The (Towanda) Daily Review, Oct. 5

Coalition offers needed boost to open records

Gaining access to public records is not just a problem for the press. It concerns every taxpayer.

A new group in Pennsylvania is pushing to make sure all citizens have better access to both local and state government records and meetings. "Basically, we're working to be a citizen's resource," said Kim de Bourbon, executive director of the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition.

The group's main means of creating that resource for now is its Web site at www.openrecordspa.org, which includes public forums where citizens can post questions and get answers on their rights to public records. There are also pages for news, a citizen's guide to open records and open meetings law and information on how to contribute to the non-profit organization, but all resources to citizens are free.

De Bourbon, herself an editor for 10 years with the Pocono Record in Stroudsburg, knows the importance of open records and open meetings to the public's right to know.

The group had its official launch in April to coincide with "Sunshine Week," which celebrates the importance of public access to government although much behind-the- scenes organizing was taking place throughout 2006.

A board of directors is filled mostly with "media-types" and media lawyers but an increasing effort will be made to distance the group from its purely media roots and build more citizen involvement as time goes on.

For newspapers, a call to the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association can bring ready access to information on the rights of the press to records ranging from local police reports to documents from Harrisburg. We must also be vigilant in helping the general public in accessing public records and understanding their rights under is somewhat more complicated, but no less important.

In a quote included on a flier for de Bourbon's new organization, Thomas Jefferson once observed "A democratic society depends upon an informed and educated citizenry." It is high time for a group like de Bourbon's that provides resources to the general public about their rights to access government records and information.

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