Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Craig Neely shares memo with Emmaus Patch following Monday night’s Emmaus Borough Council meeting.
A memo described as a private “food for thought” communication between Borough Manager Craig Neely and Emmaus Borough Council touched off heated debate about Sunshine Laws and the public’s right-to-know during Monday night’s council meeting. Two candidates for Emmaus Borough Council 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. …
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Memo to council from Borough Manager Craig Neely garners praise from Councilman R. Erick Reinhard.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to more accurately reflect the events of Monday night’s council meeting. We incorrectly referred to an unofficial memo as an official report. A private memo distributed to Emmaus Borough Council weeks ago by Borough Manager Craig Neely got a mention at last night’s short council meeting. The memo consisted of Neely’s musings regarding property tax. In the correspondence, Neely uses the way people are charged for water as an example of a more equitable approach to taxes. “With water, people pay for what they use,” Neely said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. “The write-up was just a food-for-thought kind of thing. It was an interesting philosophical exercise.” Councilman R. Erick Reinhard …
Monday, August 1, 2011
Craig Neely gives memo to Emmaus Patch after August 15 Emmaus Borough Council meeting.
After the August 15 Emmaus Borough Council meeting, Borough Manager Craig Neely shared a memo that was the center of a right-to-know debate at the meeting with the Emmaus Patch with the following written statement: “Considering the insulting and inappropriate accusations made by Mr. Donches, Mr. Landi, and Mr. Slozer, I believe that it is in the best interest of the Community that their accusations be proven wrong by the disclosure of my Memorandum, which was merely designed to foster creative thinking among elected officials. Since January 1, 2000, Emmaus Borough Council has been as open a government as it can possibly be, and it will continue to be so as long as I am the Borough Manager.” Neely gave Emmaus Patch the document with the …
Nancy O'Keefe
7:37 am on Saturday, August 20, 2011
Sounds like candidates looking for name recognition and a headline...ridiculous. more ›