Is 48 minutes a big deal?

It is when it comes to the letter of the law.

On Thursday, Westmoreland County commissioners started their public voting session at 1:30 p.m. as publicized on the county’s website.

The problem? The agenda for the meeting was posted there at 2:18 p.m. Wednesday, meaning there wasn’t 24 hours notice as required by the amendment to Pennsylvania Sunshine Law made in 2021.

When the issue was brought up by an audience member, the meeting didn’t immediately stop.

There was an invocation delivered by the pastor of Heritage Baptist Church in Jeannette, and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Awards were handed out to three members of the Controller’s Office. Six business items for the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp. were approved by the commissioners in their capacity as that body.

It was at that point the commissioners’ meeting was opened. The commissioners got the opinion of solicitor Melissa Guiddy and announced they would recess until 2:18 p.m. to be compliant.

On the one hand, kudos to the commissioners for pushing the pause button on the meeting and picking it up a short while later after the 24-hour window was passed. It was the right thing to do, and it was an easy way to fix what was likely an inadvertent delay in posting the agenda because the meeting’s time and location had been changed.

But it would have been just as easy to be more compliant. Why not simply ask the solicitor when the issue was raised? Why not stop the meeting before the invocation or the pledge or the six industrial development business items? The problem had been identified. The solicitor was there to consult. What circumstances were so exigent that they couldn’t wait 48 minutes?

Most Sunshine Law issues are about the things happening in ways they shouldn’t because they could potentially hide the truth: Meetings not held in the public eye, discussions behind closed doors, a time frame moved unexpectedly.

These are important to keep in check to let the public know what is happening in their government.

A mistake conducted in full view isn’t the same thing. That doesn’t mean the letter of the law shouldn’t be hewn to as closely as possible.

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