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:

Video footage of the Pompton lakes council meeting held on October 8th of 2025.

&

A copy of the Mayor’s Oath of Office as well as Coucilman Cruz’s oath of office.

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.

Dear Elizabeth Brandsness,

Please provide the raw video file.

Yours sincerely,

Trevor

Dear Elizabeth Brandsness,

This message serves as a formal appeal of your denial regarding my request for copies of the oath of office documents for Pompton Lakes Council members.

Your denial cites N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 and asserts that an oath of office is “confidential” and therefore not a public record. Respectfully, that interpretation is incorrect under both the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) and established Government Records Council (GRC) precedent.

An oath of office executed by a public official is not a private personnel record; it is a public record created in connection with the assumption of public duties. These oaths are routinely filed with the municipal clerk — the official custodian of such records — and are subject to public inspection.

Numerous GRC determinations have confirmed this, including but not limited to:
• Paff v. Township of Plainsboro, GRC Complaint No. 2003-01 (holding that oaths of office are public records).
• Paff v. Borough of Roseland, GRC Complaint No. 2007-151 (reaffirming that oaths of office for elected officials are not exempt under the personnel records provision of N.J.S.A. 47:1A-10).

The portion of the statute you referenced — allowing only “full name, title, and oath date” to be released — applies specifically to personnel files of public employees, not to elected officials’ oaths of office.

Accordingly, I respectfully request that you reconsider your denial and provide copies of the complete signed oaths of office for the council members I listed in my original request.

If the records are not produced within the statutory timeframe following this appeal, I will consider filing a formal complaint with the Government Records Council to seek enforcement and clarification.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Trevor