Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Sept. 2

State public-records gatekeeper to err on side of openness

By David Spett
Of the Tribune-Review

The director of the new state Office of Open Records is criticizing parts of the law that created her department.

Terry Mutchler, a former Associated Press reporter overseeing the office that will handle appeals under the Right to Know Law, said she does not support sections of the law that set lower standards of openness for the Legislature than for other government agencies.

"Down the road I will advocate for a different procedure there," said Mutchler, 42.

She called the law's changes "fundamental," but said in an interview she realizes that most people do not know what to make of her, because of her transition from being a reporter to becoming a lawyer and now, a government bureaucrat.

"People do not come at this convinced that this is really going to work in Pennsylvania," she said.

Mutchler is outspoken, waxing tough about the need for more open state government.

She said Pennsylvanians "have been starved of public information for a long time," a problem she pledges to improve when most provisions of the law take effect in January. Her position pays $120,000 a year.

"At the end of the day, we hope to open government in a way that it has not been opened before in Pennsylvania," she said. "My goal is to ... pry loose a lot of records that wouldn't have gotten loose."

Watchdogs and government agencies alike will be watching to see if she keeps her word.

"The things she does are going to affect how local, as well as state, governments relate to citizens everywhere," said Tim Potts, co-founder of DemocracyRisingPA, a state government watchdog group.

Mutchler's staff of about 10 will receive appeals from activists, journalists, public officials and others who believe they have been wrongly denied access to government records.

The law grants her office authority to review whether such denials are improper and, if deemed so, to order agencies to reverse decisions. Previously, state and local offices policed themselves, though rulings could be appealed in courts.

The law reverses the burden of proof, requiring government to show it has a valid reason not to release records instead of requiring citizens to show they deserve them.

Potts said Mutchler faces "a tough, tough job." He wondered whether her office could make fair decisions, given its placement under the Department of Community and Economic Development, which has faced criticism for not releasing records about so-called WAMs, or walking-around money, given to legislators to distribute for projects in their districts.

Mutchler considers her office independent and pledged that her decisions will be made independently.

"I'm an independent agency, and I fully intend to employ that as deeply and as right to the line as I can," she said. "If there's an area that could go either way, we're coming down on the side of openness."

Mutchler graduated from Penn State University, worked as a reporter for The (Allentown) Morning Call and, later, for The Associated Press in the Capitol. The AP transferred her to Atlantic City, N.J., Springfield, Ill., and Alaska.

While in Springfield, she served as campaign manager for the late state Sen. Penny Severns, who died of breast cancer in 1998.

Mutchler later returned to Illinois, where she served as public access counselor for the state attorney general, a role she said was similar to her position in Pennsylvania.

[BACK TO HEADLINES & DEADLINES HOME PAGE]