Dear Editor:

When attending a regular meeting of Borough Council, these meetings are open to the public. However, following the agenda item for public comment an executive session may be called. This session is then closed to the public. These sessions may be quite long which cause those in attendance to become restless and many leave. I am in doubt as to the purpose for this closed session held during a regular open meeting of Borough Council so I decided to pursue it for understanding. What follows is the result of my search in accordance with the Sunshine Law. The information obtained is offered for sharing with others who may have similar thoughts.Sunshine Law Amendments (Act 9 of 1996) which became effective April 23, 1996, and mandates the purpose given in compliance with open meetings saying an agency may hold an executive session which is a closed session for one or more of the following reasons; listed in section (8) subsection (1),:* 1. to discuss any matter involving employment appointment, including termination, terms, performance evaluation, promotion, disciplining of any prospective public officer or employee or current public officer or employee employed or appointed by the agency. The provision of this subsection shall not apply to any meeting involving the appointment of selection of any person to fill a vacancy in any elected office.* 2. to hold informative or strategy and negotiation sessions related to labor relations and arbitration,* 3. to consider the purchase or lease of real property under specific guidelines.* 4. to consult with it's attorney or other professional adviser regarding information or strategy in connection with litigation or with issues on which identifiable complaints are suspected to be filed.* 5. to review and discuss agency business, which if conducted in public, would violate a lawful privilege or lead to the disclosure of information or confidentiality protected by law, including matters related to the initiation and conduct of the investigations of possible or certain violations of the law and quasi - judicial deliberations.* 6a. for duly constituted committees or a board or council of trustees of a state owned, state aided, or state related college or university or community college or of the Board of Governors of the State System of Higher Education to discuss matters of academic admission or standing.* 6b. procedure - the executive session may be held during an open meeting or at the conclusion of an open meeting or may be announced for a future time. The reason for holding the executive session must be announced at the open meeting occurring immediately prior or subsequent to the executive session. If the executive session for a future specific time is not announced, members of the agency shall be notified 24 hours in advance of the time of the convening of the meeting specifying the date, time, location and purpose of the executive session.* 6c. limitation, official action on discussions held pursuant to subsection (a) should be taken at an open meeting. Nothing in this section or section 7 (Exception to open meetings) shall be construed to require that any meeting be closed to the public, nor shall any executive session be used as a subterfuge to defeat the purpose of section (4) (Open meetings).The result of legal information mandated by the enactment of Act 9 of the Sunshine Law (1996) affords being aware of the purpose being that an agency may hold closed executive sessions during open public meetings if held in compliance with the law. It also affords the opportunity for those attending the meeting to offer public comment before the meeting goes into executive session. From this viewpoint a lesson learned is that there are also choices and procedure that may be followed for a change. Addressing the matter in open meeting in accordance with procedure can resolve issues should they exist. Hopefully this information has helped clarify why closed executive sessions are held during open meetings.Thank you,Kathleen Jones,Jim Thorpe