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Westtown swears in Frederick Magner; resident urges restart of selection under Pennsylvania Sunshine Act
Summary
Frederick Magner was sworn into the Westtown Township Board of Supervisors July 6 after the vacancy board formalized an earlier, unratified appointment; resident Patricia Ryan Platt told the board the selection process violated the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act and asked that the process be restarted.
Frederick Magner took the oath of office at the Westtown Township Board of Supervisors meeting on July 6 after the vacancy board formally appointed him to fill the seat vacated by Ed Yost.
The board’s chair said the supervisors had initially sworn Magner in at the June 15 meeting but later discovered no motion or recorded vote had been taken; because the board had not filled the vacancy within 30 days, the vacancy board met earlier that evening and appointed Magner to the seat to satisfy the statutory timeline.
The appointment prompted a public objection. Patricia Ryan Platt, who identified herself and her address for the minutes, read a letter into the record alleging the selection process violated the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act. Platt cited the statute in the meeting, referencing “Title 65, Part II, Chapter 7, Section 708(a),” and said deliberations to select a candidate for an elective office must be public and not held in private executive sessions. “Filling an elective office vacancy is not covered by the personnel exception,” Platt said, and asked that the selection process be started over and conducted in public.
Board members acknowledged the concern but said the vacancy board action that evening had been taken to ensure the seat was filled within statutory deadlines. The Chair and other supervisors moved to reaffirm and ratify the actions taken at the June 15 meeting to remove any doubt about the validity of business conducted at that meeting; the motion passed on a recorded voice vote during the meeting.
The manager and staff offered to provide meeting records, including the original statements and minutes, and to assist those who asked for the verbatim text to be posted online. Platt’s letter and the statute citation were entered into the official meeting record at her request.
What happens next: Platt asked for the appointment process to be repeated publicly; the board ratified the June 15 actions during the July 6 meeting and did not reverse the appointment at that time. Platt’s letter and the board’s ratification are part of the official minutes and may form the basis for further administrative or legal follow‑up. The board did not announce any additional procedural steps during the meeting.
