Degise Puts in HCIA Appearance-New Stonewall Policy Takes EffectUrban Times News
February 21 - 27, 2003
By Steven Glazer
(Jersey City)County Executive
Tom DeGise paid an informal courtesy
visit to the Hudson County Improvement
Authority and announced that he intended
to build a relationship with officials of the
agency who he complemented for what he
termed their excellent work. HCIA officials have been accused of fraud in connection with financial disclosures made to
the Board of Chosen Freeholders and have
failed to explain the use of $373 Million
dollars of public funds for purposes other
than those stated at the time of the borrowing.
DeGise pointedly omitted any
reference to HCIA financial practices, or
reports of financial problems or charges
that the agency has misused public funds.
DeGise pointedly avoided any comment on HCIA finances. When questioned
directly on possible HCIA misconduct
DeGise declined to comment earlier. The
"no-comment comment" is quickly
becoming a hallmark of the DeGise
administration throughout all levels of
county government. DeGise has instructed his press relations officer, James
Kennelly, not to communicate with this
publication, specifically, on any matter
and has forced the County Correctional
Facility to stop distribution of the Urban
Times News to inmates.
When DeGise first took office
sources in the County Executive's office
and other offices of County government
reported that all heads of departments
were expressly instructed not to speak
with members of the press. Those County
employees were also instructed particularly not to speak with the staff of this publication, especially. Urban Times News has
published reports alleging criminal actions by the Hudson County
Improvement Authority and officials of
the County of Hudson both.
Hudson County and the HCIA
have both withdrawn official advertising
from UTN. Now the HCIA has announced
a new policy reducing disclosure of the
inner workings of the agency to limit public insight. General Counsel William
Netchert said that meeting agendas would
list resolutions and other agenda items by
title only from now on. Background information will only be made available after a
particular item is approved making it, in
Netchert's words a "public document."
Before agency approval written materials
in support of and detailing actions of the
agency are presumably not public documents and so not subject to Freedom of
Information and Right to Know Laws.
Members of the public who want
a better insight into matters being considered by the HCIA can obtain copies of the
agenda prior to the meetings, explained
Netchert. If any agenda item listed by title
then interests any taxpayer, they are welcome to stand in the entrance area of the
HCIA's offices in front of the building elevators, where documents detailing agenda
items are posted, pinned to a bulletin
board, before the meetings. Anyone sufficiently interested in any particular item to
want to know more about it than the title is
welcome to stand in the hallway and read
the posted documents containing details of agenda items even though these are not
"public documents," according to Netchert. Netchert said that HCIA policy
is to now make these supporting materials
available to the public by posting on
HCIA's office bulletin board prior to meetings even though they are not "public documents," not yet having been voted on by
the board.
The new policy will make HCIA
resolutions available to the public other
than by title only after the fact, said
Netchert, once they have already been
approved or adopted by the agency. Under
the new policy, public discussion of
agency action will be limited to comment
after the action has already been approved.
HCIA until now provided background
material together with the agenda outline
that made it possible for those interested in
following the agencies actions to understand some of the facts behind the decisions of the commissioners. Other local
governing bodies customarily provide
background information, in some cases
running to bulky file folders weighing
pounds. HCIA becomes one of the few
local governing bodies, together with the
Jersey City Redevelopment Agency to furnish only the barest information to the
public without recourse to further action to
understand the workings of the agency.
