Records panel to heed Sunshine Act
June 22, 2010 Sunshine Act | Open meetings
By Michael P. Buffer
The [Wilkes-Barre] Citizens' Voice
WILKES-BARRE -- The Luzerne County Record Improvement Committee will begin complying with the state Sunshine Act for the first time and inform the public of upcoming meetings in a legal notice, said county Commissioner Stephen A. Urban, the new chairman of the committee.
The committee had failed in the past to comply with Sunshine Act regulations to inform the public of open meetings, Urban said. The next meeting will be July 12.
Prothonotary Carolee Medico Olenginski, the committee's vice chairwoman, complained in an e-mail that Urban rescheduled the meeting she set up for July 7. Medico Olenginski said she cannot attend the meeting on July 12 because she is attending a conference with other prothonotaries, who are elected to oversee civil court records.
Medico Olenginski arranged a committee meeting on June 1 and expected to become chairwoman at that meeting. But the committee chose Urban as chairman and Medico Olenginski as vice chairwoman. Urban did not attend the June 1 meeting, and Medico Olenginski ran the meeting as vice chairwoman.
Urban replaced Robert Reilly, who resigned last month as clerk of courts and is accused of receiving kickbacks from a construction contractor, as committee chairman. Federal prosecutors allege Reilly demanded a 10-percent kickback from Barton Weidlich, who worked for LRW Solutions Inc., a company near Philadelphia hired as a consultant for the county records committee.
Urban said he filled out a grant application last week, which will provide the county with a new consultant for two months to address how to improve records storage.
The county has been leasing space in the Thomas C. Thomas warehouse in Wilkes-Barre for 10 years, spending more than $100,000 per year. Susan Hartman, an official with the state Bureau of Archives and History, last month reviewed the warehouse and concluded it was not climate-controlled and had safety issues
The [Wilkes-Barre] Citizens' Voice
WILKES-BARRE -- The Luzerne County Record Improvement Committee will begin complying with the state Sunshine Act for the first time and inform the public of upcoming meetings in a legal notice, said county Commissioner Stephen A. Urban, the new chairman of the committee.
The committee had failed in the past to comply with Sunshine Act regulations to inform the public of open meetings, Urban said. The next meeting will be July 12.
Prothonotary Carolee Medico Olenginski, the committee's vice chairwoman, complained in an e-mail that Urban rescheduled the meeting she set up for July 7. Medico Olenginski said she cannot attend the meeting on July 12 because she is attending a conference with other prothonotaries, who are elected to oversee civil court records.
Medico Olenginski arranged a committee meeting on June 1 and expected to become chairwoman at that meeting. But the committee chose Urban as chairman and Medico Olenginski as vice chairwoman. Urban did not attend the June 1 meeting, and Medico Olenginski ran the meeting as vice chairwoman.
Urban replaced Robert Reilly, who resigned last month as clerk of courts and is accused of receiving kickbacks from a construction contractor, as committee chairman. Federal prosecutors allege Reilly demanded a 10-percent kickback from Barton Weidlich, who worked for LRW Solutions Inc., a company near Philadelphia hired as a consultant for the county records committee.
Urban said he filled out a grant application last week, which will provide the county with a new consultant for two months to address how to improve records storage.
The county has been leasing space in the Thomas C. Thomas warehouse in Wilkes-Barre for 10 years, spending more than $100,000 per year. Susan Hartman, an official with the state Bureau of Archives and History, last month reviewed the warehouse and concluded it was not climate-controlled and had safety issues
