Apr 2009
Slow and steady on Sunshine Reform – Maybe this year
April 30, 2009 |
This week saw movement on Senate Bill 101, a bill
to strengthen the penalties for willful
violation of the state Sunshine Law. The
bill is a good initial reform, but the
opposition shows that more is needed.
Read
More...
E-mail messages: Does the public have a Right-to-Know?
April 30, 2009 | Filed in: New RTK
Law | Email
For employees and officials of municipal
authorities, are e-mail messages open for public
inspection? In many (if not most) cases, the
answer is a qualified yes. Moreover, surprising
as it may seem, many text messages must be kept
(in some form) for years as official public
records of the municipal authority. Read
More...
Lobbyist notes to Rendell mix charm, pressure
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP, April 27) - Newly disclosed
correspondence between Pennsylvania Gov. Ed
Rendell and lobbyists from last year shows he
received particular pressure regarding a property
assessment bill he eventually vetoed and a
stalled proposal to extend health coverage to
more of the uninsured. Read
More...
County's public 911 response logs not useful
If state residents want to know if their local
fire companies, police departments and EMS
agencies are responding promptly to emergencies,
Pennsylvania's new Right-to-Know law gives them
the right. Residents can request time response
logs from their county 911 center, which would
help them determine if agencies arrived in a
timely fashion, officials say. But that's not the
case in York County, because of how the county
defines a time response log. Read
More...
PNA Legal Hotline: Informal requests for records OK
April 23, 2009 | Filed in: PNA Legal
| Open
records
Q: If I want a document from a local agency,
do I have to make a Right to Know request?
Read
More...
Pa. backs New Era on autopsy reports
April 21, 2009 | Filed in: Final
determinations | Autopsy
reports | Lancaster
Co. | Office of
Open Records
The state has ruled that Lancaster County must
supply autopsy records in two cases to the
Lancaster New Era. In addition, the Pennsylvania
Office of Open Records has admonished the county
for not complying with the state's Right to Know
law when it rejected the newspaper's request.
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Pennsylvania's open records law sets barriers
Pennsylvania's updated open records law was
supposed to start an era of transparency Jan. 1,
but it has raised troubling issues along the way.
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More...
Opinion: Records proposal was a shame
April 19, 2009 |
York Township Commissioner Paul Knepper seems to
have gone on a paternalistic rampage at last
week's meeting. At one point Tuesday, he held up
an Alcoholics Anonymous book to chastise a
proposal that would allow alcohol to be served at
the refurbished Queensgate cinema. At another
point, he proposed shaming people who ask the
township for public documents by posting their
names on the municipality's Web site.
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More...
Opinion: Bill would make government in state even more secretive
April 19, 2009 |
When Elder Vogel was elected as the first
Republican state senator from Beaver County since
the dawn of time, he was hailed as an agent of
change. It turns out that Vogel has fallen into
line with the public-be-damned mentality that
permeates the General Assembly and government
across Pennsylvania in general. Last week, the
New Sewickley Township Republican sided with
those local, county and state politicians who
believe Pennsylvania residents should be treated
like mushrooms by keeping them well fertilized
and in the dark.
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Opinion: Web-only govt. notices will keep people in the dark
April 19, 2009 |
Under the guise of saving taxpayer dollars and
keeping the public informed, some state senators
are pushing a plan that could actually leave
people in the dark and help officals play
favorites with public contracts. Read
More...
Opinion: Sun still not shining in state Capitol
April 19, 2009 |
This was supposed to be a year of sunlight in
Harrisburg, with the new open-records law taking
effect and a state open-records czar and her
staff working to make sure citizens have access
to their government. But a funny thing has
happened in the Keystone state, leaving us
wondering whether there’s been any difference in
the same old, same old way of operating at the
state Capitol. Read
More...
Opinion: A foot in the door
April 18, 2009 |
Pennsylvania's new open-records law has been
anything but open since it took effect in
January. And the blame starts at the top.
Read
More...
Opinion: Legal ads keep public informed
April 17, 2009 |
Whether you are a concerned citizen who tracks
government spending and zoning decisions, or a
business person who plans to bid on products or
services for government use, you have one
reliable, accessible source to monitor government
-- the classified section of the Erie Times-News,
in the "public notices" category. Read
More...
Opinion: The fine print
April 17, 2009 |
It should come as no surprise in a state where
lawmakers like to operate in the dark -
especially late at night, when they can award
themselves pay hikes - that a bill in Harrisburg
aims to make it harder for Pennsylvanians to
follow what their elected officials are up to.
Read
More...
York Twp. official: Post names of public records seekers
A York Township commissioner presented a plan
during the board of commissioners' meeting
Tuesday night that would allow the township to
publish the names of people who make
Right-to-Know requests. Read
More...
Opinion: Right to know in jeopardy
April 16, 2009 |
"Notice is hereby given ..." That you, the people
of Pennsylvania, are dangerously close to losing
a time-honored service that protects your right
to know what local municipalities are up to --
from invitations for bids on projects, to notices
of hearings on zoning issues, to sheriff's sales
listings.
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Opinion: Anti-democratic legal ads bill before Pa. Senate
April 16, 2009 |
Your government wants to take legal notices out
of the public domain and put them on government
Web sites. Your government leaders want to take
the "public" out of public notices.
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Opinion: Advertising requirement is a matter of transparency
April 16, 2009 |
A bill in the state Senate would lift the
requirement that public agencies advertise their
legal notices in newspapers. That would open the
door for abuses that could cost taxpayers much
more than the cost of those ads. Read
More...
Opinion: The public sector
April 16, 2009 |
Some state officials want to take public notices
out of the public sector, where they have forever
been. Public notices are part of the connective
tissue that holds newspapers together and binds
them to the communities that they serve.
Read
More...
Opinion: Is this what you call reform?
April 16, 2009 |
Reform and transparency have been the topic of
much discussion in the last few years. There has
been a lot of talk, some action, and now a
proposal that would be a huge step in the wrong
direction. I'm talking about a push by local
governments to take public notices out of
newspapers and put them on government Web sites.
They claim that it would be cheaper and more
convenient for the public. At best, these claims
are misguided. At worst, they are misleading and
promote government secrecy and cronyism.
Read
More...
Opinion: Posting only to Web limits access to local information
April 15, 2009 |
There is legislation working its way through our
state Senate that would allow local governments
to post public notices only on their Web sites.
It sounds innocent enough. But it is bad
legislation that in the end will cost more and
mean you will know less about what is going on in
your community. Read
More...
Opinion: Sunshine Act remains abysmally ineffective
April 15, 2009 |
Chambersburg Borough Council this week
demonstrated a compelling reason to amend
Pennsylvania's Sunshine Act so that it might
actually cause municipal officials to think twice
before concealing deliberations that should be
public. Read
More...
Chambersburg officials acknowledge council's violation of openness law
Chambersburg Borough Council went into a closed
session Monday night to talk about changing the
rules for hiring police officers and
firefighters, a subject that under Pennsylvania's
Sunshine Act must be discussed in an open
meeting. Read
More...
Change to ‘legal ad’ rule may cloud sunshine, public advocates say
A bill that some say will undermine transparency
in government throughout the Commonwealth’s towns
and school districts is under consideration at
the State Capitol. The bill would allow local
governments to post meeting notices, budgets,
construction bids, contract offers, zoning
changes and proposed new laws on
government-maintained websites, rather than in a
newspaper as now required by law. Read
More...
Opinion: Records czar out of loop
April 14, 2009 |
Unfortunately, secrecy is standard operating
procedure in Pennsylvania government. It's a bad
habit that you can't quit just by signing a bill.
You have to go cold turkey and actually quit
being secretive. Read
More...
Opinion: Records dichotomy
April 14, 2009 |
The executive director of the Pennsylvania Office
of Open Records complains that the Rendell
administration is throwing up roadblocks to
greater transparency. But Terry Mutchler might
want to review her own office's record.
Read
More...
Opinion: Web no sub for newspaper ‘legals’
April 13, 2009 |
A state Senate committee has taken up an
ill-advised bill that would allow local and state
governments to stop placing legal advertisements
in newspapers of general circulation, which is
now required for important matters such as
meeting and bid notices, polling place locations,
zoning changes and so on. Read
More...
Opinion: Robbins spearheads effort to limit public information
The Pennsylvania General Assembly took a major
step last year in passing open records laws that
give the public more access to government
maneuvering. Now state Sen. Bob Robbins is
working to make it more secretive. Read
More...
Opinion: Records law applies to all levels of government
April 13, 2009 |
At best, Gov. Rendell's insistence upon written
open records communications amounts to an
unnecessary increase in bureaucratic
inefficiency. At worst, it indicates heel-digging
resistance to a progressive new law signed by
Rendell himself. Read
More...
Opinion: Plan to divert legal ads to government Web sites is risky
April 12, 2009 |
Here's a fair warning: This editorial may come
across as insider-industry stuff, or even as a
self-serving pitch by newspapers to protect a
source of revenue. Read
More...
Opinion: Keep public notices public
April 12, 2009 |
If you feel like you're in the dark about what
your government is up to, it could get worse. A
Senate bill that is moving quickly through the
Legislature would remove public notices from
newspapers and put them on government Web sites.
Read
More...
Opinion: Legal ad issue is disclosure
April 12, 2009 |
A state Senate committee has taken up a bill that
would allow local and state governments to stop
placing legal ads in newspapers, which is
required for matters such as meeting and bid
notices, polling place locations, zoning changes
and so on. Instead, governments would be allowed
to post those notices on their own Web sites,
which would reduce distribution of the
information.
Read More...
Public notices could be 'hidden' from view
April 10, 2009 |
Pennsylvania Senate Bill 419, which is moving
quickly through the legislative process in
Harrisburg, would remove public notices from
newspapers and put them on government Web sites.
Read
More...
Opinion: State must close open records loophole
April 10, 2009 |
It took no time at all, only about three months,
for elected Pennsylvania officials to mount a
highly significant challenge to the state's
fledgling Right-to-Know Law. Most observers
expected a push against what had been hailed by
lawmakers last year as a comprehensive defense
against efforts to keep the public in the dark,
especially the practice of conducting secret
deliberations before springing a decision upon
citizens left to wonder how they got there. And,
indeed, it appears Pennsylvania's reputation as a
Land of Secrets remains in intact. Read
More...
DEP challenges records ruling
April 10, 2009 | Filed in: Office of
Open Records | Final
determinations | Court
appeals |
Dept. of Environmental Protection
The state's new Office of Open Records has been
open four months and already it has received 278
requests for help in resolving disputes over what
constitutes a government record. So far, the
office has issued decisions in 75 of those
disputes involving such entities as fire
companies, school districts, parking authorities
and two dozen state agencies. Three of those
decisions were appealed to county courts. One
recent decision could become one of the first
court tests of the revised Right to Know Law and
could be of interest to anyone who doesn't want
to travel far to review government records.
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More...
Pa.'s public-records czar faults Rendell on openness
April 10, 2009 | Filed in: Office of
Open Records | Terry
Mutchler | State
government | Government
transparency |
Dept. of Environmental Protection
HARRISBURG — The Rendell administration appears
to be going out of its way to block public access
to government documents. At least that is the
impression left on the state's new open-records
czar. Read
More...
Opinion: If requested, state should mail documents
April 10, 2009 |
The intent of Pennsylvania's Right to Know Law is
clear: Public information should be available to
the public in a timely fashion. But already we
have a legal challenge on what exactly
"available" means. Read
More...
Pennsylvania has first test over access to records
In one of the first tests of a new Pennsylvania
law intended to make state records more readily
available to the public, the State Department of
Environmental Protection was ordered on Tuesday
to copy and mail out documents to people who
request them, rather than force people to come to
its offices in Harrisburg. Read
More...
Bills could take government notices out of newspapers
Government entities publish legal notices in
newspapers - not necessarily because they want
to, but because it's the law. Bills pending in
Harrisburg could take the notices out of
newspapers like this one and move them to Web
sites run by the municipality, school district or
county government agency required to give public
notice. Read
More...
Blair County may change legal ads
HOLLIDAYSBURG - Blair County commissioners are
showing interest in proposed legislation allowing
the posting of legal advertisements on agency Web
sites instead of in newspapers. Read
More...
Opinion: OOR decision on 'draft' policy disappointing
April 07, 2009 | Filed in: PNA Legal
| Final
determinations | Office of
Open Records | Board
documents | Predecisional
deliberations
In a disappointing decision, on March 23, 2009,
the Office of Open Records found that a draft
policy that was distributed to a school board for
deliberation at a public meeting – and approved
at that meeting – was not a public record.
Read
More...
Pa. newspaper group blasts open-records ruling
April 03, 2009 | Filed in: Office of
Open Records | PNA Legal
| Northampton
| Final
determinations | Predecisional
deliberations | Board
documents
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania Newspaper
Association has sharply criticized the state Open
Records Office for a ruling that the group says
would allow school boards and other agencies to
conduct more public business behind closed doors.
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Opinion: Office of Open Records issues damaging decision
April 02, 2009 | Filed in: PNA Legal
| Final
determinations | Office of
Open Records | Sunshine
Act | Predecisional
deliberations | Board
documents
The Office of Open Records (OOR) has dealt a blow
to open government, apparently finding that a
budget discussion among a quorum of a school
board was not "deliberation" for Right to Know
Law purposes because it was, in the words of the
OOR, an "informal" discussion. If this decision
stands, it could have terrible repercussions for
the public's right to know. Read
More...
PNA Legal Hotline: Vote taken at unadvertised meeting not void
Q: A borough held an unadvertised special
meeting and voted to create a contract during
the meeting. Does Sunshine Act automatically void the contract because the meeting was
not properly advertised? Read More...
the meeting. Does Sunshine Act automatically void the contract because the meeting was
not properly advertised? Read More...