JULY 13 - JULY 19, 1998
JULY 18-19, 1998
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JULY 17, 1998
What they aren't thinking about in their political prosecution
...is that they will open the gates to thousands of legal challenges every time
there is an election. In the Commonwealth Court yesterday, a Deputy Attorney
General argued that the audit procedure is not exclusive in the investigation of fraud and
corruption in campaign financing. They argued that a District Attorney or the Attorney
General maintain the right to open investigations and begin prosecutions without first
going through the audit procedure. They cite the final section of the act which sets forth
jurisdiction and power and divides the classes of cases between the DA and the AG.
It appeared to me that at least one of the three judges was buying that
argument. It even made sense to me as I listened. I understood that the final
paragraph that set forth jurisdiction and power referred direction to the body of the law
in front of it and always felt that it was not necessary if the law did not exist in the
first place. For that one moment, I was swayed; but reason is now prevailing and I see the
fallacy of their argument.
The case, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania VS Harold T. Beck, et al, is the only
case of its kind ever brought forth in Pennsylvania history. Immediately, that
should tell reasonable people something is amiss! How is it that since the grand daddy of
this law was first enacted in 1867, revised in 1888, again revised in 1901, once more
revised in 1934, and finally revised in 1978, not one single case involving alleged fraud
or corruption in campaign financing originated with the Attorney General or the District
Attorney? How was it that this one did? Why did it? Those are questions that the Attorney
General cannot answer.
The Attorney General's Office would have us believe that what I am proported to
have done is the first time anyone ever conceived of doing such a dastardly act. What
did I do? They have not alleged that I took campaign funds and spent them on a car payment
or a trip to Las Vegas. They have never alleged that I have done anything with every penny
given to my campaign except spend it on the campaign on legitimate expenses. They aren't
even saying that I did not report all the campaign contributions. What they are saying is
I reported them on the wrong form and in the wrong manner. At first they also said that my
sister in law and I conspired in a criminal manner and with criminal intent to report the
contributions on the wrong form. Does that make sense to you? How could that have ever
made sense to them? What is this about and how much are we talking about?
We are talking about $370 and the Republican Party powerful trying to use the
power and the might of the Attorney General of Pennsylvania to remove me from office. Never
again do they want a maverick like me believing that he can run and be elected without
their support. Heck! If word got out, who would need those overweight blow hards anyway?
Mike Fisher is their boy and he will carry out their orders. In the
words of Richard Kallenborn, defeated McKean County Commissioner, while at a convention of
borough officials in Harrisburg in early 1997, "We are going to get Beck!" That
said, as he left the convention to visit the Attorney General in his office with other
county Republicans.
Think about this for a minute. If the District Attorney does not like a
particular person who has won an election, then the DA can begin a criminal investigation
and prosecution without any safeguards to that person's rights. It is prohibited
and has been prohibited for a very long time. When Allan Brunwasser, an attorney in
Allegheny County challenged the election of a judge on corruption charges and who
had recently put him in jail for five days for failure to pay City Taxes, The Supreme
Court held that "...the audit procedure was the only method for the institution of
investigations into fraud and corruption." If that is not the case, then District
Attorney's will hold not only the power of their office, but the power to control who will
even run for office. If the District Attorney is allowed the power the Attorney General
contends, we are one step closer to a police state.
Furthermore, if the District Attorney can bring charges of fraud and
corruption, then any one of us, as citizens, may file a Private Criminal Complaint and
also bypass the audit process. That is exactly what Brunwasser tried and was
prohibited from doing by The Supreme Court. If this is allowed to happen by the panel of
three judges of the Commonwealth Court, then we should repeal the law that has evolved
since 1867 because it will not be needed. The District Attorney and the Attorney General
will be the supreme power in campaign finances.
The audit procedure set off by a petition of five electors and then certified
by the Court of Common Pleas was put in place to prevent political prosecutions. If
my case is the only one of its kind in history, then what is the case against me if it
isn't a political prosecution? All I can do is hope in the wisdom of three judges on the
Commonwealth Court. If they prove otherwise, it will not end there. Next stop the Supreme
Court of Pennsylvania!
JULY 16, 1998
I am serious; and don't call me Shirley!
"Surely, you can't be serious," he said to me. I was never
so serious in my life. You see, today I go before the Commonwealth Court in Erie, PA to
appeal the lower court's decision not to dismiss the charges against me by the Attorney
General of Pennsylvania, Mike "Elmer Fudd" Fisher. Now I find myself sucked into
another situation that could easily draw me into another expensive and draining court
battle. Yes. That is the fact. I am serious, and don't call me Shirley!
CEM: Cameron, Elk, and McKean Counties Mental Health and Mental Retardation
joiner manages approximately 46 million dollars a year in direct medical welfare benefits.
It is a bureaucratic agency headed by Cynthia Zembryki and governed by a board of nine
commissioners from the three counties. I am one of the governing board members. I also
co-sign checks for payroll and expenditures with Ms. Zembryki every two weeks. The
governing board meets every two months. I have missed the past two meetings because of
conflicts in the schedule.
Two weeks ago while signing checks I signed what seemed to be about $20,000 in
various expenditures for a planned move in office space. I was aware that the
move had been discussed, but was not aware that the move had been approved. Nevertheless,
depending on the best in every person, I signed the checks. I later realized that the
board had never voted on the move. Yesterday, I wrote the following memorandum to the
governing board members and Cynthia Zembryki.
I am dismayed at the actions taken by Cindy Zembryki regarding
a proposed move of CEM Offices.
On April 16, 1998 the board was first made aware of the
possibility of a move. The minutes of that meeting state: "A motion was made by
Commissioner Koch and seconded by Commissioner Stratton to approve further discussion with
ARG for the move , and to request that arrangements with ARG for use of space on the first
floor has been cleared; however, the Board wishes the second floor, where the CEM proposed
location would be should also be handicap accessible. The motion was approved"
The operative phrase is "approve further
discussion."
The minutes of June 16, 1998 report progress of the CEM office
move. No where in the minutes does the Board take official action and approve such a move.
The only motion as of the close of the meeting is the controlling motion "approving
further discussion" from April 16, 1998.
The move represents an increase in rent from
$7.65 a square foot to $8.50 a square foot, or $2,832 per month to $4,250 per month.
Additional space is provided.
On June 22, 1998, Cindy Zembryki, without Board approval wrote
to Harvey Golubock, President of ARG, and made the following statement. "I am please
to advise you that we can now express our intent to enter into a lease agreement for the
second floor at the ARG Building, as we have been discussing. The CEM Governing Board of
Commissioners supports the move, dependent upon the resolution of the issues of
accessibility and the L and I certificate.
The minutes of the two governing board meetings indicate no
such thing. A motion was made to approve further discussion. A motion was never made,
seconded, and voted upon to indicate anything like Ms. Zembryki states in her June 22,
1998 letter to ARG.
It also appears that since June 30, 1998, a total of
$18,258.58 has been spent on the anticipated, yet unapproved, move. $7,400 has been spent
on Computer wiring. $6,722.90 has been spent on carpeting, and $2,812.95 on locks. Who
approved these expenditures? Why wasn't the board made aware in advance of the estimated
cost of such a move? Why wasn't this put out for bids as County Code and State Law
require?
I have a serious problem with the actions of Cindy Zembryki. I
have a serious problem for many reasons.
On the very eve of my appearance in Commonwealth Court over a
matter of $370 in campaign contributions made to me that I reported and spent legally on
my campaign, I am questioning the legality of what Ms. Zembryki has done.
First, she has violate The Sunshine Act by her actions. If we
say nothing and allow this to stand as is, then we are accomplices to her act and all of
us may be fined up to $1,000 each for each violation. I count at least six such
violations. Second, this may well be misappropriation of funds. She has made me an
unwitting co-conspirator to her actions when I signed the checks believing that the board
had taken official action for the move. It was not until I asked Mr. Weaver and Mr.
Stratton about the move that I realized that Ms. Zembryki was acting on her own. I take
serious exception to being a party to these actions that I feel are illegal and improper.
Ms. Zembryki states in her communication that no lease has
been signed. Ms. Zembryki stated to me in a telephone conversation last week that she in
deed had already signed a lease. I now question her credibility and her honesty. Is there
a lease, or isn't there?
She claims she has the right to make major purchase based on
past practice. I contend her purchases are contrary to law. If she can operate without
prior board approval and spend $18,258.58 as she sees fit, then why have a board at all?
McKean County allocates $172,675 of taxpayer dollars each year for the operation of CEM.
That is in addition to the millions of dollars that pass through to provide services for
the mentally ill and the mentally retarded. A portion of those funds are used for
administration. We are the fiduciaries of that money and must insure that it is spent
properly and in a manner that is in accordance with law. I can no longer support the
allocation of taxpayer funds to CEM as long as Ms. Zembryki remains as director.
By carbon copy of this memorandum, I am asking Cindy Zembryki
for her resignation. I will no longer be available to sign checks for CEM as I disagree
with their financial policies.
I am very serious. I will not allow the other commissioners to brush
this one under the rug. McKean County is 68% of CEM. As in the Airport Authority, we can
be out voted by the two smaller counties six to three as each county has three votes. As
long as Cindy Zembryki remains I will vote against any allocation of county funds to CEM
and I will immediately notify the Auditor General of her actions.
A major question must be asked about our form of government. Does a bureaucracy
have the right to function on its own without oversight? People like Cindy Zembryki
evidently believe they do have that right. I say they don't. I am very serious, and don't
call me Shirley.
JULY 15, 1998
The Steelworkers and me
Listen closely! You will hear a giant sucking sound to the south. It's
not the new paper mill in Johnsonburg. No. It is the sound described to us by Ross Perot
when NAFTA went into effect.
The United Steelworkers of America have recently filed suit in Federal Court
contending that the trade agreement is in fact a treaty. It is a treaty, they say, because
it eliminates tariffs and creates an arbitration panel to determine international trade
disputes. They say, and I agree, that those two items place the trade agreement in the
category of being an international treaty. As such, it must first be approved by a two
thirds majority of the Senate.
NAFTA was approved by a vote of 61 for and 38 against. It was a
significant majority, but not a two thirds majority as required by the Constitution for
all treaties. The Steelworkers aver that the agreement is in violation of the
Constitution. I join with them and also feel that NAFTA should have treaty status. The
Agreement should be taken off the books and then negotiated as it should have been, as a
treaty, and then put up for the required vote.
NAFTA is at the root of the on going General Motors strike. Jobs are
being lost and cheap Mexican labor is now building more and more American automobiles.
Huffy bicycles, once an American product, is now built primarily with parts manufactured
in Mexico and Asia. A job here, two hundred there, seven hundred and fifty there, and
pretty soon the great American labor market is reduced to selling burgers and fries in
fast food stores. The only problem is who will be employed and be able to purchase the
burger and fries?
Why are high paying jobs being eliminated in the face of the greatest
bull market in the history of Wall Street? With corporate profit taking at an all time
high, isn't it time to share the wealth with the workers of the nation that allowed them
to reap such great benefits? You would think so, but that isn't the way it is. Corporate
Executives have their annual bonuses based on the amount of profit increase they can
deliver. If it means using cheap Mexican labor and Asian parts, they do not hesitate. So
what if 500 families in Michigan are put out of work. Who cares in the ivory tower?
The argument put forth by the Steelworkers is similar to mine in opposition to
the Solid Waste Flow Ordinance. It is unconstitutional. It is illegal. It
discriminates against the people of McKean County in a way that we are forced to pay more
to dump our garbage in our own land fill. We are prohibited from finding cheaper places to
dispose of garbage by law. That law is wrong!
The Solid Waste Flow Ordinance covers many items. I am not opposed to
licensing dump sites in the county. I am not opposed to regulating where and how much can
be dumped according to Environmental standards. I support all of that and those items
should be covered in a separate ordinance. The part about granting the bureaucracy known
as the McKean County Solid Waste Authority a monopoly in this county is the part I oppose.
They are involved in Interstate Commerce. They decided they needed
waste from New York and Canada. They give those haulers preferential pricing at our
expense. We pay $4.00 a ton more than what we would pay to the south in Elk County. Why?
The answer is simple.
The garbage dump needs $4.00 a ton extra to pay off their 16 million dollar
debt. They wasted five million dollars since 1990 on the study of leachate
treatment. Finally, after eight years, they put a unit on line that still is not large
enough to handle their needs. They continue to haul leachate to Port Allegany because it
is cheaper. Why should we support their mistakes? Why should the people of McKean County
be held captive to higher fees?
Government has no business being in business. It is the job of elected
officials to make it easier on taxpayers, not harder. Selling the garbage dump will
generate profits for the taxpayers that we currently do not receive, for years to come.
Elk County saw it, why can't we?
I'm with the Steelworkers in their fight against NAFTA. It was one of
the few times I agreed with Ross Perot. I am against illegal treaties and I am against
illegal flow control ordinances.
JULY 14, 1998
Quality of Life
Ron Francis, former center for the Pittsburgh Penguins, signed a four year, 21
million dollar contract with Carolina. He passed up more lucrative deals to
move his wife and three children to the Charlotte, NC area. He explained that there was
more to his decision than just money. Easy for him to say that!
He is right. Quality of life and your surroundings mean an awful lot. In
many cases they mean more than just money. In many situations, promotions with large
raises are refused for exactly those very reasons.
John Satterwhite, Editor and Publisher of The Bradford Era, was
indignant when we were told at a recent Airport Authority meeting that
"young pilots considered Bradford the end of the line for Mesa Airways." In
other words, we were told that no one wanted to live in our area because they, the pilots
who fly our daily commuter flights, consider this a crummy place in which to live. It was
quite a slap in the face for John, a life long Bradfordian. Ron Francis said the same
thing when he turned down more lucrative offers from Hartford and Buffalo.
We don't have a Taco Bell on every corner. We don't have enormous shopping
malls. Is that quality of life?
We also do not have drive by shootings. The last murder was in 1993
and our children, while they do drink more than the national average, do stack up better
in other ways.
Our children believe in their families. In a recently completed survey
done in conjunction with the Communities That Care process, we found out a few
things about our children. They feel strong emotional ties to their brothers and sisters,
father and mother. They feel strong ties to their community. For the most part, our
children are good kids. That means something. That is quality of life. That
has value beyond dollars and cents. This part of the world is a good place to raise a
family!
We have our problems. We have poverty and the usual problems associated with
it. Jobs are not at a surplus. The quality positions on all levels of the
employment ladder are scarce. I receive e-mail from many of our children who have moved
away to seek financial reward missing here. Still, we seem to grow, while surrounding
counties get smaller. Why?
Today is a good reason why. As the sun rises over the Allegheny
National Forest in the south and west, and over the farm lands of the eastern part of
McKean County, it is fifty nine degrees. To the north, along the New York State boarder,
there is some ground fog. It was a comfortable night. Sleeping was easy. There were no
sounds of sirens or gun shots in the back ground. There is no smell of exhaust from cross
town buses. No horns are honking, only birds singing.
I caught a few moments of watching a buck, still in velvet on his
horns, and three doe grazing on the purple clover in my front yard. A rabbit is still
munching on grass near a pine tree. Last night, about six in the evening, Sharyn and I
were sitting on our front porch. As we spoke about our day, a medium size black bear
meandered through our front yard. Aunt Rose, a city girl for ninety one years, could not
get over it. "Ain't nature grand!" she exclaimed. Yes, Rose; it certainly is!
It is peaceful living where we live. It is safe, too. While we are a
heavily armed county with most people owning at least two firearms, we are peaceful. We
hunt and we fish. We camp in the woods. We hike with our families and we enjoy nature and
life. We used to be the oil center of the world. That has passed but we are still in
the business. We still produce some of the highest quality oil there is and our natural
gas reserves are nearly limitless. Our forests have the finest black cherry trees in the
world. The wood is exported for use in the furniture industry internationally.
We are strong and self reliant people. Our winters can be harsh. We
get allot of snow. It gets very cold. We are the coldest place in Pennsylvania, sometimes
the nation, yet we still know and speak to our neighbors. We squabble. We laugh. We live.
We die. We have and do everything people do everywhere else. We are not different.
What is different, is what we have that others do not. We have a
oneness with nature. We have bald eagles nesting with their young right now. We have peace
and serenity, a closeness to our families and those we love. You may make more in your
paycheck in New York City or Los Angeles. How much is that worth when you go to sleep at
night? You listen to sirens. I listen to the crickets and the sounds of the forest at
night. That is quality of life, even without Ron Francis' contract for 21 million dollars,
even though it sure can come in handy at times, Bub.
JULY 13, 1998
Living in the Real World
Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. Those who can't teach, teach
teachers.
It's called living in the real world, people! "I just can't
believe it!" Cheri O'Mara squealed when the rural school districts' case was
dismissed in the Commonwealth Court. Did they expect that they could win?
The concept was interesting enough. In theorem form, it even sounds
like a plausible argument. "Because school districts in large metropolitan areas have
more valuable property and more parcels of property to tax; therefore, the State
Legislature is discriminating against rural school districts when it allocates educational
funds on the basis of the number of students in the school district." It was a nice
try, but didn't win a cupie doll. The rural school districts forgot one thing.
Commonwealth Court Judges generally come from large metropolitan areas.
Unlike our own King John, they do run for election and do have opponents who really want
their jobs. They run for re-election, or they run for the Supreme Court. This is a serious
business for these judges and it is highly unlikely that they, as political animals,
would hand down a decision that would hurt or impair in any way, shape, or form, the very
school districts where their own children have attended or are attending school. That,
ladies and gentlemen and kindergarten teachers, is the real world. Good luck getting the
Supreme Court to reverse this one!
It really is a shame that our little Cheri never worked in the real world.
It is a shame that she never had a job where she had to produce a product that had to be
evaluated on the spot. She has always lived in a mythical little dream world and the
boarders of McKean County must seem like enormous walls to her limited thought processes.
The Bradford Area School District must be, in her mind, a fortune five hundred company,
with her at the helm as CEO. "I just can't believe it!"
My father used to say to me about higher education: "You can teach a
parrot to talk, but that doesn't mean that he knows what he is talking about."
I used to think I knew what he meant. I was sure he was aiming at the theories I was
learning in school and how he was telling me that: "...they were fine theories, but
they would never work in real life." He meant that for sure. There was more and I had
to get what he was talking about before I ever would fully understand.
He was talking about life experience and common sense. He was talking
about how much things cost. He was talking about how you can't fight City Hall. He was
talking about The Conspiracy Theory. Yes, my dad was a pretty smart guy for a
truck driver who became a policeman. I wish he was around still so I could tell him just
that. Later on, today, I'll give 93 year old Aunt Rose a kiss on the cheek and tell
her how smart her younger brother really was.
It's a shame that Cheri just doesn't understand. It is unfortunate
that all the certificates in the world that certify that she is competent as a
superintendent of schools can not make her so. It is especially unfortunate that Cheri
does not understand that what she has done will affect the taxpayers in the worst possible
way for years to come. Cheri does not understand that all the new buildings and new
furniture that matches will not raise the standard of education in the school district one
single grade point.
Cheri doesn't understand that not everyone makes $80,000 a year and is given
a car and does not have to report personal mileage. If Cheri understood
how unique her position really is, and if she is the caring person she would have us
believe that she is, then she might not have been so anxious to bury us in a debt that has
grown to more than $35,000,000. Just because something is new, that does not make it
better.
The kitchen at the High School is being replaced from top to bottom.
Reports coming out of the renovation is that nearly a half a million dollars has been
wasted. There was nothing wrong with the fixtures that are being replaced. All they needed
was a good cleaning. How would Cheri understand cleaning a kitchen Vs replacing it? Has
she ever cleaned a kitchen in her life?
If she can't understand that concept, how then will we fare in the
upcoming negotiations with the teachers? Do we have more new kitchens and furniture that
matches in our future? Maybe we should ask our new $45,000 a year Public Relations
Director what she really thinks on the subject. New job! New salary! New taxes next
year!
What is going on is a disgrace! Cheri hasn't a clue. She spends and we
pay. We need a new school board and the first thing they have to do is fire her. We need
to somehow get a grip on the fact that the taxpayers in this school district have no more
money to spend on increased taxes. The administrators and the high salaries and full
benefits have to go!
I can hear Cheri squealing. "I can't believe it! I just can't believe
it!"
Believe it, sweetie! It's called the real world.
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