Cabal of silence
Mocking open-records standards in Amazon bid
While landing Amazon’s second headquarters would be a huge win for Pittsburgh, Mayor Bill Peduto and Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald shouldn’t forfeit the public’s trust trying to make it happen. In appealing a state order to divulge the bid it offered Amazon, the two continue to show disdain for the taxpayers who have to pay for whatever incentives are promised the company.
Mr. Peduto and Mr. Fitzgerald insist that showing Pittsburgh’s cards would give the 19 other cities and regions still in the running for Amazon’s HQ2 a competitive advantage. They’re not acting like savvy leaders of a progressive city that’s capable of competing for a game-changing economic opportunity. They’re acting like insecure political bosses who prefer to make deals in backrooms outside the public eye.
That style of governance is as passe as the steel mill smog that used to darken Downtown skies at midday. Mr. Peduto, in particular, seems to have forgotten the section of his homepage in which he asserts his commitment — in bold type, no less — to a “transparent” and “more accountable government.”
On Friday, the last day of the 30day appeal window, the city and county filed a challenge of a state Office of Open Records ruling that ordered them to make the bid public. The timing of the appeal, filed in Common Pleas Court, was not coincidental. Government bodies routinely file appeals at the eleventh hour. It’s a way to drag out the openrecords process so that, even if finally ordered by a judge to release a document, they can keep it under wraps for as long as possible in furtherance of whatever motive is driving the secrecy. Also, prolonging the appeals process is a way to mock the good-government advocates seeking to hold elected officials accountable.
The city and county should have released the bid in October, when they submitted it to Amazon. They summarily rejected open-record requests, however, so multiple news organizations filed appeals with the Office of Open Records. In January, the state agency ordered the document released after rejecting the sham legal arguments the ethically challenged city and county law departments cobbled together to defend their bosses’ need for secrecy. A Common Pleas judge should see right through the subterfuge, too.
The city and county aren’t the only parties to the cabal of silence. The third conspirator is PGHQ2, the subsidiary of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development to which Mr. Peduto and Mr. Fitzgerald have delegated much responsibility for the Amazon project. Remarkably, it was PGHQ2 that issued Friday’s condescending statement explaining why Mr. Peduto and Mr. Fitzgerald filed their appeal. PGHQ2 was elected by no one and has no standing to set conditions for the release of public records.
In its appeal to Common Pleas Court, the county had the temerity to argue that the bid “contained confidential proprietary information/ trade secrets of PGHQ2.” PGHQ2 was created solely to manage the Amazon bid and has no trade secrets. In effect, the county is using it as a front to shield public documents from public view. This is taking violation of the open records law to a new level.
If Amazon selects Pittsburgh, Friday’s statement said, all incentives will go through a public vetting and approval process before being formally extended to the company. While the city and county may go through the motions of soliciting input, they’ve given taxpayers no reason to believe their voices will be heard or views considered. Mr. Peduto and Mr. Fitzgerald have indicated a preference for making decisions behind the scenes and keeping voters at arm’s length.
Neither is on the ballot this year, however, and that may be one reason they feel emboldened to thumb their noses at the public. But their predilection for secrecy is bound to surface again. Voters should take note of these occasions and remember them.