Wolf will reinstate Pa. open records official during appeal

    Gov. Tom Wolf won’t oppose a court order to reinstate the fired director of Pennsylvania’s open records office while the Democrat appeals a ruling saying he overstepped his powers when he fired the official.

    Wolf’s move Monday comes five days after the Commonwealth Court ruling that ordered Erik Arneson returned to the job. The Wolf administration immediately appealed, but its reversing its initial decision to block Arneson’s rehiring while it appeals.

    Arneson is a longtime Republican Senate aide. Wolf fired him just days after he became the executive director of the Office of Open Records, saying the eleventh-hour appointment by his predecessor, Tom Corbett, lacked transparency.

    The Commonwealth Court agreed with Arneson’s lawyers that the office is independent of the governor. Wolf maintains that court precedent allows the firing.

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