York Twp. commissioners must turn over emails
By GREG GROSS
For the [York] Daily Record/Sunday News
For the second time in two months, two York Township commissioners have been ordered to hand over e-mails concerning township business that were sent from or received by their home computers.
On Aug. 21, the state's Office of Open Records overruled the township's denial of a request made by Stacey MacNeal, an attorney with York-based law firm Katherman, Heim & Perry. In June, MacNeal requested documents regarding Traditional Neighborhood Developments, or TNDs, including e-mails sent to and received by commissioners Dennis Ness and Ken Silberstein.
MacNeal specifically requested e-mails between those commissioners and John Bowders, a member of Citizens for Smarter Growth, which is a grassroots organization critical of TNDs.
The township denied the request, arguing that e-mails stored on personal computers are not public records and that correspondences between a commissioner and a citizen are not public.
Township officials also denied MacNeal's request for correspondences between Ness and Silberstein and for any written legal counsel that didn't come from township solicitor Steve Hovis. The township argued the request violated attorney-client privileges.
MacNeal, whose firm represented Heritage Hills Associates - a company that had a TND denied earlier this year - appealed the township's decision to the Office of Open Records.
In the 16-page ruling by appeals officer Audrey Buglione, she states the e-mails are indeed public record, regardless of where they are stored.
However, Ness said e-mails he received at home aren't in his possession, either, because they are stored on Internet providers' servers. He said e-mails are deleted automatically after three weeks.
"I don't keep them," he said in an interview Friday. "You're not gonna get anything."
Ness must supply any e-mails meeting the request criteria to the township, which will turn them over to MacNeal. For any deleted e-mails, Ness must sign an affidavit that they are in fact gone.
As for Silberstein, the ruling agreed that e-mails between him and his private attorney are not public records.
Silberstein could not be reached for comment Friday.
In July, the township's board of commissioners voted 3-2 to force Ness and Silberstein to turn over similar e-mails requested by Charles Courtney, an attorney who represents Charter Homes & Neighborhoods, a company that had planned to build another TND in the township.
Courtney's letter, which was delivered in June to the township, states that electronic information stored on Ness' and Silberstein's personal computers back up the claims.
"I think that's just disgusting (for it to happen) in America," Ness said during a commissioners meeting earlier this month.
Silberstein also decried the board's vote not to fight the requests, which means that any legal opposition by Ness and Silberstein would have to be personally financed.
"We're going to bow to the deep pockets of the developers and their attorneys," he said at that meeting.
For the [York] Daily Record/Sunday News
For the second time in two months, two York Township commissioners have been ordered to hand over e-mails concerning township business that were sent from or received by their home computers.
On Aug. 21, the state's Office of Open Records overruled the township's denial of a request made by Stacey MacNeal, an attorney with York-based law firm Katherman, Heim & Perry. In June, MacNeal requested documents regarding Traditional Neighborhood Developments, or TNDs, including e-mails sent to and received by commissioners Dennis Ness and Ken Silberstein.
MacNeal specifically requested e-mails between those commissioners and John Bowders, a member of Citizens for Smarter Growth, which is a grassroots organization critical of TNDs.
The township denied the request, arguing that e-mails stored on personal computers are not public records and that correspondences between a commissioner and a citizen are not public.
Township officials also denied MacNeal's request for correspondences between Ness and Silberstein and for any written legal counsel that didn't come from township solicitor Steve Hovis. The township argued the request violated attorney-client privileges.
MacNeal, whose firm represented Heritage Hills Associates - a company that had a TND denied earlier this year - appealed the township's decision to the Office of Open Records.
In the 16-page ruling by appeals officer Audrey Buglione, she states the e-mails are indeed public record, regardless of where they are stored.
However, Ness said e-mails he received at home aren't in his possession, either, because they are stored on Internet providers' servers. He said e-mails are deleted automatically after three weeks.
"I don't keep them," he said in an interview Friday. "You're not gonna get anything."
Ness must supply any e-mails meeting the request criteria to the township, which will turn them over to MacNeal. For any deleted e-mails, Ness must sign an affidavit that they are in fact gone.
As for Silberstein, the ruling agreed that e-mails between him and his private attorney are not public records.
Silberstein could not be reached for comment Friday.
In July, the township's board of commissioners voted 3-2 to force Ness and Silberstein to turn over similar e-mails requested by Charles Courtney, an attorney who represents Charter Homes & Neighborhoods, a company that had planned to build another TND in the township.
Courtney's letter, which was delivered in June to the township, states that electronic information stored on Ness' and Silberstein's personal computers back up the claims.
"I think that's just disgusting (for it to happen) in America," Ness said during a commissioners meeting earlier this month.
Silberstein also decried the board's vote not to fight the requests, which means that any legal opposition by Ness and Silberstein would have to be personally financed.
"We're going to bow to the deep pockets of the developers and their attorneys," he said at that meeting.
What's
next
York Township has until Sept. 20 to appeal the
Office of Open Records decision to the York
County Court of Common Pleas.
Township solicitor Steve Hovis said he could not
comment on whether the township will appeal or
not.