06/12/06 Gaming Board must get serious about providing public information (Ed Goppelt)

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Gaming Board must get serious about providing public information
By Ed Goppelt Monday, 06/12/06 (1150127748860)

"Until I dealt with the Gaming Board, I've never had a problem obtaining a transcript of a public hearing held nearly two months in the past." So begins a letter by Hallwatch webmaster Ed Goppelt to Gaming Board Chairman Tad Decker and his colleagues on the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.

Since its creation the Gaming Board has consistently failed to provide the public with the information they need and which their tax dollars have paid for. True, the Board did release the local impact reports back in March. But the local impact reports are just one of 41 documents the Board has on file for each would-be casino. To date, the Gaming Board has not released 40 other appendices--or 98% of the supporting documents casino applicants filed with the Board in December.

Among the excuses the Board has offered for delaying or denying access to public records:

Due to the volume of documents it received from casino applicants five months ago, the Board has been unable to screen out confidential information, leaving it with no choice but to indefinitely deny access to most of the documents.
No transcript for an individual public input hearing can be released until the entire record for all the hearings is complete.
Only Pennsylvania residents may look at the Board's records.

The 40 unreleased appendices span everything from an applicants' finances to its record of meeting obligations to communities and local governments to its criminal history and site plans. For a full description of the appendices and what they contain, see the Application for a Casino Operator's License.

Letter to Gaming Board Chair Tad Decker

June 9, 2006

Dear Mr. Decker:

Until I dealt with the Gaming Board, I’ve never had a problem obtaining a transcript of a public hearing held nearly two months in the past. The Gaming Board’s Communications Office recently denied Hallwatch’s request for a transcript of the hearings held April 10-12 in Philadelphia.

The Clerk of the Board told me that the transcripts I sought were ready, but that I must go through the Communications Office to get them. "When the record is complete it will be available for you to review," stated Communications Director Nicholas Hays. Why must I wait for Board staff to compile unrelated information when the Clerk already has the transcript I want? Why is the Communications Office telling the Clerk what to do?

If the Board truly intends to license all 14 casinos by the middle of December, it must get serious about its duty to provide public information. I urge you to make the Board’s current evidentiary record public immediately. Specifically I ask that you ensure that:

The Clerk of the Board is independent of the Communications Office and that it faithfully carries out its duty to provide public information to anyone.
The Clerk of the Board make routine documents such as transcripts available to the public within a week of their receipt.
The Clerk of the Board operate a public records room where members of the public can review the public files and docket kept by the Board during business hours.

The Board's continuing duty to include the public in its decisions did not end with its public input hearings. The public must be given the chance to see and debate the official record before all the important decisions have been made.

Sincerely,

Edmund Goppelt

More information

Read related story about the Gaming Board's delaying and denying access to public records.