Tax money spent on Apparel
Dear North Bergen 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:
I'd like a copy of all purchase orders from the town or police department from 2020 - present for Allen Pascal's containing police commissioner badges and apparel (shirts, jackets, vests, etc. with the embroidered police badge) since he seems to wear nothing else but that.
I'd like a copy of all purchase orders from 2020 - present for badges and car placards for Allen Pascal
Lastly, I'd like purchase orders from money spent on Allen Pascal to attend conferences, workshops, functions in Atlantic City or any other function that is connected to the police department. We would like to know how much money has gone to someone who thinks they are law enforcement, but probably wouldn't even have the guts to be a mall cop.
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,
WeWorkTOOhard TobeTakenAdvantageOf
Dear WeWorkTOOhardTobeTakenAdvantageOf:
The Township of North Bergen (“Township”) writes in response to your November 19, 2024 request made pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. (“OPRA”), and the common law right of access.
Preliminarily, it appears you may lack familiarity with North Bergen, and we wish to point out the correct spelling of Allen Pascual’s name.
You requested:
(1) “a copy of all purchase orders from the town or police department from 2020 - present for Allen Pascal's [sic] containing police commissioner badges and apparel (shirts, jackets, vests, etc. with the embroidered police badge)” and (2) “a copy of all purchase orders from 2020 - present for badges and car placards for Allen Pascal [sic].”
The Township does not maintain purchase orders that pertain to specific individuals. Copies of purchase orders for the Police Department for the requested time period and items listed in your request are attached.
You also requested:
(3) “purchase orders from money spent on Allen Pascal [sic] to attend conferences, workshops, functions in Atlantic City or any other function that is connected to the police department”.
Your request is denied as improper. Your request is overbroad and ambiguous, lacks a temporal limitation, and conditions the responsiveness of any potentially responsive record on being “connected to the police department,” which would require a records custodian to read through every potentially responsive record and make a subjective determination. Accordingly, your request is denied. MAG Entertainment, LLC v. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534 (App. Div. 2005), Bent v. Stafford Police Dep’t, 381 N.J. Super. 30 (App. Div. 2005).
As with any OPRA request, you have the right to challenge the decision by the Township. At your option, you may either institute a proceeding in the Superior Court of New Jersey or file a complaint with the Government records Council (“GRC”) by completing the Denial of Access Complaint Form. You may contact the GRC by toll-free telephone at 866-850-0511, by mail at PO Box 819, Trenton, NJ 08625, by e-mail at [email address], or at its web site at www.state.nj.us/grc. The Council can also answer other questions about the law. All questions regarding complaints filed in Superior Court should be directed to the Court Clerk in Hudson County.
You requested the same records pursuant to the common law right of access. As you have been advised on multiple occasions, it is the responsibility of a requestor on a common law request for records to show that: (1) the record requested is a public record; (2) the requestor has a specifically identifiable interest in the record sought; and (3) that interest outweighs the interest of the government in keeping the requested record confidential. Keddie v. Rutgers, 148 N.J. 36 (1997). For these reasons, and the reasons cited above in response to the OPRA portion of your request, your request is denied.
Thank you.
Erin Barillas, RMC
Township Clerk
Township of North Bergen
4233 Kennedy Blvd.
North Bergen, NJ 07047
e: [North Bergen Township request email]
o: 201-392-2024
f: 201-330-7694
www.northbergen.org