Spykerman v. Levy
| Decision Date | 22 September 1980 |
| Citation | 421 A.2d 641,491 Pa. 470 |
| Parties | Raymond T. SPYKERMAN and Lawrence Healy, Individually and in their official capacities as Members of the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Chester and John J. Matthews, Individually, and in his official capacity as Chairman of the Vacancy Board of the Township of Chester, Appellants, v. The Honorable Melvin G. LEVY, in his official capacity as Judge of the Court ofCommon Pleas of the 32nd Judicial District, and all other Judges of saiddistrict or appointed to serve in such district acting as his substitute orsuccessor,Appellees. Connie HALES and Joseph Palazzo, Individually and in their official capacitiesas Members of the Board of Supervisors of the Township of Chester, Appellees, v. The TOWNSHIP OF CHESTER, Raymond T. Spykerman and William Pisarek, Individuallyand in their official capacities as Members of the Board of Supervisors of theTownship of Chester and Frank Slavin, Individually and in his official capacityasEngineer for the Township of Chester and Thomas Stapleton, Individually and inhis official capacity as Solicitor for the Township of Chester and WilliamPhillips, Individually and in his official capacity as a Member of the Board ofSupervisors ofthe Township of Chester, Appellants. |
| Court | Pennsylvania Supreme Court |
We are presented with a consolidated appeal. In Spykerman, Healy, and Matthews v. Levy, petitioners seek a writ of prohibition against the Common Pleas Court of Delaware County in order to prevent that court from appointing someone to fill the vacancy on the Board of Supervisors of Chester Township. 1 In Hales and Palazzo v. Township of Chester, Spykerman, Pisarek, Walton, Stapleton and Phillips, the appellants appeal to this Court from a temporary restraining order of the Common Pleas Court of Delaware County enjoining them from acting in their capacity as public officials. 2
In January 1979, Connie Hales, Joseph Palazzo, Raymond T. Spykerman, Stephen Heller, and Lawrence Healy were duly elected supervisors of Chester Township. Chester Township is a Second Class Township in Delaware County with a total population of 7,000. The township is comprised of three communities, Toby Farms, Lower Feltonville, and Upper Feltonville.
On January 4, 1979, the Chester Township Board of Supervisors held a reorganizational meeting 3 and failed to elect the Vacancy Board Chairman pursuant to 53 Pa.C.S.A. § 65420. 4 Latter that year, on September 13, 1979 at a regularly scheduled supervisors meeting, Spykerman, Healy and Heller voted to send Hales to Atlanta, Georgia on township business during the last week in September. Subsequently, Heller sent a letter to the supervisors advising them that he intended to resign on October 4, 1979. Before leaving on September 26, 1979, Hales asked for a copy of the agenda for the September 27, 1979, supervisors meeting that she would not be able to attend because of the trip to Atlanta. She was informed that there was no meeting agenda.
At the September 27, 1979 meeting, Heller submitted his resignation effective September 28, 1979. Then, Heller, Spykerman, and Healy elected John Matthews as the Chairman of the Vacancy Board. Palazzo objected that the election was illegal since it took place during an annex homes meeting 5 and that there was no notice of the election to himself or Hales.
On October 23, 1979 Hales and Palazzo filed a quo warranto in the Common Pleas Court of Delaware County against Spykerman, Healy and Matthews challenging the legality of Matthews' election as Vacancy Board Chairman. Hales and Palazzo also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order. Judge Joseph T. Labrum issued a Temporary Restraining Order restraining the Vacancy Board from acting to fill the existing vacancies until a hearing could be held on October 26, 1979.
On October 26, 1979, a full hearing was held before Judge John V. Diggins of the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas on the motion for the preliminary injunction. The court denied the requested motion. On the same day, Hales and Palazzo filed a Complaint in Equity, identical to the quo warranto complaint, along with another motion for a preliminary injunction. In the equity action Judge Diggins granted a preliminary injunction which restrained Spykerman, Healy and Matthews from acting to fill the vacancy on the Board of Supervisors until the quo warranto action was adjudicated. 6
Subsequently, serious problems began to develop in Chester Township such as drafting the 1980 budget, contract negotiations for the fire and policemen, and the circulation of petitions by Toby Farms to secede from Chester Township. Thus on December 7, 1979, Supervisor Palazzo and five Chester Township residents petitioned the Common Pleas Court of Delaware County to fill the vacancy on the Board of Supervisors. Judge Melvin Levy scheduled a hearing on December 17, 1979 to consider appointing Robert C. Wilson, Jr. to the vacancy on the Board of Supervisors.
On December 13, 1979, Healy, Spykerman and Matthews filed a complaint in prohibition in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court asking this Court to prohibit the common pleas court from conducting a hearing to fill the vacancy of the Board of Supervisors of Chester Township. On that same date, this writer signed a rule to show cause why a supersedeas should not be granted staying any hearing on the appointment until the entire Court ruled on the Complaint in Prohibition. Following an in chambers hearing, on January 3, 1980, I issued the supersedeas pending resolution of the complaint in prohibition before the full Supreme Court.
On January 7, 1980, there was a Chester Township Reorganizational Meeting. Matthews' alleged term as Vacancy Board Chairman expired. Healy's term as Township Supervisor also expired. William Pisarek was elected to the Board of Supervisors to replace Healy. At the meeting, a motion was carried to declare all township offices vacant. The supervisors filled the positions of chairman, secretary, treasurer, and police commissioner by a majority vote. But the office of Vacancy Board Chairman ended in a two to two tie and remained vacant.
Meanwhile, the proposed 1980 budget was adopted at a special supervisors meeting on January 11, 1980. However, before the proposed budget may be finally adopted, the Second Class Township Code required that the proposed budget be posted and advertised for twenty days. Thus, the Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed that a special meeting should be scheduled for January 31, 1980 in order to finally adopt the 1980 budget.
Prior to the January 31, 1980 budget meeting, Palazzo requested a copy of the agenda for the meeting from Pisarek and Spykerman, and also asked whether any other business would be transacted at the meeting. Pisarek and Spykerman stated that there was no agenda and that they knew of no other business to be transacted at the budget meeting. Palazzo then informed them that he might not be able to attend the budget meeting due to a prior commitment.
On January 31, 1980, Hales arrived at the Township Building prior to the budget meeting, requested a copy of the agenda for the meeting, and asked Spykerman and Pisarek whether any business other than the budget would be transacted at the meeting. Spykerman and Pisarek advised Hales that there was no agenda and that they knew of no other business to be transacted aside from the budget. Palazzo was unable to attend the meeting. After the final budget was unanimously adopted, Spykerman nominated Slavin for the position of Vacancy Board Chairman, Stapleton for Township Solicitor, and Walton as Township Engineer. Hales objected to the nominations and left the room. Meanwhile, Spykerman and Pisarek remained at the meeting and voted in favor of Slavin, Stapleton, and Walton. 7
Shortly thereafter, Spykerman, Pisarek, and Slavin scheduled a Vacancy Board meeting for February 4, 1980 at 8:00 a. m. The parties published notice of the scheduled meeting in the Philadelphia Daily News 8 on Saturday, February 2, 1980. The advertisement was also posted on the Township Bulletin Board, inside the Township Building but since the Township Building is closed on weekends, it was impossible for township residents to see the notice. On February 4, 1980, Slavin, Spykerman and Pisarek met and elected Phillips to the vacancy on the Board of Supervisors which was created by Heller's resignation. Neither Hales nor Palazzo were advised of, or were present at, the February 4, 1980 meeting.
On February 8, 1980, Hales and Palazzo filed another quo warranto and equity action in the Common Pleas Court of Delaware County. In conjunction with the equity action, they filed a motion for a preliminary injunction and a Temporary Restraining Order. The complaint in both actions concern Hales' and Palazzo's assertion that Slavin, Walton, Stapleton, and Phillips were not properly elected to their respective positions. Judge Reed issued a Temporary Restraining Order and scheduled a hearing on February 12, 1980. The scheduled hearing was continued until February 25 and 26, 1980 and was held before Judge Diggins. At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Diggins held the matter under advisement and continued the Temporary Restraining Order.
On March 25, 1980, the defendants in the February 8, 1980 equity action filed with this Court a Notice to Appeal From the Order Continuing the Temporary Restraining Order. The appellants' request for a supersedeas pending appeal was denied by Judge Diggins and they filed an application for a stay with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. After a hearing on the application for a stay before Justice Kauffman and this writer, on March 31, 1980 we signed an order granting a stay of Judge Diggins'...
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