MTLSD appeals PA Office of Open Records' Final Determination

On April 17, 2018, Josephine Posti submitted a Right To Know to the school district, asking for "all electronic communications, including text messages, between and among school directors between December 2017 and March 2018 regarding support for or against the District's capital campaign or its rebranded effort titled "Lebo Gives."

The District partially denied Josephine Posti's request, so Josephine appealed to the PA Office of Open Records.

On August 24, 2018, the OOR issued a Final Determination. Posti's appeal was denied in part and granted in part.

MTLSD wants the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas to reverse the OOR Final Determination for the following reason:

Electronic communications sent among less than a quorum of the District's school board members on their personal devices and accounts are not records of the District.

I wish I could download the document. Here is the link to the petition.
https://dcr.alleghenycounty.us/Civil/CaseSearchByCaseNumber.aspx?CasID=SA-18-000773

Where were you, PG Editorial Board, when Mt. Lebanon mocked the PA Office of Open Records? UPDATED

Cabal of silence: Mocking open-records standards in Amazon bid

My reply is below. Stand by for the PG haters to comment.

Elaine Gillen

Where were you when Mt. Lebanon mocked the PA Office of Open Records? Your "Outdoor Editor" didn't see it as mocking. In its appeal to Common Pleas Court, Mt. Lebanon "had the temerity to argue" that Mt. Lebanon residents donated their properties for killing deer, when the PA Office of Open Records determined that no property was donated, but granted access to their properties. It sucks when it happens to you, doesn't it?

Update February 28, 2018 6:21 PM Will Gov. Wolf mock the PA Office of Open Records too?
Metcalfe Declares Major Victory for Election Integrity and Maximum Transparency

Called it.

By Lian Bunny and Stacey Federoff  –  Pittsburgh Business Times

Feb 23, 2018, 4:58pm EST Updated Feb 23, 2018, 6:21pm

The City of Pittsburgh appealed today the Pennsylvania’s Office of Open Records decision that ordered the city to release its Amazon HQ2 bid to the public, according to a statement released by the Allegheny Conference on Community Development.

The city had until today to reveal the details or appeal the decision to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas.

If Pittsburgh is anything like Mt. Lebanon, they will laugh in the face of the PA Office of Open Records

If Pittsburgh is anything like Mt. Lebanon, they will laugh in the face of the PA Office of Open Records

Pittsburgh Tried to Hide Its Amazon Proposal by Claiming It Was a "Trade Secret"

Here is the Final Determination from the PA Office of Open Records

http://www.openrecords.pa.gov/Documents/FinalDet/31530.pdf

Fortunately, Pittsburgh's claim was laughed out of the state's Office of Open Records yesterday. The city now has 30 days to turn over a copy of the proposal to Paul Van Osdol, a journalist at the Pittsburgh-based WTAE-TV.

Mt. Lebanon's claim that property was donated for the use of killing deer was laughed out of the state's Office of Open Records too. They said that no land ownership was donated and that the private property owners only granted access.


Kyle Applegate, Esq. was the appeals officer for my appeal too. He ruled in my favor, as well. WTAE, you didn't win the battle. If the City of Pittsburgh is anything like Mt. Lebanon, they will appeal to the Court of Common Pleas. Then it can go to Commonwealth Court and then heard in PA Supreme Court, if they will take the case. By then, Amazon will have chosen their site for HQ2.

Osdol submitted the initial requests for the proposal way back on October 19, shortly after Amazon published a list of locales that submitted bids for the headquarters. Under state law, public entities have five business days to respond to a request, but they can give themselves a 30-day extension for a variety of reasons. In this case, Pittsburgh and Allegheny County waited until November 27 to respond. By the time an appeal to the denial was filed, it was already December 1. The city and county dragged out that appeal for another month.

By the time the 30-day deadline to turn over the proposal to Osdol is over, it's possible Amazon will have made its decision. In the meantime, the public will have been kept in the dark about what Pittsburgh was willing to offer Amazon during a crucial four-month period when public opposition might have sunk the deal.

It may not be a trade secret under Pennsylvania state law, but crony capitalism is certainly a trade full of secrets.

Without a trace

I had appealed the Right To Know to the PA Office of Open Records:

All records, including but not limited to emails, texts, and interoffice memos related to modifying the job posting dates for Middle School Social Studies Teacher-8 th Grade US History – Contract 2016-2017 JobID: 471. Dates modified include: Date Posted & Closing Date….

The Mt. Lebanon School District submitted their Position Statement and Affidavits from Dr. Timothy Steinhauer and Cindy Higgins.

The PA Office of Open Records just emailed MTLSD, Tucker Arensberg, and me with their Final Determination of my appeal. Evidently, the affidavit from Timmy where he attests that there are no other records is good enough.

Somehow, the job posting was changed nine months after Andrew Cappucci was hired, WITHOUT A TRACE. Kudos, Timmy.

School board directors, just an FYI. You can terminate Timmy with cause when he commits perjury. Just sayin'.