Redevelopment Authority appeals Open Records’ decision on Rep. Bud Cook, Local Share
The Washington County Redevelopment Authority has appealed the decision that requires it to provide copies of 12 years’ worth of Local Share Account records to state Rep. Bud Cook.
As it promised to do when the state’s Office of Open Records handed down a ruling in Cook’s favor in late February, the redevelopment authority late last week asked a Washington County judge to review the administrative decision.
Claiming that reproducing the volume of material related to 433 projects from 2008 to 2019 would place “an unreasonable burden” on the redevelopment authority, the agency’s attorney, Colin Fitch, wrote in a petition filed with the court that his client is not denying Cook access to the files.
“The Office of Open Records said it was (the redevelopment authority’s) statutory duty to search for and provide actual copies of … documents,” Fitch wrote in pointing out what he views as erroneous.
The law requires the agency to make records available for inspection, but that it is up to the person making the request to “conduct the search and actually copy the records,” according to Fitch.
William McGowen, executive director of the redevelopment authority, said Monday that it is willing to show Cook boxes upon boxes of materials stored at its Courthouse Square office and off-site, but that copying the files for the legislator would require a year’s worth of staff man hours he pegged as approaching 2,000.
Cook (R-West Pike Run Township), who represents the 49th Legislative District in parts of Washington and Fayette counties, is seeking contracts between the redevelopment authority and LSA project grant recipients; contracts and invoices between grant recipients and vendors; and related correspondence.
Fitch noted in his petition that Janelle Yamber, open records officer for the redevelopment authority, was unable to sign the verification document in the appeal because she is working remotely during the coronavirus pandemic.
Contacted for comment, Cook responded through Brooke D. Haskell, communications coordinator of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Republican Caucus.
“I have not received the redevelopment authority’s filing so I’m unsure what basis for an appeal would be,” Cook wrote via email. “I have made every effort to follow the well-settled law of the Commonwealth in my requests.
“It is unfortunate that the redevelopment authority continues this pattern of obfuscation. As a government agency responsible for the distribution of millions of taxpayer dollars every year, you’d think they’d welcome efforts to provide transparency and integrity to the LSA grant review and approval process.”
Attorney Jill S. Wolfe, appeals officer for the Office of Open Records in Harrisburg who issued the final determination in Cook’s favor, was also listed among those to be notified of the redevelopment authority’s appeal to Common Pleas Court, and it has an opportunity to respond.
Wolfe, in her final determination, wrote that the redevelopment authority, which administers the Local Share Account on behalf of the Washington County commissioners, had not proven that Cook’s request was “duplicative and burdensome.”
The Meadows Casino opened at the North Strabane Township harness racing track in June 2007, and as the first legalized slot-machine gambling venue in Southwestern Pennsylvania, yielded funds that became available for distribution the following year.
Since 2008, the Local Share Account has funded just over $101.3 million worth of projects including sewer lines and sewage treatment in communities where there had been none, roads in business parks, job-training programs and historical preservation.
The state Gaming Control Board ordered The Meadows Casino to close March 16 because crowds of visitors could contribute to the spread of the highly contagious novel coronavirus. The closure is sure to have an effect on the amount of revenue generated this year, and its duration is unknown.
No hearing date for Redevelopment Authority vs. Honorable Bud Cook has been set, and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the courts are dealing only with emergency matters.
Cook, who is running for a third, two-year term in the state Legislature, has an opponent on the Republican ballot in the June 2 primary in Tony Bottino Jr. of Carroll Township.
The primary’s previous date – April 28 – was postponed due to restrictions imposed during the coronavirus outbreak, which has continued to spread in Pennsylvania, nationally and worldwide.