"All minutes, records and books must be open to public inspection by any taxpayer at any reasonable time."  - Page 19, Pennsylvania Borough Council Handbook

What I want to know is, what does the Spring City Borough Council consider to be a "reasonable" time? The newer of the Borough's two websites, has yet to post the minutes from December 2012, and it's now 77 days later. Would you consider 77+ days "reasonable"? At least the older of the two Borough websites has December 2012 and January 2013 minutes, although it appears that the January minutes have yet to be corrected as requested during the February meeting (however I know that is not something within the webmaster's control). Further, I have already had to submit 1 Right-To-Know (RTK) request for past minutes that were YEARS late because they were not available on either the old or new websites. Am I seriously going to have to start filing a RTK request just to make sure I have access to the most recent minutes? How are Spring City Borough residents expected to participate in the civic engagement process when they are not being kept up to date with the current issues on the Council's collective plate? Not everyone can attend the monthly Council meetings (which are on the first Monday of every month at 7:30 p.m.) and not everyone has the time to submit an RTK for Council minutes because a lot of us work full-time and are parents! Up until a couple months ago, I had not been able to attend Council meetings because I work full-time and my husband's employer required him to work later hours and I didn't have anyone to babysit my 4-year-old on a weeknight. Luckily for me, my husband's schedule has changed, but there are many residents who won't have the ability to attend meetings for a variety of legitimate reasons. 

Continue reading at my blog