County Watchdog Muzzled; Controller Welcome Only As Meeting “Observer”
By Bud Angst
(For the Feb. 28, 2008, Call, Schuylkill Haven, PA, & the West Schuylkill Press-Herald)
Schuylkill County Controller Melinda Kantner may retain her seat at the counsel table during workshop meetings of the county commissioners, but only if she does so silently.
According to an opinion delivered by County Solicitor Eric Mika at last week’s Commissioners’ Workshop, the Controller may, as a courtesy, retain her seat alongside the commissioners at the bi-weekly workshops but only as an observer.
Any comments she may have, Mika said, should be presented only during the Public Comment period following the Pledge of Allegiance at the beginning of the meeting.
Clearly, Mika’s ruling lit a fire under the Controller. “If I have a question, I’ll ask it,” responded Ms. Kantner..
“And you’ll be in violation of the Rules of Conduct,” Mika replied.
The so-called “workshop” meetings of the Schuylkill commissioners are held in the Hoffman Room, an adjunct to the commissioners’ complex in the courthouse. Although labeled as “workshop” meetings, the sessions frequently include actual voting.
Usually, the three county commissioners and the Controller sit at one side of the long conference table, the county fiscal administrator occupies a seat at the one end of the table, a courthouse clerk occupies a chair at the other end of the long table. The side opposite the commissioners is occupied by the County Solicitor and provides space for several vacant chairs that are used by the specific department heads or agency representatives making requests or presentations to the commissioners.
Members of the press and public are seated in chairs along the wall.
The commissioners’ “regular” business sessions, held bi-weekly on the second and fourth Wednesdays are conducted in much more formal arrangement in the Commissioners Board Room. In that venue, the commissioners occupy a raised dais facing several rows of benches, the first of which is occupied by county employees – the Solicitor, clerks, Controller and Treasurer – with the second row reserved for the press. Any public present occupies benches in the remaining rows.
Last Wednesday’s controversy arose when Controller Kantner, a resident of North Manheim Township and a member of its Planning Commission, attempted to ask a question of a township spokesperson who was addressing the county commissioners.
Obviously anticipating just such an event, County Solicitor Eric Mika ruled the Controller “out of order,” and not entitled to participate in the discussion except during the pre-deliberation “Public Comment” period.
The Controller, Mika said, is present at the table only as a courtesy and must sit there quietly. Any deviation from that rule, he added, is violative of the Rules of Conduct.
Predictably, Controller Kantner balked.
“I am not here as a member of the public,” Kantner said, “but as the County Controller and I beg to differ with your interpretation of the rules.”
“I would be shirking my duty,” Kantner added, “if I did not help and assist the commissioners to do their job.”
Kantner also claimed the rule is a new one, considering the fact that the previous Controller, Gary Hornberger, was allowed to speak and ask questions during the commissioners’ meetings.
Ms. Kantner’s contention was disputed by Commissioner Mantura Gallagher who claimed that Hornberger spoke up only at meetings of the County Salary Board of which he was a member.
The question from Kantner that sparked the exchange was a relatively innocuous query relating to the hiring of an appraiser to valuate the 1912 Building at Rest Haven without seeking bids for the service. In response, County Fiscal Administrator Darlene Dolzani acknowledged that the appraiser had been hired without bidding but said the price quoted by the person hired “was within the customary range” for such service.
Ms.Kantner is a resident of North Manheim Township and a member of its Planning Commission. The dispute over her right to comment or question came during the Public Comment period when a North Manheim Twp. supervisor was objecting to the commissioners’ obvious intention to sell the 1912 Building and 34.1 acres of the Rest Haven property to the Penn State-Schuylkill Campus Advisory Board. (For details on that issue, see the accompanying story.)
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