I don’t pretend to know the law all that well.
The closest I’ve ever come to a bar exam is when somebody asked me the ingredients for a margarita.
But I do know the dangers that secrecy can bring to what should be a public process.
That’s why Erie County should throw out a solicitor’s opinion that would prevent health officials from talking about public health investigations.
I’m not saying the solicitor is wrong. He researched the law and found a 1955 statute that prevents public health officials from releasing too much personal health information.
But 1955?
Can laws designed in an age of nuclear standoffs and mass immunizations be even remotely relevant in 2008?
Today we have probably even tougher HIPPA laws protecting private medical information.
Those must be enforced strictly for obvious reasons.
But does that give a public agency the right to extend that shield over the entire operation, denying the people ultimately footing the bill the right to know what is happening?
“Yes, we can confirm that an investigation is taking place at Petula’s Happy Face Day Care Center.”
“Excuse me, can you tell us the nature of what you’re investigating?”
“Our attorney told us not to.”
“Can you give us a clue? Is it somewhere between the common cold and Bubonic Plague?”
“Somewhere in there, but I think I’ve said too much.”
People fear the worst in a vacuum of information. Trust me.
It’s a line we’ve crossed before.
If County leaders need a template for disaster they should look no further than what happened in the Office of Children and Youth.
There some legal whiz told them to not speak about the agency because abused and neglected children were involved and their right to privacy had to be protected.
So the agency threw a blanket over itself for years and as the machinery broke down there was no one around to call them on it.
It’s a mess that’s still being cleaned up, and while you can’t blame everything on the secrecy involved there’s little question that the problems within the agency would have come to light much sooner if someone, anyone had been holding a candle.
County Council should simply thank the solicitor for his thoughts and then turn to the interpretation of the law used in Allegheny County, where health investigators are trained to walk the line between protected personal information and necessary public information.
I don’t know the law.
But I know a healthy openness will lead to a healthier community while secrecy leads inevitably down a darker course.