Falls Township appears to be exploiting a loophole in the law to make government hires before discussing and voting on them in public, according to an attorney and former Pennsylvania Open Records Office appeals officer.
The township appears to be relying on court decisions that have found an earlier private vote on official business can be corrected, or cured, with a second public vote, according to Joy Ramsingh, a private attorney with a Harrisburg practice and focuses on transparent government issues and appellate litigation.
Falls Township contends its actions are not a violation of the Sunshine Act, but Ramsingh disagrees.
At a minimum it appears the township is taking advantage of case law meant to fix honest mistakes, not deliberately circumventing public transparency, she said.
Ex-Tullytown police chief new HR chiefEx-Tullytown police chief working for Falls now, but did township violate Sunshine law
“There’s a limit to that loophole,” Ramsingh said. “Pennsylvania courts have held that the Sunshine Act’s purpose is to discourage private meetings on agency business followed by rubber-stamp public hearings.’”
Falls officials have come under scrutiny after it was revealed they have been making personnel decisions in private sessions, then later voting on them at public meetings.
The latest example occurred at its Sept. 25 meeting, when supervisors voted unanimously to ratify the hiring of former Tullytown Police Chief Daniel Doyle as its director of employment...
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