City seeks dismissal of civil case over meeting speech

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The City of Johnstown is again asking for dismissal with prejudice of a civil case brought against the municipality and Johnstown Planning Commission regarding courtesy-of-the-floor policies during public meetings.

John DeBartola, a city resident, originally filed the case in March 2023, arguing that he was cut short and not given the legally allowed amount of time to speak by the planning commission.

At least five dozen steps have been taken in the legal process, including oral arguments and other requests for dismissal, according to information at the Cambria County Court of Common Pleas database. Most recently, Lavery Law, on behalf of the city, filed its request for dismissal as part of a written legal response with Cambria County Senior Judge Patrick Kiniry.

The defendants argue in the document that any action was “a reasonable restriction” motivated by the plaintiff’s comments being “no longer germane or properly addressed to the Commission.”

On Feb. 26, 2023, DeBartola was speaking at a special planning commission meeting held for the purpose of considering rezoning a property in the city’s Roxbury neighborhood. Curt Davis, then the commission’s chairman, stopped DeBartola after about two minutes, contending that he was no longer talking about the subject of the special meeting.

Rules were that a speaker could get five minutes to talk about an agenda item, three on a non-agenda matter.

It is the city’s opinion that no violation of the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act, which is in place to promote transparency and accountability in government, occurred. Lavery’s response included a position that “limiting comments is not violative as long as an individual is afforded a reasonable opportunity to comment on matters of concern.”

DeBartola originally sought an apology, an opportunity to give his remarks at a new public meeting, changes to policies for speakers and compensation for his court filing fees. Following stalled negotiations, he is now asking for $1 million apiece from every person who has served on Johnstown City Council or the planning commission since the incident occurred, an amount he described as purposely “ridiculous” in an attempt to bring attention to the matter.

“At this point, I’m no longer interested in an apology – that ship has sailed, I want the Court to find that the City has acted in bad faith, and that the members of the City Council and the Planning Commission be sanctioned with punitive damages,” DeBartola texted.

Johnstown’s legal bill for the case has already exceeded $32,000. The city paid a $10,000 deductible with the rest being covered by insurance, according to City Solicitor Dave Andrews.

“Instead of using tax money to hire more police officers to combat the city’s out of control crime, as well as the growing homeless problem (that Council ignores), the City would rather spend $32,000-plus of tax dollars for a Harrisburg law firm to stifle my free speech!” DeBartola wrote. “The City does not have a bottomless pit to spend City tax dollars.”

Lavery’s paperwork was filed with the court Dec. 13. DeBartola plans to respond this week.