Statement before the Glenn A. Walsh
Library Association:
Sunshine Act Electronic Mail: < gaw@andrewcarnegie.cc
>
Compliance Internet
Site: < http://www.andrewcarnegie.cc
>
2008 May 19
Good evening. I am Glenn A.
Walsh of
At last month’s meeting of
the ACLA Board of Directors, the agenda recorded that the following items would
be discussed in Executive Session: “Compliance issues/open records
stipulations,” “Knowledge Connections,” and “Mission/Vision/Goals – ‘Measures
of Success.”’ When the time for the Executive Session was announced, I called a
Point-of-Order requesting an explanation of how any of the three agenda items
legally qualify for an Executive Session.
The only explanation I was
given is that the Allegheny County Library Association (ACLA) is not legally
required to comply with the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act. In fact, the ACLA legal
counsel stated that ACLA would not comply with the Sunshine Act, without the judgment by a court-of-law!
Amazingly, there seems to be
a dispute as to whether ACLA fits the definition of “Agency” in the Sunshine
Act, despite the fact that, several years ago, ACLA received the State
designation of “Federated Library System,” by the Department of Education,
Title 22, Section 141.21, No.
2, Item i, Line C of the Pennsylvania Code states: “The library shall be an
integral part of general local government.” This means that all libraries which
accept State funding are considered agents of the local unit of government and
must, therefore, comply with all State statutes that apply to local units of
government, including the Sunshine Act and the Right-to-Know Law. This has long
been acknowledged by Commonwealth Libraries and is stated in their Trustees
Manual issued to library trustees throughout the state.
The Allegheny Regional Asset
District (RAD) is a special purpose area-wide unit of local government, which,
by their funding, has accepted ACLA as their agent for library service in a
large portion of
Basically, our law is based
on the theory of voluntary compliance, following constitutional enactment of
law. It is the height of arrogance for
any organization to refuse to comply with any law, without a court order!
It is obvious to anyone who
reads
Thank you.
gaw