Delaware River Port Authority records now a bit more accessible

On March 27, we reported that NJFOG trustee John Paff had researched the process for requesting public records from the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA) – which is not subject to OPRA – and found almost comical shortcomings, including requirements to use DRPA’s agency-specific form and to submit it to their designated open records officer while providing neither the form or name of the officer on the agency’s website.

John recently reported that he’s made a bit of progress getting DRPA to be more transparent, as explained in his April 29 email, shown below:
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April 29, 2015

Kathleen Vandy, Esq.
Assistant General Counsel
Delaware River Port Authority
via e-mail to [email protected]

Dear Ms. Vandy:

I serve as Treasurer of the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government, Inc. (NJFOG.org). As the name implies, NJFOG seeks to increase transparency in all governmental agencies that serve New Jersey residents.

I spoke on the telephone today with Diana Morgan, the Executive Legal Secretary to General Counsel Kristen K. Mayock, about previous e-mails we have sent seeking the identity of the Authority’s Open Records Officer and a link to the Authority’s Records Request Form. According to the Authority’s Right-to-Know/Open Records Policy, the form is supposed to attached as “Exhibit A” to the Policy but the form is not so attached.

Ms. Morgan advised that General Counsel Mayock had assigned you the tasks of updating the policy and creating the form and recommended that we contact you. She also said that although an Open Records Officer has not yet been named, members of the public may, in the meantime, submit records requests via e-mail to General Counsel Mayock at [email protected].

Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please let us know when a revised policy and request form are available on the Authority’s Internet site.

Regards,
New Jersey Foundation for Open Government (NJFOG)

John Paff
Treasurer
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