The (Allentown) Morning Call, Jan. 7

Subverting the spirit of 'Sunshine'

This is the season of reorganization by government bodies, national, state and local. Last week, Northampton County Council elected officers in a process that was less than glittering.

The outcome of the election on the afternoon of Jan. 2 isn't the problem. People may disagree about the wisdom of re-electing retired teacher Wayne Grube, 72, of Hanover Township as president and Diane D. Neiper, 57, of Northampton, another teacher, as vice president. Nevertheless, a majority of council elected these two.

Our concern is what led up to the election. It appears that a series of telephone calls among some council members lined up the votes. As long as a quorum of members did not join together in a telephone conference call, a round-robin or daisy chain series of calls to accomplish the same thing falls between the lines of the Pennsylvania Sunshine Law. Consider, however, the spirit in which the General Assembly drafted this law. Its Section 702 is worth quoting. ''The General Assembly finds that the right of the public to be present at all meetings of agencies and to witness the deliberation, policy formulation and decisionmaking of agencies is vital to the enhancement and proper functioning of the democratic process and that secrecy in public affairs undermines the faith of the public in government and the public's effectiveness in fulfilling its role in a democratic society.'' We add those italics to point out what some of County Council did — they made a decision about whom to elect in private and without public input or comment. State courts have allowed agencies like County Council to ''cure'' a violation like this by re-doing the vote in public. But a cure for disrespecting the public by making a decision in private in the first place, is not apparent.

The Sunshine Act isn't such a bad law, if officials only would follow it. The Pennsylvania Newspaper Association's ''Brighter Pennsylvania'' initiative seeks to strengthen the law, but it is hard to legislate against officials' use of the telephone to subvert the purpose of the law. Until elected officials take the obligation to the public seriously, citizens in Northampton County and elsewhere will get a cynical game of charades instead of openness.

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