***FACT CHECK*** Tom Wolf’s Lack Of Transparency

On January 22nd, barely 48 hours into his term of office, Governor Wolf announced that he was firing Arneson as the head of the Office of Open Records. (Jan Murphy, “Gov. Tom Wolf removes recently appointed Corbett-appointee as head of state’s Office of Open Records,” Harrisburg Patriot-News, 1/22/2015)

Soon after the firing, Editorial Boards across the state took up Arneson’s defense.

On June 10th, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled that Wolf had overstepped his bounds. (Charles Thompson, “Pa. Commonwealth Court orders ousted Open Records director restored to office; Gov. Tom Wolf vows appeal,” Harrisburg Patriot-News, 6/10/2015)

On October 27th, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court put an end to the saga, ruling 3-1 that Wolf had overstepped his bounds. (Jan Murphy, “State Supreme Court ruling is win for Arneson, loss for Wolf,” Harrisburg Patriot-News, 10/27/2015)

  • The Wolf Administration looked “more than a little tin-eared” in the Arneson case. “When you run for governor on a pledge to restore integrity and transparency to state government, and one of your first actions is to whack the guy whose job is just that, well, it makes you look more than a little tin-eared.” (John Micek, “The Supreme Court made the right call on Open Records Office case,” Harrisburg Patriot-News, 10/27/2015)

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