Penn Lake resident Ned McGuire, holding the tablet, joined others in voicing concerns Tuesday about the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority’s leasing of unused space at its Forty Fort headquarters to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Jennifer Learn-Andes | Times Leader
Audience members yelled “shame” and voiced other negative comments Tuesday when Luzerne County’s Flood Protection Authority voted to appeal a state open records directive to release its lease with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The authority, which oversees the Wyoming Valley Levee System along the Susquehanna River, had already agreed to lease unused space in its Forty Fort headquarters to Homeland Security.
Duryea resident Laura Pinero, of the Northeast Pennsylvania Democratic Socialists, had filed a Right-to-Know request for a copy of the lease, arguing the information is public. The authority had denied the request, citing an exception to protect the release of security information.
Authority co-solicitor Jeffrey Rockman had said last month a non-disclosure agreement was required by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, so security information was not divulged to the public.
Pinero appealed to the state Office of Open Records and said Tuesday she was informed on May 13 that the state office ordered the authority to release the lease.
The authority’s Tuesday vote means it will appeal that ruling in the county Court of Common Pleas. All four authority board members present Tuesday approved the appeal without discussion — Chairman Dominic Yannuzzi, Coray Mitchell, John Maday and Jay Delaney. Vice Chairman William Hardwick, the fifth member, was absent Tuesday.
Yannuzzi said the board cannot comment on its appeal because it is pending litigation.
Thirteen of the approximately 20 residents at Tuesday’s meeting spoke to express their disapproval of the federal agency’s handling of immigration matters, including deportation without due process.
Yannuzzi read a statement released by Forty Fort Borough earlier this month that emphasized no immigration enforcement operations will be based in or operate out of the county flood authority offices.
It said the Homeland Security offices are relocating from the regional office of the PA Attorney General in Wilkes-Barre and that Homeland Security conducts “complex criminal investigations around human trafficking, narcotics smuggling, cyber-crimes, identity theft, etc.”
Homeland Security will pay the authority approximately $30,000 annually to lease 1,700 square feet of space for three years, with the option for an additional two-year renewal.
Several attendees at Tuesday’s meeting said the public has no guarantee of what work will be performed by the federal agency at the site, and they questioned the refusal to release the lease.
“I want to know what are the secrets?” said Wilkes-Barre resident Andrea Glod.
Robert McDonald, of Kingston, said the federal agency’s deportation without due process is “un-American” and “completely lacks respect or dignity.” McDonald said he does not want a “racist act” performed in his community.
Wilkes-Barre resident Dave Saxton said he greatly values the authority’s flood control mission and warned public perception of the authority could be negatively impacted if the federal agency does something of an “objectionable nature.”
Pinero said she learned a background check was performed on her without her knowledge since she filed the Right-to-Know. Several authority representatives said after the meeting they had no knowledge of the background check.
Forty Fort resident Gina Sabatini said she appreciates the authority’s levee protection for all but was compelled by her “moral compass” to speak in opposition Tuesday because she is “horrified” the authority would agree to be a landlord for the federal agency.
Penn Lake resident Ned McGuire said he and many others don’t want or need ICE here, likening the federal agency’s practices to Nazi Germany.
Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.
