Connellsville council to hire new secretary
CONNELLSVILLE – Council has taken formal action to seek a replacement for the administrative secretary it apparently fired last month behind closed doors. By a unanimous vote, the officials agreed to advertise to accept applications for the position formerly held by Bonnie Blackburn.
In the resolution, read by Mayor Judy Reed, the June 6 dismissal of Blackburn was acknowledged, however, no public vote was taken to verify the action, but that council would accept applications for her replacement.
City Treasurer Judy Keller criticized the three present council members for failing to follow proper protocol when hiring or firing an employee.
“I don’t believe, according to the record, there was any formal resolution read or passed in a public meeting to fire said employee,” said Keller. “I’m not so sure that was proper procedure.
“There was the termination of someone’s employment on June 6, but it was not done it public.”
Council met in regular session June 5 and entered into a closed-door executive session, but did not take public action to terminate Blackburn’s employment with the city.
Blackburn said earlier that shortly after she reported to work June 6 she was given a sealed envelope from city clerk David Pinkosky that included a letter stating her services were no longer needed. She turned in keys to Pinkosky, removed her personal items and left the building, she added.
Councilman Brad Geyer admitted that after the panel discussed the personnel matter in executive session, a “consensus” was reached to terminate Blackburn.
Teri Henning, general counsel for the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, said earlier that the members of council are required by the Sunshine Act to bring the matter before the public for official action.
“All official action must occur at an advertised open meeting,” said Henning. “It is appropriate and acceptable to discuss personnel issues behind closed doors, but when the time comes to make a decision, council is required to come out to the open meeting to make that final decision.”
The officials offered no explanation as to why there was no public action to dismiss Blackburn.
Keller also chastised Reed and council members Terry Bodes and David McIntire for not producing a copy of the meeting agenda prior to the session that would allow the public and media knowledge of the planned discussions and actions to be taken by the panel. Council members Charles Matthews and Brad Geyer were absent from the meeting.
Several years ago, said Keller, the then-council adopted a resolution requiring that all department heads and the mayor submit agenda items to the administrative office four days prior to the meeting date in order for the document to be prepared and available for review.
“This gave every council member plenty of advance notification to sit down and logically consider business in front of them that they were going to be asked to vote on at the meeting,” she said. “Unfortunately, it has become a bad habit that the four-day rule is not being followed.”
Keller said that she secured a copy of the July meeting agenda only three hours in advance of the session.
Reed responded that the administrative office is short-staffed and it is nearly impossible to prepare an agenda when the telephone is continuously ringing and the remaining staff must attend to public inquiries and the daily operation of the city.
“Without a key employee, things don’t get done,” she said. “We can’t put a note on the door stating that the office is closed.”
Henning said Tuesday that the public should be informed, in advance, of the issues facing council and proposed action.
While the Sunshine Act does not specifically state an agenda is required, she said, it does require an agency to comply with certain criteria, including the notification to the public of its planned business to be transacted.
“There are public participation requirements and similar requirements that do at the very least, suggest or imply that an agenda is necessary to satisfy the obligations of the statute,” she said. “The agency needs to give the public a reasonable opportunity to comment on matters.”