OCTOBER 31 - NOVEMBER 6, 1998
NOVEMBER 6, 1998
The past and the present
Good morning to yawl! It is 29 degrees in Marshburg. I'm having trouble getting
my mind unclogged for a number of reasons. One, I haven't had my one cup of coffee. I am
having bloodwork done at 8:30 and Dr. Kirsh said to go in with nothing new in my system
-coffee, food, etc. Second, I was working on the county budget and as Jim Weaver found out
yesterday, that makes me talk to myself.
Many of you really enjoyed yesterday's editorial. Thank you for the kind comments. I
agree with you. It was the collective "we" that tied the teachers hands when it
came to discipline. At the same time, I should also point out, that it was the teachers
who interfered and tied many parents hands regarding discipline at home.
A buddy of mine who is a teacher in the Smethport School District and I were laughing
about the editorial. He agreed with me. I pointed out to him that the only thing I should
have placed in the article that I did not was the saying that I love so much.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. Those who can't teach, teach
teachers. He laughed aloud when I told him that and added a few more words
to the very end, and when he did, I heartily agreed with him. The addition was or
become administrators.
We have watched the disintegration of our morals since the sixties. I have called this The
Vietnam Legacy. It started when my generation, the generation of the baby boomers as
we are called, decided we knew more than our parents. Our parents were ill equipped to
deal with open insurrection against their values. What they looked upon initially as a
passing phase, became a social revolution. Even within my own generation, we were split
into three groups and it dealt directly with the Vietnam War.
There were those of us who grew up on the John Wayne movies and believed that it was
our job to fight for world democracy, no matter what the price. We were preoccupied with
other things besides going to school or getting the grades necessary to stay in school.
The military was the end result.
There were those who, while not denying that we had it really good here in the USA,
really did not want their lives interrupted by the war. They would do whatever it took to
avoid military service within all legal means.
There also were those who actively protested the war and actively refused to serve no
matter.
History has proven all of us right and all of us wrong at the same time. There was no
correct answer when it came to the Vietnam War. What we did in Vietnam was a courageous
thing. It should not be lessened because our leaders at home refused to allow absolute
victory. Other lessons in history, and as recent as the Gulf War, give us the same
outcome. We are led to believe that somewhere there is someone who allegedly knows more
than us and they make those decisions no matter what we may want. That seems to be a
historical fact that has gone on for a very long time.
Split among ourselves as to where we should go seemed to cause a giant vacuum. Whenever
there is a vacuum in the middle of much pressure, it is reasonable that things will tend
to equalize themselves. As the war ended and the social unrest died down, while we were
experiencing a new unrestricted life, we allowed the government to take over the function
of the family.
Parents are no longer allowed to discipline their children. We have CYS (Children and
Youth Services) in the place of a stern father who always, sooner or later, came home from
work and we did not want to cross him. Teachers were sued by parents who did not want to,
and would not discipline their children. In the place of that we have been given laws that
make our children felons when they become class clowns or react in an unacceptable way. We
have Juvenile Probation and Courts that now take the place of the trip to the principal's
office. With that we have the stupidity that we are now experiencing her in McKean County
(and across the nation) with school systems refusing to deal with students who are
problems.
Our generation knew it all. No one could tell us anything. For the most part, we were
lousy parents and set a lousy example for our children. Now they haven't a clue and
unfortunately look to the government for direction. We all realize what a mistake that is.
There is an answer. The problem is that no one person has the courage to stand up and
say it. No one person is willing to accept the criticism that it will bring. I speak from
personal experience when I say that while you may be right, the people who are able to
discredit you and make what is right seem wrong, are definitely there, and they are ready
to spring into action to maintain the status quo. That is a fact of life, also.
What we have going on in our schools with our children and our teachers is not going to
change. Our school taxes are not going to stay the same and we are going to pay more and
more and only get less and less in return. While those who can, do,
we will see fewer and fewer good teachers teaching. That also has been going on for a long
time. The old teachers' ethic is just about dead. Now they put in their time and
look to the next contract. We did that to ourselves and we are paying the price.
Comment on this article at editor@www.mlrmag.com.
NOVEMBER 5, 1998
How did we come to this?
Good morning. It is 24 degrees in Marshburg at 5 AM and it is cold. I guess
that should come to no surprise. Generally, by this time we have usually had a snow storm
that has given us three to six inches of snow. All we've had is the dusting from
yesterday. It is called "a trace of snow."
The election day Era was jammed packed with news. There was the story about
the student who aimed a laser pointer at a teacher and was charged with criminal assault.
That was coming from our District Attorney who doesn't know how far it is to Pittsburgh.
The story that day was a plea bargain was made reducing the charge to reckless
endangerment, a misdemeanor, instead of a felony.
The student was first alleged to have brought a weapon to school. The alleged weapon, a
weak novelty type laser pointer, was a weak stretch of the law designed to protect
teachers from violent students. The Era pointed out, not with a laser pointer I
hope, that reckless endangerment is defined under the law as "recklessly engaging in
conduct that places or may place another person in danger of death or serious bodily
injury." How did the laser pointer do that?
There really is no doubt that the system has this kid between the rock and the hard
place. There is little doubt that his life has been a living hell ever since he decided to
be cute and act up for his fellow classmates. I am sure that he did not consciously decide
to use this deadly weapon to harm anyone. Maybe he just wanted a little attention. Maybe
Mr. Ridgeway, the teacher whose life was placed in peril by the reckless use of such a
deadly weapon, was just too busy that day to give him that attention. Can any of you ever
remember doing that? Remember the class clown and pranks that used to be played on the
teacher? I always thought that was part of school.
It's a damn shame that this kid has to plead guilty to anything. Experts have pointed
out, also not with a laser pointer I hope, that it is virtually impossible to do damage to
anyone with such a devise. However, Mr. Ridgeway claimed eye irritations as a result of
the dastardly and reckless act. He claimed eye irritations even though witnesses to the
deed said the red beam of light was on his chest and not in his eye. Oh well, we all know
how those kids lie. Why would we question Mr. Ridgeway?
We obviously have an epidemic of bad behavior in the Bradford School System. We have
had three episodes. There was this one. Then we had one where a student allegedly
attempted to strangle a teacher out on an activity field. Reports on that one said that
the student was horsing around and the intent was not to do the teacher harm. Finally, a
girl was arrested for pushing a chair into a teacher. That was a real serious assault and
I hear the teacher suffered extensive bodily harm.
Now I know what this sounds like as I write about teachers claiming bodily
injury at the hands of students. Bear with me and don't form any judgements because
believe it or not, there is a point to this exercise.
Yesterday's Era carried an editorial written by Marty Robacker Wilder. It was
titled "Close call for common sense." It was about a student at Bradford High
School who had to write an application problem for trigonometry class. He took is height
of two meters and the fact that a cigarette was five meters away from him on the floor,
and developed the proper angle and the distance from his face. While he did the
application problem perfectly, he was given a zero out of a possible 20 points for the
exercise. Why? He used a cigarette as the object.
Marty's editorial was great! She hit all the points including freedom of speech and
even George Orwell's 1984 to even suggest that the "exorcising (of) all
offensive words - condom, cocaine, cigarette, to name but a few" might be on the
horizon. In the end, Marty pointed out that the teacher finally gave in and gave the
student the grade that he deserved, 20 points out of a possible 20.
However, as good as the editorial was, it missed, if I might steal or borrow a phrase
that has now appeared in The Era on two consecutive days, an obvious and
necessary jump in logic that should have tied the three alleged assaults together
with this stupidity. She should have then taken her own headline on the front page
that day: BASD teachers approve contract" and put them all together. In doing so,
perhaps she should have come up with something like this.
In light of the fact that the teachers are in the top 5% of pay in the entire
state, don't you think we deserve that little bit extra just to justify such high pay in
an area where they earn more than the people paying their salaries? Don't you think we
deserve some common sense? Don't you think we need traditional thinking instead of
political correctness and crying assault at the slightest and meaningless act?
There is a connection here and it is more than our teachers attempting to stamp out
this epidemic of violence and disrespect aimed at them. It is an attitude and it
is throughout our schools in the entire nation. The teachers say they are there to teach.
If a student does not want to learn, then they want them out of their classrooms. That is
understandable and in a perfect world that is the way it should be. But this isn't a
perfect world.
The county is running programs to teach young mothers nutrition and the basics
of how to cook. I thought they were supposed to learn that in Home Economics class in
school. Don't they teach that anymore? More than half of the college bound graduates of
Bradford High School will flunk out of college in the first year because they have not
been prepared on a level equal to other high school graduates. Even at that, our
statistics of graduates who will even attend college are less than other schools in this
state. Is that why we pay our teachers so much? Something is wrong and I think that we
need to look at this closely.
Comment on this article at editor@www.mlrmag.com.
NOVEMBER 4, 1998
The School Board mentality
Good morning! It is 18 degrees at 5:22 AM with snow flurries in Marshburg -
high on the northern most point of the Appalachian Plateau.
Another election is over. The people of the United States of America have had
one more successful revolution. We have one every twelve months when we come together and
vote on who will lead us. Unfortunately, not all of us vote. Because of that we get the
government that we deserve, not necessarily want. Proving my point, look to yesterday's
events.
Michele Alfieri changed her expense report. She dated it November 2, 1998 and corrected
her mileage to 379 miles round trip from Smethport to Pittsburgh and back. Now the cost to
the tax payers is $90.96 and with the new expense report she submitted the following
explanation:
"I apologize for the error in mileage as originally submitted. It was obviously an
error. Please accept this as the correct amount requested."
As you know from the previous two days of editorials, she submitted round trip mileage
to Pittsburgh in excess of 600 miles. She also stayed at a four star hotel for $189 per
night. While we approved the overnight stay, we certainly did not understand that the
District Attorney was going to stay at the best and most expensive place in town! Now she
points out that she has stayed there many times. Who the hell does she think she is
spending taxpayers money like that?
McKean County has not raised County taxes since the three of us took office. You all
know the deficit we had to overcome and it was people like Alfieri and John Cleland who
were the creators of the deficit. The actual direct cause was the three former
commissioners who did not watch every penny and call people to task when they abused, or
in the case of Alfieri, attempted to steal from the taxpayers.
Yesterday's headline, the election day headline, in The Bradford Era
was "Beck rips judge, D.A. over budget."
John Cleland arbitrarily raised fees for Court appointed lawyers from $40 per hour to
$70 per hour making McKean County the highest of all the counties in northwest
Pennsylvania for those cases. That directly affects the budget and our ability to
financially administer County Government.
Michele Alfieri staying at four star hotels on unnecessary overnights to Pittsburgh and
then lying on the expense report on the mileage, effectively attempting to steal county
funds also directly affects the budget and our ability to financially administer County
Government. Am I buying her apology? I am not!
She is lying now just like the way she lied on her expense report. She has blamed it on
her secretary. It is her responsibility to fill our her own expense report. It
was her signature on the bottom approving it, not the secretary's. Is this the haphazard
way she runs the Office of the District Attorney?
In the same article that was written by George Petrisek, who also managed not to fall
off any curbs yesterday, I was quoted as wanting to replace Fred Proper on the Solid
Waste Authority. That is true. However, instead of reporting what I said, George chose to
editorialize in the middle of a news article. He wrote:
"Beck also noted that the term of longtime member Fred Proper has expired and
called for "fresh blood" on the authority. In a leap of logic that escaped some
observers, Beck said Proper is from Bradford , where the school board spends too much
money. "I'd like to replace him...see somebody more financially responsible in
there," Beck said."
That is totally inaccurate and once more The Era has placed a twist
on my words to make them mean something else.
The fact that Proper is from Bradford means nothing. The fact that Proper has
until recently been on the School Board means everything. Look at the taxes for the school
district in Bradford! Fred Proper was a part of it! He is also now on the Solid Waste
Authority that wants to refinance their bonds, take a huge savings, and spend the savings
on operational expenses. That is what I said in the meeting. That is not what George
reported. Why? They did the same thing to my words on the issue of moving tourism to
Warren. They made it sound like I did not want it in Bradford. That was totally untrue
also.
Look at yesterday's Era. Next to the article about me "ripping" the
judge and Alfieri is the article "SWA asks county to stay out of finances." SWA
is the Solid Waste Authority. You know - the garbage dump - and it appears that all the
garbage is not being placed in the dump. That is evidenced by Chairman Robert Falk, who is
also the superintendent of the Otto-Eldred School District who said: "We can't have
the commissioners distracting us."
He was referring to our request that if the bond issue is refinanced, that they take
all savings at the end of the term and not take the savings in cash and use it for
operations. Last May when a buyer for the garbage dump came forward it was Mr. Falk who
came to the Commissioners' Meeting and faithfully told us that the Authority needed no new
money and could manage easily on the present revenue stream. What has happened in less
than six months?
The "School Board mentality" is they can say one thing in May and then
say something else in November and not expect to be called liars. The "School
Board mentality" is unless they have outstanding debt, say $15 million or so, all
backed by hard working tax payers and potential increased tax revenues or higher fees,
then they are not doing their jobs. The "School Board mentality" is they
know more than we do. They do what they want and we pay and pay and pay.
I want the garbage dump and the garbage dump authority (GDA) to save money.
Those aristocrats who are running the Solid Waste Authority (SWA) had better wake up. They
had better understand that there may not be a bond refinancing unless they do it
intelligently and in the best interests of the taxpayers - not theirs! Mr. Falk had better
come down off his high horse and get in the real world where real people struggle
to pay real taxes and real property and real estate - everything they own in the world.
Do it our way or don't do it at all! That is a fact of life and that is in the
best interests of the people.
Comment on this article editor@www.mlrmag.com.
NOVEMBER 3, 1998
Stealing from the people
It is 26 degrees in Marshburg at 3 AM. Ever feel like "Chris in the
Morning" on Northern Exposure? When I say that, I do. How the devil did I
get into reporting temperature and time? One thing I have noticed is the temperature is
actually colder at 7:30 when I am driving to work than it is at five when I usually begin
the column. Generally, it is two to three degrees colder later in the morning.
I guess our esteemed District Attorney is claiming that the mileage caper was only a
mistake. How can you make a mistake of three hundred miles? Did you drive it or not? Did
it take three hours or so each way? Were you driving 120 miles per hour?
For Michele Alfieri to claim that this was a mistake is an insult to all of us. Really,
though, what else can she say? Should she say, "I was trying to beat the
taxpayers out of $74.15 because my part time salary of $55,000 is just not making
it"?
What are we, as intelligent people, to think about her and this deal with overstating
mileage on her expense account? You know, we are not talking about some new hire in
Children and Youth Services, or some secretary we sent away for a computer course. We are
talking about the District Attorney. The District Attorney is supposed to be someone who
is above reproach. Can we say that about someone who is either so stupid that
she can not properly fill out an expense report without making a 350 mile
error; or, is lying through her teeth and was trying to steal the $74.15 from the
taxpayers all along? Either way, it does not say much for Michele Alfieri.
Where do we go from here? What did you think?
From Erie, PA we were told: "It just goes to show how petty some people are no
matter how much they make. I believe what you found is Criminal Theft. Turn her ass over
to the Attorney General for prosecution and report her to the Bar Association, too. Where
is the integrity that these people are supposed to have." Give me a break! That
went out with the tooth fairy.
From Long Island, NY: "It is shameful that a District Attorney would act like
that. This is no innocent mistake. All of her expenses should be audited. If you caught
her this once, she has done this many times before." Do you really think so?
From Bradford, PA: "I heard her on the radio trying to explain this away. She
sounded stupid. Maybe it is an honest mistake and she really is that dumb. That doesn't
say much for her being our District Attorney. It also doesn't say much for the other
lawyers that actually backed her as the District Attorney." Facts are facts!
From Warren, PA: "Which is worse - a District Attorney who steals and is not smart
enough to steal big, or a District Attorney who is incompetent and has to get witnesses to
lie on the stand nearly 800 times just to bring a case to trial and then lose it? You tell
me! It sounds like the people of both counties are getting the short end of the stick when
it comes to our criminal justice systems." You're right.
From Harrisburg, PA: "What do you have against lawyers and judges? Do you hate
them all? There has to be something wrong with you to keep pounding on these people on
such a continuing scale. Grow up and get off it already. Can't you find anything better to
write about like Monica and Clinton?" Must have been Mike Fisher!
From Harrisburg, PA: "Do you stay up nights looking for things like this to write?
Get off it!" No. I only stay up nights writing about it.
From Bradford, PA: "Remember, Michele Alfieri was Judge Cleland's law clerk before
becoming Jeff Duke's full time Assistant District Attorney. Michele was not born with this
type of behavior, she learned it. It is the old story of whether it is the environment or
heredity. What do you think?" When you put it in those terms.......
From someplace I couldn't trace: "She got caught with her fingers in the cookie
jar. Cut them off at the elbow! How does she treat people who steal? Does she give them a
break? No she does not. Why should we give her a break when we catch her stealing from us?
The amount does not matter! It is the principle of what she is supposed to stand for and
does not. Evidently she feels because she is the District Attorney that she is above the
law. Show her that she isn't." Wow! You are upset! Good for you. We need people
to get upset and maybe some of these people will begin taking what they were elected to do
seriously.
There are more and they all say the same thing. Most everyone believes that
it was not an honest mistake. Most everyone believes that she was trying to steal money
from the taxpayers. That is the consensus. However, even though it was the consensus,
several people wondered why I would even bother.
From Bradford: "What is the big deal over seventy dollars? Sure she was cheating
on the expense account. So what! Really, Bud, it is not such a big deal."
Believe it or not, I had several others just like that. They just don't care even if it
is true. They don't want to be bothered. That is a shame!
Again, we are talking about a District Attorney. I said it yesterday and I will say it
again. She is the highest ranking Law Enforcement Official in this county.
Remember the young man she took from his dinner table on a Friday evening and put him in
the County Jail until Monday afternoon because he was a witness she needed for a case and
she thought he just might leave town? Where was due process? Didn't he have any rights?
She obviously didn't think so! She denied him of his rights in the name of justice and she
turns around and is either too stupid to know that it is not 649 miles from Smethport to
Pittsburgh and back to Smethport; or, was trying to steal money from the taxpayers.
That, without a doubt, is the poorest commentary on the woman and the office she holds.
Comment on this article editor@www.mlrmag.com.
NOVEMBER 2, 1998
When is it criminal theft?
Good morning, it is 38 degrees in Marshburg at 5:18 AM.
With the Buffalo Bills scoring 16 unanswered points against Miami to win in the last
minute of the game and the Pittsburgh Steelers losing to the Oilers, I begin today feeling
like I played in both games. Fighting the impending start of the winter weather and
dealing with the loss of one hour of daylight, I am in the familiar position of asking
myself why I didn't begin my latest project earlier - or why I began at all? Oh well,
that's me, and that is why my life is so interesting.
We have completed hearing over 800 tax assessment appeals. The last taxpayer plead his
case at 11:30 on Friday morning. As I have told you in prior columns, the majority of
complaints centered around the school taxes that are increasing each year at an alarming,
and an uncontrolled rate. Why?
The answer is simple. Spending, spending, spending, spending, spending, spending,
spending and more spending!
Taxes are the direct result of how much government spends. When a school district
embarks on a $23 million building program that within three years becomes a $36 million
dollar program, that money has to come from someplace. That place is you and me and that
converts to higher and more burdensome taxes.
If you are expecting me to go off on the Bradford Area School District and Cheri O'Mara
again, you are wrong. I disagree in a very strong way with the manner in which they have
lived up to their responsibility of being fiscally responsible with the taxpayers money.
No matter how much I disagree with what they have done, I cannot say they have done
anything illegal. As long as the taxpayers stay away from the School Board meetings (me
included) and do not voice their opinions, then we get exactly what we deserve. It is our
fault, not theirs, because we have allowed them to act as they have. However, when an
elected official traveling on behalf of the taxpayers and lives it up lavishly on their
dollar, then I question what is going on and this time I expect a public explanation.
On the afternoon of October 26, 1998, the District Attorney, Michele D. Alfieri came to
Larry Stratton asking permission to travel to Pittsburgh overnight for the purpose of
pleading cases before the Superior Court. The District Attorney is in excess of her
allotted budget in all areas except for the remaining budgeted amounts for salaries.
Recently, she was told in writing, as was Children and Youth Services, that she could not
order or spend money on anything without prior approval. Larry, in turn asked me
what I thought. Without saying exactly what I thought, I opposed the overnight excursion.
I happen to understand the dynamics of traveling for appeals to higher courts as I have
had the opportunity to experience it first hand. My lawyer, John Nickoloff, who happens to
live in the South Hills of Pittsburgh, has traveled to McKean County several times for 10
AM hearings without the luxury of an overnight stay. That was not the case here as she
stayed at a four star hotel at a rate of $189 per night which after taxes and County fees
converts to $226 per night. (I should point out here, that because our District Attorney
asked for a government rate, the taxes were waived and she was charged the $189 rate.)
I grew up in Pittsburgh and I still travel there on business and pleasure. The
convenience of a downtown hotel is nice, but you pay for it. You pay $189 to stay at the
Doubletree (formerly the Vista) instead of $110 at the Mariott, $125 at the
Sheraton, or $95 at the Hampton Inn, all within easy reach of the Court.
As I voiced my objections to not only the District Attorney traveling to Pittsburgh
overnight, but her taking her Assistant District Attorney with her, I tried to make myself
understand that not everyone operates on the same schedule as I do. Getting up at 5AM and
driving to Pittsburgh in the fall when the weather is not bad would not phase me in the
least. I could go before the Court (for the seven and one half minutes allotted me in the
plea) and be back home by dinner time. Even in the even of multiple cases, as was the
situation, if I left Pittsburgh at 3:30 PM when the Superior Court adjourned for the day,
I still could have been home by seven and still make dinner with Sharyn and Aunt Rose.
That's me and to expect Michele Alfieri to operate like that just might be a little much.
Jim Weaver suggested we allocate the money for the overnight stay out of the
Commissioners' department budget and I begrudgingly agreed. Michele happily set off to the
big city and the Superior Court and a new adventure. She had the chance to pretend
that she was a real live big time DA just like the ones she sees on television every week.
I never did ask what cases were under appeal because I would not want to be called soft
on crime again. To be called soft on anything by the District Attorney is not good.
Anyway, I passed the situation off until Tom Ball brought the signed expense
account to the attention of the three commissioners on Friday, October 30. Several things
immediately came to my attention.
First was the high room rate. Second was the fact that she signed her own expense
account. While Jim, Larry, and I submit our own expenses, the amount and the purpose is
scrutinized by the other two. That is good business practice and Larry can generally catch
if any of us may have inadvertently missed a personal charge not the responsibility of the
county. When I saw her approving her own expenses I realized that there was something
dreadfully wrong. There was no control!
Even at that, those two items alone would never have given rise to me writing about an
expense account that will cost the taxpayers $347.76. The final item that drew my
attention after ignoring the cab ride of $3.00, was the reported mileage from Smethport to
Pittsburgh and back to Smethport. Our District Attorney claimed that she traveled 649
miles.
While Larry wasn't sure about the mileage, Jim Weaver and I were. I pay my own attorney
when he travels to Smethport. I pay him a rate per mile based on 360 miles round trip -
180 miles each way. Michele claimed that the one way trip, 324 1/2 miles, was almost as
much as the round trip that my attorney claims.
At the very least, this is irresponsible. Taking it a bit farther, we are
talking about just a little more than that. We are talking about an elected District
Attorney, purportedly the highest ranking Law Enforcement Officer in McKean County, cheating
the taxpayers by means of submitting a fraudulent expense account.
In the terms of a $22 million dollar budget, $74.16 is not a large amount. Neither was
$370 in reported campaign expenses but the District Attorney thought it was
important enough to turn it over to the Attorney General for investigation and
prosecution. We should ask ourselves, as I am sure she asked herself when she took her
action against me, is there something larger here? Is the integrity of the office at
stake?
At the risk of having my sincerity questioned, or being accused of being drunk because
someone might smell mouthwash on my breath, let's look at what we have. We are talking
about a District Attorney who prosecutes people for being exactly on the boarder of the
legal limit of blood alcohol for Driving Under the Influence just to prove a point and
send a message. We are talking about a District Attorney who prosecutes people for writing
bad checks not much larger than what she is attempting to get from the taxpayers of the
county. We are talking about a woman who sends people to jail for breaking the law. Is
cheating on an expense account criminal theft?
People have lost good jobs for falsifying expense accounts in the work place. You are
not supposed to profit as a result of an expense account. This is blatantly wrong.
The question is: What do we do now? How can this District Attorney look people who are
charged with minor offenses in the eye? How can she try them under her office? Do we turn
this over to the Attorney General. You tell me. Comment on this article by responding at editor@www.mlrmag.com.
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