Sunshine Act issues postpone McKeesport City Council meeting
An Allegheny County judge ordered McKeesport City Council to postpone its Wednesday meeting while the court weighs alleged Sunshine Act violations by the body.
Common Pleas Judge John T. McVay Jr. gave the order in a virtual hearing Wednesday after four citizens brought forth a suit alleging the council violated the state law, which says agencies must have open meetings with public comment.
As of Wednesday afternoon, it was not clear when the meeting would proceed, and the judge asked the parties to submit briefs on the matter.
The four plaintiffs are Valian Walker Montgomery, Courtney Thompkins, Tracey Jordan and Janina Riley.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs wanted to address allegations of civil rights abuses by law enforcement during the manhunt resulting from the shooting of a McKeesport police officer, allegedly by 22-year-old Koby Lee Francis in December.
Multiple police agencies began searching for Francis after he escaped police custody. Attempting to find him, police began searching vehicles and homes, the complaint says. (Francis was later arrested in
West Virginia.)
Take Action Mon Valley, a community organization, planned to address issues with the searches alongside “numerous” other local citizens at a Jan. 6 city council meeting, the complaint reads.
But when the group showed up at 7 p.m. to the council chambers to attend the meeting, the doors were locked and a sign said the meetings were closed to the public due to COVID-19, according to the complaint. The only way to participate in the public comment was by written submissions due at noon that day.
The American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the council president and the mayor urging them to provide in-person or virtual comments during the Feb. 3 council meeting, but that meeting was canceled.
Attorneys then spent two weeks asking the city solicitor how the council would address the participation problem before the March 3 meeting but received no response, the complaint says.
At a virtual hearing Wednesday, attorneys for the citizens asked the judge to postpone the council meeting until there could be a way for people to attend virtually.
McKeesport Solicitor J. Jason Elash said they would agree to go forward with a remote meeting in the future.
Judge McVay said he hadn’t decided whether or not the city violated the Sunshine Act, but said he thought the virtual hearings were “the better way to go.”
“We’ve been, basically, conducting court this way,” the judge said.
“We have our method, and it has its drawbacks certainly, but we are able to conduct court,” he continued. “We’re able to have interaction, and we are able to shut people off if we have to, and it’s actually kind of amazing thinking where we were a year ago.”