Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato says he holds too many meetings with both Democrats and Republicans on County Council to remember whether he was in a private meeting July 8 with enough members of council present to form a quorum.

That Tuesday afternoon meeting in July, held before a public council meeting is at the center of a lawsuit against the Democrats on County Council, alleging that they have been violating Pennsylvania's open records and meetings law, commonly known as the Sunshine Act, for years.

In an eight-page suit filed in Common Pleas Court on Thursday, Jim Roddey, a former county chief executive and chairman of Allegheny County's Republican committee, contends that the Democrats on County Council violated the Sunshine Act in the July private meeting, which was the basis for a council-generated referendum question regarding the county's 10 percent drink tax.

Mr. Roddey charges that the Democratic members of council, who hold an 11-4 majority on the 15-member council, met privately with Mr. Onorato, county Solicitor Mike Wojcik and county Manager Jim Flynn to hash out a plan of how they would handle a series of special meetings to give council the authority to place referendum questions on the ballot.

Not only were they meeting illegally to talk about potential council business, Mr. Roddey charges, they took a straw poll of how they would all vote at council's public meetings, a clear violation of the Sunshine Act.

"This is a first step in challenging [council's referendum question]," said Mr. Roddey, arguing that council not only violated the Sunshine Act, but the Home Rule Charter by empowering itself to create ballot initiatives.

But Mr. Onorato and County Council President Rich Fitzgerald, D-Squirrel Hill, yesterday argued that not only did they not break the law, but that Mr. Roddey's suit is a political move aimed at defeating council's referendum question, which is an attempt to sustain the drink tax as it currently structured.

A group of restaurateurs and bar owners are trying to reduce the drink tax from 10 percent to 0.5 percent through a referendum on the November ballot.

"I have meetings with both the Democrats and Republicans on County Council all the time," Mr. Onorato said, adding that he doesn't specifically recall the details of the July 8 meeting," but I don't think we violated the Sunshine Act."

Mr. Onorato said he recalls a meeting in which he met with the Democratic caucus to discuss whether the Home Rule Charter granted council the power to create referendum questions, but he doesn't recall if it was at the July 8 meeting in contention.

What is more, both Mr. Onorato and Mr. Fitzgerald argue their practice of private meetings -- even with enough members present to form a quorum -- dates to when Mr. Roddey was the county chief executive.

"Jim Roddey, when he was the chief executive, used to meet with us in the same way all the time," Mr. Fitzgerald said. "All of this is just politics."

Last month, the Democratic members of County Council announced they would no longer hold their meetings behind closed doors.