A.
The Commission shall consist of three Commissioners who shall be
qualified electors of the Borough of West View and shall be appointed
by the West View Borough Council initially to serve for terms of two,
four, and six years, and as terms thereafter expire shall be appointed
for terms of six years.
B.
Any vacancy occurring in the Commission for any reason shall be filled
by the West View Borough Council for the unexpired term within the
period of 30 days after such vacancy occurs.
C.
Each member of the Commission, before entering upon the discharge
of the duties of their office, shall take an oath or affirmation to
support the Constitutions of the United States and of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania and to perform their official duties with fidelity.
This oath shall be given by the Mayor or other appropriate official.
No Civil Service Commissioner shall receive compensation.
No Commissioner shall at the same time hold an elective or appointed
office under the United States Government, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
or any political subdivision of the commonwealth, except that one
member of the Commission may be a member of the West View Borough
Council and one may be a member of the teaching profession.
The Commission shall meet and organize on the first Monday of
February of each even-numbered year. The Commission shall elect one
of its members as the Chairperson, one as the Vice Chairperson and
one as the Secretary.
The Chairperson, or in his or her absence, the Vice Chairperson,
shall preside at all meetings and hearings of the Commission, decide
all points of order or procedure and perform any other duties required
by law or these rules. He may be aided in these duties by a solicitor
to the Commission. Any such solicitor or legal counsel must have an
active license to practice law in Pennsylvania and cannot also function
as the Borough Solicitor or be affiliated with the law firm of the
Borough Solicitor.
The Secretary shall carry on at the direction of the Commission
all official correspondence of the Commission, send out all notices
required by law and these rules and regulations, keep a record of
each examination or other official action of the Commission, and perform
all other duties required by law, by these rules and by the Commission.
Except for the biennial organizational meeting, all nonjudicial
meetings of the Commission shall be held either at the call of the
Chairperson or at the call of two members of the Commission. Unless
all members shall waive the requirement, a minimum of 24 hours' written
notice of each meeting shall be given to each Commissioner by the
Secretary. Any official actions and any deliberations by a quorum
(i.e., at least two members) of the Commission shall take place in
a meeting open to the public unless closed pursuant to 65 Pa.C.S.A. § 708.
A.
Two members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum, and no action
of the Commission shall be valid unless it shall have the concurrence
of at least two members. Unless prevented by a conflict of interest,
a Commissioner must vote "yea" or "nay" on every motion, decision
or adjudication which comes before the Commission.
B.
For purposes of hiring and promoting police officers under these
rules, each step of the hiring or promotional process requiring official
action by the Commission shall be considered a separate matter or
case, and each step of the hiring or promotional process need not
be voted upon or approved by the same composition of Commissioners,
as the case may be, provided that the quorum requirement has been
satisfied.
The order of business of all nonjudicial meetings of the Commission
shall be as follows:
A.
The Commission Secretary shall keep minutes showing the vote of each
member upon each question, and records of examinations and other official
actions. If a member is absent, cannot vote due to a conflict of interest
or fails to vote, the Secretary shall indicate that fact in the minutes.
All records of the Commission shall be preserved and disposed of according
to the Retention and Disposition Schedule for Records of Pennsylvania
Municipalities under the authority of the Municipal Records Act, 1968
P.L. 961, No. 428, 53 P.S. § 9001 et seq.[1] Commission minutes shall be kept in the manner required
by 65 Pa.C.S.A. § 706.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former 53 P.S. § 9001 et seq. was
repealed by 1996, Dec. 19, P.L. 1158, No. 177, § 2(a). See
now 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 1381 et seq.
B.
Commission records pertaining to all aspects of its business (except
minutes) shall be maintained for five years after which they shall
be destroyed. A record of Commission minutes shall be permanently
maintained. Records relating to litigation or probable litigation
shall, in no case, be destroyed until such time as the litigation
or litigation threat has been resolved. Documents and information
qualifying as public records will be available to the public. The
Commission adopts the procedures employed by the Borough, as they
may from time to time be modified, relative to responding to requests
for public records.
The Commission shall have the power to prescribe, enforce and
amend the rules and regulations governing the conduct of its activities.
Before any changes to these rules or regulations become effective,
those changes must be approved by Borough Council. These rules and
regulations and any modifications or amendments thereto, shall be
made available to the public for distribution or inspection.
The Borough Council shall furnish the Commission with such supplies
and clerical assistance as may be necessary for the Commission to
fulfill its duties. The Borough Council shall provide a suitable and
convenient room for use of the Commission. In addition, the Commission
may retain counsel, and any other consultants or experts, including
physicians and psychologists/psychiatrists, as are necessary. The
elected and appointed officials for the Borough shall assist the Commission
with all reasonable and appropriate efforts including compensation
for any counsel or experts retained by the Commission.
The Commission shall have the power to make investigations concerning
all matters relating to its scope of business as defined by 53 P.S.
§§ 46171 through 46195 and to the administration and
enforcement of these rules and regulations to the extent authorized
by the Borough Code. The Chairperson of the Commission is authorized
to administer oaths and affirmations in connection with such investigations.
A.
The Commission shall have the power to issue subpoenas over the signature
of the Chairperson, or his designee, to require the attendance of
witnesses and the production of records and papers pertaining to any
investigation or inquiry. The fees of such witnesses for attendance
and travel shall be the same as for witnesses appearing in the courts
and shall be paid from appropriations for incidental expenses by the
Commission. Parties in litigation before the Commission are responsible
for the payment of witness fees to individuals for whom they have
requested a Commission subpoena. Those parties are also responsible
for the service of any such requested subpoena.
B.
All officers in public service and employees of the Borough shall
attend and testify when required to do so by the Commission.
C.
If any person shall or neglect to obey any subpoena issued by the
Commission, upon conviction of such refusal or neglect in a summary
proceeding, that person shall be sentenced to pay a fine not to exceed
$100, and in default of the payment of such fines and costs, shall
be imprisoned not to exceed 30 days.
D.
If any person shall or neglect to obey any subpoena, the Commission
or the requesting party may apply by petition to the Court of Common
Pleas for Allegheny County to enforce that subpoena, requiring the
attendance of such person before the Commission to testify and to
produce any records and papers necessary, and shall seek and order
that in default thereof such individuals shall be held in contempt
of court.
The Commission shall make an annual report to Borough Council
containing a brief summary of its work during the year and a full
accounting of any expenditure of public monies. The annual report
shall be available for public inspection.
