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Home > Government > The Municipal Council > PRESS RELEASE

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PRESS RELEASE

T h e N e w a r k M u n i c i p a l C o u n c i l
O f f i ce o f C o u n c i l M e m b e r D o n a l d M . P a y n e , J r .

For Immediate Release Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Contact: Owen Petrie — 973-930-1207

Newark Councilman Commends Port Authority on Transparency Pledge
Colleague says it’s a start but more needs to be done to satisfy him

NEWARK—Last Thursday the board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey gave preliminary approval of measures that will ensure that the public has a clearer view into the processes by which the PA operates. The changes include public access to board meetings and information on the contract procurement process, lobbyist contact, ethics procedures, political contributions and financial reporting.

Newark City Council Member, Donald Payne, Jr. said he believes that the measures being put in place are long overdue but a step in the right direction. “The Port Authority should be transparent to the people who use their services by the millions each year. It is disturbing that the Port Authority, at times, only appears to be of New York, when in fact, it is actually of New York and New Jersey. As usual, Newark, New Jersey is short changed in the process even though Newark Liberty Airport is an integral piece of their business. Be assured that this councilmember will be watching the process very closely, Payne said.

Newark’s South Ward Council representative Oscar James, II concurred with his colleague. “They have a $5 billion annual budget and, while I applaud their board for stepping up and addressing the concerns of the people in regard to openness, it’s crazy that there is no statutory obligation for them to make their bureaucratic process open to the public,” James said.

While there is indeed no law requiring the level of public accessibility that the Authority’s board has proposed, their decision may have been compelled by letters sent by the governors of New Jersey and New York, calling for the agency to conduct itself with greater transparency and hold itself up to public accountability, as is the standard as required by law for local governments in both states. The Newark Municipal Council regularly holds public meetings on the first and third Wednesday of each month where the public is allowed to address the council.

The Newark councilmen both agreed that such public forums can often be contentious and that the public may not always have all the facts when they come before them but they believe that public discourse is a vital component of any governing body. “When you come right down to it, the Port Authority isn’t about airports and bridges, it’s about people. That’s all any of this is about – serving the community,” James said.