The Sunshine Law is pretty clear on certain actions, though violations can sometimes be unintentional, or without a dark purpose.
I’m not immune to making a mistake and disclosed a violation I committed recently, when I failed to inform the public of why I asked for an Executive Session. I simply thought I had done so, until I reviewed the video recording of the Council meeting and discovered I hadn’t.
Passing of notes between members of the governing body during a public meeting is verboten. What was written is supposed to be declared to the public, should it be requested.
A note was passed from Mayor DePaul to Council President James at Monday’s Council Meeting. Both Councilman Lewis and I raised an objection that notes aren’t allowed and asked it be read aloud.
I believe because the note was innocuous, it was deemed unimportant enough to read to the public and the meeting continued. That was another mistake.
I saw what was written on it and it was innocent enough. The note was indeed, nothing more than informing Council President James that Police Consultant Robert Mahady was present in the audience and he should be asked if he had any information to give to Council.
But anyone in the audience might believe something different, because it wasn’t disclosed. These types of actions can cause distrust in elected officials and claims from the public of conspiracies and plotting.
It’s a matter of “optics.” The appearance that something important is being hidden.
Mr. Mahady was not on the Agenda as a guest that evening, so his presence afforded an opportunity to see how the police department was progressing and Mayor DePaul wanted to ensure that opportunity wasn’t missed, in order to avoid a wait of another two weeks, until the next meeting, for him to provide input.
The note is now required to be part of the public record and kept on file, should a Right To Know be submitted, seeking a copy of it.
Councilman James will be providing that note to our Borough Manager for record keeping purposes.
This may seem trivial, but it isn’t.
Councils change. Leadership of Councils change. In 5, 10, or 20 years, notes might be passed, or texts sent between members of Council that aren’t so innocent.
Transparency must be maintained. West Easton went too long without it.
Disclaimer: On January 4, 2016, the owner of WestEastonPA.com began serving on the West Easton Council following an election. Postings and all content found on this website are the opinions of Matthew A. Dees and may not necessarily represent the opinion of the governing body for The Borough of West Easton.
