Blawnox borough balks at further revamping public address rules
By Mary Ann Thomas | ASPINWALL HERALD
Blawnox Borough will not change its audio and videotaping rules as it faces probable legal action from the American Civil Liberties Union.
The ACLU in Pittsburgh asked the borough last month to provide more opportunity for public comment at council meetings and to repeal some audio and videotaping rules.The rules were revised earlier this year when the ACLU intervened on behalf of residents who complained that some requirements were unreasonable.
For example, anyone wishing to record the meetings had to register in person in the borough office at least 24 hours before a council meeting. Several months ago, that rule was revised to signing a log before the meeting.
"We felt we negotiated reasonable rules and regulations," said Blawnox solicitor Jack Cambest. "And it seems certain members of the public are not abiding by the rules, and we are not taking any further action to revise the existing ones."
Cambest responded on behalf of the borough in a letter to ACLU attorney Sara Rose dated Sept. 2.
One resident, Melina Brajovic, has protested the videotaping rules and signs in as Thomas Jefferson.
Rose said her organization plans to file a lawsuit on behalf of residents who are balking at the borough's taping and public comment rules.
"The Sunshine Act only allows legislative bodies to enact rules that are necessary for the maintenance of order at meetings," she said. "The rules that council have enacted, which require people to sign in and provide the type of recording device and address, are not necessary for the maintenance for the decorum of meeting. The rules are having the opposite effect; it's creating problems."
Cambest said that, if the ACLU files a lawsuit, "the borough plans to defend itself and the resolution with reasonable rules and regulations that they adopted."
Blawnox Borough will not change its audio and videotaping rules as it faces probable legal action from the American Civil Liberties Union.
The ACLU in Pittsburgh asked the borough last month to provide more opportunity for public comment at council meetings and to repeal some audio and videotaping rules.The rules were revised earlier this year when the ACLU intervened on behalf of residents who complained that some requirements were unreasonable.
For example, anyone wishing to record the meetings had to register in person in the borough office at least 24 hours before a council meeting. Several months ago, that rule was revised to signing a log before the meeting.
"We felt we negotiated reasonable rules and regulations," said Blawnox solicitor Jack Cambest. "And it seems certain members of the public are not abiding by the rules, and we are not taking any further action to revise the existing ones."
Cambest responded on behalf of the borough in a letter to ACLU attorney Sara Rose dated Sept. 2.
One resident, Melina Brajovic, has protested the videotaping rules and signs in as Thomas Jefferson.
Rose said her organization plans to file a lawsuit on behalf of residents who are balking at the borough's taping and public comment rules.
"The Sunshine Act only allows legislative bodies to enact rules that are necessary for the maintenance of order at meetings," she said. "The rules that council have enacted, which require people to sign in and provide the type of recording device and address, are not necessary for the maintenance for the decorum of meeting. The rules are having the opposite effect; it's creating problems."
Cambest said that, if the ACLU files a lawsuit, "the borough plans to defend itself and the resolution with reasonable rules and regulations that they adopted."
