Letters

Many New Jersey residents are probably not aware that the state’s Open Public Meetings Act became law 31 years ago, at a time when, for instance, the Internet was the private preserve of college eggheads. Obviously, times have changed since 1975, but the state’s sunshine law has not.

State Sen. Robert Martin, (R-District 26, Morris and Passaic) has introduced a bill to drag the open meetings law into the 21st century. The full text of bill S1219 is posted on the Web at www.njsunshinelaw.com. The Web site also has useful information for residents who would like to see public meetings – and records – be more accessible to the general public. There’s also a petition for people to sign to show support for S1219.

Among other things, S1219 would require public bodies to either post meeting notices, agendas, minutes, resolutions, ordinances and an inventory of closed meeting minutes on its Internet site; or release that information to a qualified volunteer who will publish it on the Internet at no cost to the body.

Sen. Martin’s bill is chock-a-block with other major improvements on the current open meetings act, such as a requirement that all meetings of all public bodies be audio recorded and that all public bodies be required to set aside a portion for public comment. The current law does not require recordings and it mandates that only governing bodies have to allow the public to speak during their meetings.

For all the details on Sen. Martin’s bill, S-1219, go to www.njsunshinelaw.com.

Martin O’Shea

West Milford