Editorial: Pittsburgh City Council games system with quorums and briefings

It is common for people to try to avoid the law by identifying its outlines and walking right up to that border.

It happens in banking, where people will try to avoid the scrutiny that comes with criminal activities by staying under the $10,000 reporting threshold. People will try to get around prescription oversight by going to different doctors, hospitals and pharmacies. Underage college students could try to buy alcohol with fake IDs or have someone older than 21 buy it for them.

No matter the area, someone tries to find a way around it. Government identifies a problem. Government passes a law. Someone looks for a loophole.

Even government? Unfortunately, yes.

Pittsburgh City Council has public meetings as required by law. Anytime a vote is taken, it has to be on the record and in the public eye. Those public meetings must be duly advertised in a timely manner.

But council for years has had closet meetings referred to as “briefings.” These aren’t open to the public. They are not transparent.

In April, TribLive reported on these less-than-public meetings, pointing to what violates the spirit of the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act, if not the letter of the law.

But what does this have to do with tiptoeing around banking laws or doctor-shopping or an underage kid getting someone to buy him beer?

One way that meetings are or aren’t official is by the number of people who attend. There must be a quorum — in most cases a simple majority. Pittsburgh City Council is made up of nine people. A quorum is five.

To avoid triggering a quorum, “briefings” often will be held twice to keep the total number of council members in each under that voting number.

This is almost childishly blatant. It acknowledges where the legal requirement is and steps around it with a teasing air.

Traditionally, this kind of audacity bothers government. When it finds people exploiting certain loopholes, it works to sew them up.

Try to keep your deposits at $9,999 to avoid that bank reporting? That’s called structuring, and it’s now illegal. The Drug Enforcement Agency has cracked down on drug-seeking behavior spread around providers. The guy who buys the beer for a minor will be charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Council canceled a briefing shortly after TribLive’s report, with a council member claiming it was for scheduling reasons. But two more are scheduled for next week.

Councilman Anthony Coghill, D-Beechview, says he intends to avoid closed-door meetings since concerns have been raised. Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith, D-West End, says she also is unlikely to attend. She is “certain there’s a reason they thought a briefing” was appropriate but is unsure what that is.

There is a short list of reasons acceptable for a closed-door meeting: real estate negotiations, pending litigation, personnel, etc. If it doesn’t meet that list, the “briefing” should be part of a real meeting.

Council needs to stop walking right up to the legal line and thumbing its collective nose at the rules. The people deserve to see their leaders not just vote in public but also discuss the issues there.