Yankees file brief in court fight with The Times-Tribune over concessionaire bid records
BY CHARLES SCHILLINGER | The (Scranton)
Times-Tribune
The management group for the Lackawanna County-owned Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees argues a judge erred in a case that will decide whether concessionaire bids for the baseball team and stadium are public records.
In a defining open records case in September, Judge Terrence R. Nealon ruled in favor of The Times-Tribune, affirming that records of an agency contractor are public if the contractor is performing a government function. The ruling established a new precedent for how a "government function" should be defined for future cases.
The dispute surrounds a concessions contract awarded to Legends Hospitality Management, a company co-owned by the New York Yankees. Legends was selected by SWB Yankees LLC, the management partnership co-owned by the New York Yankees and Mandalay Baseball Properties.
A review of the bids and contract could determine whether taxpayers are getting the best possible deal or whether the Yankees-owned parties favored each other despite lower competing bids.
SWB Yankees, which has refused to release the records, appealed Judge Nealon's ruling to Commonwealth Court. In a legal brief, SWB Yankees said it disagreed with Judge Nealon's new precedent for deciding whether a company is performing a government function.
"(Judge Nealon)'s invention of a brand new, cumbersome five-part standard for what is a 'governmental' function has no basis in Pennsylvania law, has produced an inappropriate result under the facts of this case, and constitutes reversible error," the SWB Yankees briefing reads.
SWB Yankees contends a definition of "government function" already exists. However, that definition does not fit with what the state Legislature intended with the Right to Know Law, said J. Timothy Hinton Jr., who represents the newspaper in the court appeal."Under the (definition) they cite, virtually no records in the hands of third parties would be accessible," he said.
Mr. Hinton said Judge Nealon "got it right" in setting up a new way to determine whether a company is performing a government function."I think it's really a workable and a flexible approach to this," Mr. Hinton said.
The Times-Tribune in January 2009 requested copies of bids submitted by vendors who sought the concessions contract. The initial request for concessions bids was denied. The newspaper appealed to the state Office of Open Records, which determined the information should be released. SWB Yankees appealed to Lackawanna County Court.
It could still be two to three months before a Commonwealth Court hearing is held. The case could prove important statewide in determining whether companies performing a government function on behalf of a public agency are subject to the 2009 Right to Know Law.
The management group for the Lackawanna County-owned Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees argues a judge erred in a case that will decide whether concessionaire bids for the baseball team and stadium are public records.
In a defining open records case in September, Judge Terrence R. Nealon ruled in favor of The Times-Tribune, affirming that records of an agency contractor are public if the contractor is performing a government function. The ruling established a new precedent for how a "government function" should be defined for future cases.
The dispute surrounds a concessions contract awarded to Legends Hospitality Management, a company co-owned by the New York Yankees. Legends was selected by SWB Yankees LLC, the management partnership co-owned by the New York Yankees and Mandalay Baseball Properties.
A review of the bids and contract could determine whether taxpayers are getting the best possible deal or whether the Yankees-owned parties favored each other despite lower competing bids.
SWB Yankees, which has refused to release the records, appealed Judge Nealon's ruling to Commonwealth Court. In a legal brief, SWB Yankees said it disagreed with Judge Nealon's new precedent for deciding whether a company is performing a government function.
"(Judge Nealon)'s invention of a brand new, cumbersome five-part standard for what is a 'governmental' function has no basis in Pennsylvania law, has produced an inappropriate result under the facts of this case, and constitutes reversible error," the SWB Yankees briefing reads.
SWB Yankees contends a definition of "government function" already exists. However, that definition does not fit with what the state Legislature intended with the Right to Know Law, said J. Timothy Hinton Jr., who represents the newspaper in the court appeal."Under the (definition) they cite, virtually no records in the hands of third parties would be accessible," he said.
Mr. Hinton said Judge Nealon "got it right" in setting up a new way to determine whether a company is performing a government function."I think it's really a workable and a flexible approach to this," Mr. Hinton said.
The Times-Tribune in January 2009 requested copies of bids submitted by vendors who sought the concessions contract. The initial request for concessions bids was denied. The newspaper appealed to the state Office of Open Records, which determined the information should be released. SWB Yankees appealed to Lackawanna County Court.
It could still be two to three months before a Commonwealth Court hearing is held. The case could prove important statewide in determining whether companies performing a government function on behalf of a public agency are subject to the 2009 Right to Know Law.