Wolf, GOP strike temporary deal on records officer

HARRISBURG - The fate of the state's former open records officer will remain unresolved for at least another month.

After a hearing in Commonwealth Court, lawyers for Gov. Wolf and Erik Arneson, the newly appointed open records officer he fired last month, reached an agreement Wednesday to withdraw a request that Arneson be reinstated.

But their dispute over Wolf's authority to fire Arneson lingers. The full Commonwealth Court will hear the case March 11.

Matthew Haverstick, an attorney for Senate Republicans, said he was pleased with the temporary solution and looked forward to airing their side before the seven-member bench.

"What it means is that we will get an argument . . . on all the issues," he said.

Jeff Sheridan, Wolf's spokesman, said the governor maintains he was within his rights to remove Arneson.

"Though the process is ongoing, the agreement is a victory because he can't have access to the Office of Open Records," he said.

The hearing came two weeks after Wolf, in one of his first acts as governor, fired Arneson and reversed dozens of eleventh-hour appointments by his predecessor, Tom Corbett.

For much of the two-plus-hours proceeding Wednesday, lawyers argued before President Judge Dan Pellegrini over whether the governor had the power under the constitution to remove Arneson. "This is a fundamental issue in separation of powers," Haverstick argued before a courtroom full of journalists and state and legislative officials.

Kenneth Joel, chief deputy attorney general arguing on behalf of Wolf, said it was clear through the original hiring letter for Arneson's predecessor, Terry Mutchler, that the Open Records Office director is an "at will" employee subject to termination by the governor without cause.

Last month's recisions of the appointments, and Arneson's in particular, touched off an early battle between the governor and Republicans, who control the Senate, and who are responsible for confirming Wolf's cabinet nominees and play a key role in advancing his agenda. Wolf at the time said he was not taking issue with the individuals appointed by Corbett, but with the process, which he called "murky" and not transparent.

Still, Republicans complained that the move was partisan and political, coming from a new governor who had pledged to work with the other side of the aisle. Wolf named as acting director Nathan Byerly, the assistant director, also a Republican.

Arneson had until late last year served as a spokesman for Senate Republicans in Harrisburg. Corbett tapped him to take over the Open Records Office - a six-year appointment - after refusing to reappoint Mutchler.

Even after his firing, Arneson resisted the move and continued to show up at work at the Capitol until his access pass was removed.

In addition, more than two dozen other Corbett appointments remain in limbo after Wolf recalled 25 individuals named for various boards and commissions, among them former Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley, whom Corbett tapped for a seat on Temple University's board of trustees.

The Senate Rules Committee has since forwarded more than half of the nominees to the full Senate, but a vote has not yet been scheduled.

Drew Crompton, chief counsel for Senate Republicans, said conversations on those nominees are ongoing with the governor's office but the Senate is "not inclined" to stop the process.

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