Municipal News

Last Updated on Tuesday, 31 March 2020 14:42

As Pennsylvania, the nation and world grapple with COVID-19, other things still happen. During National Sunshine Week, Rep. Bud Cook (R-Washington/Fayette) announced that he will release years of disclosed information involving the Local Share Account (LSA) process in Washington County.

This information will include correspondence, Right to Know (RTK) requests, materials obtained from RTK requests and correspondence with other state agencies for assistance. Cook is still awaiting RTK information from his recent request, which was appealed by the agency, but reversed by the state Office of Open Records.

National Sunshine Week is an initiative to educate the public about the importance of open government and the dangers of excessive and unnecessary secrecy.

“Even as we deal with world health events, it’s important that the general public knows what is going on here,” said Cook. “For three years, we have been working to ensure that the LSA grant process is fair and accountable in Washington County. After digging deeper, we have found that this current LSA grant process is raising many red flags and is anything but fair and transparent. I am releasing all the information I have obtained so that the public can see firsthand how corrupt this current process really is.”

Cook has released the obtained disclosed information and has posted it on his website: http://www.repbudcook.com/lsainfo.

Cook also explained the flawed process in his latest video, which is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU31c6wjG5U&feature=youtu.be.

“We will continue to fight to ensure that this process is fair, transparent and accountable,” continued Cook. “We will continue to post more information as we find it.”