Borough Manager’s Memo Sparks Right-to-Know Debate

A memo described as a private “food for thought” communication between Borough Manager Craig Neely and touched off heated debate about Sunshine Laws and the public’s right-to-know during Monday night’s council meeting.

addressed council during the public comment portion of the meeting to complain that their separate open records requests for copies of the memo were denied by Neely, the borough’s open records officer.

The memo, distributed under the subject line “A Budgetary Philosophical Observation,” consists of Neely’s thoughts about property tax. In the correspondence, he explores whether the way people are charged for water may be a more equitable approach to taxes. .

Council candidate Giovanni Landi, 869 Frank Drive, said that since the subject of the memo has to do with property taxes, it was written while Neely was on the clock as borough manager and it was produced on borough letterhead, the residents of Emmaus have a right to read the memo.

John Donches, 559 Minor St., continued the debate when Landi was forced to surrender the podium upon completion of his allotted five minutes. “It seems like you are trying to hide something,” said Donches, who is also running for council.

Former borough council president Otto Slozer, 121 E. Elm St., urged council to “think long and hard” on its stance about the memo. “It does look like secret government,” he said. “You elect public officials to conduct public business in public. It looks like you are conducting the public’s business in secret.”

Borough Solicitor Frank Procyk said the memo "is not within the definition of a public record within the right-to-know law.”

Councilman Brent Labenberg asked the solicitor if it would be an issue if someone on council were to give Landi the memo, since it isn't a confidential document and doesn’t relate to actionable council business.

Landi said: “We shouldn’t have to rely on council people to do something unethical and leak a memo. It sounds to me that you are having a discussion that should be had in public.”

The memo came to light as a result of the  when Councilman R. Erick Reinhard mentioned the document and praised Neely for “thinking outside of the box.” At last night’s meeting, Reinhard said he believes the memo should be shared publicly.