Counties to appeal denied CareerLink records
December 08, 2010 Open records | Snyder Co. | Office of Open Records | Right to Know Law | Northumberland Co.
By Justin Strawser
[Shamokin] News-Item Staff Writer
HARRISBURG - The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records (OOR) would have to perform a legal analysis on the Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corp. (CPWDC) before determining whether it is subject to the Right to Know law, the executive director of OOR said Tuesday.
However, added Terry Mutchler, "all signals" point to the organization being a public entity.
Commissioners in Northumberland and Snyder counties are seeking budgetary information from the CPWDC board, which voted last month to consolidate the Shamokin and Selinsgrove CareerLinks into one centralized location in Sunbury.
Meanwhile, as expected at the Snyder County commissioners' meeting Tuesday morning, the board voted unanimously to authorize its solicitor to file an Right to Know appeal on behalf of Commissioner Malcolm Derk, who was denied a written request for budgetary information from CPWDC last month.
The decision, made and seconded by Derk and Commissioner Peggy Chamberlain Roup, included authorizing the solicitor to work with the Northumberland County solicitor to file a joint appeal with the Office of Open Records.
At the Northumberland County commissioners' meeting Tuesday afternoon, that board voted unanimously to authorize its solicitor to work with Snyder County on the appeal.
'More robust appeal'
The solicitors will file a "more robust appeal" with examples of case studies, Derk said later Tuesday. The initial request involved salary, benefits and overall budget, but the appeal will include a request for each employee to be itemized in order to know the salary of each position, where money is specifically being spent and multiple budgets over multiple years.
"We want the overall picture so we know they've made other decisions (besides consolidation) to run efficiently," said Derk.
Derk had been granted permission to view the records, but would have had to sign a confidentiality agreement and not release any information to the public, a stipulation he wasn't willing to accept.
Much to consider
At this point, said Mutchler, a determination could not be given without a proper investigation into the organization and a proper appeal must be submitted before this is conducted.
"The short answer is I don't know," she said. "I think it's fair to say that similar agencies have been determined as public record."
These agencies included industrial development authorities and volunteer fire companies.
There are many factors considered, including whether the agency is performing a governmental function and using state or federal funds.
"The bottom line is whenever you're dealing with financial records, the public has a right to know if they are subject to the law," said Mutchler.
'It's public money'
Derk said he is confident the law will favor the county commissioners.
"It's public money. If it's not (subject to the law), it should be," he said.
While officials in both counties don't want to lose their local CareerLink offices, the situation in Shamokin is considered more dire because its CareerLink is located in the county-owned Northumberland County Career and Arts Center, also home to the Northumberland County branch of Luzerne County Community College (LCCC). The college was offered free rent as an incentive to locate there about 10 years ago, but the county says it can't make up the loss of $114,000 in annual rent from CareerLink to keep the LCCC deal as is.
CPWDC has previously reported that the decision to consolidate was in the works for months, particularly since its funding from the Department of Labor was cut by the federal government from $7.4 million to $6.4 million in July. Board Chairman William Robinson has also noted the board's decision was made well before the end of the leases (Shamokin's on June 30 and Selinsgrove's at the end of 2011), providing plenty of time for the landlords to react.
Robinson has also said members of the Workforce Investment Board - the governing body of the CPWDC - are appointed by local elected officials and the budget has line items for salary and benefits, and details regarding expenditures are reviewed at public meetings.
Asked last week about the board's apparent refusal to release budget information to the counties, Robinson wrote, "Our attorney will ascertain if and when we will release any payroll information." (Staff Writer Mark Gilger contributed to this report.)
[Shamokin] News-Item Staff Writer
HARRISBURG - The Pennsylvania Office of Open Records (OOR) would have to perform a legal analysis on the Central Pennsylvania Workforce Development Corp. (CPWDC) before determining whether it is subject to the Right to Know law, the executive director of OOR said Tuesday.
However, added Terry Mutchler, "all signals" point to the organization being a public entity.
Commissioners in Northumberland and Snyder counties are seeking budgetary information from the CPWDC board, which voted last month to consolidate the Shamokin and Selinsgrove CareerLinks into one centralized location in Sunbury.
Meanwhile, as expected at the Snyder County commissioners' meeting Tuesday morning, the board voted unanimously to authorize its solicitor to file an Right to Know appeal on behalf of Commissioner Malcolm Derk, who was denied a written request for budgetary information from CPWDC last month.
The decision, made and seconded by Derk and Commissioner Peggy Chamberlain Roup, included authorizing the solicitor to work with the Northumberland County solicitor to file a joint appeal with the Office of Open Records.
At the Northumberland County commissioners' meeting Tuesday afternoon, that board voted unanimously to authorize its solicitor to work with Snyder County on the appeal.
'More robust appeal'
The solicitors will file a "more robust appeal" with examples of case studies, Derk said later Tuesday. The initial request involved salary, benefits and overall budget, but the appeal will include a request for each employee to be itemized in order to know the salary of each position, where money is specifically being spent and multiple budgets over multiple years.
"We want the overall picture so we know they've made other decisions (besides consolidation) to run efficiently," said Derk.
Derk had been granted permission to view the records, but would have had to sign a confidentiality agreement and not release any information to the public, a stipulation he wasn't willing to accept.
Much to consider
At this point, said Mutchler, a determination could not be given without a proper investigation into the organization and a proper appeal must be submitted before this is conducted.
"The short answer is I don't know," she said. "I think it's fair to say that similar agencies have been determined as public record."
These agencies included industrial development authorities and volunteer fire companies.
There are many factors considered, including whether the agency is performing a governmental function and using state or federal funds.
"The bottom line is whenever you're dealing with financial records, the public has a right to know if they are subject to the law," said Mutchler.
'It's public money'
Derk said he is confident the law will favor the county commissioners.
"It's public money. If it's not (subject to the law), it should be," he said.
While officials in both counties don't want to lose their local CareerLink offices, the situation in Shamokin is considered more dire because its CareerLink is located in the county-owned Northumberland County Career and Arts Center, also home to the Northumberland County branch of Luzerne County Community College (LCCC). The college was offered free rent as an incentive to locate there about 10 years ago, but the county says it can't make up the loss of $114,000 in annual rent from CareerLink to keep the LCCC deal as is.
CPWDC has previously reported that the decision to consolidate was in the works for months, particularly since its funding from the Department of Labor was cut by the federal government from $7.4 million to $6.4 million in July. Board Chairman William Robinson has also noted the board's decision was made well before the end of the leases (Shamokin's on June 30 and Selinsgrove's at the end of 2011), providing plenty of time for the landlords to react.
Robinson has also said members of the Workforce Investment Board - the governing body of the CPWDC - are appointed by local elected officials and the budget has line items for salary and benefits, and details regarding expenditures are reviewed at public meetings.
Asked last week about the board's apparent refusal to release budget information to the counties, Robinson wrote, "Our attorney will ascertain if and when we will release any payroll information." (Staff Writer Mark Gilger contributed to this report.)
