal Clerk that identify wedding or marriage ceremonies officiated or performed by the Mayor of Matawan in his official capacity, including records showing the date of each ceremony and the Mayor’s role as officiant.

2. For the period January 1, 2010 through the present, any records that state, total, or summarize the number of wedding or marriage ceremonies officiated or performed by the Mayor of Matawan in his official capacity, including but not limited to annual reports, internal memoranda, briefing documents, spreadsheets, or email correspondence in which such totals or counts are referenced.

3. For the period January 1, 2010 through the present, all payment records, vouchers, invoices, purchase orders, requisitions, checks, direct deposits, payroll records, or other financial documents reflecting any fee, stipend, honorarium, reimbursement, or other compensation paid in connection with the Mayor officiating or performing a wedding or marriage ceremony in his official capacity.

4. For the period January 1, 2010 through the present, all records that state, establish, describe, request, suggest, or document the dollar amount charged, requested, suggested, or collected per wedding or marriage ceremony officiated or performed by the Mayor of Matawan in his official capacity, including fee schedules, ordinances, resolutions, policy documents, memoranda, internal correspondence, public information materials, or standard forms.

5. For the period January 1, 2010 through the present, any written policies, procedures, guidelines, or standard practices, including emails or memoranda, describing whether mayoral wedding or marriage ceremonies are performed with or without charge, and if a fee is charged, how that fee is determined and how payment is handled.

6. For the period January 1, 2010 through the present, any records created or maintained in the ordinary course of business that describe, reference, or compare how current and prior Mayors of Matawan handled officiating wedding or marriage ceremonies in their official capacity, including whether such ceremonies were performed without charge or for a fee.

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

My preferred delivery method is email with attachments.
If you are not the custodian of these records, please forward this request to the appropriate custodian and notify me accordingly.

I reserve the right to seek review by the Government Records Council or the Superior Court of New Jersey for any noncompliance with OPRA or the common law right of access.

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 while the request is pending and until it is fully and finally resolved. This preservation obligation applies immediately upon receipt of this request.

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 practices.

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.

Thank you.
John Certo