Pennsylvania's Sunshine Act was adopted to "insure the right of its citizens to have notice of and the right to attend all meetings of agencies at which any agency business is discussed or acted upon." Thus, all public meetings require public notice. Under state law, Nazareth Borough Council "shall give public notice of each special meeting or each rescheduled regular or special meeting at least 24 hours in advance of the time of the convening of the meeting specified in the notice."
"Public notice" is defined as
(i) Publication of notice of the place, date and time of a meeting in a newspaper of general circulation, as defined by 45 Pa.C.S. § 101 (relating to definitions), which is published and circulated in the political subdivision where the meeting will be held, or in a newspaper of general circulation which has a bona fide paid circulation in the political subdivision equal to or greater than any newspaper published in the political subdivision.In this case, Nazareth Borough Council did post a notice of the place, date and time of tonight's meeting at Borough Council chambers. But it failed to advertise the meeting. This renders tonight's meeting unlawful.
(ii) Posting a notice of the place, date and time of a meeting prominently at the principal office of the agency holding the meeting or at the public building in which the meeting is to be held.
(iii) Giving notice to parties under section 709(c) (relating to public notice).
Under the Sunshine Act, a rescheduled or special meeting must be advertised at least 24 hours before it occurs. "An agency shall give public notice of each special meeting or each rescheduled regular or special meeting at least 24 hours in advance of the time of the convening of the meeting specified in the notice." There is no obligation to advertise if it is a recessed or reconvened meeting. But this is a meeting that has yet to occur. It is a rescheduled meeting. Hence, it must be advertised at least 24 hours in advance.
I have reviewed legal ads in both Express Times and Morning Call, and there is no advertised public notice of tonight's meeting. It is therefore unlawful.
As Joe Biden might say, "This is a big fuckin' deal!" The reason is because a budget could be adopted. A court, in its discretion, could declare all business transacted at tonight's meeting void. This would include both the curfew and the budget. It could even sanction Borough Council members.
So what should Borough Council do? They plan on honoring several borough luminaries, as well as he Nazareth football team. Neither of these items requires any official action. So they should meet as planned. But after bestowing their good wishes, the meeting needs to be rescheduled so it can be properly advertised.
If Borough Council expects minors to obey the law, it can set the right example by following the law itself. That would be far more meaningful than an ineffective curfew.
Updated 10:15 am: Nazareth to take no official action tonight! - I have been informed Nazareth officials will take no official action tonight. They will reschedule and advertise.
Reading this I noticed you are speaking in foodisms. I know it's tough I struggle too, very unsuccessfully .
ReplyDeleteYou hate the Nazareth government cause they don't kis your behind. Stick to county news. Plenty to review there. Most people in town are happy that people want a nice town. Thank you to Nazareth. Your sticker goons are just that.
ReplyDeleteHow about your pal McClure. Hear he is trying to sneak though double raises for some of his favorite employees. That after he tried to screw the probation workers.
So holding them accountable is wrong? I think that says alot about the community when we allow the local government to do whatever they want. It also shows alot that the people of the community voted two criminals in as council member . Especially, because their crimes were them using their power for their own gains.
DeleteAnother instance of very poor local government action. The folks in charge of Nazareth should know better. The other part of the story is that there wasn't any snow last night so why did they cancel the meeting anyway?
ReplyDeleteSo that we may all clearly understand your objection, could you please refer us to that portion of Section 703 (“Definitions”) of the Sunshine Act or elsewhere in the law or applicable PA court decisions that mandate all three of the public notice requirements be met as opposed to just one of them. Thank you for your assistance.
ReplyDeleteI’ve given my assistance. The public notice required includes advertising. You don’t get to pick just posting. Follow the law or face the consequences.
ReplyDeleteHold the meeting. Order more ankle bracelets for council. Move along. Same old same old.
ReplyDeleteOld law and outdated Find another argument. Why don't you need to post the canceled mtg. 24 hours in advance also and advertise it? If you want to go to the meeting that bad, you will inquire or research the date. Liberal Softies!
ReplyDeleteIf it is changed you might not be able to search it. Why is giving people notice an issue? Unless they wanted to pass something without everyone's opinion.
DeleteActually, the argument against a curfew is the same argument advanced by guns’ rights activists. They argue criminals are not deterred by more restrictions and will break the law anyway. The argument here is that juvenile delinquents are undeterred by a curfew and will break the law anyway. You either believe in individual rights or you don’t.
ReplyDeleteHold council's feet to the fire. Follow the law or get out of office. Proper advertising will not cause any problems with a do little council
ReplyDeleteI looked at their website. They schedule 1 meeting a month, which is ignorant. Advertise and schedule more than 1 each month. They can always cancel meetings they don't need. It costs just about the same to advertise 24 meeting dates, as it does to advertise 12 (if they are smart enough to use a single advertisement for all dates). Wilson and others communities do this.
ReplyDeleteForum Police at it again . Un - American !
ReplyDeleteOh No Naz council has an O'hare under its corset of corruption now.....I bet Naz reschedules its meeting cause the new mean lean and bio degradable blogger is onto them. My advise is if Naz council wants to act like turds go out an lay in the yard.
ReplyDeleteHrm perhaps they should hire the West Waston un-Constable for security? Lol
ReplyDeleteWe the people of Nazareth stand behind out police and our council. The Mayor is great and he agrees. You are a trouble maker. You and your friends want to attack those that protect us from rabble and trouble makers. You are not from the up county. You do not understand that we are not the same as your urban areas. We enjoy peace ad quiet while you wish to subvert and drag people down..
ReplyDeleteshame on you. This is a silly attack.
3:26... The former thief Mayor.... "I only stole 8 grand".... sick. Nazareth has become a CESS POOL of liars, thieves without morals from its mayor stealing from its own fire company alone.... and all creeper's sitting on the council without a moral compass. Think of Nazareth Officials and the entire valley thinks one word- Dirtbags! Once respected now the bottom of the barrel.
ReplyDeleteNice work Bernie - keeping them honest. This IS a big deal, as you said. Especially with official action like passing a budget and an ordinance. There are no ifs and's or but's about it.
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ReplyDelete@7:50 Your statement "Why is giving people notice an issue?" shows a great ignorance of every resident's rights. Each one has the right to appear and express their opinion of what is taking place, so that the elected officials can take it into account before they vote. Expressing an opinion after a vote is useless. The supervisory body does not need to hear every citizen's opinion, but those who wish to express one have the right to be heard - and properly noticed so they can be present.
ReplyDelete@7:29 AM " could you please refer us to that portion of Section 703 (“Definitions”) of the Sunshine Act or elsewhere " Since you appear to have found the Sunshine Law, please read it in its entirety. Public notice including advertising requirements is in Sec 709(a).
ReplyDeleteMonkey business, more fun than a barrel of monkey's asses!
ReplyDelete@10:06PM “...read it in its entirety...”.
ReplyDeleteI did read the linked PA Sunshine Act in its entirety, hence my question to BOH. The inquiry was submitted because of the manner in which the term “public notice” in Sec 709a is defined in Sec 703. Could a reasonable person’s reading of Sec 703 suggest that an agency does not have to use all three forms of public notice? Each of the first two clauses of Sec 703’s definition of public notice ends with a period (.), not a semi-colon with the word “and” following it (; and) which would clearly indicate that all three conditions must be met. The flip side of that argument, of course, is that the legislature could have placed a semi-colon followed by the word “or” (; or) after each of the first two clauses to signify that an option could be selected. The current structure of Sec 703’s definition might suggest to a reader that each clause stands on its own rather than requiring all 3 conditions be met. Not a big deal, just a question.