Let's just say that Governor Tom Wolf had a bad week.  His appointment of Marcus Brown as commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police was rejected by the Pennsylvania Senate.  A second appointment, one he didn't make but had removed in January, was reinstated by the Commonwealth Court.

                Yesterday, that court issued an opinion in the case challenging the removal of Erik Arneson as executive director of the Office of Open Records (OOR). The majority of the court, in an opinion authored by Judge Patricia A. McCullough, ordered that Arneson be restored as executive director of the OOR with back pay and benefits. The majority also found that Wolf exceeded his removal power under the state constitution in dismissing Arneson from the post.

                Arneson was appointed by former Governor Tom Corbett.  If you look at his record, Arneson was more than qualified to manage the OOR.

                In 2008, Arneson played a major role in drafting the overhauled Right-to-Know Law that the open records officer now enforces.  In fact, he even came up with the idea.

                The new law "flipped" the burden in access cases, establishing that records should be made public unless there is a compelling government interest in keeping them secret.  Since then, more than a dozen employees in the OOR have processed more than 11,000 appeals by citizens.

                The question the court answered was whether or not the executive director of the OOR an at-will position.  The argument made on Arneson's behalf was that, if the position is "at-will," then it is no longer independent.

                According to a report, Wolf's spokesperson, Jeff Sheridan, dismissed Arneson's Jan. appointment as partisan.

                The position of executive director of the OOR carries a six-year term that overlaps governor's terms in order to help keep the office independent and, hopefully, free of partisanship. 

                In the case of Brown, Senators voted 26-22 on Monday against his appointment.  The Pennsylvania State Police has 6,000 employees and is one of the largest law enforcement forces in the country.

                Brown faced many questions and criticisms since Wolf appointed the 50-year-old career officer and former head of the Maryland State Police.

                Much of the controversy swirled around Brown's decision to wear the state police's gray uniform despite never having attended the agency's academy. A small but vocal group of retired troopers has called Brown's decision a sign of disrespect to those who have gone through the rigorous training.  And, there was that incident of being caught on video taking down roadside signs near his home that were critical of him.  The two signs, reportedly read "Marcus Brown didn't earn it" and "Marcus Brown don't wear it."

                But the race card was also played when some Senate Democrats complained that Brown, despite an impressive law enforcement résumé, was being shot down because of his long history of making organizations for which he has worked more racially diverse.  Sen. Anthony Williams (D. Phila), and former Philadelphia mayoral candidate,  was quoted as saying "Some people have not moved forward in America, some people have not moved forward in Pennsylvania, and some people in [the state police] will never move forward.

                Bad week for the governor.