A rural Pa. township has spent 1000s of dollars to hide a proposed law from local residents [View all]
A group of Berks County residents has spent thousands of dollars trying to get a rural township to disclose a proposed ordinance that could have affected local farms, which experts say residents are entitled to see.
Tulpehocken Township has in turn spent thousands of dollars to keep that information secret, arguing state law protects the release of drafts not presented at public meetings.
One open records expert told Spotlight PA that “it's particularly stunning” to see “public agencies use taxpayer resources to thwart public access.”
“And in this case, it's particularly egregious because we're not protecting a trade secret or some confidential, proprietary information,” said Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, of which Spotlight PA is a member. “This is quite literally a proposal that will govern the lives of the taxpayers and residents in that community.”
https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2026/01/pennsylvania-township-secret-farm-ordinance-lawsuit-rural-issues/
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