Benner Township board ‘broken’ over supervisor’s allegations of open meetings law violations
April 3, 2026, update: Kathy Evey voluntarily dropped the lawsuit, according to a notice filed March 25, 2026.
The simmering feud among the elected supervisors of a small township in Centre County was on display Friday when the board’s chairman openly questioned how effectively the township will be able to carry out its business.
A special meeting of Benner Township’s board of supervisors was rife with the township’s decision-makers trading biting remarks, as well as attorneys leveling criticism against one another.
And behind all of the friction are taxpayers who will foot the bill and may be left to wonder how effectively they are being served by their local government — especially with no obvious end in sight.
“It’s broken the board,” Chairman Randy Moyer told the Centre Daily Times after the meeting.
Supervisor Kathy Evey accused her fellow board members and the township’s secretary in a court filing last month of violating Pennsylvania’s open meetings law.
At issue is the way in which a Bellefonte woman was hired by Secretary Sharon Royer to perform transcription duties for the township, a responsibility that Evey said belonged to Royer. The public was not given ample notice of the hire, Evey alleged in the court filing, adding that there had been no discussion about whether the job should be posted openly, compensation or whether they would be required to attend meetings.
The township has not responded in court to the allegations, but officials intimated Friday that they acted properly.
After meeting in executive session for about eight minutes Friday, the supervisors voted 2-1 to have township Solicitor Rod Beard represent them against the filing. Evey voted against the measure and her attorney Christine Line called it a “direct conflict of interest.”
In a tongue in cheek response, Beard told Line he appreciated her attempts to “make this as expensive as possible” for the township. Line cast the remark as offensive and quipped no filing would have been necessary had the board complied with the Sunshine Act.
The temperature of the room did not cool from there.
At one point, Royer criticized Evey for nitpicking and said it was “petty” that the township is in court over $160 — an apparent nod to how much she paid the woman to transcribe the township’s meetings.
Royer dropped her pen, looked in the direction of Moyer and fellow Supervisor Larry Lingle and said “It’s getting close.” After 37 years with the township, it did not appear like Royer had a desire to stay much longer.
“I don’t need this,” she told the CDT after the meeting. “I don’t deserve this.”
Moyer, Lingle and Beard all vouched for Royer after the meeting, saying the township would be “doomed” if she and her institutional knowledge left. The board also voted to hire a part-time office assistant.
Line rejected any notion the filing has anything to do with a vendetta or Royer personally. Rather, she said, it aims to ensure the township is following the state’s open meetings law now and in the future.
It’s unclear how much taxpayer money will be spent defending against the filing. Beard is set to be paid an hourly rate and nobody knows how quickly the complaint may be resolved.
No court hearings were scheduled as of Friday. The township’s next supervisors meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday.
This story was originally published October 4, 2024 at 5:26 PM.