Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout037-S JordanSTATE ETHICS COMMISSION 308 FINANCE BUILDING HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA 17120 IN RE: ARTHUR J. JORDAN : File Docket: 92 -027 -P Date Decided: September 15. 1992 Respondent Date Mailed: September 18, 1992 Before: James M. Howley, Chair Daneen E. Reese, Vice Chair Roy W. Wilt Austin M. Lee Allan M. Kluger The State Ethics Commission received information regarding possible violation(s) of Section 4 and /or Section 5 of the Public Official and Employee Ethics Law ( "Ethics Law "), Act 9 of 1989, 65 P.S. §401 et Aga. Written Notice was mailed to Respondent in accordance with Section (7)(5) of the Ethics Law, as to which there was no response. A Notice and Order to Show Cause was issued and served upon Respondent. An Answer was not filed and a hearing was deemed waived. The record is complete. This adjudication of the Commission is hereby issued, which sets forth Findings of Fact, Discussion, Conclusions of Law and Order. This Adjudication is final and is a public document. Reconsideration may be requested. A request for reconsideration, however, does not affect the finality of this adjudication. A reconsideration request must be received at this Commission within fifteen days of issuance and must include a detailed explanation of the reasons as to why reconsideration should be granted in conformity with 51 Pa. Code §S2.38(b),(c). Arthur J. Jordan September 18, 1992 Page 2 I. FINDINGS: 1. Respondent Arthur J. Jordan is an adult individual who resides or maintains a mailing address at 2230 North Washington Avenue, Scranton, Pennsylvania 18503. 2. Respondent is now and at all times relevant to these proceedings has been a Member of the State Board of Optometry. (a) Respondent specifically held the aforesaid position in 1991. 3. Respondent did not file a Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990 with the State Ethics Commission and the Governor's Office of Administration on or before May 1, 1991. 4. A Notice letter dated June 18, 1991 was served upon Respondent by this Commission. The said Notice letter stated in detail the specific allegations against Respondent concerning the delinquency of Respondent's Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990 and the penalties for failure to file or for filing a deficient Statement of Financial Interests. The said Notice letter provided Respondent an opportunity to avoid the institution of these civil penalty proceedings by filing an accurate and complete Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990 within fourteen (14) days of the date of the Notice letter. 5. Respondent did not file a Statement of Financial Interests with the State Ethics Commission and the Governor's Office of Administration for calendar year 1990 within fourteen days of the date of the said Notice letter. 6. Respondent did not file an Answer to the Order to Show Cause, but submitted an untimely letter response. (a) Respondent's untimely letter response consists of a letter from Respondent dated April 27, 1992 and a letter from Respondent's accountant /personal financial representative, dated April 28, 1992, both of which documents were forwarded to this Commission by Attorney Frank J. McDonnell by cover letter dated May 18, 1992, and were received by this Commission on May 21, 1992. (b) The untimely letter response avers: (1) That to Respondent's knowledge, he has submitted all required information to this Commission; (2) That Respondent asked his accountant to complete Arthur J. Jordan September 18, 1992 Page 3 the required Statement of Financial Interests and it was Respondent's understanding that these forms were completed and delivered to this Commission; (3) That Respondent's accountant has over the last 16 years handled many complex financial matters for Respondent without any difficulties; (4) That Respondent has relied upon the accountant's office for the last 16 years to handle the filings of tax returns and Statements of Financial Interests, as well as other financial matters; (5) That the accountant has previously filed Respondent's required Statements of Financial Interests with the Commonwealth, and that the reports for 1991 were completed; (6) That Respondent submitted the aforesaid forms to the accountant so that they could be completed in an accurate and timely manner; (7) That it is possible that the accountant's office never completed the project due to the fact that he works from January through April 15 primarily on tax returns; (8) That upon review of Respondent's file, the required reports were completed timely although never mailed; (9) That the aforesaid error was the accountant's error because Respondent submitted the required forms to the accountant's office a number of times; (10) That the accountant's office has never had a problem of this nature; and (11) That Respondent is an "innocent bystander." 7. As a matter of public record, Respondent filed a Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990 after issuance of the Order to Show Cause which Statement of Financial Interests is dated April 27, 1992 and was received by this Commission on May - 21, 1992. (a) Block 3 of said Statement of Financial Interests is not completed and is left blank. (b) Blocks 4 and 5 of said Statement have been completed to Arthur J. Jordan September 18, 1992 Page 4 indicate that Respondent is seeking public office as a Board Member of the State Board of Optometry when in fact Respondent is an incumbent public official. (c) Blocks 6 and 7 of said Statement of Financial Interests fail to disclose Respondent's current position as a Board Member on the State Board of Optometry. (d) Block 16 of said Statement of Financial Interests is not completed and is left blank. II. DISCUSSION: Respondent is now and at all times relevant to these proceedings has been a Member of the State Board of Optometry. Respondent specifically held the aforesaid position in 1991. As a Member of the State Board of Optometry, Respondent is a "public official" as that term is defined under the Public Official and Employee Ethics Law ( " Ethics Law "), 65 P.S. §401, et s_,g., and as such, Respondent is subject to the provisions of the Ethics Law. Factually, Respondent failed to timely file a Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990 with the State Ethics Commission and the Governor's Office of Administration, which constitutes a failure to comply with Sections 4 and 5 of the Ethics Law. 65 P.S. §S404,405. Section 9(f) of the Ethics Law provides as follows: (f) In addition to any other civil remedy or criminal penalty provided for in this act, the commission may, after notice has been served in accordance with section 7(5) and upon a majority vote of its members, levy a civil penalty upon any person subject to this act who fails to file a statement of financial interests in a timely manner or who files a deficient statement of financial interests, at a rate of not more than $25 for each day such statement remains delinquent or deficient. The maximum penalty payable under this paragraph is $250. 65 P.S. §409(f). An application of Section 9(f) to this case establishes that this Commission has the discretion to levy a maximum civil penalty against the Respondent for the delinquent Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990. The prerequisite service of a Notice letter in accordance with Section 7(5) was satisfied. Respondent did not remedy the failure Arthur J. Jordan September 18, 1992 Page 5 to file a Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990 although given fourteen days from the date of the aforesaid Notice letter in which to do so. This Commission then instituted formal proceedings against Respondent by issuing an Order to Show Cause, ordering Respondent to show cause why a civil penalty should not be levied against Respondent. Respondent did not file an Answer to the Order to Show Cause, and so the facts alleged therein are deemed admitted. However, it must be observed that the Commission did receive an untimely letter response consisting of a letter from Respondent and a letter from Respondent's accountant /personal financial representative, which documents were forwarded by Attorney Frank J. McDonnell under a cover letter dated May 18, 1992, and were received by this Commission on May 21, 1992. It appears from Dr. Jordan's letter and the letter of his accountant that the delinquent filing for calendar year 1990 was an inadvertent error, and there is no evidence which would indicate any intention on the part of Dr. Jordan to fail to comply with the filing requirements of the Ethics Law. We would further note that following the issuance of the Order to Show Cause, the Commission also received Respondent's Statement of Financial Interests dated April 27, 1992 for calendar year 1990. The said Statement of Financial Interests was received by this Commission on May 21, 1992. The Statement of Financial Interests is technically deficient in that blocks 3 and 16 are not completed and the information set forth in blocks 4 -5 and blocks 6 -7 appears to have been reversed, failing to disclose that Respondent is currently holding this Board position. Although we are constrained to levy a civil penalty against the Respondent given the uncontested delinquency of his Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990, in so doing we note the inadvertence of his error and the apparent lack of any intention to fall short of the Ethics Law's filing requirements. We hereby levy one civil penalty against Respondent Arthur J. Jordan at the rate of $25.00 per day, for each day Respondent's Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990 has remained delinquent. Given the number of days during which the Statement of Financial Interests has remained delinquent, the resultant amount to be levied against Respondent is $250.00. Respondent shall be ordered to file a complete and accurate Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990. III. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW: 1. Respondent Arthur J. Jordan is now and at all times relevant to these proceedings has been a Member of the State Board of Optometry and as such Respondent is a "public official" Arthur J. Jordan September 18, 1992 Page 6 subject to the provisions of the Ethics Law, Act 9 of 1989. 2. Respondent failed to comply with the requirements of Sections 4 and 5 of the. Ethics Law when Respondent failed to timely file a Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990 with the State Ethics Commission and the Governor's Office of Administration. 3. Notice of the delinquency of Respondent's Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990 was previously served upon Respondent in accordance with Section 7(5) of the Ethics Law, 65 P.S. 5407(5). 4. Based upon the totality of the circumstances in this case, a maximum civil penalty is warranted. 5. Respondent's Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990, dated April 27, 1992, and received by the State Ethics Commission on May 21, 1992, is technically deficient. IN RE: ARTHUR J. JORDAN Respondent File Docket: 92 -027 -P Date Decided: September 15. 1992 Date Mailed: September 18. 199; ORDER NO. 037 -S 1. Arthur J. Jordan, as a Member of the State Board of Optometry, failed to comply with Sections 4 and 5 of the Ethics Law, 65 P.S. 65404, 405, by failing to timely file a Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990 with the State Ethics Commission and the Governor's Office of Administration. 2. Based upon the circumstances of this case, this Commission hereby levies one civil penalty against Respondent Arthur J. Jordan at the rate of $25.00 per day for each day Respondent's Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990 has remained delinquent, for the total civil penalty of $250.00 Respondent is ordered to pay the above civil penalty in the total amount of $250.00 within thirty days of the issuance of this Order, by forwarding a check to this Commission payable to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for deposit in the State Treasury. 3. Respondent Arthur J. Jordan is directed within 30 days of issuance of this Order to file an amended, complete and accurate Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990 with the State Ethics Commission and the Governor's Office of Administration, correcting all technical deficiencies noted above and providing full financial disclosure as required by the Ethics Law. 4. Failure to comply with any-provision of this Order will result in the initiation of an appropriate enforcement action. BY THE COMMISSION, 0A02-4/ u) �J _ Daneen E. Reese, Vice Chair Commissioner James M. Howley, Chair, abstained.