Politics blamed for runaround

HAZLE TWP. – A former township employee who sued the township in 2004 suspects politics is the reason supervisors refuse to turn over some public records and are charging him almost $300 for other public records.

Township solicitor Charles Pedri says he’s concerned about employee privacy rights and that the “complex nature of the request and the number of records that must be reviewed” necessitates extra work by the township secretary for which the township should be compensated.

But a media attorney doesn’t buy those arguments, and neither does Paul Kattner, the former employee.

Kattner, who resigned his position as township building inspector in 2004, admits that politics is part of the reason he is seeking the information.

“I was thinking about running (for township supervisor) in the primary,” Kattner said. “If I run, I always like to have information to back me up. Then it became intriguing to me as to why I was being given the runaround.”

• Employee, engineer and solicitor salaries and retainers and the cost of their benefit packages for the past three years

• Fees paid to supervisor, zoning, planning and recreation board members for the past three years

• Cost of and time off for schooling for all employees for the past three years

• Last two annual reports of the planning commission and whether the planning secretary receives benefits and is eligible for a pension

• Number of subdivisions processed and the amount of fees received for the past three years

• Names and certifications of each employee of the code and building inspection offices

• Overtime paid to and mileage and personal expenses claimed by each supervisor for the past three years

In a written response dated May 10, Pedri said the secretary estimated it would take 20 hours to retrieve all the information requested and the cost to Kattner would be $14.25 per hour. He said he was reviewing whether providing the salary information on township employees “violates their rights to privacy.”

Melissa Melewsky, an attorney with the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, said it’s part of township employees’ job responsibilities to comply with the Right to Know Law, “and they can’t charge you for what it costs them to comply with the law.”

Melewsky also said there’s “no privacy protection for employee salaries. Accounts paid by an agency are public records, period. They can black out Social Security numbers and home addresses for privacy concerns, but not salaries and names.”

Pedri told a reporter he was waiting on a ruling from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania on the Joe Paterno case before deciding on whether to comply with the requests on the salary issue.

The Patriot-News newspaper filed a Right to Know request in 2002 seeking the salary of Paterno, longtime Penn State University head football coach. Commonwealth Court in 2005 decided the salary is public record, but Penn State appealed to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. A decision is pending.

“It does not deal with public employees; it deals with employees of an organization not covered by the Right to Know Law who chose to opt into a state agency retirement system … that is covered by the Right to Know Act,” she said.

Melewsky said that even if Pedri could rely on the Paterno case, it doesn’t help him because Penn State lost in Commonwealth Court, “and that case is the law unless and until the Supreme Court changes it.”

“Even if the Supreme Court overrules the Commonwealth Court, it has no bearing on salaries paid to employees of public agencies. So, in my opinion, the solicitor is way off in depending on a ‘privacy’ concern and the Paterno case. Basic legal analysis reveals his interpretation and withholding is not proper and could be found to be a willful violation of the Right to Know Law,” Melewsky said.

Kattner believes the township is stonewalling him because he ran for supervisor against Anthony “Midge” Matz in 2003 and sued the township after he lost his full-time employment status.

According to that lawsuit, Kattner lost his bid for supervisor on the Democratic ticket in May 2003, switched parties and lost to Matz on the Republican ticket in November 2003. On Dec. 8, 2003, the supervisors fired Kattner as planning director and building inspector, changed his code-enforcement officer position to part time and terminated his health benefits. On Jan. 5, they cut his code-enforcement pay from $15 to $11.50 an hour. Kattner’s replacements were Matz’s political supporters.

Kattner claimed he was forced to resign as code enforcement officer in March and took a building inspector job with the city of Hazleton, forfeiting his right to a township pension. He sought reinstatement to his former positions, accrued holiday, sick and vacation time, backpay, legal fees and punitive damages.

Township Supervisor Chairman Bill Gallagher did not return a message seeking comment.

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Ex-employee who sued Hazle Twp. seeks access to public records.

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