Nutley Commissioner Steven Rogers has submitted a position paper to the Essex Watch in response to the unanimous decision by the Nutley Planning Board last Wednesday to adopt an unreasonable and excessively heavy-handed resolution restricting the ability of a citizen to record their public meetings.
An identical resolution was previously adopted by the Zoning Board in July.
The Essex Watch was contacted by the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government (NJFOG), and together we attended the meeting to challenge this outrageous resolution now adopted by two governing bodies in Nutley.
We greatly appreciate your contribution here and your support in this very serious matter, Commissioner Rogers.
Here is his statement:
There has been much discussion throughout our nation regarding a citizen’s right to video and audio record public meetings under the laws governing the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA).
My position is very clear on this issue. Government bodies must comply with the law and ensure that the rights of a citizen to video and or audio record every public meeting (or others as required by law), conducted by elected and appointed government boards is in no way hindered or prohibited.
There is absolutely no reason for any government agency to prohibit a citizen of this nation to exercise this right, which is protected by the Constitution of the United States as well as several court decisions.
I support the position that government bodies should ensure that public and other meetings as required by law, are not disrupted by individuals who wish to exercise this right, by establishing specific reasonable ( and I emphasize “reasonable”) guidelines for citizens to follow. Such guidelines should, in both substance and appearance, not hinder or prohibit a citizen’s ability to exercise of this right.
It has been reported that some governing bodies throughout the nation are requiring citizens who wish to video or audio record public meetings, to sign documents that bind them to certain procedures, rules, and regulations.
Some media outlets have reported that citizens in some venues throughout the nation have been threatened with legal sanctions and the confiscation of their video and audio equipment if they failed to adhere to certain government regulations regarding the video and audio recording of public meetings.
I do not believe that citizens of this nation should have to sign any document with regard to the exercise of his or her rights. A document regarding the exercise of their rights was already signed on September 17, 1787. That document is the Constitution of the United States and was signed by much wiser men than we see governing today.
With regard to threatening legal sanctions and the confiscation of video and audio equipment from citizens who exercise their rights, is to say the very least, appalling and extremely disturbing.
There are numerous court decisions which support a citizen’s right to video and audio record public meetings. In my opinion, any government agency or body that attempts to hinder the ability of citizens to exercise their Constitutional rights is in violation of the law and are opening the taxpayers of their respective states and communities to litigation that could cost millions of dollars in court fees and fines.
For quite some time I have been on national media circuits addressing the problem of government overreach and government actions that are ebbing away at the Constitutional rights of the American people. Such examples as cited in this paper, are exactly what I have been talking about.
I have always said that the greatest threat to the American people are not foreign in nature, but are government bodies, committees, etc., who do not understand that they serve the people, not the other way around.
It is incumbent upon “the people” to be vigilant and make sure that they never become servants of the government, and that government will always be the servant of the people.
The people must always guard against overreaching government and always protect their rights in a manner consistent with the spirit in which our Founding Fathers established.
Steven Rogers
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