Jun 29, 2024 By Gary Stout 5 min read

The importance of transparency in county government cannot be overstated. Transparency increases public trust by providing residents with up-to-date information on government decision-making. It is critical in everything from public emergencies, like the cyber attack on the county’s computer system earlier this year, to hiring practices, like creating new senior management positions.

When transparency is lacking, there is minimal public knowledge of government operations, and the potential for undisclosed mismanagement or corruption is high. Unfortunately, Washington County’s Republican commissioners, Nick Sherman and Electra Janis, are off to a dismal start when it comes to transparency.

Many of the actions taken by Sherman and Janis are baffling. During the run-up to last year’s election, one general theme was prevalent in their campaign literature – they both pledged transparency in county government.

Two years earlier, Sherman was vehemently against a proposed referendum to appoint a government study commission to review the county’s government structure. His “pro-transparency” criticisms were that if the county adopted a home rule charter, it would ultimately produce “highly paid managers who are not accountable to the people,” and that “concentration of power in a county executive could eliminate our checks and balances.”

But after six months in power, Sherman and Janis have unfortunately ushered in both of these anti-democratic results simply by adopting non-transparent, secret, closed-door policies. With no transparent vetting or explanation, a close friend of the chief of staff has been placed in a high-paying county job. The Democratic commissioner, Larry Maggi, has been intentionally misled or shut out of important county business.

An astute observer should have known something was amiss when the two Republican commissioner candidates failed to attend the Meet the Candidates Forum before the election last October. This annual event, sponsored by the local NAACP and League of Women Voters, was the only countywide “unbiased platform for raising candidates’ voices and voters’ questions” prior to the November election. While other candidates for county office attended and provided valuable information to the voting public, Sherman and Janis were instead photographed having dinner together.

This disregard for transparency was repeated on May 14 when the Washington County Bar Association, along with several other organizations, sponsored an important nonpartisan public forum to discuss state and local elections and voting rights. All three county commissioners were invited to help reassure the public that the county voting system and procedures are safe and secure for the upcoming election.

Five hours before the event, Sherman and Janis notified the organizers that, on advice of the county solicitor, they would not participate in the forum or permit the county election director to attend. The two Republicans wanted to avoid transparency on why they voted to enact voter suppression measures to prohibit corrections to minor mistakes on mail-in ballots.

The history of ignoring transparency began early in the new administration. On Jan. 24, according to the Observer-Reporter, “all telephones and computers throughout Washington County’s government offices and courthouse were shut down after malware ‘phishing activity’ was detected on the systemwide server.” For several weeks, the public was not told that the computer system was under attack from hackers or that the criminals demanded a sizable ransom. The commissioners held a hastily called emergency meeting on Feb. 6 that authorized a ransom payment of $346,000. Maggi voted no. It was not until Feb.15, that the public was informed of the ransom.

To comply with state law, on March 13, the Republican commissioners had their staff post a formal “Notice of Data Security Incident” on the county website. This notice informed residents that personal information may have been breached and explained new security measures. There was no wide distribution of this “notice,” except for the website post, and few individuals knew their personal data may have been compromised. Recently, local victims of the breach have received legally required written notice and have been offered complimentary credit monitoring services, provided by the county. There has been minimal transparency and questionable management of this crisis.

At the commissioners’ Feb. 15 meeting, transparency again became an issue. A project for women’s housing advanced by the Washington City Mission appeared on a preliminary list prepared by the Local Share Account committee. For unexplained reasons, the project was removed from the final agenda. Maggi, City Mission leadership, along with many concerned pastors and citizens who supported the project, raised objections. A month later, the decision was reversed.

The involvement of the two Republican commissioners in removing the City Mission project from the final list remains unexplained. Circumstantial evidence points to petty political payback against Sherman’s former colleague, Diana Irey Vaughan, when she became director of the City Mission.

Other recent examples of hidden agendas and secret decisions involve hiring practices by the Republican commissioners. According to the June 21 Observer-Reporter, a new employee, Joe Bendik, was hired to “handle oversight of various upcoming special projects of the county government…. However, the hire was so secretive that Maggi was unaware Bendik was even working in the county government until he met him unexpectedly at an impromptu meeting with department heads earlier this month.”

Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania News Media Association informed the O-R that “The hiring process does not appear to be consistent with the Sunshine Act.”

Commissioners Sherman and Janis have repeatedly failed to be transparent and are accordingly less trustworthy. Their failure to provide adequate explanations for the above actions only compounds the problem.

Gary Stout is a Washington attorney.