There is no limit to the dishonesty the Corbett administration will go to,
and the complete, total, and intentional disconnect they try to maintain not to
answer the legitimate questions of concerned citizens. This allows them to
shamelessly hide behind the 'legal cloak of plausible deniability'.
And the politicians on all levels express outrage anytime anyone questions
their honesty. Then, they have the audacity to think they can marginalize,
dismiss, and question the honesty and motives of the people they suck-up to at
election time to get their votes and whose tax dollars pay their salary. And,
they wonder why the people no longer trust them. Seriously?
State official to Corbett: Trainers telling workers how to circumvent system
August 11, 2012
, Williamsport
Sun-Gazette
HARRISBURG (AP) - Trainers are
telling state workers learning a new phone system that they can use an
instant-messaging feature to avoid citizens' public record requests, the state's
open records director told Gov. Tom
Corbett in a letter.
"During several different
training sessions for the implementation of the new statewide telephone system,
state employees were specifically instructed that certain telephone messages and
instant messages on this system are not subject to the state's open records
law," wrote Terry Mutchler, executive director of the Office of Open
Records. It happened in at least four training sessions, she
said.
In general, phone records are
covered by the 2008 law, Mutchler wrote.
But "there's no way to retain" so-called instant messages, which are
intended for "quick, routine communications," said Dan Egan, spokesman for the
Office of Administration, an agency under Corbett.
Under the law, only "obtainable"
records are subject to public release, said Melissa Melewsky, attorney
for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.
Use of technology to circumvent the
law would violate the spirit of Pennsylvania's Right to Know Law, several First
Amendment advocates said.
"It's a completely inappropriate
way to use technology to avoid accountability," Melewsky said. "It invites
abuse."
Egan would not specifically say whether workers have been told in training
that instant messaging is a way to avoid Right to Know law requests. Instructors
stick to a slide presentation and answer questions only about "features and
functionality of the phones and technology," he said.
"We are training nearly 57,000 employees on the new phone system," Egan
said. "I cannot vouch for what transpires in every single class; I can only tell
you what information is supposed to be presented to employees and what I have
witnessed in training myself. I have not seen the letter you are referring to,
but if there is incorrect information being conveyed to employees, we are of
course very concerned and will take immediate steps to correct it."
Mutchler did not return phone calls on Thursday.
The training overseen by the Corbett
administration is the latest example of government officials potentially using
technology to circumvent state and federal disclosure laws. In New York, Gov.
Andrew Cuomo's aides send untraceable messages on BlackBerry phones, according
to The New York Times. House Republicans complain that White House aides
in the Obama administration conduct business on personal email.
"This is an important issue, and we are seeing it arise all around the
country," said Kenneth F. Bunting, executive director of the National Freedom of
Information Coalition based at the University of Missouri. "With email becoming the prevalent means of
written communication, the lengths and machinations to which some government
agencies will go to hide them from public view are mind-boggling and
disturbing."
There is another side, however, said Tom Baldino, a political science
professor at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre. In a democracy, a delicate
balance exists between officials having flexibility in decision making and the
public's right to know, he said.
Concerns that extreme options considered during decision making would later
be second-guessed if records are revealed may "cast a pall over the
decision-making process," Baldino said.
Governors and lawmakers want advisers to present options without fear they
will be thrown back at them during re-election, he said.
Legislative fights over electronic records, including emails and text
messages, have surfaced in New Mexico, Iowa, Kansas and Utah, Bunting
said.
Pennsylvania law "requires access
to electronic records," said Kim de Bourbon, executive director of the
Pennsylvania First Amendment Coalition. "There's no mandate that records be
kept."
Legislators need to update open
records laws such as the one in Pennsylvania to keep up with technology, de
Bourbon said.
Egan cited training materials saying that only authorized users may use the
IM technology within the state system.
"Remember, it is the content and
business value of a communication, not its format that determines its status as
a record or non-record, as well as whether the record is transitory or has
lasting value," employees are told.
Email should be used for producing "records of lasting value."
The new phones utilize voice-over-Internet technology, Egan said. Phones
are being replaced under a seven-year, $65 million-a-year contract with Verizon,
signed under former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell.
It remains in effect through 2016. Savings will be realized through the new
technology rather than existing phone lines, Egan
said.
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