Tenelle's Open Records experience

During the completion of this assignment, I discovered that Pennsylvania ranks 47 in the Better Government Associations 2002 survey of the state open records law. The states ranking below PA are Alabama and Montana and the states with the same ranking are Alaska and South Dakota.

My state legislators are Senator Don White and Representative Dave Reed. When searching the list of legislators that have signed on in support of the law, I couldn't find either of them. After emailing both, I found out that Don White signed on in support on February 12, 2008. Dave Reed also responded by saying that he does support of the law. After going through the list again, I did find Dave Reed on it, which I obviously missed the first time. It was very easy to contact both White and Reed and both were very quick to respond. A lady named Marci Bowers responded to my emails to White and she was very helpful and friendly. She told me that if they (Don Whites office) could be of any assistance in the future, to not hesitate to contact them.

For the open records request, I requested the contract of IUP's president, Dr. Tony Atwater. Michelle Fryling is the open records officer and she provides a form online that must be filled out in order for request to be filed. I sent that form, along with a separate letter to her office on March 31. On April 16, I decided to email her to confirm that she received my request. She emailed me the next day and said that she had not received it. When I told her that I needed the information for a class, she told me to send the form via email. I sent the form and received notice within a few days that the contract would be available for pick up on April 22.