State Sides With Hatboro Councilman in Open Records Request

Hatboro Borough Councilman John Zygmont has been waiting for a tape of the April 11 committee meeting for almost two months.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Zygmont, a Republican on the Democrat-controlled council, was still waiting, but had an assurance that a tape would be in hand by early July.

According to an electronic file that Zygmont disseminated Wednesday, the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records determined that the borough did not comply with the Right to Know Law in “timely responding” to Zygmont’s April 13 request for a copy of the meeting tape. In the four-page determination letter, dated June 6, the state office granted Zygmont’s appeal and ruled that the meeting tapes should be made available to him within 30 days.

“Based upon the Borough’s failure to comply with the statutory requirements of the (Right to Know Law) or provide any evidence supporting an exemption from disclosure, the (Office of Open Records) finds that the Borough did not overcome the presumption of openness,” the letter states. 

Zygmont, who received a confirmation e-mail a day after his initial request was emailed to a borough employee on April 13, said the tape should have been turned over long ago.

“If the public can get it in five days, a councilperson ought to be able to get it in five days also,” Zygmont said, referring to the law, which requires open records officers – in this case interim borough manager Bill McCauley – to provide a response within five days of receipt. “It should never have been that long.”

When reached for comment on Wednesday, McCauley first said he "didn't know about" Zygmont's request and then said he "wasn't going to take any action" while the open records appeal was ongoing.  

In a May 2 e-mail to Zygmont, as well as the rest of council, McCauley said he was “mystified” as to why a member of council would even have to file an open records request.

“Had you simply called or emailed me as the Interim Borough Manager and Secretary, I would provide you with any record that you are entitled to receive without (having) to fill out the Standard Right-to-Know Request Form,” McCauley wrote. “If a member of Borough Council makes a request of something from me and has a right to receive the record, I will provide it to all seven members of Council.”

Zygmont had e-mailed his request to a borough employee, who McCauley, in his e-mail described as “subordinate.”

When asked Wednesday why he didn’t reach out to McCauley directly, Zygmont said, “It’s not my job to be trailing him around.” McCauley, as interim manager, does not work full-time as did his predecessor, Tommy Ryan.

“Bill McCauley is not in the office 75 percent of the time the office is open,” Zygmont said.

Still, the request should have been made to McCauley, Hatboro Council President Marianne Reymer said. 

"He’s the officer," Reymer said of McCauley. "No one does it in his absence."

According to the state’s determination letter, McCauley had argued that Zygmont should not have made the open records request as a member of council. The letter also said that, according to McCauley, Zygmont did not file the appropriate form, or submit his request to the appropriate person, namely McCauley. 

However, the state, in its determination, said Zygmont’s position as a borough councilman does not “preclude him from seeking records.” It also said that the borough failed to submit evidence of a form being required for open records requests and noted that the “statute requires requests be forwarded to the (open records officer).”

Reymer said it was a “waste of time and resources” from the borough to the state level. 

“Why didn’t (Zygmont) come in borough hall and sit down and listen to the tape?” Reymer asked. “How important was the information on the tape that he went through this process for two months? It’s not even what’s on that tape anymore, it’s what John thinks is the principle of the matter.”

Zygmont claims that meeting minutes absent of “enough clarity,” coupled with “numerous requests” he made verbally for other borough information – which he claims went unanswered - spurred him to file the open records request in the first place.

“I have had it with not getting information. That’s why you end up with open records requests instead of a phone call,” Zygmont said. “Be on notice that when we ask for information - any of us up there - we should get it and not be ignored.”