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Motion Expressing the Sense of Council of Allegheny County that any legal costs incurred by the Council or any individual members as a result of defending the action at GD-08-016937, Roddey v. Burn et. al., should be borne in proportion by those individual Council Members rather than by the taxpayers of Allegheny County in the event that one or more Members are found to have violated any provision of applicable state law.
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WHEREAS, on August 14, 2008, James C. Roddey initiated a suit against eleven Members of Allegheny County Council by filing a complaint alleging, among other things, that the Council's Democratic Members violated the terms of Pennsylvania's Sunshine Act when they participated at a meeting to which the public did not have access on July 8, 2008; and
WHEREAS, that suit, which has been assigned the docket number of GD-08-016937, requests that the Court impose fines and other sanctions individually against each of the eleven Democratic Council Members; and
WHEREAS, although as of August 21, 2008, no attorney had entered an appearance on behalf of ten of the eleven Democratic Council Members, it is likely that Jack Cambest, who is retained as the Solicitor for Allegheny County Council, and/or Allegheny County Solicitor Michael Wojcik will be asked to provide representation for some or all of the remaining ten Democratic Council Members; and
WHEREAS, the retainer and all fees paid to Mr. Cambest by Council, as well as the salaries and operational costs of the Allegheny County Law Department, including Mr. Wojcik, are paid with funds ultimately derived from taxes paid by the County's residents; and
WHEREAS, it is the position of the Council that violations of the Sunshine Act do not constitute legitimate governmental activities, and it is the judgment of Council that the costs of defending nongovernmental activities should not ultimately be borne by the County's residents;
NOW THEREFORE, IT IS MOVED, that any legal...
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