Editorial: Openly challenged

It's tough to stand out as a stubbornly backward government in South Jersey, what with the Delaware River Port Authority constantly raising the bar. But darned if Gloucester County didn't find a way.

The county freeholders have proven themselves so incapable of obeying the state's open-meetings law that they require a babysitter.

State Superior Court Judge Francis J. Orlando Jr. recently imposed six months of independent monitoring on the board to make sure it breaks its habit of doing the public's business in private. He found that the freeholders had been unable to explain why they took action behind closed doors on county jobs, salaries, spending, policy, and more.

The ruling stems from a 2008 lawsuit against the all-Democratic board brought by David Burnett, a former member of the county's Republican executive committee. Burnett alleged that the furtive freeholders had violated the Open Public Meetings Act about 60 times in two years.

Subsequent revelations suggest he wasn't very far off. Later that year, Orlando invalidated the creation of a superintendent of elections post because the freeholders had discussed it in private. This year, the judge voided a $21,600 workers' compensation settlement that the board approved in closed session.

Also this year, an appellate court squashed the freeholders' attempt to deny access to public records on the grounds that they were being kept off county premises.

And here's one more sign that county officials aren't serious about open government: They argued that they had addressed the compliance problem by appointing a monitor from Parker McCay - the very firm defending them against the open-meetings lawsuit.

Lately, county officials have been emphasizing their strenuous efforts to keep abreast of a "constantly evolving," "ever-changing landscape" of transparency laws in New Jersey. That's hogwash.

The Open Public Meetings Act was enacted in 1975, and it's about as straightforward as its title. It says government bodies must take all actions in public. The same goes for most of their discussions, with a few narrow exceptions for confidential matters such as litigation, labor negotiations, and real estate transactions.

The Open Public Records Act, which has been in place for nearly a decade, requires a similar presumption about government documents: With a few exceptions, they are open to the public.

The Gloucester County freeholders' inability to understand the letter and spirit of these laws is troubling - especially given that the freeholder director, Stephen Sweeney, also leads the state Senate. And the assignment of a judicial chaperone to keep tabs on them can only be seen as an embarrassing rebuke.

This would be a good time for Sweeney and company to make a convincing statement of their enthusiasm for open government going forward - preferably in public.