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Judge sharply critical of Gaming Board
By Ed Goppelt
Monday, 01/22/07
(1169518521945)
The 14 Philadelphians arrested last month for attempting to search the offices of the Gaming Board for casino planning documents were found not guilty of disorderly conduct today by a Harrisburg judge. In explaining his decision, District Judge Joseph Solomon took the state agency to task for its lack of openness and unwillingness to serve the public.
Solomon told Paul Mauro, the lone Board employee who testified at the trial, "I can't imagine what documents your agency has up there that require a prior appointment, approval and an escort to get to that information. The only conclusion I can come to is that you're not working for the citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania."
The residents had repeatedly requested and failed to obtain the public records they sought from the Gaming Board. “As citizens of PA we have a right to know what our government is planning,” residents told the Board in this October ultimatum posted on the Casino-Free Philadelphia web site.
Solomon faulted the Board for locating their offices on private property rather than in a state office building. "Whoever had the idea to locate your facilities where they're located made a huge error in judgement," Solomon told Mauro. The Gaming Board offices are in the Verizon tower whose entrance is located in the Strawberry Square mall opposite the Capitol.
At issue during the hour long trial was whether residents were blocking access to and from the offices, thus creating a fire hazard.
Mauro, who earns $84,000 a year as a supervisor with the Gaming Board’s Bureau of Investigations and Enforcement, testified that when protesters “went past the security desk, I notified the Harrisburg police. Building occupants were having trouble entering and leaving the building.”
Protester the Reverend Jesse Brown saw it differently “We saw people go in and out the whole time we were there,” said Brown. As did a young male police officer called to testify: “people came and went.” The officer went on to describe the protesting residents as peaceful and cooperative.
Also at issue was whether residents had a legitimate purpose for being in a private building that also houses state offices.
Brown said residents were attempting to obtain access to records they had every right to see. Mauro described what he saw that day at the Verizon tower this way: ”Two young white males were reading statements, yelling.”
Brown: “The purpose of going to [the PGCB offices] was “to request documents from the PGCB,” after the group had made multiple requests in writing to the Board. “I asked if we could speak to a Gaming Board official,” said Brown. “I was told by the security person ‘they don’t want you here.’”
The Judge sided with residents. “One of the most basic precepts this country has is the right to redress grievances. A legitimate request was made for information from a government agency, the people’s government. With the exception of several agencies on the federal level…everything else either is or should be wide open to any member of the public.”
Defense attorney Sam Stretton asked Mauro which Gaming Board official had denied the protesters access to the Board’s offices. Deflecting the question Mauro said “I’m not head of security. I’m a supervisor.”
Solomon, whose district includes the downtown offices of the Gaming Board, has had to deal with the Board before. Three Board employees have passed through his court room as criminal defendants since November 2005:
“I would agree with anybody who says there’s something wrong here,” said Solomon of the Board. “You should not have these things in a free and open society…” Had residents’ request for information been honored “there probably wouldn’t have been any reason for any of the individuals to travel to Harrisburg on the day in question and act in the manner they did.”
Hallwatch asked Gaming Board spokesman Doug Harbach three times and chairman Tad Decker, and Chief Legal Counsel Frank Donaghue once each to comment on Solomon’s criticisms of the Board. They did not respond.
Webmaster's note: neither the Inquirer, which maintains a 3 man bureau in Harrisburg, or the Daily News with one columnist stationed in Harrisburg covered the trial.