Luzerne County’s top officials violated open meetings law, Controller Griffith says.

By Jennifer Learn-Andes
The Times-Leader Luzerne County Reporter

Luzerne County Controller Walter Griffith said he is exploring a possible legal action or complaint against county commissioners alleging that they violated the state Sunshine Act.

Griffith said he has evidence that all three commissioners met behind closed doors on Nov. 24 to discuss formulation of the county’s proposed 2011 budget.

The Sunshine Act says deliberation by a quorum of an agency must occur at a public meeting unless it meets certain exceptions, such as discussions about some personnel issues, contract negotiations, property lease/purchases and litigation.

Griffith said controller’s office Solicitor Tom Mosca is reviewing the matter and would file the legal action at no additional cost to the county. Violations of the act call for a fine of up to $100, he said.

“It’s not about the fine. The purpose of my action is to hold the commissioners accountable, to make a judge or someone else tell them this is a violation of the law,” Griffith said.

Griffith questioned commissioners about the matter during their public meeting Wednesday.

Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla told Griffith that commissioners are permitted to meet “as long as there’s no deliberation and no decisions made.”

“It’s not a violation of the Sunshine Act for us to be together,” she said.

But Griffith said Thursday that he’s confident that deliberation occurred because commissioners discussed their plans to alter the county’s proposed budget. If he proceeds with legal action, Griffith said he will seek testimony from management officials who attended that closed-door meeting, including county Budget/Finance Chief Tom Pribula, who has resigned effective Dec. 8.

Informed of Griffith’s possible legal action, Petrilla said Thursday that she is confident that nothing illegal occurred.

“We can talk about the budget as long as deliberations are not going on. Everyone’s well versed on the Sunshine Act,” Petrilla said. “We checked this repeatedly with our legal counsel”

Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel with the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, said deliberation is broadly defined as the discussion of agency business for the purpose of making a decision, and the “vast majority” of budget discussions meet that definition.

“The purpose of the Sunshine Act is to allow people to witness and participate in the formation of policy, not just witness the end result,” Melewsky said.

Griffith said the public had a right to hear the commissioners’ discussion about how the budget was formulated, including any concerns expressed by management to commissioners during the meeting.