The York Township commissioners voted Tuesday night in favor of posting information on the township's Web site about people who make Right-to-Know requests. (Read the story here)
The issue of publicizing this information started with commissioner Paul Knepper, who originally proposed posting it on the Web site and then went as far as sharing the information in a presentation at a previous township meeting.
Knepper's reasoning is that township taxpayers have their own right to know about how much of their money is being spent in responding to the requests.
The issue of publicizing this information started with commissioner Paul Knepper, who originally proposed posting it on the Web site and then went as far as sharing the information in a presentation at a previous township meeting.
Knepper's reasoning is that township taxpayers have their own right to know about how much of their money is being spent in responding to the requests.
The public does, indeed, have a right to that information under the RTK law itself. And, a Right-to-Know request is how Knepper went about getting the information.
Publicizing this information, however, raises some questions. Namely, could posting the names and costs potentially have a chilling effect on getting the information that the public has a right to see? People who want to request open records might think twice if they feel like they might upset their municipal neighbors.
But, then again, the public does have a right to know who is requesting what records and how much it is costing.
I'll be curious to see what the information looks like when the township starts posting it. Specifically, it would be interesting to not just get the cost, but a breakdown of where that cost is coming from.
The striking thing about when we've requested records here at the newspaper is that every agency wants to dump its resources into figuring out why they shouldn't release the information. There are exemptions under the Right-to-Know law, but that doesn't mean the agency can't release those specific records, it means they don't have to release it. There's a big difference there.
So, what do you think about York Township's decision? Good idea? Would you want to see more municipalities or agencies posting the information?
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