At their most recent meeting on March 8, the Guttenberg Housing Authority passed a contract but refused to say who or what the contract was for, adding that it had just been discussed during their half-hour closed, non-public session.
The Guttenberg Housing Authority is the agency that oversees the town’s subsidized housing, and is funded by federal tax dollars. It is overseen by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
When GHA Executive Director Barbara Criscione was asked after the meeting what the contract was for, she would say only that it had been discussed during closed session. Several phone calls to GHA Attorney Terrence Corriston after the meeting were not returned. However, during the meeting, he said the closed session had to do with “personnel matters.”
This was not the first time that the GHA has declined to comment on a contract. At a previous meeting, a second attorney appeared at the dais besides Corriston. None of the officials would say why the taxpayers were paying for a second attorney when the board already employed Corriston.
The attorney himself said he was working to “represent Barbara [Criscione],” but then he stopped talking when Criscione herself interjected.
Several GHA employees, including Criscione, were the subject last year of anonymous complaints to the mayor and Police Department about the fact that they apparently had purchased a shore home together in Monmouth County, even though two of them were listed as living in public housing and were employees under Criscione. Recently, HUD said the allegations are under review.
Open public meetings act
According to the New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act (N.J.S.A. 10:4-12), a public body may exclude the public from a few types of discussions, including “any collective bargaining agreement, or the terms and conditions which are proposed for inclusion in any collective bargaining agreement, including the negotiations of the terms and conditions thereof with employees or representatives of employees of the public body.”
It also states that any matter involving the “purchase, lease or acquisition of real property with public funds,” “any pending or anticipated litigation or contract negotiation,” and “any matter involving the employment, appointment, termination of employment and terms of employment” of government personnel may be discussed during closed session, barring the public from being present.
However, these laws only cover a board’s discussion, not the votes that are subsequently taken.
Another section of the OPMA states that a public body must be prompt in informing the public on “the actions passed.”
Thomas Cafferty, the general counsel for the New Jersey Press Association, said on Wednesday that under OPMA, the board will have to allow the public to see the resolution within seven business days. Cafferty said that technically the board did not have to release the information on the resolution at the meeting.
On March 9, the North Bergen Reporter filed an OPRA (Open Public Records Act) request with the GHA for the resolution that was passed. As if of press time no response had been received.
No photos, please
Also at the meeting, Criscione asked whether The reporter was allowed to take photographs during their meeting. The journalist from the Reporter was the only member of the public present during the meeting.
“I have to ask a question,” said Criscione. “Is it okay for her to take pictures of me if I say no? I have seen pictures in the newspaper, so you can hear everything, but why do you have to take pictures of me?”
Joseph Manfredi the mysterious attorney, who had also appeared at the Feb. 8 meeting, was present again, but this time was sitting on the side away from the GHA commissioners. “She is suppose to give notice first before,” Manfredi responded.
Corriston then asked the reporter if they board could receive notice “before you’re about to snap a picture.” He said that for video recordings, the press had to give notice, but he was not sure about photography.
According to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the New Jersey Sunshine Law is silent on sound and photographic recording during public meetings, but the New Jersey Supreme Courts have upheld such rights for both. On the other hand, the Citizen Media Law Project states that in New Jersey, the law permits sound and video recording in public meetings, but that advance notice may be necessary.
“I don’t mind if you can [do it according to the law]; go right ahead,” said Criscione. “If you cannot, I do not want you to take pictures of me. All of the pictures you take look like I want to kill someone here.”
Cafferty said that the GHA has no right to bar film as long as it is reasonable and doesn’t interfere with the meeting.
They could pass a resolution requiring notice from the press, but if they do not, they are unable to stop photography, said Cafferty.
Second lawyer’s contract increased
Meanwhile, according to the minutes of Jan. 11, 2010 meeting that the Reporter requested under OPRA, a contract between the GHA and Manfredi – the mysterious second lawyer – was increased from $14,394.74 to $22,894.77. The Reporter has since requested a copy of the original contract.
A spokesperson from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) said last week that they could not comment on whether or not the GHA’s hiring of a second attorney was an “acceptable procedure without looking into the specifics of the question, and we will look further into this.”
Tricia Tirella may be reached at TriciaT@hudsonreporter.com.
Poor attendance
Recently, the Reporter requested the attendance records of Guttenberg Housing Authority board members. The GHA is the local agency that helps HUD oversee Guttenberg’s federally funded subsidized housing.
Records show that Commissioner Myrna Benitez has missed nine meetings in the past 14 months, Julio Pena has been absent from seven, and Commissioner Ana Betances has failed to show up for 11 from January 2009 through March 2010. The GHA holds monthly meetings and three or four special meetings each year.– TT