Videos of the 8/19/25 Borough Council Meeting
Dear Matawan 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-5(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:
All video recordings of the August 19, 2025 Borough Council meeting including the official recording made by the Borough, and all bodyworn camera recordings made by Officer J. Borsari of the Matawan Police Department during the meeting.
My preferred delivery method for response(s) to this request is by electronic file transfer. 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.
Feel free to contact me to make arrangements for providing these videos at 732-993-9697
Yours faithfully,
Food & Water Watch
Dear Matawan Borough,
Please confirm you received our request.
Yours faithfully,
Food & Water Watch
Good Afternoon,
We provide the following link in response to your Request below: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=a9X5htkwh8s.
By cc your Request below has been forwarded to the appropriate Department, the Borough of Matawan Police Records, for direct reply.
Pursuant to Borough of Matawan Ordinance 23-21, effective January 12, 2024, please direct OPRA requests related to Police Records, ie, complaints, motor vehicle crash reports, DWI reports, etc., to the Borough of Matawan Police Records. The Borough of Matawan Police Records can be contacted by telephone at (732) 290-1657, fax (732) 566-2933 or via email at [email address]. We provide the following link for copy of the Borough of Matawan Police Department OPRA form for your ready reference: NJS Model OPRA Request Form (2024).pdf.
We trust this satisfies this Request and finalizes the matter; however, should you require anything further or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our office.
Thank you,
Karen
Karen Wynne, RMC
Borough Clerk
Borough of Matawan
201 Broad Street
Matawan, New Jersey 07747
(732) 566-3898 ext. 602 FAX (732) 290-7585
[email address]
OPRA REQUESTS are to be sent immediately and directly for processing to [email address].
PLEASE NOTE: 2025 Borough Summer Hours will begin May 23 and end August 29. Our summer work hours will be: Monday through Thursday, 8:30AM to 5:00PM/Friday, 8:30AM to 1:00PM.
WARNING: Email received or sent to Borough Officials are subject to the Open Public Records Act (OPRA). If you are in any way concerned about the contents of your email being read by someone other than the person(s) you are contacting, you should consider alternate ways of contacting them.
This message is intended only for the use of the addressee(s). It may contain privileged and/or confidential information that should not be disclosed under applicable law. If you are not an addressee, or the employee or agent responsible to deliver this message to an addressee, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this message is prohibited, and that you should destroy/delete it immediately and advise the sender. Thank you for your cooperation.
Dear Ms. Wynne,
Thank you for the response. I have not received any response from the police yet.
Yours sincerely,
Food & Water Watch
Dear Clerk,
I still have not received the requested recordings from the police department. On September 5 you indicated the request was forwarded to "the Borough of Matawan Police Records, for direct reply." Can you confirm if they received my request? When might I expect a response?
Yours sincerely,
Food & Water Watch
Good Morning,
The OPRA Request below has been forwarded to the appropriate Department, the Borough of Matawan Police Records, for direct reply.
Pursuant to Borough of Matawan Ordinance 23-21, effective January 12, 2024, please direct OPRA requests related to Police Records, ie, complaints, motor vehicle crash reports, DWI reports, body cam footage, etc., to the Borough of Matawan Police Records. The Borough of Matawan Police Records can be contacted by telephone at (732) 290-1657, fax (732) 566-2933 or via email at [email address]. We provide the following link for copy of the Borough of Matawan Police Department OPRA form for your ready reference: NJS Model OPRA Request Form (2024).pdf.
Please contact the Matawan Police Records directly for their reply.
Thank you,
OPRA Request @ Borough of Matawan
201 Broad Street
Matawan, New Jersey 07747
(732-566-3898)
*OPRA REQUESTS MUST BE SUBMITTED TO THE FOLLOWING EMAIL ADDRESS: [Matawan Borough request email]. OPRA requests will not be processed or honored unless you forward the request immediately to [Matawan Borough request email].
WARNING: Emails received or sent to Borough Officials are subject to the Open Public Records Act (OPRA). If you are in any way concerned about the contents of your email being read by someone other than the person(s) you are contacting, you should consider alternate ways of contacting them.
This message is intended only for the use of the addressees. It may contain privileged and/or confidential information that should not be disclosed under applicable law. If you are not an addressee, or the employee or agent responsible to deliver this message to an addressee, you are notified that any use or dissemination of this message is prohibited, and that you should destroy/delete it immediately and advise the sender. Thank you for your cooperation.
Good morning,
Please see the below link to fulfill your request. Thank you.
[1]0819meeting - 135 redacted
Thank you,
OPRA Request @
Matawan Police Department
201 Broad Street
Matawan, New Jersey 07747
(732-290-2020
[2]matawanpolice.org
*OPRA REQUESTS MUST BE SUBMITTED TO THE FOLLOWING EMAIL ADDRESS:
[3][email address] OPRA requests will not be processed or
honored unless you forward the request immediately to
[4][email address].
WARNING: Emails received or sent to Borough Officials are subject to the
Open Public Records Act (OPRA). If you are in any way concerned about the
contents of your email being read by someone other than the person(s) you
are contacting, you should consider alternate ways of contacting them.
This message is intended only for the use of the addressees. It may
contain privileged and/or confidential information that should not be
disclosed under applicable law. If you are not an addressee, or the
employee or agent responsible to deliver this message to an addressee, you
are notified that any use or dissemination of this message is prohibited,
and that you should destroy/delete it immediately and advise the sender.
Thank you for your cooperation.
References
Visible links
1. https://matawanpd-my.sharepoint.com/:f:/...
2. http://www.matawanpolice.org/
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[email address]
Hi,
This video has been redacted without explanation. Per the Citizen's Guide to OPRA, "Custodians must identify the legal basis for each redaction." I called and spoke to Kristen and asked for an explanation. She said: "When it's through an OPRA request, we redact everything." I pointed out that no legal basis was provided and Kristen said she needed a few minutes to look into it, then hung up on me.
Of course, this video recording was from a public meeting so the redactions are unjustified. Please provide an unredacted version of the video. Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Food & Water Watch
Dear oprarequest,
We were promised that someone would follow up about the illegal redactions to the bodyworn camera video. What happened? We never heard anything, or received anything further.
Yours sincerely,
Food & Water Watch