April 25, 2016
John Stewart, Mediator
New Jersey Government Records Council
PO Box 819
Trenton, NJ, 08625-0819
Re: GRC Denial of Access Complaint No. 2015-353
Respectful Rejection of Mediation Settlement Agreement
Dear Mr. Stewart
As per my attached missive of November 12, 2015, written Essex County OPRA Custodian Maite Gaeta, Esq. entitled “Denied OPRA Request: Aetna’s Donations GRC Denial of Access Compliant”, I respectfully rejoined her attached refutation missive of November 6, 2015 by averring that, “Contrary to your assertion that I purportedly failed to ‘identify specific public records’, my request specifically cited ‘Any documents delineating the exact annual respective donations Aetna, Inc., the health benefits administrator for the employees and retirees of the County of Essex, has made for the past six years to such events as the Cherry Blossom Festival, the Senior Wellness Day and any other similar such public undertakings by the Administration and/or Freeholder Board of the County of Essex.’”
I acutely appreciate, Mr. Stewart, your attached emailed memorandum of April 21, 2016 describing the four respective checks and the “’Aetna Sponsorship’ chart for the 2014 and 2015 Cherry Blossom Festival and Senior Wellness Day”, as well as your attached emailed memorandum of April 22, 2016 which had attached to it copies of the actual checks Aetna had donated to the County of Essex within 2014 and 2015:
1. Check dated 2/6/14 for the 2014 Cherry Blossom Festival in the amount of $50,000.
2. Check dated 8/11/14 for the 2014 Senior Wellness day in the amount of $10,000.
3. Check dated 2/25/15 for the 2015 Cherry Blossom Festival in the amount of $50,000.
4. Check dated 9/30/15 for the 2015 Senior Wellness Day in the amount of $25,000.
However, when you assert within your aforementioned emailed memorandum written me of April 21, 2016 that, “During our conference call…”, “You said that your willingness to settle would be contingent upon what the Custodian could locate”, I distinctly recall my having insisted that the County’s operatives from whom Ms. Gaeta would obtain the documents I sought enjoyed ready access to all of them so that the documents could easily be provided the Custodian and then she to you and to me.
Attached, please note the front page of a press release of March 24, 2015 wherein Essex County Joseph DiVincenzo is announcing that the 2015 Cherry Blossom Festival represented the fifth straight year the event had been sponsored by Aetna. Inasmuch as my attached above cited missive of November 5, 2015 had requested of then Essex County OPRA Custodian Michael Venezia, “Any documents delineating the exact annual respective donations Aetna, Inc., the health benefits administrator for the employees and retirees of the County of Essex, has made for the past six years to such events as the Cherry Blossom Festival, the Senior Wellness Day and any other similar such public undertakings by the Administration and/or Freeholder Board of the County of Essex.”, the County’s operatives providing such documents to Ms. Gaeta should surely be capable of providing me copies of the checks Aetna bequeathed to Essex County for the Cherry Blossom Festival for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013.
As you will please recall, within Ms. Gaeta’s attached initial responsorial missive of November 6, 2015 to my attached OPRA request of November 5, 2015, Ms. Gaeta insisted that, “Please be advised that your request is being denied” while asserting I purportedly failed to identify specific public records. However, upon my having filed with the GRC the attached Denial of Access Complaint on November 12, 2015, Essex County was suddenly willing and able (through the mutually agreed to mediation procedure), to provide the aforementioned copies of the four checks Aetna had donated to the County within 2014 and 2015.
It has become my persistent perception that the County of Essex (other than Ms. Gaeta herself, personally) has revealed a distinct desire to oft at first conceal documents I have sought through OPRA requests only to “find” and “provide” them (or, at least, some of them) once I have filed a GRC complaint. Therefore, I must respectfully decline to settle this matter until all of the documents I’ve requested have been afforded me by the County. Otherwise, I suggest the matter be remanded by the GRC to the New Jersey Office of Administrative Law for adjudication.
Yours truly,
David H. Weiner, President, CWA Local 1081