YORK, Pa. (WHTM) -- Why does York need as much an additional month to provide emails and phone records of messages received by city council?
Good question, according to the council's own president.
"There is no reason, in my opinion, why that information should not be out to the public," Sandie Walker (D), York city council president, said Tuesday.
abc27 News requested the documents Feb. 1, the same day the city clerk distributed a press release on behalf of city council, saying council -- acting because of emails and phone calls members had received -- was looking into the legality of the oath of office Mayor Michael Helfrich (D) took after he was re-elected.
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On Monday, the city's right-to-know officer told abc27 News the city would invoke what it considered its right to take an extra month to fulfill the request, beyond an initial five-day period. Among the reasons it gave: staffing shortages and the "extent or nature" of the request, which "precludes a response within the required time period."
But according to Walker, the solicitor's office -- in which the right-to-know officer works -- couldn't have needed more time to gather the documents, because it already had what it needed a week ago.
"Our city clerk sent the information over to the solicitor's office on February 1st," she said. "So we were surprised to hear that an extension needed to be made, since city council was who put out the press release, and the right-to-know [request] was in regards to that information that city council put out in the press release. So for the information not to be out yet, I'm confused."
Her concern?
"It's a matter of transparency," Walker said. "And so by the solicitor's office holding that information, it makes it seem as though city council is withholding information, when we made sure our clerk sent out that information the same day."
Separately, Walker addressed the underlying issue: whether Helfrich erred in not taking the oath of office sooner. She said the questions about the oath had nothing to do with broader disagreements between the mayor and most council members.
"It doesn't really matter what my opinion is," Walker said. "The law is the law. And that's why we requested legal opinions from attorneys, so that they can give that information to us to review. We don't want to be in violation of the law."
Helfrich has maintained there's no such thing as taking the oath late after being re-elected, because the original oath remains valid until someone else becomes mayor -- a position Helfrich says the city solicitor affirmed before Helfrich chose not to be present at a council meeting in early January. (City solicitors Donald Hoyt and Jason Sabol didn't reply to a message from abc27 News seeking confirmation of that and any further clarification.)
"The optional charter law in the city ordinances do not require a second oath of office," Helfrich said Tuesday. "There was no expiration date on my earlier oath of office. There was no successor to me. I am my own successor. I'm still the mayor of York."
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