Secrecy back?
As even casual fans of the “Scooby-Doo” cartoon series can confirm, plenty of crime and evil-doing gets stopped when a few “meddling kids” simply dare to ask questions and hunt for answers. The key: Strip away the secrecy of those involved, and their bad behavior ends.
That same notion applies on a much larger and more consequential level in Pennsylvania, where state law allows people — often with the help of the startup state Office of Open Records — to sleuth through public information about state and county governments, local school boards and other taxpayer-funded bodies. But the office’s ability to advocate for speedy access to public records and to assist individuals in pursuit of paperwork might be jeopardized next year because of inadequate state funding, says Executive Director Terry Mutchler. “We’re at a crossroads,” she says.
Mutchler urges area residents to press their state lawmakers for a pumped-up Office of Open Records budget, and rightly so.
Only a few years ago, Pennsylvanians were in the Dark Ages when it came to right-to-know laws that stipulate easy access to government information. The National Freedom of Information Coalition ranked our state’s rules second to last in the nation.
A 2008 state law, which created the Office of Open Records, propelled Pennsylvania to 25th on that list and led to a welcome change in the process that people follow when seeking records from stonewalling public officials. Court is now a last resort, not the only.
The office’s 11-person staff, still working out of temporary quarters in Harrisburg, has responded to about 40,000 inquiries and supplied nearly 500 training sessions. Its team of lawyers has handled about 4,000 appeals on behalf of people whose initial requests for records from agencies were denied; about 95 percent of those appeals involve everyday citizens, not journalists chasing news tips, Mutchler said.
Without public support, Mutchler foresees the office’s $1.2 million budget further eroding. Translation: the probable loss next year of two employees and a laughable line item of only $24,000 for operations, less than half of this year’s outlay. Such reductions would prevent the office from fully performing its duties, she said, at a time when public watchdogs are requesting more records related to issues such as Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling.
If state lawmakers and the governor fail to give sufficient money to the Office of Open Records, thereby making it more difficult for average citizens to keep an eye on government goings-on, we have but one thing to say: Ruh-Roh!
The (Wilkes-Barre) Times Leader