AUGUST 29 - SEPTEMBER 4, 1998
SEPTEMBER 4, 1998
What was written and what was said
Often, they are not exactly the same. With the stock market crashing
record numbers and Russia on the verge of political collapse and the President of the
United States arriving in Moscow, I still manage a front page headline. "Beck
again critical of CEM move" was reported by none other than Jim Buck of The
Bradford Era.
Early on, the third paragraph in fact, Buck misstates facts, as usual.
"Two weeks ago, Beck called for Zembryki's resignation, saying she had acted without
approval from CEM's board of directors, which consists of the commissioners from the three
counties for which CEM is named." The paper was dated September 1, 1998. The meeting
on which he was reporting was August 31, 1998. The date of the letter was July 16, 1998.
Two weeks maybe the way the news staff of The Era does math, but not by any other
system. Maybe that is how Jimmy Olsen added up the numbers and came out with Jay Paul
Kahle making more money than Stanley Pecora.
What Jim Weaver was paraphrased as saying at the meeting was also very
different from the factual account of the discussion regarding a move to a facility that
is not handicapped accessible.
What was said? From the official minutes of the meeting, here it is:
"Mr. Beck- Last Tuesday I did not attend the CEM meeting and it has been
repeatedly pointed out that I have only attended 5 out of 16 meetings which is false. I
have attended more than 5 meetings. I can't give the exact number but I can recall more
than 5 meetings. There are several mis-statements there. First there was a solicitor's
letter that was given. The solicitor mentioned it at the end of the letter, and I don't
have the letter, that the board had approved the move and in fact the board did not
approve the move. The board only voted to approve exploring the move. That does not give a
director cart blanche to go out and spend money and sign agreements to move. Second, it is
not clear who is going to pay for the chair lift to make this building handicap
assessable. If it is going to be paid for by ARG, that is all well and good; but if it is
going to be CEM, I would take serious exception to that. We already have over A$40,000
that I know of invested in this move. McKean County allocated over $175,000 a year to
support CEM. I see the move as irresponsible, unnecessary, and costly. If you are going to
have a supervisory board which the three Commissioners sit on in conjunction with six
other Commissioners , why is it that the director is allowed to go ahead
and make these type of decisions without the board voting on them? It appears from what I
read in the paper and speaking with Mr. Weaver, that the board doesn't have to vote on it.
The director can do what she darn well pleases. Finally the CEM meeting was originally
scheduled for August 20 and I was going to attend, but then because some of the Elk and
Cameron County commissioners couldn't make it and they felt they wouldn't have a quorum
with just three of us so it was conveniently rescheduled for a day that I could not
attend. I was never called for a comment and never asked what I thought about it, but
again until CEM identifies to me who is going to pay the $50,000 or $60,000 for this chair
lift, I cannot in good conscience vote to allocate another penny to CEM out of the county
treasury and I would vote against even the standard allocation to them."
At that point Larry Stratton asked Jim Weaver if he had anything to say. This is where
the discussion began.
"Mr. Weaver - I attended the CEM meeting and I expressed myself there and it was
duly reported in the paper by my friend George."
"Mr. Stratton - I think the key word nobody really has defined was that at the
original meeting in May the motion was made to allow her to proceed - did that mean have
her proceed to finalize the contract or just proceed and report back to the board. The
other counties feel that they do not want to be active involved in the day to day
operation. They let the director make most of their decisions as that has been their past
practice. We had an opinion from their solicitor that it was completely legal and was
according to past practice of the organization. "
"Mr. Weaver - Their solicitor never talked to us."
"Mr. Stratton - No, he didn't talk to any of us."
"Mr. Weaver - It was my understanding when I left the previous meeting that it was
for her to explore moving to the ARG building. I didn't hear any approval or vote."
"Mr. Beck - I would like to say that McKean County puts in $175,000 and that is
more than Elk and Cameron counties combined. This is another one of those deals that we
are in where we are putting in more money than any one else and we are able to be out
voted six to three. Even if we do voice any kind of opinion then immediately the other tow
counties will run into action and back up whatever they want to do. There are millions of
dollars that is passed through CEM every year so our $175,000 to them is a drop in the
bucket. However, $175,000 in the McKean County budget is a very significant item. We could
put that money in family center, in CYS, or in many places where we have budget short
falls and I really take exception to this shopping mall mentality where we just go out and
spend money. This is bureaucracy at its worst. We are supposed to be over seeing what is
going on here and now we find out we don't even have to vote on things, that the director
can do whatever she wants according to the solicitor."
"Mr. Stratton - In defense of the situation over there, their program has grown
terrifically in the length of time that they have been in that building. They have offices
they are using now where their clients have to go through one office to get to another
office and sometimes through two offices. Also they are in several location on two
different floors which means they cannot have a common receptionist which is very
ineffective."
"Mr. Weaver - Mr. Chairman, I never objected to the move. My main and primary
concern is the Seneca Building that they are in now is handicapped accessible
and the ARG building is not and I told Cindy Zembryki that I thought we are moving
backwards and still make that statement. I asked her if she had a contract from ARG or
some kind of letter indicating they are going to put an elevator in and she said they
haven't got that far yet, but she told me they are moving the last of September to that
building. I can't in all good conscience vote for that unless I see some kind of contract
even if CEM is paying for it. We need to know whether they are going to have one or
not."
"Mr. Beck - My point here is why have a governing board at all? Why don't we just
let CEM run their own show and not have to attend meetings and we will just let her make
all her own decisions. It appears that is what is going on anyway and we will send them
their $175, 000 every year and we will forget about it. That is what it seems that they
want us to do. $175,000 is an awful lot of money to the taxpayers of McKean County. I am
not trying to take anything away from people that are mentally or physically handicapped.
I am not trying to do that. I am one of the greatest supporters of this, but I do think
that as County Commissioners we have an obligation to have oversight over the
bureaucracy and that is all CEM is - a bureaucracy and it is a bureaucracy that seems to
grow unchecked every year."
"Mr. Stratton - this is an example of how things were in McKean County before we
came in. People were not watching closely. We changed it. We told them we wanted much more
oversight on them. If you gentlemen want to do that with this, we will do that in the
future. All they asked for at that meeting was directions as to how we wanted them to
proceed. Whether we wanted to be involved or whether we want them to proceed on their own
. The other two counties did not want to become closely involved."
"Mr. Beck - Keep in mind, Larry, this is not the first time I have tangled with
Cindy Zembryki. Go back to 1996 - they pointed out that they were getting a grant of
$25,000 for us to investigate duplication of services in McKean county. I asked who was
going to do this and it was pointed out that they had chosen the Bradford Family Center
without asking us. We entered the picture and told them we would like to have some input
here. When we called DPW and had the check coming to us, Cindy Zembryki interfered,
stopped the check and told DPW that we were inexperienced and didn't know what we were
doing. Here she is, a Potter County resident, saying that about us and telling us how we
should spend money earmarked for McKean County. That $25,000 was the beginning of the
McKean County Family Centers. If you want to check on attendance check on Cindy Zembryki's
attendance at the Collaboration Board meetings. So this is not the first time this has
happened where Cindy Zembryki goes off on her won and does what she darn well pleases
without regard to the Commissioners of McKean County. I take serious exception to that and
again I want to know who is going to pay for the chair lift."
"Mr. Stratton - I would expect if you would have made a phone call to her she
would have clarified that for you."
"Mr. Beck - I think it should have been clarified up front and I shouldn't have to
ask her."
"Jim Buck - Is ARG going to pay for it?"
"Mr. Stratton - That was my understanding of it but I did not particularly ask
her."
"Mr. Beck - Larry, why is it incumbent upon me to call and ask for the specifics
of a move that she wants? Shouldn't she have laid down the specifics of the move in
writing and send it to the nine governing board members? Wouldn't it have been proper to
do that? If they are exploring the move and going ahead and spending the money wouldn't it
have been proper to put it down and say okay, we are going to need x number of dollars for
each thing that they are doing? Why do we have to find things out after the fact after
they have already spent the money? Why isn't it out in black and white who is going to pay
for the chair lift? They are not cheap and it would cost at least $50,000 to put one in
the courthouse."
"Mr. Stratton - I guess its the old story its hard to give answers if you don't
know what the questions are."
"Mr. Beck - It's accountability! If you are going to spend public funds you have
an obligation to put it down in writing and inform people about it. We are not talking
about her money. We are talking about taxpayers' money here. We are talking about spending
public funds. Are you going to defend somebody that spends public funds without informing
anyone?"
"Mr. Stratton - No, I am not, but I guess the question was it is hard to give
answers when you don't know the questions."
"Mr. Beck - There is nothing wrong with creating a budget. If you are going to
move it is nice to know what it is going to cost up front rather than throwing bad money
after good just to go ahead and complete the job once you are in it. Somebody somewhere
had to know what this was going to cost in total and that somebody should have put
it down in writing and informed the nine members of the governing board if the governing
board means anything and apparently the governing board doesn't mean anything and that is
why nobody bothered to tell us."
Did Jim Buck tell us that? Of course he didn't! Instead he diverted attention
away from the real issue. The real issue is this woman who is a Potter County
Resident, is spending money as if it is her money and fights off any oversight by elected
officials and gets support because Cameron and Elk Counties are getting more for their
dollar than McKean County is and she sees to it and they know it. The taxpayers of McKean
County are the losers once more and I am the bad guy in Jim Buck's column because I speak
out for our people, like I was elected to do.
Comments from Cindy Zembryki calling this setup "democracy" have little place
in a story about an issue that affects the McKean County budget only. The same holds true
about calling Joe Koch an Elk County Commissioner. We were talking about our funding of
CEM and that was our business. Jim Buck missed the story. He slanted it to sound as if I
was in favor of shutting off funds to places like Evergreen Elm, Futures Rehabilitation
Center, and the Dickinson Mental Health Center. That is not true and that is a lie. I said
in the meeting the following which is taken directly from the minutes:
"Mr. Beck - We are mandated to provide these services. Other counties do it in
other ways. We have decided to combine with two other counties to provide the services. I
want to know where the figure of $175,000 came from? I want to know why we are paying so
much more than the other two counties? They have equal representation and they should pay
as much as we pay. This again is one of these deals where we pay and are under
represented. Maybe if they wouldn't keep hiring people to administer places like the
Guidance Center and Beacon Light and give more money for treatment instead of
administration we wouldn't have to pay so much. We have a bureaucracy middleman
making sure other people do treatment. This is government and that is how government works
and it is frustrating."
What we need to get rid of is CEM and this Cindy Zembryki, who has a Masters
Degree in Biology and no related degree in this field. We need a McKean County
resident administering for McKean County people. It is time to put McKean County first and
stop carrying Elk and Cameron Counties. That is what I was saying. It wasn't anything like
what Jim Buck reported.
SEPTEMBER 3, 1998
Holly goes to Haiti
Some days are better than others. Holly will learn that if she hasn't already. Still,
in a time when we all take things for granted. In a time when we only blink as the stock
market crashes over 500 points. In these times when we are very comfortable, it does me
good to know that the spirit of my generation is alive and well in a beautiful young woman
who wants to help her fellow man. That woman is Holly Hassinger.
Remember John Kennedy saying: "Ask not what your country can do for you;
ask what you can do for your country!" Remember the Peace Corps? Can you remember
those days of change?
On September 7th Holly leaves the comfort of her home, her boyfriend, her mother, and
her friends. On September 7th Holly joins the Peace Corps.
How many of us could give up the comforts we have grown so used to? Even when we go
camping we are not exposed to the rugged and primitive conditions that Holly will have.
Think about this.
She will leave the area and go to Miami where she will have one day to put her affairs
in order and wrap up any administrative issues she may have. The next day she leaves the
United States to begin a 27 month tour of duty in Haiti. It will not be like being in the
military where everything is provided for you. She will not have government housing and
prepared meals. Instead, Holly will literally join a community.
She will be taken in by a family in a rural mountain village. She will live in their
home - a mud and concrete two room structure with a metal roof. There five or six of them
will live together. They will cook their meals outside and will use a common village
latrine. She will eat what they eat. It will be a diet of rice and beans with some corn,
manioc, bananas, seasonal fruits, and vegetables such as mangoes, citrus fruits, wild
greens, and tubers. If there is any meat, it will be chicken or goat. Perhaps from time to
time there might be some fish. At the same time she will be learning a new culture and a
new language, Kreyol. All the while, she will be gaining the trust of the village so that
they will take her to them as their own and protect her.
Think of the danger that Holly is exposing herself. She is a pretty graduate of the
State University of New York at Geneseo. Now she takes on the assignment of Marketing/Food
Processing Advisor in a foreign nation where women are looked upon as property. She will
encounter resentment as she does her work. There won't be anyone to protect her from
sexual harassment and no one to sue when it happens. Through it all, she will have a job
to do and a very important one at that.
Her duties will be to work with the local farmers, farmer groups, producer
cooperatives, owners of small businesses, small merchant groups, and entrepreneurs to help
strengthen and develop their business activities. Keep in mind that the average Haitian
earns less than $400 annually. Her task is monumental. Holly will find that some days are
undoubtedly better than others. She will be doing all of this while helping out in a
series of local community projects in her village. She will have days that she would give
anything for electricity, indoor plumbing, and a nice hot shower.
She will find that the knowledge she has accumulated in her short life will aid her in
a nation where malnutrition and infectious diseases are widespread. Only 56% of the
population has access to potable water. Holly will have to haul water for her own use
several miles and she will be dealing with illiteracy, ignorance and superstition. She
will need all of her abilities to deal with the problems that will immediately present
themselves to her.
Like her mother, Sue Howard, The Director of the McKean County Family Centers, Holly
will meet the challenge. We are confident that she will accomplish her goals and complete
her tasks. In the end she will be a better person for what she has done. We wish you God
Speed and the best of luck. God Bless and keep you safe until you return to us.
SEPTEMBER 2, 1998
Odds, ends, District Attorneys, and the truth
Linda White of Warren sent on a copy of a Letter to the Editor of The
Warren Times Observer. It is worthy of print here because it is universal
and applies to other DA's.
"In the August 18 edition The Warren Times Observer your reporter
solicited opinions regarding President Clinton. One of those asked was Frank Puskas,
Assistant District Attorney of Warren County. He was quoted as saying Clinton has lied so
many times he doesn't have a clear perception of what the truth is. He went on to say that
the office of the District Attorney stresses that people must accept accountability for
their actions but Clinton has kicked accountability to any doorstep but his own. Maybe
Frankie should take a look at his boss if he wants to question accountability.
"Michael Brown lied something like seven hundred (700) times to Joey Massa but
Joey went ahead with the Jay William Buckley Case (in the Kathy Wilson murder) anyway
with this Michael Brown as the star witness. I guess Joey didn't, to quote Frankie, have a
clear perception of what the truth was. Wouldn't you become suspicious, say, after the two
hundredth lie or certainly after the four hundredth? Not our intrepid public servant. Joey
went ahead and tried Buckley at the taxpayer's expense (like Ken Starr) and lost. Can
anybody give me a dollar figure on that trial? (Nearly a million dollars to
date, Linda. Don't forget the Superior and Supreme Court and the Private Criminal
Complaint.) Remember now, the DA's office stresses that people accept accountability
for their actions straight from Frankie.
"So in closing ask yourself if your star witness lied to you around seven hundred
times, would you have a clue that maybe there's an iceberg in this Titanic's future? We
certainly expect a DA (salary in excess of $50,000 annually) to know that. Who holds the
DA accountable between elections? Maybe Frankie should but will he??"
Good letter, Linda. I need to point out to you that on February 4,
1990, Joseph Massa, Jr. wrote a letter to the Public Defender who was Brown's lawyer, and
stated that his client was lying about Buckley and his own involvement in the Kathy Wilson
Murder. I also want to point out to you that while Brown was on the witness stand
somewhere in the midst of lie number 400 to 500, the jury and defense attorney Barry Lee
Smith saw State Police Investigator John Herzog shaking his head helping Brown keep his
contrived story credible. Smith called Herzog to the stand and under oath Herzog admitted
that he knew Brown was lying and also stated that the District Attorney knew Brown was
lying.
What does the truth mean to Joseph Massa, or any District Attorney these days? It
appears it means absolutely nothing! I draw your attention to my editorial of two days ago
regarding a report that just may have been destroyed by a District Attorney and an
Attorney General Special Prosecutor. This report, that is referred to twice by one of my
political enemies is said to have never existed by the man who wrote it, also by the
former District Attorney and the present District Attorney? The two of them testified
under oath that it does not exist.
Linda, what if a copy of that report survived? Do you believe that former District
Attorney Jeff Duke will be held accountable? Do you believe that current District Attorney
Michele Alfieri will be held accountable? Do you believe that Special Prosecutor Jeff
Leber will be held accountable? Do you believe in the tooth fairy?
Judge Wolfe, when faced with proof that Massa and Herzog orchestrated the
entire case against Buckley, still refused to hold them accountable. Why?
Are lawyers immune to being prosecuted for their misdeeds? Should they be
allowed to operate without regard to the law? Are there two sets of rules, one for them
and one for us? It seems so, does it not?
As of this date, a plea bargain between the Attorney General of Pennsylvania and
Michael Brown is in the works. Michael Brown will plead guilty to two counts of perjury.
His punishment depends on Judge Millen. He could just give him time served and set him
free once more. Do you think that is an outrage? The case cost Warren County over $700,000
to try. Who hold Massa accountable for that? Who holds the Attorney General accountable
for shielding Massa from his involvement in the case? Who Linda? Who?
SEPTEMBER 1, 1998
THE RED NAPOLEON
In the midst of people staying up all night just to buy a video tape of Titanic,
the world stands in peril. The President of the United States is in Moscow and Wall Street
dropped 500 plus points on the Dow Jones Market. The Russian economy is in ruins and
comparisons are being made to the beginning of the world depression that began in the late
twenties. Fifteen Russian Rubles were being exchanged for one American Dollar.
Russia may be an economic dwarf; but it still is a nuclear superpower!
The men in the Army who guard the nuclear weapons have not been paid in three months. When
does the dealing of those weapons begin, if it already has not? Are we basking in the
sunshine of a false sense of security? Are all of those people who are stock piling food
and weapons and survival equipment in preparation for the Y2K cataclysm really on the
right track?
My father was an old navy man. He served between wars when the navy
was being downsized by international treaties. Battleships were being towed out to sea and
sunk in an effort to eliminate the possibility of another World War. "For every
battleship we sink," Will Rogers once said. "The Japs build three."
As a boy I was treated to stories about great naval engagements-like the Battle of the
Jutland Sea-the largest single sea battle in history. It was said to have ended in a draw
because the British did not pursue the escaping German Fleet. My father always disagreed
with that estimation of the battle. He would insist that the British lost more ships, men
and officers than the Germans. "The Germans didn't lose and the British didn't win.
That still is not a draw. The British lost material and men and their loss did more damage
than it did to the Germans." Many historians would argue with the policeman but that
was his opinion and they would have had one hell of a time convincing him.
He had many books from that era. Many were large picture books showing the Dreadnoughts
and the Super-dreadnoughts of the time. Each gave the tonnage that the monster boat would
displace, the compliment of men, a report on its guns, and its estimated cruising range.
Other books had actual pictures of ships in battle and some sinking with men dying in the
water around them. Then there was another book. It was a red book that had no pictures. I
never forgot it because I tried to read it several times but it was beyond the
comprehension of a small boy.
It had four maps that were diagrams of military battlelines and one great sea battle.
That was about all I could grasp. It was a World War that never took place. It was a World
War that could have taken place and in many respects, did. I recently had my interest
raised in that book and I was successful in my search for it on the internet. This past
weekend I read it and in light of events in Russia, it is worth mentioning.
THE RED NAPOLEON by Floyd Gibbons was first printed by Grosset &
Dunlap in June, 1929 and was "dedicated to the hope that it will not happen."
Floyd Gibbons was a war correspondent during World War One. He was also a Conservative
who had a great fear of Communism and the dangerous situation in the world. In the light
of North Korea, a nation that cannot feed its people, firing a missile that over flew
Japan only yesterday, what more is there to say?
The book opens on the 17th of July 1941 with Gibbons at the old Bermuda Hotel in
Bermuda and it is the fifth anniversary of the War between the United States and the World
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. He is representing the world press and exclusively
reports on Karakhan, the Mongol dictator who conquered the entire world except for the
United States, in exile and imprisonment.
It was in the Caribbean and at the Battle of the Windward Passage that we were able to
turn the tide on this dictator who hated the white races and was bent on their extinction
or there miscegenation with all other races. Karakhan believed in one race; the human
race. His soldiers had but one order: Conquer and Breed!
This Red Napoleon was of course a Russian Communist. He rises out of the ranks
and in ten years becomes a general in the army. He comes to power when Stalin is
assassinated. He is seated in the car next to him when a Jewish dissident fires at them
into the car in which they are riding. From that point on he takes control and Communism
spreads over the world. China unites and becomes Communist. Hostilities with Japan
cease when the people over throw the monarchy and the military seizes control of the
government. Russia invades Poland with a lightning style attack and then moves on her
allies. The attack begins in January and by June all of Europe has fallen. England is
taken without a shot fired when the Communists take control of the House of Commons and
the Churchill Government is taken down. The powerful British fleet is in the hands of
Karakhan.
When the dictator offers all remaining white nations the opportunity to join and is
refused, the final stage of the war is begun. Australia is annihilated. Mexico is invaded
from the Pacific and our naval forces are bottled up in the Gulf of Mexico. Finally we are
invaded from the northeast and the northwest coming in along the Canadian boarder.
The United States holds out for two years. New York is in ruins and the battle continues
for control of that strategic point. Finally, when the Battle of the Windward Passage is
won and the control of the seas is wrested from the communists, the supply lines collapse
for the five million man army fighting on our soil.
We all know that this never happened. However, in many respects, it did.
The lightning warfare described in this book is exactly the same warfare used by Hitler
as he swept across Europe. Poland was invaded by Russia the same way it invaded in World
War II. American industrial might is kept at its peak using women in the factories,
just as we did in the war. Battleships were attacked from the air and sunk when until that
war, naval experts thought the idea as ridiculous. The fiction of 1929 became the reality
of 1939 - 1945.
Even beyond that, The Department of War became the Department of Defense. That happens
in the book in 1932 when Al Smith defeats Herbert Hoover. The Air Force becomes a separate
branch of the military in 1933 and is under its own commanders and attacks in force
leading the way for the navy and the army. Naval forces become battle groups centered
around four battleships, four cruisers, two aircraft carriers, twenty-six destroyers, and
packs of submarines leading the attack. The lesson of concentrating forces like we did in
Pearl Harbor was not learned, yet Mr. Gibbons understood the impact as he described our
attack on the Communist Fleet that outnumbered us 3 - 1.
With those glaring similarities and prophecies, is there anything else
that we may be missing? Is Russian Communism really dead? Evidently not as we are now told
that the Communist Party is the majority in the Duma, their version of the House of
Representatives. Will they come back to power?
It was out of the economic crisis of 1918 that the Russian Revolution came about then.
Are we on the verge of another?
Will their nationalism cause them to begin a conquest that will take back the territory
of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics? Will they seek to dominate and control
the now freed buffer zones of the neighboring Eastern European Countries that have since
become members of NATO? What will we do if that happens?
Are we looking at a Red Napoleon within the next ten years just as Europe and
the world did in Gibbons' 1929 novel? Is this the real Y2K disaster looking us in the
face?
AUGUST 31, 1998
The Pyle Report (Part One)
Has Charles Jeffrey Duke distinguished himself in the annals of deceit by
sinking to the same level as William Jefferson Clinton? Does the Canon of Legal
Ethics mean anything to him? What about morality and a sense of fair play? What about his
feelings regarding Perjury and Obstruction of Justice? What about the Pyle Report?
At a hearing in October of 1997, former District Attorney Jeff Duke testified
under oath that no report was ever compiled by County Detective Robert Pyle that itemized
election code violations made by me during the 1995 campaign.
At the same hearing in October of 1997, current District Attorney Michele
Alfieri testified under oath, concurring with Mr. Duke that no report was ever compiled by
County Detective Robert Pyle that itemized election code violations.
However, the Attorney General, in his investigation, uncovered reports and
evidence that a Pyle Report that itemized election code violations did, in fact, at one
time exist.
Quoting from the Attorney General's investigation of allegations of election code
violations we find the following:
"On October 21, 1996, Richard Kallenborn, 402 Chestnut Street,
Port Allegheny, PA, telephone number: 814-642-2605, was telephonically interviewed by Agent
Rice. Kallenborn related the following information: He is aware that former
County Detective Robert Pyle conducted an investigation into Election
Fraud Violations on the part of Bud Beck. At one point Pyle
showed him a type written report containing approximately 14 points of election fraud
violations Beck has committed.
"Kallenborn further stated that Marty Dahler, a
McKean County Assistant Assessor was fired from his position shortly after Beck took
office., due to the fact he had been asking questions about who the committee to elect Stratton
and Beck were>
"The Election Board in McKean County consisted of Harry Lehman, George
Burchmater (phonetic), and Illen McKean.
"Kallenborn further stated that he feels people that contributed
to Beck's campaign were not listed on the proper contribution forms filed
with the Board of Elections. Kallenborn stated that the people he feels
gave to
Beck's campaign but were not listed are:
1. Jeff Franklin 2.
The owner of Murphy's Bar 3. The
owner of the Carnegie
Bar.
"On October 23, 1996, Robert Pyle, DOB 8/29/48, 18 Edgewood Road,
Bradford, PA, 16701 was telephonically interview by Agent Rice. Pyle provided
the following information:
-He is currently an Assistant Chief with the Bradford City Police Department and was a
former McKean County Detective.
-He did not investigate or write a report on Election Fraud activities pertaining to Harold
"Bud" Beck. He is not aware of a typewritten report which contained 14
election law infractions committed by Beck.
-He is acquainted with Richard Kallenborn, a former McKean County
Commissioner, but stated that he had never shown a written report to Kallenborn listing
14 Election Law violations on the part of Beck to Kallenborn.
-Pyle advised that one one point he traveled to WPIG Radio in Olean,
N.Y. and obtained some documents for McKean County District Attorney Jeff Duke.
He returned the documents to Duke and did not prepare a written report on
the matter.
-Pyle stated that he would contact Richard Kallenborn in
an effort to determine what document Kallenborn was referring to.
On November 1, 1996, Richard Kallenborn, 402 Chestnut Street, Port
Allegheny, PA, telephone number 814-642-2605 was telephonically contacted by Agent
Rice. Kallenborn provided the following information:
-He has not had any contact with former McKean County Detective Bob Pyle
since his last interview with Agent Rice of the Bureau of Criminal
Investigation.
-Kallenborn still maintains that Pyle showed him a
typewritten report containing 14 Election Law violations on the part of Bud Beck.
Kallenborn stated that McKean County Commissioners Russell Johnson, telephone
number: 814-887-5840 and Harri Jane Hanna, telephone number:
814-368-5133, were also present when Pyle showed the report to him."
The account of the investigation supplied by the Attorney General
to my defense never indicated that Agent Rice did or did not contact County
Commissioner Harrijane Hannon or Republican Party Chairman C. Russell Johnson. If Agent
Rice was doing a complete investigation into this matter, would it not be a matter of
course to follow up and determine if Pyle was lying or not? Would it not have been a
matter of course to determine the truthfulness of Richard Kallenborn? What if Agent Rice
did do just that? What if Agent Rice did in fact determine that Kallenborn had told the
truth and it was Pyle that was lying? Why then was that part of the investigation never
made available to my defense? Why would this information and Pyle become protected and
buried?
Logically, if we take what Pyle has said on the face as being truthful, there are still
other questions that must be answered. Pyle stated the "only thing he did" was
to go to radio station WPIG to get some information about ads I ran. Did he have a search
warrant? Did WPIG violate my rights by giving him information without him having a search
warrant? Was my privacy invaded? Does a District Attorney and his detective have the right
to go on fishing expeditions without any just cause or any charges being filed? Think
about it! According to Pyle, that was all he did; yet Kallenborn said and then
reconfirmed that it was factual that Pyle had a typewritten report on me. Who is lying? In
the near future, we will find out. Get ready for Part Two.
AUGUST 29 & 30, 1998
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