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Township Manager Eric Traub says a number of requests are filed without names
Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know (RTK) Law, in its current form, was first introduced at the state level in the 2007-08 legislative session. However, recent advances in technology seem to be throwing a wrench into its processes and procedures.
In its most basic terms, the law requires any Commonwealth agency, such as a municipality or public school district, to provide the public with its records, in accordance with RTK’s outlined rules. It is designed to create a regulated process so that local government agencies can operate in a transparent and forthright manner.
Today’s Artificial Intelligence (AI), while perhaps designed for ease too, seems to be one hurdle no one could have foreseen in 2008. Whitpain Township Manager Eric Traub said that it is likely what is to blame for a recent uptick in anonymous RTK requests.
During the Whitpain Township Board of Supervisors Work Session on Sept. 3, Traub spent time outlining the upcoming Business Meeting’s agenda items and what the board would likely be discussing very soon. One of those topics was the RTK process.
“We’ll have a resolution establishing policies for anonymous Right-to-Know requests,” Traub said of the upcoming Sept. 17 agenda. “I think generally the public would be shocked how many Right-to-Know requests we get. They are well into the hundreds.”
While Traub, who was just sworn in during a June 2024 supervisors’ meeting to his new role, says the figure for RTK requests is “well into the hundreds over a year,” he’s seen a change on those the township has gotten of late.
“We’ve recently had some that are basically almost AI-generated,” he said. “They’re not from an actual person. And there’s been some regulations coming out of The Office of Open Records at the state level.”
Traub said the resolution discussion will revolve largely around creating a policy to curtail AI-generated or unnecessary and time-consuming requests that do not come from actual humans.
“We believe it is best for the township to create a policy around these anonymous Right-to-Know requests,” he said.
The Board of Supervisors meet in Whitpain at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at the township’s Administration Building, 960 Wentz Road, in Blue Bell. For more information, including past meeting minutes, videos, and agenda items, view the Board’s website here.
