Another reader’s story
Sep 5th, 2007 by dani_k
Bob Baille of State College sent us his open records story:
On March 29, Governor Rendell announced that he had selected investment firm Morgan Stanley & Company to advise him about whether or not to privatize the Turnpike.
This sounded to me like a conflict of interest, because Morgan Stanley makes money from privatizing public assets like roads. Not only that, but news reports from around that time stated that Morgan Stanley would not get paid unless the road was privatized.
On April 7, I sent a request, under Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law, 65 P.S. § § 66.1 et seq., to the Governor’s office, asking for a copy of the contract with Morgan Stanley.
They replied in a professional and timely manner. However, they denied the request. Their refusal letter stated that only after the contract is signed, could it become public. Of course, by then, it’s too late for anyone to stop the contract from going into effect.
Robert Baillie
State College