A handful of Beaver Countians who have each filed dozens of open records requests, some seeking hundreds of separate records, could lead state lawmakers to put limits on Pennsylvania’s government transparency law.
County and municipal governments say they have been overwhelmed by the requests. Routine government work has been delayed, and so have journalists trying to report on public business. One municipal secretary in the county recently quit after being inundated by records requests.
Now an attorney whose firm represents many of the county’s local governments is asking state lawmakers for legislation to help stem the tide.
“This is straining our local governments and it has to stop,” attorney Garen Fedeles wrote in an Oct. 9 email to state Reps. Josh Kail, Roman Kozak and Robert Matzie and state Sen. Elder Vogel.
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