Are they making up Commonwealth Law on the spot?

 "The ethics commission rules, I won't say we ignored them, I'd just say more or less we weren't aware of them.’

West Brandywine does not retain a solicitor for its regular meetings, Obernier said, because officials there don't think it's worth the cost. ‘Most townships … pay $150 to $250 an hour to have a township solicitor sit in the meeting and guide the board through every little thing. We choose not to pay that and have never had a solicitor sit in a normal township meeting just simply not to pay the money."

FROM:

 Commission: Official's ethics violation was unintentional

Supervisor OK'd inappropriate payments

Friday, January 21, 2011

By KATRINA DIX

In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania local governments are legislative bodies and do make laws. In fact, in Pennsylvania, almost all laws concerning land use originate with local governments. However the laws created by local governments cannot contradict state and federal law. It’s that oath of allegiance to the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Constitution of the United States of America to which local government officials swear allegiance. Without that oath of allegiance it’s wild west law. That’s one reason why most local governments have a municipal attorney at local government meetings.

I believe that “I didn’t know it is against the law” is not an effective defense in a criminal trial, but this was a hearing and the people of concern were not alleged to be criminals. 

But then there is a concept attributed to Richard Legree: “If they don’t know it’s a law, the law ain’t broken.”  Richard said that to me while waiting in the back of a courtroom for a trial to begin.  He was referring to holding two elected offices at the same time.

When the stock market was thriving and real estate developers had high profits, much of those profits were invested in buying up farmland or obtaining rights of first refusal in Pennsylvania and anywhere that might be along the path of development. A very sizable portion of property owners in Pennsylvania, mostly along the eastern megatropolis path, are land speculators. With a few exceptions most of the farmland that you drive by in Pennsylvania is in some manner already in the hands of a real estate developer.

Our very strong property rights law in Pennsylvania protects those real estate speculators from legal intrusions by local government. In other words when a real estate speculator decides it’s time to develop that land the law is already stacked against the local government. And the Commonwealth and County government have very little say in land use issues in Pennsylvania.

A municipal attorney at local government meetings also has a practical side:

Unless a developer breaks a Commonwealth law local government officials can only stop a land development that is seen by them as unwanted by delaying and wearing out a developer until the developers funds dry up. But all developers are not created equal. If an extremely well funded multinational developer with its own legal department buys land in a municipality and a team of attorneys comes into a local government meeting like an invading army, it’s best to have a municipal attorney present. 

For more information about development and local government see:

And:

Witold Rybczynski (Author)