Council Votes to Not Appeal Ruling on Facebook Page

Ellwood City Council voted Monday night to not appeal an Office of Open Records ruling regarding a Facebook page run by two council members.

The page, “Ellwood City Council-Rob Brough and Lisa Guerrera,” which is run by council members Lisa Guerrera and Rob Brough, recently came under scrutiny when resident Jan Williams filed a Right to Know Law request with the borough. Williams wanted access to deleted comments, as well as a list of blocked and banned users.

The page mentions votes casted by council members regarding various topics from hiring of personnel to the recent and ongoing Ellwood City Hospital issues. Residents are able to comment on the posts and interact with Guerrera and Brough through the page.

During Monday’s session, Councilman George Celli made a motion to have Guerrera and Brough voluntarily turn over the information in cooperation with the OOR ruling.

The motion was made to ask for “voluntary” cooperation by the page administrators because, according to Solicitor Ed Leymarie, it’s not council’s page.

“We (council) don’t own it,” Leymarie said.

In a 4-3 vote, council majority voted to request Guerrera and Brough turn over the information voluntarily, with Guerrera, Brough, and Council President Jude Dice casting the “No” votes.

Celli then made a motion to not appeal the ruling by the OOR.

In a 4-3 vote, council majority voted to not appeal the ruling by the OOR, with Guerrera, Brough, and Dice casting the “No” votes.

The page has come under attack as some believe that it looks like an official page of the borough. Guerrera and Brough have maintained that the page is a private campaign page.

Legal action regarding the page is possible.