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When the current version of the Right To Know Law was enacted by Governor Rendell, it was mistakenly assumed citizens wouldn’t abuse the law and use it as a weapon to overburden public agencies, wasting taxpayer money in the process.

Nobody informed Rendell of people like Constable Tricia Mezzacappa.

Back in April, I wrote about her initial OOR denial on a matter of $1.25, and my expectation she would take it to court, because of her promise to bury West Easton in litigation.

She followed through on her promise, proving you can’t fix stupid.

In one of her more ridiculous appeals of a RTK denial, Mezzacappa bellowed at having to pay $1.25 (that’s one dollar and twenty-five cents) for 5 documents that weren’t available in electronic format.

Also part of her complaint before the Judge was that she didn’t receive documentation, that she knew no longer existed.

Take a moment and let the previous paragraph sink in. She wanted copies of documentation, she knew didn’t exist. It was so bizarre, even the Judge made special mention of it.

Mezzacappa took the Borough of West Easton through an appeals process that was finally settled in the Northampton Court of Common Pleas.

She lost. Again.

And it wasn’t for lack of effort on her part to find someone as nutty as her, who would think her sane.

Following her unsuccessful appeal to the OOR, she followed up with a request for a review by the OOR. She was unsuccessful in her request.

So, she decides to have a Judge look at her appeal, none of which costs her any money, but runs up the cost to West Easton taxpayers footing the bill for our solicitor to defend another one of her meritless actions.

And our solicitor’s costs doesn’t account for what it costs to have our Borough Manager answer her numerous RTKs and intitial appeals to the OOR.

It also doesn’t account for the cost to county taxpayers who pay a Judge to waste his time reviewing and writing decisions on her vexatious filings.

Will she appeal the County Court’s decision to the state level? Not likely, as that would cost money from her own pocket to file, not just the taxpayers.

And she bemoans how much West Easton pays to our solicitor, as she runs up unnecessary costs.

One item found within Judge Barrata’s ruling is noteworthy. Though, I give him a lot of credit for trying to explain the obvious to someone with the mental maturity of a 10-year old.

On page 12, Judge Barrata states, “Frankly, we cannot understand the rationale for [Mezzacappa’s] request that we reverse the OOR determination and order the [Borough of West Easton] to disgorge documentation that does not exist.

That’s OK, Judge. Nobody in their right mind understands why she thinks the way she does.

There is no rationale for an irrational individual like Mezzacappa. Your decision is the same as every one already given her, before you were required to waste your time answering her usual nonsense.