Litigious Beth Mason
By Wally EdgeThis Saturday is Hoboken’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade. Last year, the city instituted a zero-tolerance policy for those who take things too far. $1,000 fines were cited for 560 people, which netted the city more than $550,000. In today’s Jersey Journal, Hoboken Councilwoman Beth Mason didn’t earn herself any brownie points among the locals and taxpayers by saying, "We shouldn't be thinking of this as a money-making proposition."
Especially on the heels of recent coverage in both the Star-Ledger and New York Times pointing out that Mason has filed numerous lawsuits seeking public access to municipal records against the City of Hoboken, Board of Education and Hoboken University Medical Center. Mason has made more than 125 requests for tens of thousands of pages of documents, which has already cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. She has filed at least 6 lawsuits and lost all but 2 of them. Some have pegged the cost to the taxpayers at $250,000 and counting. Moreover, a multi-millionaire herself, Mason is also seeking to have the city foot the bill for her own attorney’s fees in the matter.
Mason has been very public about her mayoral ambitions for 2009. If she keeps filing – and losing – lawsuits against the city, she’s going to have to bank on Hoboken's holiday revelry getting more and more raucous to pick up her legal tab.
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Syndicate
Mason is a little wacky
I'm not sure how you limit OPRA without castrating its ability to shine some light on corrupt government when no one else wants to investigate.
Having said that.....the fee system of OPRA is completely out of whack. She's looking for waste, but her requests have cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars in man-hours. When you make requests that large, or numerous requests, she should have to foot the bill.
Only in Jersey
What a sad commentary on our State. A courageous reformer seeks public information, gets stonewalled by a corrupt administration and is then cast as the bad guy in the purported press.
Earth to Wally, come in Wally...Hoboken is a filthy animal and needs cleaning, the pigs at the trough there aren't going to turn over the evidence that they know will hang them and Beth Mason is not taking no for an answer.
In case you forgot she is an elected official and should have access to these records by virtue of her position. What would you have her do? Give up and go home because some sleazy corrupt politician doesn't want her knowing what was done with the public treasury?
She'll beat the snot out Dave Roberts and his co-conspirators come election day. If she wants my help I'll be there with bells on!
OPRA
This woman just doesn't get it. The OPRA Act was not signed into law so that we could go on political witch hunts.
With regard to her most recent court case, she was told that the person who could find the information she was seeking, had lost a relative and the process would be delayed by a few days. Instead of showing any compassion or understanding, she goes out and hires a lawyer.
There's nothing classier than exploiting a death in the family for financial gain. No wonder this woman doesn't have a genuine connection with anyone in Hoboken after 25 years of residency.
After all, she outspent her opponent by 10 to 1, and won by only 100 votes.
The only thing worse than having to endure her OPRA requests is listening to her prolong those painful council meetings, with minutia.
She thinks she's Elliot Ness up there. What a nut...
Exploiting?
Let's look at the facts, Hoboken has been giving OPRA the runaround for years. Beth Mason has been getting the runaround from Hoboken for years.
Beth Mason is seeking PUBLIC RECORDS and is doing so in order to root out corruption. This does not make a "political witch hunt" it is called civic duty. Anyone criticizing her efforts (while spending tax dollars to keep public records under lock and key) is hiding something.
You act as if only one person in Hoboken can access public records, perhaps Hoboken should have had the lawyer get the records rather than file briefs.
You don't sign your posts so you start out hiding at least that much, maybe Beth will find out what else you are hiding.
Should we all just leave them alone?
That's what Peter Harvey did at the time.
Mason didn't cost taxpayers money by requesting the records. The powers in Hoboken that control the records cost the taxpayers money by trying to keep them from the public. They should be run into the Hudson River with torch bearing fed up taxpayers.
And it is the State of NJ that continues to cost the taxpayers money by not having any checks and balance system in place to oversee and thereby prevent and/or root out corruption at the local level. Most citizens don't realize it is up to them to investigate. Not event the media is doing much investigative reporting any more.
I'm sure Ms. Mason has better things to do with her free time than sort through all those records. If she's wealthy than she has even better things to do with her free time. The citizen’s of Hoboken should crown her Queen.No citizen should have to fight for public information in a democracy. And governments that aren't corrupt should have nothing to hide. And quite frankly Wally, media that defends this type of government secrecy is suspect.