Pennsbury Schools Campbell protests $1,074.15 open records charge
Posted: Wednesday, July 31, 2013 5:30 pm | Updated: 6:38 pm, Wed Jul 31, 2013. By Joan Hellyer Staff Writer
Pennsbury school board member Simon Campbell is appealing to the state to overturn a $1,074.15 bill he received from the Bucks County’s Office of Open Records.
The charge is for the Excel spreadsheet Campbell requested. It lists the assessment records of the 11,935 residential properties in Tullytown and Falls. He asked that the spreadsheet show various data, including each property owner’s name, address and the assessed property value.
Staff members in the open records office billed Campbell nine cents for each property listed, but didn't tell him they were doing so until after they did the work. The school board member, who's president of stopteacherstrikes.org and a frequent seeker of public records, said Wednesday that the county staffers should have let him know about the charges ahead of time.
He pointed to Section 1307(h) of the state’s open records law, which says an agency “may require a requester to prepay an estimate of the fees” if the request is expected to cost more than $100 to fulfill.
“The issue is simple. If a government agency does not seek prepayment, i.e. does not tell a requester up front that the cost will be more than $100, then I am arguing that the government has waived a right to collect more than $100,” Campbell said. “I am arguing that Section 1307(h) serves to protect both the agency and the requester, not just the agency.”
Campbell declined Wednesday to say what he plans to do with the property assessment information about two of the four municipalities served by the school district.
He said that right is also protected by the state's open records law, referring to the fact that the state open records law doesn't require those requesting records to tell open records offices why they want them.
County officials declined comment until the state’s open records office weighs in, said Christopher T. Edwards, director of the county public information office. “Any other comment at this time would be premature,” he said.
The newspaper was unsuccessful Wednesday in its attempts to reach officials with the state’s Office of Open Records for comment about the case.
(h) Prepayment.--Prior to granting a request for access in accordance with this act, an agency may require a requester to prepay an estimate of the fees authorized under this section if the fees required to fulfill the request are expected to exceed $100.
You don't need to graduate from Harvard Law School and pass the bar to see that the operative word is "may". The agency "may" require prepayment. It does not say the agency "must" or "shall" require prepayment. It says absolutely nothing about requiring an agency to tell you in advance that it may cost more than $100. His argument is so inane and unfounded that it just might work in this upside down society. This frivolousness will undoubtedly cost many times more than $1,074.15 to resolve at taxpayer expense. The good news for Morrisville is that this is Pennsbury.
He asked for detailed records on almost 12,000 properties. If you requested this info from a firm in the business world he proudly inhabits, I venture to say it would have cost him $5,000 or $10,000, or more, easily. Recent college grads in the firm would be charged out at upwards of $100/hr to work on it.
Expects to be recognized as superior and special, without superior accomplishments Expects constant attention, admiration and positive reinforcement from others Envies others and believes others envy him/her Is preoccupied with thoughts and fantasies of great success, enormous attractiveness, power, intelligence Lacks the ability to empathize with the feelings or desires of others Is arrogant in attitudes and behavior Has expectations of special treatment that are unrealistic
Per the Mayo Clinic, narcissistic personality disorder is characterized by dramatic, emotional behavior, which is in the same category as antisocial and borderline personality disorders.[7]
Narcissistic personality disorder symptoms may include:
Believing that you're better than others Fantasizing about power, success and attractiveness Exaggerating your achievements or talents Expecting constant praise and admiration Believing that you're special and acting accordingly Failing to recognize other people's emotions and feelings Expecting others to go along with your ideas and plans Taking advantage of others Expressing disdain for those you feel are inferior Being jealous of others Believing that others are jealous of you Trouble keeping healthy relationships Setting unrealistic goals Being easily hurt and rejected Having a fragile self-esteem Appearing as tough-minded or unemotional
Independentvoter2 posted at 9:05 pm on Wed, Jul 31, 2013.
Posts: 824
If you are going to continue to waste the taxpayers time, then you should be forced to foot the bill. Just because they didn't request prepayment doesn't mean they have forfeited their right to charge you. In Simon's world he not only gets to make up the rules, he gets to change them when they don't work for him.
I just hope the people of Pennsbury rid themselves of this parasite in the next election. His attempts to rid Pennsbury of their teacher's union failed miserably and now they have a new contract. Since he has achieved nothing in the way of improving schools, what possible good can he serve? Log In to report.
Reply .
Howard Beale posted at 8:22 pm on Wed, Jul 31, 2013.
Posts: 40
Pay up you vindictive STIFF! Why should taxpayers have to pay for this expense.
Simon asked for a custom dataset and was charged 9 cents a record? I would have charged a dollar a record. It sounds like Simon is singing from the SOC "Personal responsibility for everyone else" sheet music
Indeed. Here's another real world example for you:
Landlord = Morrisville School District Tenant = Bucks County Head Start Premises = Manor Park School
B. This Lease may be terminated by the Landlord during any calendar year by giving written notice to Tenant on or before March 31 of any year indicating the Landlord's intention to terminate this Lease. Notice must be sent as per this Lease Agreement in writing by certified mail. In order to terminate this Lease Agreement, LANDLORD MUST PAY TENANT the following
(1) Tenant's actual costs/less depreciation for any fixtures, equipment, improvements and appurtenances attached to or built into the Premises that will remain part of the Premises at the termination of the Lease Agreement;
(2) Forty percent (40%) of all amounts Tenant has paid in rent to Landlord.
Epilogue:
Landlord terminated Lease with Tenant in 2010. However, Landlord did not pay Tenant under (1) and (2) above. After some time had elapsed, Tenant sued Landlord to the tune of $324,000, in round numbers. This represents $309,000 for the monies in (1) and (2) above, and $15,000 for legal expenses. Representatives of Landlord who voted to terminate Lease with Tenant now claim to be victims of Tenant. One representative of Landlord claimed to have seen Tenant moving vans moving stuff into Premises when they were in fact moving stuff out of Premises because, you see, that's what decent Tenants do when Landlords terminate Leases with said Tenants. Stay tuned. Litigation in progress. Meanwhile, Premises sit vacant. Landlord pulled plug on $27,632/yr in rental income from Tenant through 2018.
If you watch the video of the June 26 board business meeting, starting around 1 hr. 32 mins. in, Jack Buckman gets on his high horse about my remarks about this Manor Park lawsuit. Mr. Buckman said he (and Ron Stout and presumably the other 4 board members) voted to terminate the lease because the board didn’t want to sell the Manor Park building to Head Start. He said Head Start would own the building RIGHT NOW FOR ALMOST NOTHING if the board hadn’t backed out of the lease in 2010.
FACTS: Wrong, Jack. Head Start would NOT own the building RIGHT NOW. The district would still own it. The lease ran through 2018 if the board hadn’t terminated it in 2010. The district would have owned the building through 2018. Head Start only would have owned the building come January 1, 2019, but only after paying us some $200,000 more in rent. That’s on top of the $350,000 or so Head Start already paid over the first 12 years of the 20 year lease. What Buckman, Stout, and the other 4 did by terminating the lease early was give up this $200,000 in additional rental income. But, as an added bonus, they blew off the part of the lease that requires the district to pay Head Start back for 40% of the $350,000 in rent it had already paid ($142,000) as well as a portion of the money Head Start made in improvement to the building ($167,000). In essence, they stiffed Head Start, and Head Start sued them (and the district) to the tune of $325,000 (maybe more when all is said and done), in a very winnable lawsuit for Head Start. So, instead of bringing in a total of about $550,000 in rent from Head Start from 1999-2018, and Head Start assuming ownership of a not-so-useful-to-MSD building come 2019, Buckman et al. put us in the position where we could lose almost as much, if not more, money in this lawsuit than we received in rent from Head Start from 1999-2010. But hey, at least we retain ownership of a vacant, not-so-useful-to-us building that we now have to take care of and that apparently would need a sizable investment to bring up to code for a new tenant. And hey, at least Buckman finally gave a public reason why they terminated the lease in 2010.
Its Nice that Morrisvile won State Championship for baseball. The bad news is that most of the kids go to Pennsbury. The Morrisville Little League is the 19067 Zip Code. The League is Pennsbury dominated.
If Morrisville Little League was only made up of Morrisville Borough children, there wouldn't be enough children to play and it would be so small that it wouldn't be able to operate. I think it's wonderful that kids from all over the 19067 zip code work together right here in the borough, that these families come to Morrisville for their kids to play. It's good for the community.
What's sad is that someone would take this exciting news and try to turn it into a downer. Leave the kids out of the petty crap.
Congratulations to everyone involved with Morrisville Little League, (both inside the borough and out) for this win. Morrisville Little League is such a wonderful asset to our town.
We have a dog at our house that belongs to a Morrisville resident.
Our daughter was coming home from work just after 5pm on Saturday, (8/3) and saw a little dog running around. When the dog went into the road, she stopped, got out of her truck and the dog ran to her. So she brought it home. She found the dog on Stockham Ave in Morrisville. The dog is a male Chihuahua. He is tan with some darker coloring that is not quite black. He has a dark line that runs down the back of his neck and the top of his tail also has a darker color. He is wearing a green collar with no tags. He is well behaved, sweet and friendly.
Please take a minute to check out the link for photos. Thanks much - Dave
Thanks to the help of an amazing community, the little dog that spent the night with us is back with his family. Thank you to everyone who helped us find this like guy's home. Take care. - Dave
Today, Dairy Queen is celebrating Miracle Treat Day with even more magic.
Today, Thursday August 8th, 2013, $1 or more* from every Blizzard® Treat purchased at the Morrisville Dairy Queen will be donated to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.
In addition to that, for the second year in a row, your Facebook RSVP to Miracle Treat Day will also be matched with a $1 donation to the cause—up to $50,000. Together we can provide hope and healing to sick children in your community.
27 comments:
I'M CALLIN' THE COPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wanda, I'm repeating your Potluck #83 post here so it gets more airplay.
The 3rd Annual All Years Morrisville High School Reunion is scheduled for October 5th 2013...
Be sure to register at:
http://events.constantcontact.com/register/event?llr=4elrwznab&oeidk=a07e7x8jdswa96890b4
Pennsbury Schools Campbell protests $1,074.15 open records charge
Posted: Wednesday, July 31, 2013 5:30 pm | Updated: 6:38 pm, Wed Jul 31, 2013.
By Joan Hellyer Staff Writer
Pennsbury school board member Simon Campbell is appealing to the state to overturn a $1,074.15 bill he received from the Bucks County’s Office of Open Records.
The charge is for the Excel spreadsheet Campbell requested. It lists the assessment records of the 11,935 residential properties in Tullytown and Falls. He asked that the spreadsheet show various data, including each property owner’s name, address and the assessed property value.
Staff members in the open records office billed Campbell nine cents for each property listed, but didn't tell him they were doing so until after they did the work. The school board member, who's president of stopteacherstrikes.org and a frequent seeker of public records, said Wednesday that the county staffers should have let him know about the charges ahead of time.
He pointed to Section 1307(h) of the state’s open records law, which says an agency “may require a requester to prepay an estimate of the fees” if the request is expected to cost more than $100 to fulfill.
“The issue is simple. If a government agency does not seek prepayment, i.e. does not tell a requester up front that the cost will be more than $100, then I am arguing that the government has waived a right to collect more than $100,” Campbell said. “I am arguing that Section 1307(h) serves to protect both the agency and the requester, not just the agency.”
Campbell declined Wednesday to say what he plans to do with the property assessment information about two of the four municipalities served by the school district.
He said that right is also protected by the state's open records law, referring to the fact that the state open records law doesn't require those requesting records to tell open records offices why they want them.
County officials declined comment until the state’s open records office weighs in, said Christopher T. Edwards, director of the county public information office. “Any other comment at this time would be premature,” he said.
The newspaper was unsuccessful Wednesday in its attempts to reach officials with the state’s Office of Open Records for comment about the case.
Here's the relevant excerpt from the statute:
65 P.S. §67.1307. Fee limitations
(h) Prepayment.--Prior to granting a request for access in accordance with this act, an agency may require a requester to prepay an estimate of the fees authorized under this section if the fees required to fulfill the request are expected to exceed $100.
You don't need to graduate from Harvard Law School and pass the bar to see that the operative word is "may". The agency "may" require prepayment. It does not say the agency "must" or "shall" require prepayment. It says absolutely nothing about requiring an agency to tell you in advance that it may cost more than $100. His argument is so inane and unfounded that it just might work in this upside down society. This frivolousness will undoubtedly cost many times more than $1,074.15 to resolve at taxpayer expense. The good news for Morrisville is that this is Pennsbury.
He asked for detailed records on almost 12,000 properties. If you requested this info from a firm in the business world he proudly inhabits, I venture to say it would have cost him $5,000 or $10,000, or more, easily. Recent college grads in the firm would be charged out at upwards of $100/hr to work on it.
Narcissistic personality disorder
Expects to be recognized as superior and special, without superior accomplishments
Expects constant attention, admiration and positive reinforcement from others
Envies others and believes others envy him/her
Is preoccupied with thoughts and fantasies of great success, enormous attractiveness, power, intelligence
Lacks the ability to empathize with the feelings or desires of others
Is arrogant in attitudes and behavior
Has expectations of special treatment that are unrealistic
Per the Mayo Clinic, narcissistic personality disorder is characterized by dramatic, emotional behavior, which is in the same category as antisocial and borderline personality disorders.[7]
Narcissistic personality disorder symptoms may include:
Believing that you're better than others
Fantasizing about power, success and attractiveness
Exaggerating your achievements or talents
Expecting constant praise and admiration
Believing that you're special and acting accordingly
Failing to recognize other people's emotions and feelings
Expecting others to go along with your ideas and plans
Taking advantage of others
Expressing disdain for those you feel are inferior
Being jealous of others
Believing that others are jealous of you
Trouble keeping healthy relationships
Setting unrealistic goals
Being easily hurt and rejected
Having a fragile self-esteem
Appearing as tough-minded or unemotional
2 comments:
Independentvoter2 posted at 9:05 pm on Wed, Jul 31, 2013.
Posts: 824
If you are going to continue to waste the taxpayers time, then you should be forced to foot the bill. Just because they didn't request prepayment doesn't mean they have forfeited their right to charge you. In Simon's world he not only gets to make up the rules, he gets to change them when they don't work for him.
I just hope the people of Pennsbury rid themselves of this parasite in the next election. His attempts to rid Pennsbury of their teacher's union failed miserably and now they have a new contract. Since he has achieved nothing in the way of improving schools, what possible good can he serve?
Log In to report.
Reply
.
Howard Beale posted at 8:22 pm on Wed, Jul 31, 2013.
Posts: 40
Pay up you vindictive STIFF! Why should taxpayers have to pay for this expense.
Simon asked for a custom dataset and was charged 9 cents a record? I would have charged a dollar a record. It sounds like Simon is singing from the SOC "Personal responsibility for everyone else" sheet music
Indeed. Here's another real world example for you:
Landlord = Morrisville School District
Tenant = Bucks County Head Start
Premises = Manor Park School
B. This Lease may be terminated by the Landlord during any
calendar year by giving written notice to Tenant on or before March 31 of any year indicating the Landlord's intention to
terminate this Lease. Notice must be sent as per this Lease
Agreement in writing by certified mail. In order to terminate
this Lease Agreement, LANDLORD MUST PAY TENANT the following
(1) Tenant's actual costs/less depreciation for any fixtures, equipment, improvements and appurtenances attached to or built into the Premises that will remain part of the Premises at the termination of the Lease Agreement;
(2) Forty percent (40%) of all amounts Tenant has paid in
rent to Landlord.
Epilogue:
Landlord terminated Lease with Tenant in 2010. However, Landlord did not pay Tenant under (1) and (2) above. After some time had elapsed, Tenant sued Landlord to the tune of $324,000, in round numbers. This represents $309,000 for the monies in (1) and (2) above, and $15,000 for legal expenses. Representatives of Landlord who voted to terminate Lease with Tenant now claim to be victims of Tenant. One representative of Landlord claimed to have seen Tenant moving vans moving stuff into Premises when they were in fact moving stuff out of Premises because, you see, that's what decent Tenants do when Landlords terminate Leases with said Tenants. Stay tuned. Litigation in progress. Meanwhile, Premises sit vacant. Landlord pulled plug on $27,632/yr in rental income from Tenant through 2018.
Who voted for this? Let me guess, SOC?
Yes. The YES votes to terminate Manor Park lease:
Ron Stout
Bill Hellmann (C.P.A.)
Marlys Mihok
Al Radosti
Jack Buckman
John DeWilde
$324K divides nicely into 6. $54K each.
Don't forget to add the Attorney's fee.
Will they be able to find Marlys? She doesn't give out her address.
The Twilight Zone has an address?
If you watch the video of the June 26 board business meeting, starting around 1 hr. 32 mins. in, Jack Buckman gets on his high horse about my remarks about this Manor Park lawsuit.
Mr. Buckman said he (and Ron Stout and presumably the other 4 board members) voted to terminate the lease because the board didn’t want to sell the Manor Park building to Head Start. He said Head Start would own the building RIGHT NOW FOR ALMOST NOTHING if the board hadn’t backed out of the lease in 2010.
FACTS:
Wrong, Jack. Head Start would NOT own the building RIGHT NOW. The district would still own it. The lease ran through 2018 if the board hadn’t terminated it in 2010. The district would have owned the building through 2018. Head Start only would have owned the building come January 1, 2019, but only after paying us some $200,000 more in rent. That’s on top of the $350,000 or so Head Start already paid over the first 12 years of the 20 year lease.
What Buckman, Stout, and the other 4 did by terminating the lease early was give up this $200,000 in additional rental income. But, as an added bonus, they blew off the part of the lease that requires the district to pay Head Start back for 40% of the $350,000 in rent it had already paid ($142,000) as well as a portion of the money Head Start made in improvement to the building ($167,000).
In essence, they stiffed Head Start, and Head Start sued them (and the district) to the tune of $325,000 (maybe more when all is said and done), in a very winnable lawsuit for Head Start.
So, instead of bringing in a total of about $550,000 in rent from Head Start from 1999-2018, and Head Start assuming ownership of a not-so-useful-to-MSD building come 2019, Buckman et al. put us in the position where we could lose almost as much, if not more, money in this lawsuit than we received in rent from Head Start from 1999-2010.
But hey, at least we retain ownership of a vacant, not-so-useful-to-us building that we now have to take care of and that apparently would need a sizable investment to bring up to code for a new tenant. And hey, at least Buckman finally gave a public reason why they terminated the lease in 2010.
I readily welcome opposing viewpoints that are fact-based. Just because you say something loudly and indignantly doesn't make it true or sensical.
"Just because you say something loudly and indignantly doesn't make it true or sensical."
Jon, unfortunately that's what passes for debate with the SOC type halfwits. Thank you for bring some facts and discussion to the table.
Is Mr Buckman up for renewal?
Morrisville Boys win State Championship,
See article!
http://www.phillyburbs.com/sports/baseball/thursday-s-highlights-morrisville--year-olds-win-state-baseball/article_ad879c3c-9f55-5a50-bc91-3f9f1e90e047.html
Yea Morrisville!!!!!!!!!
That's great news! The other great news is that Buckman's term is up this year and he's NOT running!
Its Nice that Morrisvile won State Championship for baseball. The bad news is that most of the kids go to Pennsbury. The Morrisville Little League is the 19067 Zip Code. The League is Pennsbury dominated.
If Morrisville Little League was only made up of Morrisville Borough children, there wouldn't be enough children to play and it would be so small that it wouldn't be able to operate. I think it's wonderful that kids from all over the 19067 zip code work together right here in the borough, that these families come to Morrisville for their kids to play. It's good for the community.
What's sad is that someone would take this exciting news and try to turn it into a downer. Leave the kids out of the petty crap.
Congratulations to everyone involved with Morrisville Little League, (both inside the borough and out) for this win. Morrisville Little League is such a wonderful asset to our town.
IS THIS YOUR DOG? DO YOU KNOW THIS DOG?
We have a dog at our house that belongs to a Morrisville resident.
Our daughter was coming home from work just after 5pm on Saturday, (8/3) and saw a little dog running around. When the dog went into the road, she stopped, got out of her truck and the dog ran to her. So she brought it home. She found the dog on Stockham Ave in Morrisville. The dog is a male Chihuahua. He is tan with some darker coloring that is not quite black. He has a dark line that runs down the back of his neck and the top of his tail also has a darker color. He is wearing a green collar with no tags. He is well behaved, sweet and friendly.
Please take a minute to check out the link for photos.
Thanks much
- Dave
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.547329808635484.1073741851.156974577671011&type=1
***LOST Chihuahua UPDATE***
Thanks to the help of an amazing community, the little dog that spent the night with us is back with his family. Thank you to everyone who helped us find this like guy's home.
Take care.
- Dave
A good story with a happy ending!
Today, Dairy Queen is celebrating Miracle Treat Day with even more magic.
Today, Thursday August 8th, 2013, $1 or more* from every Blizzard® Treat purchased at the Morrisville Dairy Queen will be donated to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.
In addition to that, for the second year in a row, your Facebook RSVP to Miracle Treat Day will also be matched with a $1 donation to the cause—up to $50,000. Together we can provide hope and healing to sick children in your community.
Post a Comment