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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1464 KohnIn Re: Gerald Kohn, Respondent File Docket: X -ref: Date Decided: Date Mailed: Before: Louis W. Fryman, Chair John J. Bolger, Vice Chair Donald M. McCurdy Raquel K. Bergen Nicholas A. Colafella 07 -023 Order No. 1464 4/28/08 5/15/08 This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics Commission. Procedurally, the Investigative Division of the State Ethics Commission conducted an investigation regarding a possible violation of the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act ( "Ethics Act "), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq., by the above -named Respondent. At the commencement of its investigation, the Investigative Division served upon Respondent written notice of the specific allegations. Upon completion of its investigation, the Investigative Division issued and served upon Respondent a Findings Report identified as an "Investigative Complaint." An Answer was filed and a hearing was requested. A Stipulation of Findings and a Consent Agreement waiving an evidentiary hearing were subsequently submitted by the parties to the Commission for consideration. The Stipulated Findings are set forth as the Findings in this Order. The Consent Agreement has been approved. This adjudication of the State Ethics Commission is issued under the Ethics Act and will be made available as a public document thirty days after the mailing date noted above. However, reconsideration may be requested. Any reconsideration request must be received at this Commission within thirty days of the mailing date and must include a detailed explanation of the reasons as to why reconsideration should be granted in conformity with 51 Pa. Code § 21.29(b). A request for reconsideration will not affect the finality of this adjudication but will defer its public release pending action on the request by the Commission. The files in this case will remain confidential in accordance with the Ethics Act. Any person who violates such confidentiality commits a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, may be subject to a fine of not more than $1,000 or imprisonment for not more than one year. Confidentiality does not preclude discussing this case with an attorney at law. Kohn, 07 -023 Page 2 I. ALLEGATIONS: That Gerald Kohn, a public official /public employee in his capacity as Superintendent of the Harrisburg School District, violated Sections 1104(a), 1104(d), and 1105(a) of the State Ethics Act (Act 93 of 1998), 65 Pa.C.S. § §1104(a), 1104(d), and 1105(a) when he failed to file a Statement of Financial Interests for the 2003, 2004 and 2005 calendar years, and when he subsequently backdated those forms to give the impression that the forms were timely filed. II. FINDINGS: 1. Gerald Kohn has served as the Superintendent of the Harrisburg City School District since approximately July 2001. 2. Kohn, as Superintendent, has general supervisory responsibility over the daily administrative functions of the School District. 3. As Superintendent, Kohn is annually required to file a Statement of Financial Interests form by May 1 containing information for the prior calendar year. 4. Statement of Financial Interests (SFI) forms filed by officials and employees of the Harrisburg School District are maintained by Board Secretary Julie Ann Mackey. a. As Board Secretary, Mackey is responsible for maintaining completed Statement of Financial Interests forms filed by officials and employees of the Harrisburg School District. b. As Kohn's Executive Assistant, Julie Anne Mackey is responsible for: 1. Filling out the SFI forms for certain Harrisburg School District employees, including but not limited to Dr. Kohn, based upon information provided to her by the employees; 2. Presenting the forms to the employees for their review; and 3. Obtaining their signatures on the completed forms. 5. The Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission contracts the printing of Statements of Financial Interests annually. a. Orders for forms are placed with the printers in December of the preceding year. b. Forms are received by the Administrative Division of the State Ethics Commission the December before the January of the filing year. c. Forms are then bulk mailed to each municipality in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 6. Statement of Financial Interests forms were annually mailed to the Harrisburg School District in 2003, 2004, and 2005. a. In 2003, blank forms, SEC -1, Rev. 1/04 were mass mailed to all municipalities in the Commonwealth, including the Harrisburg City School District, on December 5, 2003. b. In 2004, blank forms, SEC -1, Rev. 1/05 were mass mailed to all Kohn, 07 -023 Page 3 municipalities in the Commonwealth, including the Harrisburg City School District, on December 18, 2004. c. In 2005, blank forms, SEC -1, Rev. 1/06 were mass mailed to all municipalities in the Commonwealth, including the Harrisburg City School District, on December 19, 2005. 7 Blank SFI forms were mailed to the Harrisburg City School District in December of each year for distribution on or before January of the filing year. a. Forms were mailed to the attention of Superintendent Gerald Kohn. b. Mail sent to Kohn at the Harrisburg City School District is generally opened by a member of Kohn's administrative or clerical staff. Depending upon the nature of the correspondence, it is then forwarded to the appropriate employee of the School District, which could be, but is not always, Dr. Kohn. c. In 2003, sixty (60) blank forms were mailed to the attention of Kohn. d. In 2004, seventy -five (75) blank forms were mailed to the attention of Kohn. e. In 2005, one hundred thirty -five (135) blank forms were mailed to Kohn's attention. 8. Each year when forms are printed, a form indication number is listed in the upper left hand corner of the form. a. Forms printed in 2002 contained an identification number of SEC -1, Rev. 1/03 while forms printed in 2003, 2004, and 2005 contained identification numbers of SEC -1, Rev. 1/04; SEC -1, Rev. 1/05; and SEC -1, Rev. 1/06. 9. Once forms were received by the district, according to Julie Anne Mackey, she distributed SFI's by interoffice mail or for employees working within the main office building, she would put the form in their mail basket. a. Mackey would mail blank forms for completion to former district officials and employees. b. Mackey also would send reminder notices out in the same fashion. 10. Mackey would affix a date stamp to the SFI forms filed with her to confirm the date of the filing. a. Mackey had access to date stamps which stated "Board Secretary's Office" and "Superintendents Office." b. Either stamp would be used by Mackey to confirm receipt of filings. c. Date stamps for the Superintendent's office include the following: Received, Month, Date and Year and Superintendent's Office. d. Date stamps for the Board Secretary's office included the words Received Harrisburg City Schools, Year, Month, Date and Time and Board Secretary's Office. e. The district had one Board Secretary's office and two Superintendent's office date stamps. Kohn, 07 -023 Page 4 11. Mackey had the ability to manually set and adjust the Superintendent's office date stamp. a. The Board Secretary's office date stamp had to be adjusted by a company technician. 12. On March 8, 2005, correspondence was sent to Gerald Kohn, Superintendent Harrisburg School District, 2102 North Front Street, Building 2, Harrisburg, PA 17110 from the State Ethics Commission requesting copies of all Statements of Financial Interests on file for calendar years 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003. a. These documents were requested as part of a compliance review being conducted in accordance with Section 1107 (5) of the State Ethics Act which mandates that the Commission: 1. Inspect Statements of Financial Interests which have been filed in order to ascertain whether any reporting person has failed to file such a statement or has filed a deficient statement. 65 Pa C.S. §1107 (5). b. This letter was sent to Superintendent Kohn via first class mail through the United States Postal Service. 13. No response was received by the State Ethics Commission from either Superintendent Kohn or any other official from the Harrisburg City School District. a. Mackey advised the State Ethics Commission representatives that the March 8, 2005, letter was never received by the Harrisburg School District. 14. On September 25, 2006, a second letter was sent to Superintendent Kohn from the State Ethics Commission again requesting the records asked for in the March 8, 2005, correspondence. a. A copy of the March 8, 2005, letter was attached to this correspondence. b. Mackey advised representatives of the State Ethics Commission that, in response to the September 25, 2006, letter, she made copies of the requested SFI forms and mailed the forms to the State Ethics Commission on October 3, 2006. c. The SEC did not receive the SFI forms mailed by Mackey on October 3, 2006. 15. Due to the lack of response, Investigators from the State Ethics Commission (SEC) were physically dispatched to obtain SFIs from the Harrisburg School District. a. On October 23, 2006, SEC Investigators obtained Statement of Financial Interests forms filed with the Harrisburg City School District from Christine Anderson, Administrative Assistant, Superintendent's Office. b. Anderson photocopied all SFI's which could be located in Mackey's office. c. Mackey was not in her office on October 23, 2006. 16. On October 27, 2006, Mackey submitted additional copies of SFI's for calendar years 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 to the State Ethics Commission. Kohn, 07 -023 Page 5 17. Follow -up conversations with Mackey seeking a district organizational chart occurred between October 27, 2006, and November 13, 2006. 18. Between September 25, 2006, and October 23, 2006, Mackey met with Kohn to discuss the September 25, 2006, letter from the State Ethics Commission. a. Mackey advised Kohn that the district files were missing completed Statement of Financial Interests forms for district officials and employees for various calendar years, including 2004. b. Mackey informed Kohn that upper level district employees including Kohn did not have completed SFI forms on file in the Board Secretary's office. c. Mackey advised Kohn that she believed that the SFI forms may have been timely filed but were now missing. d. Kohn asserts that he timely filed SFIs, with Mackey, for 2003, 2004, and 2005. 19. During the meeting, Superintendent Kohn and Mackey discussed ways in which statements not on file could be provided to the Ethics Commission. a. According to Mackey, Kohn directed Mackey to "replace and restore" the missing SFIs. b. Kohn asserts that he was under the belief that the State Ethics Commission wanted the forms filed as they would have originally appeared. c. Kohn asserts that he formed this belief as a result of conversations with Mackey and the belief that Mackey had been told such by the State Ethics Commission. 20. To comply with Superintendent Kohn's directive, Mackey obtained blank SFI forms which contained a revision date of SEC -1 Rev. 1/06 to distribute to select district administrators. a. Mackey selected the district administrators to whom she distributed replacement forms. 21. Mackey used white -out to cover over the revision date on the SEC -1 Rev. 1/06 form. a. Mackey covered the 2006 revision date because forms for the 2003 and 2004 calendar years would not contain that revision date. b. Mackey then photocopied the white -out version of the form prior to distribution to district officials and employees. 22. Mackey distributed copies of SFI's with the SEC -1 Rev. 1/06 revision date whited out to the following district officials. a. Debra Ferguson, Curriculum Director Barbara Ford, Assistant Business Administrator William Gretton, Assistant Superintendent of Business Affairs Robert Hilinski, Director of Information Stewart Kermes, Director of Alternative Education Debra Reuvenny, Director of Early Childhood Development Kohn, 07 -023 Page 6 Gail Tapper, Assistant Superintendent Mark Holman, Director of Human Resources b. Forms were not given to either Superintendent Kohn or Deputy Superintendent Julie Botel. 1. Mackey filled out forms on their behalf. c. Forms were distributed to these district employees /officials to complete for the 2004 calendar year. 23. Mackey did not distribute copies of SFI's with the SEC -1 Rev. 1/06 revision date whited out to all district officials who failed to timely file SFI's. a. None of these forms were distributed by Mackey to the district's School Board or Board of Control. b. None of these forms were distributed by Mackey to lower level district employees or officials. 24. Mackey personally completed replacement SFI's for Superintendent Kohn and Deputy Superintendent Julie Botel for calendar years 2003, 2004 and 2005. a. Mackey filled out the replacement forms for Kohn at Superintendent Kohn's direction. b. Mackey selected the date filed to give the appearance of a timely filing. c. Kohn and Botel signed the forms. d. Mackey then adjusted the date stamp for the Superintendent's Office to correspond to the date she placed on the replacement forms to reflect timely filings. 25. Statements of Financial Interests forms for Kohn provided to the State Ethics Commission included the following: a. Calendar Year 2005 Form - SEC form information whited out Date Listed as Being Filed: 02/06/06 Position: Superintendent Creditors: None Direct /Indirect Income: Harrisburg School District All other financial Interests: None Received Superintendent's Office date stamp 2/6/06 b. Calendar Year 2004 Form - SEC form information whited out Date Listed as Being Filed: 01/22/05 Position: Superintendent Creditors: None Direct /Indirect Income: Harrisburg School District All other financial Interests: None Received Superintendent's Office date stamp 1/22/05 Kohn, 07 -023 Page 7 c. Calendar Year 2003 Form - SEC form information whited out Date Listed as Being Filed: 12/11/03 Position: Superintendent Creditors: None Direct /Indirect Income: Harrisburg School District All other financial Interests: None Received Superintendent's Office date stamp 12/11/03 d. All of the above filings were on a form with a revision date of 1/06. 26. Kohn's SFI filings for calendar years 2003 -2005 (Finding No. 38 *) were on SFI forms for calendar year 2005 with the "SEC -1 Rev. 1/06" whited out. * [sic]. Presumably the parties intended to refer to Fact Finding 25. a. This form was not distributed to the school district until December 19, 2005. b. Mackey completed Kohn's calendar year 2005 filing after the May 1, 2006, filing deadline and changed the date stamp to reflect a filing date of February 6, 2006. c. Mackey also dated the 2003 and 2004 forms in a similar manner. d. Kohn signed the forms. e. The 2005 calendar year form was signed at the same time Kohn signed SFI's for calendar years 2003 and 2004. 27. Mackey changed the date stamp of the Superintendent's Office to give the appearance of timely filings for Kohn's SFI's covering calendar years 2003 through 2005. a. Kohn signed each SFI. 28. Kohn's SFI for calendar [year] 2003 had a date stamp of December 11, 2003, indicating the form was filed on that date. a. The form on which the 2004 filing was made was not mailed to the district until December 19, 2005. 29. Kohn's SFI for calendar year 2004 had a date stamp of January 22, 2005, indicating the form was filed with the district on that date. a. The form on which the filing was made was not mailed to the district until December 19, 2005. 30. Kohn's SFI for calendar year 2005 had a date stamp of February 6, 2006. 31. Although Mackey whited out the revision date on the replacement form, the form contained other unique revisions that identified it as the form printed and distributed for 2006 (SEC -1 Rev. 1/06). III. DISCUSSION: Kohn, 07 -023 Page 8 As Superintendent of the Harrisburg School District since approximately July 2001, Respondent Gerald Kohn ( "Kohn ") has at all times relevant to these proceedings been a public official /public employee subject to the provisions of the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act ( "Ethics Act "), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq. The allegations are that Kohn violated Sections 1104(a), 1104(d), and 1105(a) of the Ethics Act when he, as Superintendent of the Harrisburg School District, failed to file Statements of Financial Interests for the 2003, 2004 and 2005 calendar years, and when he subsequently backdated those forms to give the impression that the forms were timely filed. Section 1104(a) of the Ethics Act provides that each public official /public employee must file a Statement of Financial Interests for the preceding calendar year, each year that he holds the position and the year after he leaves it. Section 1104(d) of the Ethics Act provides that no public official shall be allowed to take the oath of office, enter or continue upon his duties, or receive compensation from public funds unless he has filed a Statement of Financial Interests as required by the Ethics Act. Section 1105(a) of the Ethics Act provides that the Statement of Financial Interests shall be filed on the form prescribed by this Commission; that all information requested on the form shall be provided to the best of the knowledge, information and belief of the filer; and that the form shall be signed under oath or equivalent affirmation. As noted above, the parties have submitted a Consent Agreement and Stipulation of Findings. The parties' Stipulated Findings are set forth above as the Findings of this Commission. We shall now summarize the relevant facts as contained therein. Kohn has served as the Superintendent of the Harrisburg School District ( "School District ") since approximately July 2001. As Superintendent, Kohn has general supervisory responsibility over the daily administrative functions of the School District. Pursuant to Section 1104(a) of the Ethics Act, Kohn, as Superintendent, is required to file annual Statements of Financial Interests (SFIs) by May 1. SFIs filed by School District officials and employees are maintained by Board Secretary Julie Ann Mackey ( "Mackey "). As Kohn's Executive Assistant, Mackey completes the SFIs for certain School District employees, including Kohn, based upon information provided to her by such employees. Mackey then presents the forms to such employees for their review and obtains the employees' signatures on the completed forms. This Commission contracts for the annual printing of SFIs. Each year when forms are printed, a form indication number is listed in the upper left hand corner of the form. Forms printed in December 2003, December 2004, and December 2005 contained identification numbers of SEC -1, Rev. 1/04; SEC -1, Rev. 1/05; and SEC -1, Rev. 1/06, respectively. On December 5, 2003, this Commission mailed sixty blank SEC -1, Rev. 1/04 forms to the School District for use with calendar year 2003 filings. On December 18, 2004, this Commission mailed seventy -five blank SEC -1, Rev. 1/05 forms to the School District for use with calendar year 2004 filings. On December 19, 2005, this Commission mailed one hundred thirty -five blank SEC -1, Rev. 1/06 forms to the School District for use with calendar year 2005 filings. All of the aforesaid forms were sent to the School District to Kohn's attention for distribution on or before January of the respective filing years. Mail sent to Kohn at the School District is generally opened by a member of Kohn's administrative or clerical staff. Depending upon the nature of the correspondence, it is Kohn, 07 -023 Page 9 then forwarded to the appropriate School District employee, which may be Kohn. According to Mackey, when the aforesaid SFI forms were received by the School District, she distributed them by interoffice mail or by placing them in employees' mail baskets. Mackey sent reminder notices to School District officials and employees regarding the SFIs. When Mackey received completed SFI forms for filing, she date stamped them to confirm the date of the filing. The School District's two "Superintendent's Office" date stamps included the word "Received," the Month, Date and Year, and the term "Superintendent's Office." Mackey could manually set and adjust the "Superintendent's Office" stamps. The School District's one "Board Secretary's Office" date stamp included the words "Received Harrisburg City Schools," the Year, Month, Date and Time, and the term, "Board Secretary's Office." The "Board Secretary's Office" date stamp had to be adjusted by a company technician. On March 8, 2005, as part of a compliance review, the appropriate Division of this Commission ( "Division" sent a letter via U.S. First Class mail to Kohn requesting copies of all SFIs on file with the School District for calendar years 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003. No response to the March 8, 2005, letter was received from Kohn or any other School District official. Mackey advised Commission representatives that the aforesaid March 8, 2005, letter was never received by the School District. On September 25, 2006, the Division sent a second letter to Kohn requesting copies of all SFIs on file with the School District for calendar years 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003, with a copy of the Division's March 8, 2005, letter enclosed. Between September 25, 2006, and October 23, 2006, Mackey met with Kohn to discuss the Division's September 25, 2006, letter. Mackey informed Kohn that upper -level School District employees, including Kohn, did not have completed SFIs on file in the Board Secretary's office for various calendar years, including 2004. Mackey advised Kohn that she believed that the SFIs may have been timely filed but were missing. Kohn asserts that he timely filed SFIs with Mackey for 2003, 2004, and 2005. During the meeting, Kohn and Mackey discussed ways in which SFIs not on file could be provided to this Commission. According to Mackey, Kohn directed Mackey to "replace and restore" the missing SFIs. Kohn asserts that he believed the Commission wanted the forms filed as they would have originally appeared, and that he formed this belief because Mackey had been told such by the Commission. To comply with Kohn's directive, Mackey obtained blank SFI forms, which contained a revision date of SEC -1, Rev. 1/06, to distribute to School District administrators as selected by Mackey. Mackey used white -out to cover over the revision date on the SEC -1, Rev. 1/06 form because forms for the 2003 and 2004 calendar years would not have contained that revision date. Mackey then photocopied the whited -out version of the form and distributed that version of the form to the various School District administrators to complete for the 2004 calendar year. Mackey did not give blank forms to Kohn or Deputy Superintendent Julie Botel ( "Botel ") because Mackey personally completed forms for calendar years 2003, 2004 and 2005 on Kohn's and Botel's behalf. Mackey completed the forms on Kohn's behalf at Kohn's direction. In dating the forms, Mackey selected a date to give the appearance that the forms had been timely filed. Kohn and Botel signed the forms. Mackey adjusted the date stamp for the Superintendent's Office to correspond to the date she had placed on the replacement SFIs so that the SFIs appeared to have been timely filed. The dates Mackey placed on the various forms are set forth in Fact Findings 25 a -c and discussed further below. Kohn, 07 -023 Page 10 Mackey advised Commission representatives that, in response to the Division's September 25, 2006, letter, she made copies of the requested SFIs and mailed the forms to the Commission on October 3, 2006. The Commission never received the SFIs that Mackey mailed on October 3, 2006. Commission Investigators went to the School District to obtain copies of the requested SFIs. On October 23, 2006, the Administrative Assistant for the Superintendent's Office photocopied all SF l's that could be located in Mackey's office and turned them over to SEC Investigators. Mackey was not in her office on October 23, 2006. The SFIs received by the Commission for Kohn for calendar years 2003 through 2005 were on the SFI form identified as "SEC -1, Rev. 1/06," but such designation had been whited -out. The form contained other unique revisions that identified it as the form printed and distributed for use in 2006. Mackey dated Kohn's SFI for calendar year 2005 as being filed February 6, 2006, and changed the date stamp to reflect a filing date of February 6, 2006. Mackey dated Kohn's SFI for calendar year 2004 as being filed January 22, 2005, and changed the date stamp to reflect a filing date of January 22, 2005. Mackey dated Kohn's SFI for calendar year 2003 as being filed December 11, 2003, and changed the date stamp to reflect a filing date of December 11, 2003. Mackey changed the date on the Superintendent's Office stamp to give the appearance that Kohn had timely filed SFIs for calendar years 2003, 2004, and 2005. Kohn signed each of the aforesaid forms as Mackey had completed them. Kohn signed his SFI for calendar year 2005 at the same time he signed his SFIs for calendar years 2003 and 2004. Having highlighted the Stipulated Findings and issues before us, we shall now apply the Ethics Act to determine the proper disposition of this case. The parties' Consent Agreement sets forth a proposed resolution of the allegations as follows: 3. The Investigative Division will recommend the following in relation to the above allegations: a. That transgressions of Section 1104(a) of the Public Official and Employee Ethics Law, 65 Pa.C.S. §1104(a) occurred when Statements of Financial Interests were not on file for Kohn with the Harrisburg School District in October 2006 for calendar years 2003 through 2005 inclusive. b. That transgressions of Section 1104(a) of the Public Official and Employee Ethics Law, 65 Pa.C.S. §1104(a) occurred when Kohn signed Statements of Financial Interests for the 2003 through 2005 calendar years with dates representing the time period when the forms should have been filed rather than when they were actually filed. 4. Kohn agrees to make payment in the amount of $750.00 in settlement of this matter payable to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and forwarded to the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission within thirty (30) days of the issuance of the final adjudication in this matter. This payment does not represent any admission of wrongdoing by Kohn. 5. Kohn agrees to file accurate and complete Statements of Financial Kohn, 07 -023 Page 11 Interests, if such has not already been done, within thirty (30) days of the date of the issuance of the final adjudication of the matter. Copies of such forms must also be forwarded to the State Ethics Commission. 6. The Investigative Division will recommend that the State Ethics Commission take no further action in this matter; and make no recommendations to any law enforcement or other authority to take action in this matter. Such, however, does not prohibit the Commission from initiating appropriate enforcement actions in the event of Respondent's failure to comply with this agreement or the Commission's order or cooperating with any other authority who may so choose to review this matter further. Consent Agreement, at 1 -2. In considering the Consent Agreement, we shall first consider the parties' recommendation that transgressions of Section 1104(a) of the Ethics Act occurred when Statements of Financial Interests were not on file for Kohn with the Harrisburg School District in October 2006 for calendar years 2003 through 2005 inclusive. Kohn has admitted that his SFIs for calendar years 2003 through 2005 were not on file with the Harrisburg School District in October 2006. In his capacity as Superintendent, Kohn had authority over the way SFIs were filed and maintained within the School District. He also had the responsibility to ensure that his own SFIs were properly filed. Accordingly, we hold that transgressions of Section 1104(a) of the Ethics Act occurred when Statements of Financial interests were not on file for Kohn with the Harrisburg School District in October 2006 for calendar years 2003 through 2005 inclusive. The parties' Consent Agreement further recommends that we find that transgressions of Section 1104(a) of the Ethics Act occurred when Kohn signed SFIs for the 2003 through 2005 calendar years with dates representing the time period when the forms should have been filed rather than when they were actually filed. Per the Stipulated Findings, sometime between September 25, 2006, and October 23, 2006, Kohn signed SFIs for the 2003, 2004, and 2005 calendar years, which forms were incorrectly dated to appear as though they had been timely filed. It is clear that Kohn's SFIs for calendar years 2003 through 2005 were backdated. Accordingly, we hold that transgressions of Section 1104(a) of the Ethics Act occurred when Kohn signed Statements of Financial Interests for the 2003 through 2005 calendar years with dates representing the time period when the forms should have been filed rather than when they were actually filed. As for the portions of the allegations involving Section 1104(d) and Section 1105(a) of the Ethics Act, it appears that the Investigative Division in the exercise of its prosecutorial discretion has elected to non pros those allegations. As part of the Consent Agreement, Kohn has agreed to make payment in the amount of $750.00 in settlement of this matter, payable to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and forwarded to this Commission within thirty (30) days of the issuance of the final adjudication in this matter. Kohn has further agreed to file accurate and complete SFIs within thirty (30) days of the date of the issuance of the final adjudication in this matter, and to forward copies of such forms to this Commission. Kohn, 07 -023 Page 12 We determine that the Consent Agreement submitted by the parties sets forth the proper disposition for this case, based upon our review as reflected in the above analysis and the totality of the facts and circumstances. Accordingly, per the Consent Agreement of the parties, Kohn is directed to make payment in the amount of $750.00 payable to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and forwarded to this Commission within thirty (30) days of the date of the issuance of this adjudication and Order. To the extent that he has not already done so, Kohn is directed to file accurate and complete SFIs for calendar years 2003, 2004, and 2005 with the School District within thirty (30) days of the date of the issuance of this adjudication and Order, with a copy of each such filing forwarded to this Commission for compliance verification purposes. Kohn is instructed that the SFIs are to be dated with the date Kohn actually files them, not the dates by which the original forms should have been filed or the dates any other forms were filed. Compliance with the foregoing will result in the closing of this case with no further action by this Commission. Noncompliance will result in the institution of an order enforcement action. IV. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW: 1. Gerald Kohn ( "Kohn "), as Superintendent of the Harrisburg School District ( "School District "), is a public official /public employee subject to the provisions of the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act ( "Ethics Act "), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1101 et seq. 2. Transgressions of Section 1104(a) of the Ethics Act occurred when Statements of Financial Interests ( "SFIs ") were not on file for Kohn with the School District in October 2006 for calendar years 2003 through 2005 inclusive. 3. Transgressions of Section 1104(a) of the Ethics Act occurred when Kohn signed SFIs for the 2003 through 2005 calendar years with dates representing the time period when the forms should have been filed rather than when they were actually filed. In Re: Gerald Kohn, Respondent File Docket: 07 -023 Date Decided: 4/28/08 Date Mailed: 5/15/08 ORDER NO. 1464 1 Transgressions of Section 1104(a) of the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act ( "Ethics Act"), 65 Pa.C.S. § 1104(a), occurred when Statements of Financial Interests for Gerald Kohn ( "Kohn "), Superintendent of the Harrisburg School District ( "School District "), for calendar years 2003 through 2005 inclusive, were not on file with the School District in October 2006. 2. Transgressions of Section 1104(a) of the Ethics Act occurred when Kohn signed Statements of Financial Interests for the 2003 through 2005 calendar years with dates representing the time period when the forms should have been filed rather than when they were actually filed. 3. Per the Consent Agreement of the parties, Kohn is directed to make payment in the amount of $750.00 payable to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and forwarded to the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission within thirty (30) days of the date of the issuance of this Order. 4. To the extent that he has not already done so, Kohn is directed to file accurate and complete Statements of Financial Interests for calendar years 2003, 2004, and 2005 with the School District within thirty (30) days of the date of the issuance of this Order, with a copy of each such filing provided to this Commission for compliance verification purposes. 5. Compliance with Paragraphs 3 and 4 of this Order will result in the closing of this case with no further action by this Commission. a. Non - compliance will result in the institution of an order enforcement action. BY THE COMMISSION, Louis W. Fryman, Chair