Report from the trenches, Part 1
Sept. 17, 2007
By Dani Kozich
passopenrecords.org
PITTSBURGH — As I wrote last week, the Pittsburgh chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the PA Freedom of Information Coalition presented their Forum on Open Government & Pennsylvania Open Records Law Workshop this Saturday.
The forum was well-attended, with about 60 journalists, citizens and students packing the room. The sessions were videotaped by Point Park College journalism students, and the Pittsburgh SPJ hopes to have the videos posted online soon.
The first session, "Pennsylvania's Open Records Law Now" outlined what today's open records law does and does not do; moderated by Kim de Bourbon of the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition, participants included Ron Barber, an Attorney for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review; Jim Manolis, an attorney for the New Castle News; and Teri Henning, General Counsel for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.
Barber began his presentation by admitting he gets choked up just reading the preamble to the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act. West Virginia ranks 7th on the Better Government Association's 2002 Integrity Index in FOI laws- far above our place at number 47. The Declaration of Policy reads as follows (note: emphasis mine):
"Pursuant to the fundamental philosophy of the American constitutional form of representative government which holds to the principle that government is the servant of the people, and not the master of them, it is hereby declared to be the public policy of the state of West Virginia that all persons are, unless otherwise expressly provided by law, entitled to full and complete information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those who represent them as public officials and employees. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments of government they have created. To that end, the provisions of this article shall be liberally construed with the view of carrying out the above declaration of public policy."
Whew! In stark contrast, PA law puts the burden on the requester to prove that the records should be public. And there are currently only two areas where a document can even be considered to be public: A "Money" document (e.g.: a budget) or a "Decision" document (e.g.: minutes from a zoning hearing) - yet even these are only loosely defined, and often decided on a case-by-case basis. This is just part of the reason that the PNA gets over 2,000 calls per year on their legal hotline each year. It's also interesting to note that the PA FOIC is doing an audit/report card on state agencies and open records - the results will be available by the end of the year.
Teri Henning also spoke on case law that's established the guidelines in PA so far - and the PNA has a lot of great resources - including the PA Open Records Law and an Open Records sample letter - available on their website.
I'll post on the second and third sessions later.
Report from the trenches, Part 2
Sept. 17, 2007
By Dani Kozich
passopenrecords.org
PITTSBURGH — This is the second part of my report from the Pittsburgh chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the PA Freedom of Information Coalition's Forum on Open Government & Pennsylvania Open Records Law Workshop.
In the second session, How Pennsylvania's Current Open Records Law is Being Used, moderated by Bob Mayo of WTAE-TV, the participants shared accounts of their own experiences with our open records law. On deck for this session were Tim Potts, Executive Director of Democracy Rising Pennsylvania; Jim Parsons, Investigative Reporter for WTAE-TV; Johnathan Silver, Reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; James Manolis, an Attorney for the New Castle News; and Beverly Schenck, a private citizen who has taken her open records request to the PA Supreme Court in the case of Schenck vs. Center Township, Butler County.
Tim Potts, garnering the first applause of the day, pointed out that none of the 3 bills pending in state Legislature examine open records from a citizen's pespective, as well as questioned why the Legislature is exempt from open records laws.
Jim Parsons relayed his now-infamous battle with PHEAA for information about the agency's lavish retreats; eventually, WTAE, the AP and the Patriot-News won their court battle, with PHEAA ordered by the court to release spending records. Before the reporters could take a look, however, PHEAA had to "redact" (read: black out) information from the bills - charging the news agencies $13,000 in "redaction fees."
Usually, Jim observed, agencies tell you before sticking you with the bill; he recently requested information on solicitor's fees from several Pittsburgh area schools. Most responded quickly, writing that they'd charge Jim amounts from $10 - $40 for administrative costs associated with the request. North Allegheny School District, however, wrote that the request would come with a $4,000 fee.
After the PA Auditor General released a critical report on the state of the Commonwealth's Purchasing Card program - a system in which state employees used "purchasing cards" the same way employees of private companies would use credit cards - Jim requested information from the PA Gaming Commission about their purchasing cards. The Gaming Commission would be glad to provide the information, they wrote in a letter to Jim, if WTAE would just cut them a check for $49,000 in redaction fees. (Needless to say, Jim didn't get to explore that story.) He hopes that any reform would expressly state that redaction fees can't be imposed - while WTAE, the AP and the Patriot-News can swing a $13,000 fee, many redaction or copying fees would be out of reach for the average citizen.
Jonathan Silver of the Post-Gazette spoke about his experience with the police beat, with some officials witholding information because THEY - not the law - deemed it necessary, as well as his recent stories on the Pittsburgh Police Department's promotion of three officers with allegations of domestic violence in their past. Some public officials, Jonathan noted, are acting "as feudal lords trying to keep control of their fiefdom."
Citizen Beverly Schenck of Center Township, Butler County, has spent thousands of dollars out of her own pocket - and four years in litigation - after she tried to obtain a solicitor's bill with itemized fees from her township. The worst part about the lawsuit, Beverly noted, is that as a township taxpayer, she is funding their $100,000 fight against her because her township refused their insurance company's offer of legal assistance. Beverly's case went before the PA Supreme Court on Monday, and is awaiting her final ruling.
You can read Scott Beveridge of the Washington Observer-Reporter's experiences with open records, as well as his thoughts on the forum, at his blog.
Report from the trenches, Part 3
Sept. 17, 2007
By Dani Kozich
passopenrecords.org
PITTSBURGH — This is the third and final part of my report from the Pittsburgh chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the PA Freedom of Information Coalition's Forum on Open Government & Pennsylvania Open Records Law Workshop. I apologize for these segments being so long. I didn't expect it and had already cut a lot of commentary from my initial notes!
In the third session, "Reforms on the Horizon: What Would an Ideal Open Records Law Include?" participants Sen. Jim Ferlo of Pittsburgh, Rep. Tim Mahoney of Uniontown, Tim Potts of Democracy Rising, Police Chief Frank Monaco of Plum Borough, Teri Henning of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, and Ira Weiss, a solicitor for several western Pennsylvania school districts and municipalities all spoke about their goals and concerns regarding open records reform. Due to the amount of participants on this panel, much of the testimony was brief. Elaine Effort of KQV News Radio served as moderator.
Senator Ferlo, the sponsor of SB 765, said he wants to strengthen the language of his bill, and held up the confidential quarterly report on state vendors he receives as a member of the Legislature, saying, "This should be public."
Representative Mahoney, the sponsor of HB 443, explained the 24 exemptions in his bill which include some emails and "records that would threaten public safety." He announced that he was meeting on Mon. Sept. 17 with Common Cause and the PNA to tighten his bill.
Tim Potts said he believes open records reform should apply to the judiciary, not just state and local government. His biggest problem with today's laws - and proposed reform - is that there's no "presumption of accessibility," meaning that records should be kept in a format convenient to taxpayers. With real reform, he hopes that it will be easier to "connect the dots" from lobbyists to legislators to legislation. Someday, he hopes that the state will market public information to taxpayers and budget for citizen access "just as they budget for $360 million in walking-around-money."
As a law enforcement officer, Plum Borough Police Chief Tim Monaco spoke from a different perspective, noting that 70% of the police departments in the state had 10 or less officers, meaning that paying a public information officer meant taking an officer off the streets. He advocated for a balance of public safety and public acess, noting that some information - like 911 calls or the names of victims - should be left private.
Ira Weiss, who has served as solicitor for several western PA school districts and municipalities, came from a similar perspective, though he believes that PA needs clear definitions of what is and what is NOT public information. Whatever timelines are enacted for compliance, Ira said, they need to be realistic.
The PA Freedom of Information Coalition has information on all their forums on their page. The next forum, co-sponsored by the Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment, is on October 16 in State College.
© 2007 passopenrecords.org; Reprinted with permission.
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