Last month, SpotlightPA ran a story about finding local campaign finance reports. They wrote – Melissa Melewsky — media law counsel for the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, of which Spotlight PA is a member — said counties aren’t required to post the financial disclosures online, but they should because it creates less work for them and improves accessibility for the public. Access should be consistent across the commonwealth,” Melewsky said. “You shouldn’t get better access in one county, but not another
She wasn’t kidding about access being better in one county than another.
For example, in affluent Montgomery County, you start off by sending Voter Services an email, telling them which reports you want to see. Then you call (and they’re pretty good about answering the phone or returning your call) and make an appointment to go Norristown. When you get there, they drag out all the papers and you go throught them, page by page, until you give up or you find what you’re looking for.
But in the less affluent City of Philadelphia you can just go onto this website and find what you’re looking for – quickly. Everything is there, down to the ward level.