Falls police union filed criminal complaint against supervisors, solicitor. What we know.

The Falls Township police union president has taken official action against Falls supervisors and its solicitor alleging they violated the state’s Sunshine Act twice last month.

George Thomas, president of the Police Association of Falls Township, filed the private criminal complaint alleging that the supervisors and its solicitor violated the law when the board took official action privately, then later officially approved those actions at the Sept. 25 public meeting.

Supervisors Jeffry Dence, Jeffrey Boraski, Erin Mullen, Brian Galloway, John Palmer and Solicitor Michael Clarke are named as defendants, according to a copy of the complaint, which was filed Tuesday.

“These actions are further examples of a course of conduct by the Falls Township Board of Supervisors, who have in the past, also voted in private executive sessions to terminate the employment of two Falls Township police officers,” Thomas alleged.

Here is what we know.

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What does the complaint allege that Falls Township did wrong?

Thomas alleges the township secretly created a new $130,000-a-year position without a job description or duties and without advertising the position, and agreed to hire former Tullytown Police Chief Dan Doyle.

Doyle started his job as the director of employment operations and chief human resources officer on Sept. 18, and records show he was offered the position a week earlier.

“The board voted to ratify this hiring after knowingly violating the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act,” Thomas said in the complaint.

The complaint also alleges that supervisors decided in private to enter into a contract with the Geyer Real Estate Auctioneers company to hold an online auction of surplus municipal equipment and items.

Records show the auction concluded before a contract was signed with the company, and that the supervisors did not vote on the contract at a public meeting until Sept. 25.  Sunshine Act legal experts said the auction should not have taken place before a contract was approved at a public meeting.

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What does the Sunshine Act say about official actions and public transparency

Any official government business must take place at an advertised meeting where the public is present and has the chance to comment before a vote is taken on any official business, under the law.

Public officials can discuss hiring and personnel in a closed session — one of three exceptions for private meetings — but can not take official action then, under the law.

Legal experts have said it appears Falls is routinely exploiting case law that has evolved around the Sunshine Act that allows a government agency to “cure” an earlier violation by holding a second public vote.

But the experts said that the ‘cure’ vote is intended to remedy unintentional mistakes, not give agencies a means to vote on official business in private on a routine basis, then take a second public vote.

What Falls Township says about the allegations

A Falls Township spokeswoman did not immediately respond to an email Wednesday seeking comment on the filing of the Sunshine Law complaint.

The township previously issued a statement that the Geyer auction was advertised and conducted "consistent" with the requirements of the Second Class Township code.

The statement did not directly respond to the alleged Sunshine Act violation.

The statement cited “time constraints” involving bid awards for the new municipal building construction, as the reason it could not wait until after the Sept. 25 meeting to hold the surplus equipment auction.

The township and its solicitor, Michael Clarke, steadfastly denied its actions have violated the Sunshine Act.

What happens next with the Sunshine Act complaint?

The magisterial court where Thomas filed the complaint will forward it to the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office, which will review it, according to Falls District Judge Jan Vislosky.

The DA’s office has a specific assistant district attorney who reviews the Sunshine Act complaints to determine if there is probable cause a violation occurred and what action, if any, should be taken.

If the DA’s office declines to pursue a complaint, it is returned to the magisterial court where it was filed and the minor court is responsible for notifying the filer.

If the complaint is accepted as a pending case, the DA will return the case to the magisterial court for a hearing.  On Wednesday, Vislosky said if the case was accepted she would recuse herself.

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This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Did Falls violate Sunshine Act Police union files complaint against board