By Bill Connell.

Yesterday on Facebook the Franklin Reporter and Advocate  interviewed the protesters outside Assemblyman Joe Danielson’s office, regarding the dumbing down  of OPRA laws and criteria at the state level. The interviews were more on the advocate side of things than reporting.  A newspaper not wanting to change OPRA laws is not terribly surprising, but there are two sides to the story.

On the advocate side of things, I wonder. At a time when you have a Senator being  indicted and  the Governor’s wife is running for office., it strikes me as case of bad timing. Is this the time you want to make transparency a discussion?

On the reporting side of things this is a real problem that needs be dealt with.  I know in Franklin last year they added a budget item just to process OPRA requests.  This is money that could have gone to Recreation programs or paving a road.  As tax payers what would you prefer?

In the big picture a whole industry of ambulance-chasing lawyers are abusing OPRA.  As I understand it that’s what the changes are about, not humble Franklin newspapers.  They will just be the collateral damage.

The devil is in the details but someone should take the time to articulate it.   This is actually such a complex issue I wonder if it should be a ballot item.