Court overrules Wolf on firing Open Records chief

HARRISBURG - Ruling on a case that sparked acrimony between the new Democratic governor and top Republicans, a state court on Wednesday ordered Gov. Wolf to reinstate the Office of Open Records chief he fired just weeks after taking office.

Republicans swiftly hailed the 4-3 Commonwealth Court decision that Wolf overstepped his authority in firing Erik Arneson, who had been appointed to a six-year term by outgoing Gov. Tom Corbett.

Wolf quickly appealed to the state Supreme Court, setting the stage for a bruising fight that could further strain his rapidly deteriorating relationship with the GOP-controlled legislature.

The governor's appeal also left Arneson in limbo. Though he reported to work Wednesday at the Office of Open Records, the administration contends he cannot return to the $140,000-a-year job while an appeal is pending.

Still, the decision was a win for Arneson, 44, of Lebanon County, and the Senate Republicans who joined him in suing Wolf. They argued that the state's Open Records Office, which rules on public information requests and enforces the state's Right-to-Know law, is a quasi-judicial agency outside the executive branch.

As such, they contend, the governor does not have the authority to oust its executive director without cause.

"It's a big day for transparency in the commonwealth," said Matt Haverstick, who represented Senate Republicans. "I hope that whoever is behind this in the governor's office takes a deep breath and recognizes that they should just let Erik go back to work. I would hope the governor decides not to go the partisan route and appeal this matter, and allows Erik to take the job he is uniquely qualified for."

Said Arneson: "My position has been consistent: The Office of Open Records must be truly independent in order for it to function as it was intended."

Jeff Sheridan, Wolf's spokesman, said the administration stood by its belief that Arneson's was an eleventh-hour appointment by Wolf's Republican predecessor that flouted elected leaders' responsibility to be open and transparent.

"Our position has not changed," said Sheridan. "The governor was within his rights to dismiss Erik Arneson."

The ruling marked another loss for Wolf on a key personnel issue. On Monday, the GOP-controlled Senate rejected the governor's nominee to lead the Pennsylvania State Police, Marcus Brown, despite an intense lobbying effort by the administration and a last-minute maneuver to salvage the appointment.

Wolf's firing of Arneson had been among his first actions after being sworn in, leading to what some political observers now believe is a power struggle between the administration and Senate Republican leaders.

In the Arneson case, the judges said they sought to determine whether the Office of Open Records was meant to be independent of the executive branch and insulated from the governor's constitutional power to remove at-will employees.

The judges determined that in creating the office, the legislature's intent was to ensure its independence from the executive branch and limit the governor's ability to remove its director except for cause.

Among the ways it did that, the judges wrote, was by setting six-year terms for Open Records directors, ensuring that their terms do not coincide with a governor's four-year term.

The Open Records Office is "specifically obligated to assume the sensitive and delicate task of adjudicating the disclosure or nondisclosure of government documents, and the legislature intended the [law] provide independence to accomplish this function," Judge Patricia A. McCullough said, writing for the majority.

Writing the dissent, President Judge Dan Pellegrini countered that the majority's decision "unconstitutionally interferes with the governor's grant of authority in . . . the Pennsylvania Constitution, by which he is 'vested' with the 'supreme executive power' of the commonwealth, and frustrates his ability to see that the 'laws be faithfully executed.' "

He also noted that Arneson was not appointed executive director "by being carried down from heaven on an angel's wings. He was a staff member of the Republican majority leader when he received the appointment by the outgoing Republican governor."

"When we limit [a] governor's removal of the executive director, we are left with an individual who is virtually untouchable for six years and who is thereby insulated from accountability to elected officials, a hallmark of our democracy," Pellegrini wrote.

Sheridan said the administration's appeal activates an automatic stay on the ruling, meaning that Arneson cannot return to the post.

Arneson's attorney, Joel Frank, sent strong signals that he would fight that stay. Frank said the decision demonstrated that the Open Records Office is "a unique entity" that should be shielded from political pressure and outside interference.

"This is not like a cabinet position tasked to implement the policies of the governor," said Frank, managing partner at the Lamb McErlane law firm. "This is an independent entity, and its directors need to be able to call balls and strikes without fear of losing their job."

He added: "It's our hope that the governor reconsiders and decides to potentially stand down and abandon the appeal."

acouloumbis@phillynews.com

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