Government openness in Sunshine Law

Dear Editor:

I attended the regular monthly meeting of Borough Council held in Memorial Hall, Jim Thorpe on Jan. 13, 2011. Comment concerning procedural order of an agenda item was made by a borough resident also attending the meeting. He advised council that agenda item for public comment should have preceded agenda item for decisions for approval, not follow it. The procedural order would then be in compliance with sunshine law.

The Sunshine Act is a U.S. law enacted in 1978. "It is one of a number of sunshine laws intended to create greater openness in government. It also imposes procedural requirements to ensure, among other things, that advance notice is given to the public before agency meetings take place. It also imposes procedural requirements an agency must follow before determining that one of the 10 exemptions, from the openness requirement applies. However, neither the openness requirement, nor the related procedural requirements, are triggered unless the government entity at issue is an "agency" and unless the gathering in question is a "meeting" of the agency."

Definition defines a "meeting" as "the deliberation of at least the number of individual agency members required to take action on behalf of the agency where such deliberations determine the result of the joint conduct or disposition of official agency business." 552(a)(2)

Definition defines "agency" to "include any agency headed by a collegial body composed of two or more individual members and any subdivision thereof authorized to act on behalf of the agency." 552(a)(1)

"The Sunshine Act enumerates 10 specific exemptions for categories of information.

* information relating to natural defense,

* related solely to internal personnel rules and practices,

* related to accusing a person of a crime,

* related to information where disclosure would constitute a breach of privacy,

* related to investigatory records where information would harm the proceedings,

* related to information which would lead to financial speculation or endanger the stability of any financial institution and

* related to the agency's participation in legal proceedings.

The legislative intent of the Act is "the basic premise of the sunshine legislation is that the people are the only legitimate foundation of power, and it is from them that the constitutional charter is derived. Government is and should be fully accountable to them for the actions which it supposedly takes on their behalf."

Thank you

Kathleen F. Jones,

Jim Thorpe