Pennsylvania government corruption
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PA Court rules emails stored on a personal computer are not public records
PA In a January 6 opinion issued by a Pennsylvania appellate court panel, the court established that emails and documents stored by a township commissioner on his or her personal computer were not considered public records. The court felt that the commissioner alone could not act on behalf of the township and thus the records on his personal computer could not be considered public records. Terry Mutchler, executive director of the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records has voiced concern over the ruling due to its capacity to create a loophole for officers to avoid the law. It is unknown if the decision will be appealed.[1]
Pennsylvania Taxpayers on the Hook for Increased Pension Fund Contributions
Pennsylvania school districts will see their pension contribution rates rise to 8.65 percent in 2011-12, up from this year's 5.64 percent contribution rate. The Public School Employees' Retirement System board approved the 53 percent rate increase, shared between the state and school districts, which will boost the taxpayers' tab for school employees' pensions to $1.2 billion.
The costs would have spiked even higher if the Legislature had not passed a pension reform plan earlier in the year to deal with a bump in expected contributions in 2012.[2]
State takeover of Pittsburgh pension looms
If the City of Pittsburgh cannot raise the approximately $220 million in assets in its retirement plan to cover 50% of the plan’s obligations by Dec. 31, Pennsylvania will take over the pension fund pursuant to state law. [3] Currently, the city’s retirement plan has just 28% of the assets necessary to cover its obligations.[3] The state takeover would compel Pittsburgh to make the payments needed to assure pensions for 8,000 active and retired employees. [3] On Nov. 4, 2010, the state's actuary informed the Pittsburgh city council that, if the state takes over the Pittsburgh pension fund, the city will be forced to pay about $3.6 billion over the next 30 years to ensure the fund's solvency. [4][3]
PA court broadens exemption by blocking email release
Harrisburg, PA This past week a three member panel of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled that the records of ancillary court employees are exempt from records requests under the same exemption as the courts themselves. The ruling will broaden the exemption of the court system if it survives the appeal to higher courts by the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records.[5]
Pennsylvania court issues ruling to bring university foundations under right to know law
Pennsylvania Update:The ESU Foundation has appealed the decision to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court arguing that the decision of the appeals court was too broad and would result in all private agencies that had dealings with the government to be subject to the Right to Know Law.[6]
A state court this past week issued its ruling in the case of Pocono Record v. ESU Foundation, upholding the decision of the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records and ordering the release of the Foundations records, despite it being a legally private entity separate from the university. In a 7-0 opinion written by Judge Dan Pellegrini, the court rejected the Foundation's argument that only essential legally required government functions fell under the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law and adopted a broader definition to include all contracts into which a governing body enters thereby setting an important precedent concerning private agencies within the new public records law.[7]
Public records held by hired agencies subject to Pennsylvania’s open records law
Clearfield County, PA - Pennsylvania’s Right to Know law has been interpreted by the Office of Open Records to mean that records held by a company hired by a Commonwealth agency are considered public records and are subject to the law. Therefore, the records need to be supplied by the agency even if they do not have physical possession of the required records.
In this case, the Greater Pennsylvania Regional council of Carpenters requested public information about the payroll disbursements of a Clearfield County grant given to the Bionol ethanol project through the Clearfield County Economic Development Corporation. The Office of Open Records ruled that the records are public and still subject to the Right to Know Law.
Bionol estimates the cost to copy the payroll records, redacting social security numbers, is approximately $6000 for the 6,000 pages, and that it would take longer than the 30-day deadline given by the Office of Open Records. Furthermore, Bionol is asking for the payment up front. The Right to Know law limits the county charge for public records copies to 25cents per page. The law does not actually say who would be responsible for the additional cost, so negotiations are in process.[8]
Pennsylvania Judge Exempts School District Documents and W-2 Forms
Monroe County, Pennsylvania Monroe county judge, Ronald Vican, overturned two rulings of the newly founded Office of Open Records (OOR) this month, dealing a blow to Pennsylvania transparency and open records. The cases revolve around a number of school district documents including information packets and W-2 forms.
Pennsylvania township votes to appeal ombudsman's ruling
YORK TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania: The Board of Commissioners of York Township in York County, Pennsylvania voted on September 8 to appeal a decision of the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records. In a possibly unprecedented move, however, the Board of Commissioners will not foot the bill for the legal appeal; rather, one commissioner will personally pay for the legal fight.[9]
The York Township Commissioners had denied several neighborhood housing projects early in 2009. The emails request was made to the Commissioners by the developer's attorney, but it was denied. The attorney then took the request to the state office of open records, who ruled that the township was required to turn over the emails. The developer responded by filing a lawsuit suggesting that two of the Commissioners were involved in an illegal conspiracy to stop the project.
The Board of Commissioners had twice previously voted not to appeal the directive to the York County Court of Common Pleas and had urged the two commissioners to turn over the personal and business emails. In a closed session, the 3-2 decision to fight the decision of the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records stipulates that no taxpayer funds be used in the legal battle.[9]
Former Pennsylvania judges face more indictments over scandal
The plea agreements that the judges were discussing collapsed, but they would have sent them to jail for 87 months on two counts. Now they are charged with racketeering, fraud, money laundering, extortion, bribery and tax violations for allegedly accepting $2.8 million from the owner and builder of two for-profit juvenile detention centers that made millions from county contracts with the judges’ help, read a U.S. Attorney’s Office press release.
The U.S. Attorney's Office did not make actual indictment public after it was handed down the evening of September 9, 2009 in Harrisburg. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Heidi Havens, said the indictment will likely be posted September 10.[10]
State To Audit Bethlehem Area School District
The school district's swap deals cost them and taxpayers over $57-million since they began using them in 2003, warranting Auditor General Jack Wagner's impending investigation. A swap is an agreement to pay off debt that is based on a variable short-term interest rate, with the hope that lending rates will stay below long-term interest rates.
The BASD conducted 17 swap transactions through JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, the most of any school district in Pennsylvania. They were supposed to save taxpayers money, according to Superintendent Joseph Lewis, but the raised rates incurred a penalty.[11]
Wagner's office will look at the economic impact the swaps had on BASD after state Senator Lisa Boscola's June call for a thorough review.[10]
Pennsylvania House Committee Hears Support for Spending Transparency
The Pennsylvania House Republican Policy Committee held a hearing yesterday on proposals to create a state spending transparency for Pennsylvania, with particular attention paid to HB 1460 (similar legislation passed the Pennsylvania Senate last month).
Lawmakers heard testimony from the Center for Fiscal Accountability, sponsors of transparency websites in Kansas and Missouri, the Commonwealth Foundation, and the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records. Presenters noted the benefits of transparency portals, the likely effect of reducing open records requests, and the savings experienced in other states, while rejecting claims of exorbitant costs or that the information was already available.
Public officials' e-mail open -- but you can't always see it
"A state open records request has York Township looking into options for how e-mails are received and sent by its commissioners, because some e-mails may be in a private company's files and are not open to public review.
In a March appeal involving township Commissioner Philip W. Briddell, the state's Office of Open Records said that e-mails in a private company's files are public if they include correspondence by a public official. But the open records office said it can't force a municipality to search those files, and can't force a company to produce the e-mails."
Public funding, private records
"Just because the Wall Street West effort receives more than $20 million in public funding doesn’t mean its finances are subject to public scrutiny.
That’s according to officials at Wall Street West, the nonprofit economic development group, which successfully argued before the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records that it is not subject to the state Right to Know Law."
New law doesn't prompt more requests
"Citizens exercising their "right to know" have met few obstacles throughout the Centre County area, although the same can't be said statewide.
Most of the municipalities in the area have seen limited requests for information and haven't run into problems in addressing the citizens' concerns unlike at the state level, where problems have been reported by The Associated Press."
Pa. backs New Era on autopsy reports
"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."
Pennsylvania's open records law sets barriers
"Attorney Paul Wright of Seattle-based Prison Legal News was stunned when he filed a right-to-know request with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections and was told the department didn't have the information he sought.
Wright wanted records on lawsuit settlements. The department responded that it isn't required to create records.
"I call it the 'Right to Know Nothing Law,' " Wright said of Pennsylvania's open records statute."
Editorial: A foot in the door
"Pennsylvania's new open-records law has been anything but open since it took effect in January. And the blame starts at the top.
The situation has become so bad that Terry Mutchler, executive director of the state Office of Public Records, shared her concerns with Gov. Rendell in a very telling letter last month. It seems that the biggest scofflaws have been top state officials who have refused to comply with the new mandate.
Mutchler told the governor that lawyers in Rendell's office had advised every state agency to ignore her calls and insist that all requests be put in writing. She described their action as an 'anti-open-government spirit.'"
Newspaper wins partial victory
"The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records has ruled that the East Stroudsburg University Foundation (ESUF) has to disclose some information requested by the Pocono Record. The ESUF is a private, non-profit corporation affiliated with East Stroudsburg University, which is a public university. The newspaper said that under Pennsylvania's sunshine law, private corporations that are "performing a governmental function" under contract to a public agency fall under the provisions of the act.
County appeals man’s access to e-mails
"A Hazleton man’s request for e-mails in a Luzerne County government branch has landed in the county Court of Common Pleas.
Luzerne County officials took the case to court because the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records ordered the county to release the e-mails to Sean Donahue.
Donahue, 40, said he wants e-mails involving the Luzerne-Schuylkill Workforce Investment Board, commonly known as WIB, because he is trying to determine the effectiveness of its job training programs."
Posting only to Web limits access to local information
"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. For many of the poor or those in some of our more rural areas, it means you will be cut off completely from critical local information."
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