I've made quite a few posts on this subject and you can view a list of them here.
You can vote on the newsovercoffee.com homepage on whether Council Violated the Law or not, and if so if it was because of the Solicitor's advice (thereby giving Council a free pass), or it doesn't matter why and all actions should be voided. Click here, scroll down, and vote (results are availabe for all to view).I'll mostly leave this in the hands of the man who filed the suit as I've outlined my position previously point-by-point section-by-section (here and here). He made two posts on his Lehigh Valley Ramblings blog this week worth reading (Nazareth Borough Council Meets Under Lights But Are Still in the Dark and Why an Idiot Should Sue When Pa.'s Sunshine Act is Violated). The second post includes a complete copy of the suit, not the most exciting reading, but interesting none-the-less.
Needless to say both newspapers, the Express-Times (Courtney Lomax's article is here and an editorial is here) and the Morning Call (Arlene Martinez's article is here) have reported on this suit.
I'm disappointed that Council as a body would prefer to go to court to defend closed meetings, than to state moving forward it will hold open one's, and given there are now two proposals on the table (instead of only the council committee's) all future meetings of the committee will be open and in effect the past recommendation of the one is withdrawn while the merits of both are considered.
I can't speak for Bernie, who filed the suit, but I think that would have gone a long way in heading this off. It would at least have opened a discussion.
Finally, the Nazareth Citizen's Action Committee pointed out several times that money has not been difficult to come by as they took donations to pay for the architect. To me this matter is bigger than the government center proposal because it is how we got the government center proposal. If we don't change the way business is done we will continue to be surprised and shocked by the results of secret meetings. I hope the Committee will consider providing some financial support to Bernie O'Hare to off-set the costs of the suit he is filing. I know personally I couldn't afford to do what he is, and it is admirable that he has stepped-up and done so.
1 comment:
Ross, It is only thanks to your very careful question at the 7/10 Council meeting that we became aware of the flagrant violation. You really understand the inner workings of Nazareth Borough and your questions made everything clear.
I did not want to file the suit, and would have held up if Nazareth agreed to conduct its committee hearings in public. That would be a sign of good faith.
Despite the light tone I take in some of my posts on my own blog, I have no animosity towards any member of Council. I'm sure they all want what is best for Nazareth. I am disappointed they could not see that their practice of meeting in secret is undermining their credibility. I think public confidence in government is destroyed when tht happens and there have ben explosions in Nazareth every few years because of this practice. It needs to change. Good government is the goal.
Although I appreciate your suggestion regarding financial aid and certainly am part of the citizens' group that opposes relocation, I prefer not to link the Sunshine Act with that movement. My motivation in the Sunshine Act suit is merely to see Council change its practice of permitting committees to met secretly.
If Council were to agree to follow the law and have the Davis and all other committees met openly, I would gladly withdraw my suit. And I think we would all be winners.
Post a Comment