Concord Township supervisors reappointed Hugh Donaghue as township solicitor despite the objection of residents who questioned the solicitor’s ethics.

One resident, attorney Jamie Marino, said she’s ready to file a disciplinary petition against Donaghue for his participation in a court filing on behalf of an entity that did not officially exist.

“It’s a disciplinary inquiry as to his actions of filing a brief on behalf of someone he was not authorized to file a brief upon. He did not have client authorization to file that brief. He did not have authorization by the commission to file that brief,” Marino said.

At issue are two petitions and a brief filed with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on behalf of Concord’s newly formed Government Study Commission.

Donaghue, at the request of township supervisors, had fellow attorney J. Michael Sheridan file the papers with the state Supreme Court in response to an appeal brought by the citizen’s group Concord First.

Concord First appealed to the state’s high court to overturn two lower court decisions that denied its petition to have a question on the November 2014 ballot. That question would have asked residents whether they wanted to change the township designation from township of the second class to township of the first class.

In response to Concord First’s petition, supervisors enacted an ordinance to have their own question on the ballot that asked voters if there should be a government study commission to explore a possible change in government structure.

Supervisors also challenged Concord First’s petition in the Court of Common Pleas. That court denied the petition despite Concord First’s getting more than the necessary signatures. Concord First then appealed to Commonwealth Court, which upheld the Common Pleas Court opinion. That, too, was appealed to the state Supreme Court.

(The appeal centers on the interpretation of a state law that allows for a ballot question to change a municipal government structure. The court must decide whether a petition such as the one presented by Concord First needs to be on the first municipal ballot at least 90 days after a census or other official population ascertainment, or at least 90 days after both the ascertainment and a petition signed by five percent of the registered voters.)

The Supreme Court’s filing deadline for briefs was Nov. 17, but the study commission did not officially exist because the election was not certified until Nov. 24, and the members were not sworn in until Nov. 25.

Members of the commission were unaware that a brief was filed in their name.

“It’s unethical,” Marino said. “You don’t file a brief unless you have client approval.”

Marino said she’s been in practice for more than 18 years and never once filed a brief without the consent of a client.

Another resident, Jim Brown, said he wanted to formally protest Donaghue’s reappointment. A testy exchange between Donaghue, Brown, other residents and solicitors followed.

Donaghue said the matter was moot since the court denied the petition to intervene that Sheridan filed. (That petition would have given the commission party status to the appeal. However, the court denied the petition on Dec. 31.)

However, Donaghue defended the timing, saying that he and the supervisors felt the court should have been made aware that the study commission had been voted into existence.

Supervisors’ Chairman Dominic Pileggi — who was re-elected as chairman during the reorganization meeting — said Sheridan and Donaghue were acting on behalf of the supervisors.

Pileggi then tried to dismiss the conversation and move on saying, “Mr. Donaghue has been appointed solicitor and we’re through with that.”

Brown, however, wasn’t finished.

“Is there a way to recall [that]?” he asked.

“No,” was Pileggi’s response.

Ann Mueller, another resident, said she was not aware of the supervisors’ looking at the possibility of changing the government structure before the board learned of Concord First’s petition.

“Ever since then, your actions as a board have been to thwart the efforts of the people you represent. It’s not like you were thinking of a different form of government, which you now have empowered after we started our efforts,” Mueller said.

Pileggi interrupted her to say he disagreed.

“We told you when we had the hearing [to enact the ordinance for the ballot question] that we had been thinking about this for years,” Pileggi said.

Mueller responded by saying the board and the residents seem to be moving in separate directions.

“You’re elected to represent 100 percent of us, but people want to be heard and want you to act like you care. I don’t feel I’ve been listened to or cared about,” Mueller said.

Other business

In addition to Donaghue’s reappointment and Pileggi’s selection as chairman, John Gillespie was re-elected as vice chairman.

Brenda Lamanna was appointed township manager. She replaces Bob Willert, who resigned to become the executive director of Delcora, the Delaware County Regional Water Quality Control Authority.

Lamanna served previously as assistant township manager.

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