passopenrecords.org

• Senate moves to more open government
From a press release from Sen. Jake Corman (R-Centre):

As part of its effort to make state government more transparent, the Senate changed its rules to require the placement of the acts and statutes of the Pennsylvania state legislature on the Internet, according to Sen. Corman, the Senate’s Majority Policy Chairman.

As of July 13th, “the public [can] for the first time be able to search Pennsylvania’s laws online,” Corman said.

“Until this change, Pennsylvania was one of very few states that did not have its statutes available on-line for the public,” Corman said. “State residents should have the ability to view and print laws online – it is one way to make government more accountable. Having this information on-line provides quicker, easier access for constituents seeking legislative information, in addition to contributing to a more open state government. I was proud to lead this effort on behalf of Pennsylvania’s citizens.”

“Our leadership made it clear that we want legislative records and Senate information to be available to the public and easily accessible,” Corman said. “This rules change signals our commitment to moving ahead with important government reforms.”

Corman said the state Senate currently has rules in place to put the following information on the Senate’s website, www.pasen.gov:

- Amendments to the Internet before they can be offered on the Senate floor.

- Senate floor votes on the Internet as soon as possible, always within 24 hours.

- Senate’s Legislative Journal—which includes the full text of all floor debates—within 45 days after the date of the session.

“For years I have advocated that we place our acts and statutes on-line, just as we do our bills,” Corman said. “As the Senate has moved to be more open with our records and place more legislative information on our website, opening up this information is a logical step.”

As of July 13, 2007, the public can access Pennsylvania’s consolidated titles and search current Pennsylvania law.

• County Council pushes for open meetings

From the Express-Times

The Northampton County Council recommended unanimously Thursday that the 18-member Lehigh Valley Health Department Workgroup stop meeting behind closed doors.

On Friday, county Human Services Director Ross Marcus said he’s slowly talking to work group members and anticipates the meetings will be made public.

“Obviously, the work group is going to take (the vote) seriously,” said Marcus, the work group’s facilitator. “We want a cooperative relationship with council.”

County Councilman Ron Angle, who proposed the resolution, said he didn’t understand why the group’s meetings were private.

“They’re conducting the public’s business,” Angle said.

• Letter writer rips lack of public comment
From the Daily Review, Towanda

At their July 5 meeting the Windham Township Community Hall Committee did it again! For the fourth month in a row — April, May, June and July — visitors were not allowed an opportunity for public comment. The June and July meetings were swiftly adjourned and then followed by the announcement of an executive session to immediately follow with no topics disclosed. Visitors were asked to leave.

In direct conflict with their own by-laws in the months April through July of this year, the committee under the current leadership of Chairman Bob Freed has violated its own by-laws by:

- Failure to allow visitors’ comments at each of the four most recent meetings.

- Failure to announce the reason for holding an executive session at the open meeting occurring immediately prior to or subsequent to an executive session:

- Failure to recognize that there are only six circumstances where an agency may hold an executive session.

- Failure to recognize that an executive session shall not be used as a subterfuge to defeat the purpose of an open meeting under the terms of its definition in a Sunshine Act;

- Failure to appoint a financial secretary who would give a monthly report to enable the committee, supervisors and residents the opportunity to gauge how well the committee is meeting its responsibilities.

Because I care, this writer will continue to attend Windham Township Community Hall Committee meetings and expect positive changes. That’s what “open government” is all about.

Lois Yeagle

• Harrisburg lawyer sues counties over records
From the Tribune-Review

A Harrisburg attorney who has sought the public disclosure of Joe Paterno’s salary is turning his public record requests toward counties, which he claims charge thousands of dollars more for electronic tax assessment databases than the law allows.

Craig J. Staudenmaier, who helped to incorporate the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition last year as a nonprofit, alleges some counties are blocking access to public records by charging by the parcel rather than by the cost of copying the data onto a compact disc.

Staudenmaier initiated a court petition this month in Fayette County and another last month in Allegheny County.

But several counties insist it’s appropriate to charge a nominal fee per parcel for a database that potentially could be retrieved cheaply for organizations wanting to use the information for commercial purposes.

The lawyer, who has represented several media outlets, argues that his requests are for databases already in counties’ possession, requiring less than an hour of office work and no special personnel, hardware or software.

In the petition filed July 9 in Fayette, Staudenmaier said the county contends its 10-cents-per-record fee is “not negotiable.”

With about 83,000 parcels countywide, that puts the cost of a CD around $8,300.

Staudenmaier claims the fee violates the state’s “Right-to-Know Law.”

“The imposition of a fee of this magnitude has as its sole purpose the blocking or denial of access of public records by a citizen of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania without a reasonable or rational basis in law and thus, is impermissible under the act,” he wrote.

A spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association said she doesn’t believe the counties have case law on their side.

“PNA completely agrees with Craig’s legal reasoning, and it shouldn’t be that big of a trouble to get electronic data,” said Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel.