Christie critics cry foul over public records access

Bob Jordan | Asbury Park (N.J.) Press

TRENTON, N.J. -- In advance of an expected 2016 presidential campaign, Chris Christie's administration is stepping up efforts to control the Republican governor's image at all costs — even skirting sunshine laws that permit public access to government records.

Getting the Christie administration to release its grip of records tracking use of federal recovery money for Superstorm Sandy has been particularly difficult for watchdog groups and media outlets, including the Asbury Park Press.

The Fair Share Housing Center recently received the first detailed information about housing recovery programs supported by federal grants — only after suing the administration for not complying with a public records request.

The Press has yet to receive Sandy recovery information the newspaper first sought four months ago. The Press asked for internal administration records from the contract bidding that resulted in Christie and his family starring in TV commercials for the $25 million "Stronger Than the Storm" tourism campaign.

In September, state officials told the Press a search had "identified hundreds of potentially responsive documents" and promised to begin sharing the information "on a rolling basis" starting in the second week of October.

For two months after the deadline, nothing was forthcoming — until some of the documents were released Friday, just hours after this story first appeared on the newspaper's APP.com website. State officials said more information would be available later this month.

"Withholding public records that, by law, have to be released is just government censorship by another name," said Hollis R. Towns, executive editor and vice president of news for the Press. "When the state loses a public access battle in court, the taxpayers end up footing the legal bill for both sides, sometimes for tens of thousands of dollars. We hope that we do not have to sue, but we will if we have to protect the public's right to know under the law."

Jeff Tittel, state director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said his pursuit of information from Christie's Department of Environmental Protection "has been fought at every turn." Tittel is a constant critic of the administration's environmental policies.

Tittel said Christie's national ambitions have led to tightened restrictions on the flow of government information to the public.

"Everything at this point is about Christie's image, and delaying and keeping records from you protects the brand," Tittel said. "All administrations try to hide stuff, but the current administration has been the worst. They've taken it to a new art form because of Christie's pursuit of higher office. They are in lockdown mode."

Christie's spokesman, Michael Drewniak, dismissed the criticism. He offered no explanation as to why responses to information requests have been delayed.

"The governor's press office is not involved in the OPRA process, which has always been a legal process in this administration and prior administrations," Drewniak said in an email.

Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, called the tactics "standard operating procedure for the administration."

"Is this a sign they are controlling his image? As opposed to the dozens of other signs over the past four years?" said Murray, adding that Christie loyalists "manage his image extremely well, and as of yet there has been no price to pay. Given the governor's personal popularity, the only thing that will get the public to reconsider their view of him is a smoking gun. And since this administration is airtight, there is no smoke."

The 2002 Open Public Records Act lays out definitions of public records and also includes a uniform system for requesting records and responding to requests. The law says, in short, if the government holds a record, it must release it within seven business days or cite the specific law that exempts the record from public review. Criminal investigations, for example, are generally exempt. Budget documents are cited as being public.