WE EXPECT BETTER
Editorial: Transparency, don’t just talk about it; record request surfaces video of ‘break-in’ investigation
Transparency needs to be more than just a fun word to toss around.
Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora’s administration has talked a good game about transparency, but has been proving to be anything but open.
When the word circulated that his chief of staff, Yoshi Manale, may have accused our reporter Isaac Avilucea of breaking in to his office a few weeks ago, we obviously wanted to find out what was said and how it was said.
As is standard operating procedure for any newspaper, we asked questions and when we got no answers, we filed open public records (OPRA) requests for body-cam and security camera footage.
The city denied the request. Our attorney, CJ Griffin, of Pashman Stein Walder Hayden, went to work to file a lawsuit to get the video, as is the only real recourse for an OPRA denial in New Jersey. The appeal board process can take years, while suing for the release of public records can make that information public much more quickly. The law also allows for the attorney fees to be paid by the agency that denied the request.
Griffin’s suit forced the city’s hand and they released the body-cam footage, but the original request denial claimed that the security camera footage doesn’t exist. The police report seems to contradict that, but since they admitted that there was no break-in, we didn’t fight for that since we know Isaac was never near his office.
Just after seven minutes into the video, Manale and the officer wearing the camera are discussing memos pertaining to Carol Russell, the now-former-candidate for Police Director, that Manale said seemed to be disturbed or shuffled through in his office, then whispers to the officer, “I would love for it to be Isaac.” They both laugh and then Manale admits that would be “the dumbest thing in this entire world for him to do.”
The demeanor of the comment and the reaction from the officer seem to say that it was all just a joke, so why the secrecy about any of it? Why not just acknowledge that you made an inappropriate joke and move on with things.
If that’s the story, then own it. Really, it isn’t funny to be hoping for a chance to discredit the reporting of a reporter and publication that are just trying to fulfill the watchdog role of journalism.
When asked for a reaction to the video, Griffin said, “this seems like an example of how the anti-media rhetoric we hear at the national level is trickling down to the local level and there is a lot of hostility towards reporters who are simply doing their jobs and serving as the eyes and ears of the public. The level of delight he takes in hoping that Isaac broke in and stole the documents is disturbing, but part of a larger trend.”
We couldn’t agree more. And this mayor has used many of the Trumpian buzz-words when talking about critical coverage of the city.
Now the city is paying our lawyer’s fees to file this request to answer our questions. While we’re glad to give work to Griffin and crew since the work they do is really valuable to the cause of government transparency, it is just one example of the waste that comes from government agencies denying information to the public.
For an administration that talks about wanting to be open and transparent, this seems directly opposed to that notion.
As does accusing any critical reporting of being “fake news.”
As does releasing your statement to reporters after any reasonable print deadline and then claiming that there is “misinformation” out there about threatened police layoffs.
A personal appeal to Mayor Gusciora: Own your actions and be honest and open about them. Mistakes happen, we’ve all made them and will make more. As a leader, you need to admit them and move forward, rather than attacking the messenger or the critic. We want this mayor and this city to succeed, but that doesn’t mean we can ignore the missteps and flaws, but rather we need to learn from them and grow. And, please, always be open and honest, it will make you stand out in the political crowd.