As part of its legal justification for stonewalling board member Beverly Beal's request for information regarding payments to a Pittsburgh law firm, the Fayette County Housing Authority is apparently relying on a state law that has us scratching our head.
Here is a passage from the most recent HeraldStandard.com article ("Beal will not withdraw appeal to see housing authority records," July 26):
According to a state statute that governs non-profit corporations, members of such organizations must specify in a letter to that agency, why the review is necessary.
Our question is this: When did the Fayette County Housing Authority switch from being a public agency to being a non-profit corporation?
As a public agency, the housing authority is bound by the state Right-to-Know Law, which clearly prohibits them from asking a person the reason they want information.
If the housing authority is relying on a statute that governs non-profit corporations, and the housing authority is not a non-profit corporation, how can that particular statute apply?
Non-profit corporations have to file a Form 990 with the Internal Revenue Service. It would be interesting to ask if the housing authority has done that for its entire operation, because the answer would provide a big clue as to whether it really is a non-profit corporation or not.
Some examples of non-profit corporations operating in Fayette County are organizations like Uniontown Hospital, Fay-Penn Economic Development, and the United Way.
We highly doubt that the Fayette County Housing Authority has morphed into a full-fledged non-profit corporation. Although it may have started one to operate the Heritage Apartments in downtown Uniontown (we seem to recall that being the case), unless the Pittsburgh law firm of Cohen & Grigsby is doing all of its housing authority work through that non-profit, the law being cited by the housing authority would not seem to apply.
Someone should probe this rationale a little further.
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