Lower Burrell says recent Right-to-Know requests are excessive and 'vexatious' - TribLIVE

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Lower Burrell plans to send a cease-and-desist letter to a Plum man whose Right-to-Know Law requests have, officials claim, become excessive and “vexatious.”

Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law entitles the public and media to secure most records from public agencies in the state within five days of a request.

Dave Bayne, 73, said he has sent 27 Right-to-Know requests to Lower Burrell over the past three months.

Among other things, he said he has been asking for pages from the police procedure manual. Additionally, Bayne has photographed some city public works employees and requested that the city identify them.

City Solicitor Steve Yakopec said Bayne’s requests have been excessive and “vexatious,” a term used in a recent related lawsuit meaning intending to cause annoyance.

“His Right-to-Know requests have led to disruption of administrative functions in the city,” he said.

During a council meeting this week, officials expressed their frustration with the amount of time and expertise to satisfy Bayne’s requests. Yakopec plans to send a cease-and-desist letter to Bayne.

“What we are saying is, please let’s try to agree on a reasonable number of requests a month,” Yakopec said. “We’re not going to shut him out completely, the law won’t let us.”

It’s not just the volume of the requests but the nature of the information and documents, some of which is copyrighted and needs staff expertise and at times, a legal review, he said.

Bayne, a self-described constitutionalist, doesn’t think his requests are excessive.

“It’s my constitutional right to know public information, and that public information is unlimited,” Bayne said.

The state’s Right-to-Know Law has limitations for requesters, including public agencies dealing with “repeated burdensome requests,” said Erik Arneson, executive director of Pennsylvania’s Office of Open Records.

In 2018, a Dauphin County Court case resulted in a deal for a resident to use Right-to-Know requests on a limited basis after a township took legal action after incurring $85,000 in expenses to process the resident’s records requests, Arneson and Yakopec pointed out.

There is pending legislation to better settle these types of disputes, Arneson said, although there aren’t that many vexatious Right-to-Know requests.

Why is Bayne seeking the records? He said he wants to know how police handled the fatal shooting of an Upper Burrell man, Mark Morgan, in New Kensington in September. The Westmoreland County district attorney ruled the shooting was justified.

Bayne said he has already secured Arnold’s and New Kensington’s police manuals without issues. Officials from Arnold and New Kensington could not be reached to verify his claim.

When Bayne requested Lower Burrell’s police manual, which he said is about 265 pages, Bayne said the city denied the request because it was non-specific and vague.

“I am asking for every page individually, because I think it meets the city’s criteria for being specific,” Bayne said.

He is also requesting the identities of two city workers and, according to city officials, the salaries of those employees. Salary information is public.

“I was in (the city hall) parking lot videoing cars coming up and down the street and two guys come out of the public works building, one accosted me asking me what I was doing,” Bayne said.

Bayne said one of the workers was breaking pandemic mask requirements.

“He got right in my face and stayed in a public parking lot. He walked up to me in a threatening manner. I want to know who these two people are,” Bayne said.

Identification of employees in photos submitted to the city might not be covered by the Right-to-Know Law, Arneson said.

“For both sides, when requesters and agencies use common sense and are polite, everything goes smoothly,” he said. “When they get overaggressive in filing requests or response to requests, that’s when problems arise.”

Mary Ann Thomas is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Mary at 724-226-4691, mthomas@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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