By DAVID BLYMIRE and TERESA ANN BOECKEL
York Daily Record/Sunday News

An advocate for the state sunshine laws considers it "problematic" that West York shredded proposals it received from two area police departments.

Council voted 4-3 Monday night to shred the proposals sent in by Northern York County Regional Police and York City Police following a vote to stop exploring regionalization.

"You can't just shred public records, that's not the way the law works," said Melissa Melewsky, a media law expert for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association. Under the state Sunshine Act, rejected bids become public documents, she said. Successful bids become public when they have been awarded, she added.

Under statewide record retention policy, copies of unsuccessful bids must be kept for three years, Melewsky added. Proposals submitted by successful bidders must be kept for six years. Ultimately, they're not the municipality's records, they belong to the public, she said.

But West York Solicitor Mieke Driscoll said she considers the records the borough received to be copies. The originals still are available for public review — if someone were to request them — in the departments that produced them.

"My answer would be that those records still exist," Driscoll said. The Daily Record/Sunday News submitted a right-to-know request with Northern York County Regional Police Tuesday to obtain a copy of the department's bid.

It showed that the total cost for seven officers for 2014 would be roughly $1.04 million. West York's police department budget for 2013 is about $1.48 million.

"Roughly, we'd be saving half a million in the first year," Shane Louthian, vice president of council, said Wednesday after hearing the numbers.

Council members said they did not review the documents before the meeting.

The proposals were introduced and recorded in the record, council president Steven Herman said.

It was expected that two members of the police committee would verify the numbers. And CGA Law Firm, which is handling labor negotiations for the borough, would have created a spread-sheet to share the information with residents, Herman said.


"There is no reason the borough residents should not have known what was in those proposals," he said.

Northern York Chief Mark Bentzel said he was "disappointed" to learn the out-come of Monday's West York meeting. When he called West York Tuesday morning to retrieve his copy of the bid, he said he was told it had already been destroyed.

Bentzel said he would not have been disappointed with a decision made by the borough after reviewing the proposal. Officials need to do what is in the best interest of the community.

He estimated the department put about 10 hours into preparing the proposal.

"A lot of work is required in preparing and submitting a competitive, professional proposal," Bentzel said.

York City Police Chief Wes Kahley is expected to get back with the Daily Record today about releasing the department's proposal.

Council member Brian Wilson said the borough is in labor negotiations with its police department, and it shouldn't be influenced by the proposals. That's why the majority of council voted to get rid of the documents.

"If we're not going to do it, why look at them?" councilwoman Dawn Shue added.

Wilson said West York's police department costs could be lower by hiring more officers instead of paying overtime. The department should have about a dozen officers but is down by a few.

Wilson said he doesn't think the borough had enough town hall meetings before deciding whether to seek outside departments for proposals.

The council on Monday heard public comment on the idea of outsourcing the borough's police department to a neighboring municipality, an option that some members of council wanted to explore before the borough negotiates a new labor contract with the police union.

But residents, along with the others on council, wanted to keep police services in house.

"We would not have the quality service we have now," Shue said. "You get what you pay for."

Council member Nancy Laird said she doesn't want to get involved. She is not on the committee.