Sunshine Week open governmentMarch 14 to 20, 2021

Each year in March, news media organizations across the country take this time to highlight the importance of transparency in our government, and we underscore the vital work our journalists do to fight for access to records that shed light on government activity.

Even a public-health crisis as devastating as COVID-19 will not stop journalists from reporting news and information that matter most to our readers, whether at a school board, township supervisor or city council meeting.

Everyone has heard of the Right to Know Law, and most everyone knows lawyers are paid to try to work around it rather than honor the spirit of it.

Oftentimes, clients are advised not to worry about people challenging municipalities over the frequent abuse of RTKLs and, also, the Sunshine Act.

Sunshine laws mandate transparency and openness in organizations, including business or government.

Some repeat offenders reach a point of abuse that needs to be dealt with by law. Lancaster Township has achieved that notoriety.

The township recently admitted to a series of meetings to appease people complaining that it failed to post them as required by the Sunshine Act after legal invoices were surrendered through an appeal before the Office of Open Records (OOR). But more bothersome is the cavalier attitude with which they tossed out more than $18,000 of taxpayer money on an employee separation agreement that repeatedly stated the employee did nothing wrong and the township did nothing wrong.

So, after only eight years of service to the township, why was the employee handed a check for more than $18,000 and a promise that the board would never disclose why he was fired, and in exchange he would keep quiet as well? And they put into writing the exact words to be used if anyone ever asked why he was no longer employed by the township.

How does that saying go? I was born at night, but not last night? The Butler Eagle submitted a request under the right-to-know law, but it was promptly refused. So, the next step was to submit an appeal to the OOR.

The OOR issued a final decision that the township must supply the newspaper with all the information as requested. The board members, in complete arrogance, have thumbed their collective noses at the OOR and still have not honored the order.

So, now the Butler Eagle has established a relationship with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. They are a Washington, D.C., organization that takes this kind of case as no-fee pro bono, but can recoup any attorneys’ fees and other costs.

They obviously believe that the case is worthwhile to litigate. They really only are looking for open-records laws to be honored. They believe they will be able to get a full explanation of why the township manager was either forced out or fired, and what made it worth so much money to someone at the township to get him out of the position.

The Butler Eagle made every effort to do this without any cost to the taxpayers of Lancaster Township, but the board of supervisors would not follow the OOR orders.

No matter what it ends up costing the taxpayers financially, the township supervisors have some explaining to do, don’t you think?

And please wear your mask.

— RV