From the Hotline

By Teri Henning
Pennsylvania Newspaper Association

Q: Can township supervisors go behind closed doors to discuss the performance and possible resignation of another supervisor?

A: No. Any discussion by a quorum of the Board about whether another supervisor should resign - or about the supervisor's performance at all – must occur in public. Under the Sunshine Act, any time a quorum of a Board takes official action or deliberates agency business, it must do so at an open meeting unless an exception applies.

Although the Sunshine Act permits the board to discuss certain personnel matters in private, the personnel exception should not apply to discussions about board members. The personnel exception permits an agency to go into executive session to discuss matters involving the "employment, appointment, termination of employment, terms and conditions of employment, evaluation of performance, promotion or disciplining" of "any specific...current public officer or employee employed or appointed by the agency..." (emphasis added). The board member is an elected official. As such, he is neither "employed" nor "appointed" by the agency. Therefore, any discussion by a quorum of the Board that relates to his conduct should be held at an open meeting. In other words, discussions by a quorum of the board that relate to the conduct of another board member do not qualify as "personnel" discussions for purposes of the executive session exception and must occur in public.

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