Monday will be the last regular City Council meeting for Pottsville’s Democrat majority for the next four years.
The next regular council meeting will feature a Republican majority in the city for the first time in about 30 years.
But on their way out, it appears the Democrat majority is ready to pack some authority boards and fill some vacancies. Filling board vacancies, at least on the surface, is certainly within the rights of the current council.
However, the last-minute effort noticeably lacks details, namely who is being appointed. These omissions present compliance concerns with Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Act.
On Friday, the meeting agenda was posted for Monday’s 5 p.m. meeting. On it, there are numerous authority positions the council appears ready to fill with unnamed appointees.
Here’s a look at the proposed appointments (as written on the meeting agenda) that lack a key detail … the name of person the council is considering:
- Appointment by the Mayor to the Pottsville Housing Authority, to be approved by Council.
- Two appointments by the Mayor to the Board of Directors of the Parking Authority, to be approved by Council.
- Appointment to serve on the Redevelopment Authority to fill the expired term of Ian Lipton
- Appointment to serve on the Greater Pottsville Sewer Authority to fill the expired term of William DeAngeles
- Approving the Mayor’s appointment to serve on the Pottsville Housing Authority to fill the expired term of Maire Wilson
- Appointment to serve on the Redevelopment Authority to fill the unexpired term of Lynn Strausser who resigned.
There’s also another agenda item that, on its face, raises similar concerns with Sunshine Act compliance. It reads that council will be “Correcting term expiration dates for certain authority positions and individuals appointed to same.”
Once again, this is another vague item. There is no mention of whose term expiration date needs correction and on which authority or board.
These omissions and vague items raise Sunshine Act concerns because an argument can be made that it does not give the public their right to offer meaningful comments on any of the appointments.
Comments could question the qualifications or conflicts of interest of those being appointed. And concerns could be raised that the public was not given the proper amount of time to vet these appointees.
It should be noted that the same agenda does include an item that proves Pottsville is capable of complying with the Sunshine Act in this regard.
A vote on Monday is likely to be taken to appoint Assistant Fire Chiefs in Pottsville. They are Steve Karinch, David Leibel, and Charles Bauer. Each, if approved, will serve a two-year term.
And just last month, the public meeting agenda showed similar transparency. It included two reappointments to the City’s Board of Appeals: Yongcheol Kim and Dr. Paul Miller. Both were approved by majority votes.
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