In a Cambria County courtroom Tuesday morning, Judge Tamara Bernstein heard arguments in a Right to Know petition. The issue: how county taxpayer dollars are spent.
John DeBartola, a county resident who ran for Mayor of Johnstown, filed a Right to Know request for the names, salaries, job titles and descriptions of all employees of the Cambria County Child Development Corporation (CCCDC).
The corporation provides services to children and families in the county, like after school programs and nutritional meals.
DeBartola particularly requested information on Robert Arcurio, who worked as a teacher in the Greater Johnstown School District.
In court, DeBartola argued that his Right to Know request, filed in August 2016, was not fulfilled.
“My question is how many government paychecks does this man receive and what is he getting paid and why are they not releasing the information. Is it because there’s a multitude of paychecks?” said John DeBartola, who filed the petition.
The CCCDC released information on eight employees who work for the Child Care Information Services of Cambria County, a subsidiary of the CCCDC.
In 2016, the corporation received around $3.6 million to provide services. That funding includes county tax dollars. $312,000 went towards salaries and wages for those eight employees.
Attorneys said as a non-profit organization, the corporation is exempt from the Right to Know Law and they are protecting confidential information.
“There were issues about people with special needs, maybe people that are incarcerated. That’s the reason why the law protects the nonprofit corporation. Under the case law that we provided and the law under the Right to Know Act, I think the Cambria County Child Development Corporation is protected from supplying such information,” said Gary Jubas, an attorney for CCCDC.
The corporation and Arcurio testified in court Tuesday that he does not work for Child Care Information Services.
Judge Bernstein is taking the case under advisement, however it is unclear when she will make a decision.
DeBartola said if his petition is denied, he plans to appeal the case.
