For just about every one of us, if we sought documents and were charged 25 cents for each, because they didn’t exist in the free electronic format, we wouldn’t appeal a total of $1.25 for 5 paper copies having been searched for, copied, and made available.
However, the charge of $1.25 was just another reason for Constable Tricia Mezzacappa to have Borough Manager Joan Heebner waste time and energy answering yet another appeal to the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records (OOR).
Mezzacappa lost the appeal last week. The OOR’s decision can be found HERE. Pages 4 & 5 of that decision gets to the point of it.
That point being, the documents were not available in electronic format, and therefore she was charged 25 cents for each copy.
The only remaining question is, will she now decide to appeal the OOR’s denial to the Court of Common Pleas, dragging West Easton into court once again in a frivolous complaint against the borough.
For anyone else, I wouldn’t believe them so ignorant to do so, but Mezzacappa, with her numerous personal vendettas and narcissistic personality actually makes it a distinct possibility.
Mezzacappa, who has previously promised to bury the borough in RTK requests and to appeal if denied, has reached a new low in expecting everything for free.
When she is properly and appropriately charged just a miniscule amount of what it actually costs the borough to obtain the documents she seeks, she doesn’t hesitate to cost taxpayers additional money.
She has now exceeded her usual level of ridiculousness when it comes to RTKs. It could be compared to her crying and complaining to everyone when somebody publishes something in the public domain about her, but she feels those she targets has to accept her lies and disparagement.
Add to this her bizarre belief that Covid-19 was fake news by Democrats and the mainstream media. With that conspiracy theory long dead, she now believes it is a bio-engineered weapon. Along with the rest of her aluminum foil hat theories, you start thinking rubber room.
Despite the OOR asking requesters to refrain from submitting anything other than urgent RTK Requests during this Covid-19 pandemic, both Mezzacappa and her fellow vexatious requester from Monroeville, PA have ignored the OOR request.
Mezzacappa’s “urgent” RTK requests can be found on the borough website, such as the one HERE, which was submitted on March 23rd, along with another she put in the same day. Her Monroeville cohort, John G. Yakim, submitted his “urgent” request on April 9th. His can be found HERE.
Mezzacappa, having been previously charged with filing a false police report, will likely have her court hearing delayed. It was originally scheduled for May 4th, but the pandemic has now closed most of the court system.
Disclaimer: On January 4, 2016, the owner of WestEastonPA.com began serving on the West Easton Council following an election. Postings and all content found on this website are the opinions of Matthew A. Dees and may not necessarily represent the opinion of the governing body for The Borough of West Easton.
