Warren County Drag Queen Story Hour
| Submitted | Feb. 22, 2021 |
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Communications
From: Laura Saunders
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
Emails, complaints, records of phone calls, and meeting minutes related to the Drag Queen Story hour originally scheduled to take place at the Northeast branch of the Independence Township libraries in June 2019.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 7 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Laura Saunders
From: Warren County Library- Northeast Branch
Dear Ms. Saunders,
I am writing regarding your request filed under the NJ Open Public Records Act (OPRA) for documents relating to the "Drag Queen Story hour originally scheduled to take place at the Northeast branch of the Independence Township libraries in June 2019." Although your letter was dated February 23, 2021, it only arrived here in the Warren County Public Information Department, which handles most OPRA requests for the County, in the past seven days, where it has now been logged and we are attempting to locate the information you are seeking. For future reference, you can contact me directly at this email address or by telephone at 908-475-6580.
Minutes of the Warren County Library Commission are available online at https://warrenlib.org/node/6448#.YFIQyFVKipo for you to peruse.
Regarding the portion of your request seeking "emails, complaints, records of phone calls", the Open Public Records Act is intended for the public to access specific identifiable government records. In Elcavage v. West Milford Twp. (Passaic), GRC Complaint No. 2009-07 (April 2010), the Government Records Council held that "an OPRA request for an e-mail or e-mails shall therefore focus upon the following four (4) characteristics:
- Content and/or subject
- Specific date or range of dates
- Sender
- Recipient
Although you specify content and/or subject, your request appears to be overly broad. It would be helpful if you could give a date range for correspondence, and recipient. I realize you most likely would not be able to provide a sender, but if you could provide some clarification on the other points, it would help us to find the records that you are seeking and answer your request as completely as possible.
I look forward to hearing from you for clarification of your request.
Regards,
Art
Art Charlton
Director
Warren County Public Information Department
- Explore Warren County Tourism Partnership
- Open Public Records Act
- Veterans Recognition Program
Wayne Dumont, Jr. Administration Building
165 County Route 519 South, Belvidere, NJ 07823
908-475-6580 / 800-554-8540
FAX: 908-475-6577
www.co.warren.nj.us / www.ExploreWarren.org
From: Laura Saunders
Dear Mr. Charlton,
Thank you for this response. I am happy to provide a more focused request.
I would be interested in correspondence from March through July of 2019 addressed to any of the following:
Adam Petroski, manager of the northeast branch
Maureen Baker Wilkinson (Library Director)
Rick Gardner, a county freeholder
Alice Mollitor, Chairperson Warren County Library Commission
I am particularly interested in any correspondence that directly involves the Drag Queen Story Hour that was planned for June 15, 2019, including complaints made about the program, correspondence in support of the program, and any documentation that details the decision to cancel the program.
Thank you,
Laura.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following New Jersey Open Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Feb. 22, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Warren County Library- Northeast Branch
Hello,
I'll be sending information to you early next week. I'm almost finished reviewing the documents and will need to scan them to transmit to you.
Art
Art Charlton
Director
Warren County Public Information Department
- Explore Warren County Tourism Partnership
- Open Public Records Act
- Veterans Recognition Program
Wayne Dumont, Jr. Administration Building
165 County Route 519 South, Belvidere, NJ 07823
908-475-6580 / 800-554-8540
FAX: 908-475-6577
www.co.warren.nj.us / www.ExploreWarren.org
-
~WRD000
From: Laura Saunders
Fantastic, thank you!
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following New Jersey Open Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Feb. 22, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Warren County Library- Northeast Branch
Dear Ms. Saunders,
Attached please find a 52-page PDF containing copies of correspondence sent to you in fulfillment of your information request filed under the NJ Open Public Records Act. You initially requested "Emails, complaints, records of phone calls, and meeting minutes related to the Drag Queen Story hour originally scheduled to take place at the Northeast branch of the Independence Township libraries in June 2019." (We interpreted this to mean that you were referring to an event that was scheduled, then canceled, at the Warren County Library Northeast Branch, located in Independence Township, NJ.)
From: Laura Saunders
Hi,
Thanks so much for your help with this request! I really appreciate it.
Sincerely,
Laura Saunders
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