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HomeMy WebLinkAbout039-S ParishIN RE: MARION M. PARISH Respondent STATE ETHICS COMMISSION 308 FINANCE BUILDING HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA i7I20 Before: James M. Howley, Chair Daneen E. Reese, Vice Chair Roy W. Wilt Austin M. Lee Allan M. Kluger File Docket: 92- 069 -P Date Decided: September 15, 1992 Date Mailed: September 18, 1992 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. 5401 et seq. 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 filed and a hearing was 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). Marion M. Parish September 18, 1992 Page 2 I. FINDING: 1. Respondent Marion M. Parish is an adult individual who resides or maintains a mailing address at 1825 Fairview Road, Box 375, Montoursville, Pennsylvania 17754. 2. At all times relevant to these proceedings, Respondent has been a Member of the State Board of Occupational Therapy Education and Licensure. (a) Although Respondent's term has expired, at all times relevant to these proceedings, Respondent served on the aforesaid Board and was not replaced. (b) Respondent specifically held the aforesaid position in 1991. (c) Respondent states that she has been a Charter Member of the Board for over nine years and during said time was its initial Chairman serving in that capacity for over two years. (d) Respondent admits that at all times relevant to these proceedings she has been subject to the provisions of the Ethics Law and specifically Section 4 which requires the filing of the Statement of Financial Interests each year such a position is held and the year after leaving the position. (1) Respondent states that she was unaware of the filing requirement for the year after leaving her position. 3. Respondent admits that she 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. (a) Respondent states that she has timely filed Statements of Financial Interests as required by law over her entire tenure as a Member of the State Board of Occupational Therapy Education and Licensure except for calendar year 1990. (b) Respondent states that if the Statement had been filed, it would disclose no financial interest that would or could create a conflict for her-position. 4. A Notice letter dated June 18, 1991 was served upon Respondent by this Commission. The said Notice letter stated in detail Marion M. Parish September 18, 1992 Page 3 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. (a) Respondent admits service of the aforesaid Notice letter upon her but references mitigating circumstances as set forth below. 6. Respondent avers the following as mitigating circumstances with respect to her failure to timely file the Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990: (a) Respondent's son was a Staff Sergeant in the Air Force stationed in Saudi Arabia approximately ten (10) miles south of Kuwait at a front line hospital. He was stationed at that location during Desert Storm and as a result, Respondent's attention and concern was focused to such a degree on her son's situation that many of the matters Respondent normally attended to, including the Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990, were overlooked due to the stress of these circumstances. (b) Respondent's son -in -law was stationed on an aircraft carrier in the vicinity of the Red Sea during Desert Storm which added to her stress at this time and which also caused her to overlook many important personal matters including the Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990. (c) In view of the above, together with Respondent's record of service for the Commonwealth, Respondent requests that the civil penalty in this matter be abated and the proceedings be determined in her favor. 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, together with her Answer, which Statement of Financial Interests is dated June 3, 1992, and was received by this Commission on June 5, 1992. Marion M. Parish September 18, 1992 Page 4 (a) The said Statement of Financial Interests does not designate the calendar year for which it was filed. (b) Paragraphs 4 and 8 of Respondent's Answer reference the submitted Statement of Financial Interests as for calendar year 1990 and calendar year 1991. (c) Subsequent to filing her Answer and the aforesaid Statement of Financial Interests, Respondent has submitted a separate Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1991. 8. The public records of the State Ethics Commission reflect that Respondent has previously been served with Notice of the delinquency of her Statement of Financial Interests for another calendar year, specifically calendar year 1988. (a) Respondent admits receiving Notice for a prior year where it was alleged that she had not filed a Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1988. (b) Respondent states that at that time she telephoned this Commission reporting that she had filed the form and was told that her said Statement was probably incorrectly routed given that Respondent had a copy of said Statement. (c) Respondent states that she was advised in said telephone conversation to resubmit her Statement of Financial Interests. (d) Respondent states that she did resubmit the Statement of Financial Interests indicating that it was a duplicate of the earlier form which she states was timely filed. II. DISCUSSION: Respondent has been a Member of the State Board of Occupational Therapy Education and Licensure at all times relevant to these proceedings. Respondent specifically held the aforesaid position in 1991. As a Member of the State Board of Occupational Therapy Education and Licensure, Respondent has at all times relevant to these proceedings been a "public official" as that term is defined under the Public Official and Employee Ethics Law ("Ethics Law"), 65 P.S. 5401, et seq., 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 Marion M. Parish September 18, 1992 Page 5 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. $$404,405. 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 �f 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. Respondent admits her failure to timely file the Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990. The prerequisite service of a Notice letter in accordance with Section 7(5) was satisfied. Respondent admits service of the Notice letter upon her. Respondent did not remedy the failure 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 Qrder to Show Cause, ordering Respondent to show cause why a civil penalty should not be levied against Respondent. Respondent's Answer to the Order to Show Cause has failed to show cause why a civil penalty should not be levied against Respondent in this matter. However, Respondent has averred certain mitigating circumstances which shall be considered in determining the civil penalty to be levied against her. Specifically, Respondent avers that her son was a Staff Sergeant in the Air Force stationed in Saudi Arabia approximately ten (10) miles south of Kuwait at a front line hospital. He was stationed at that location during Desert Storm. As a result, Respondent's attention and concern was focused to such a degree on her son's situation that many of the matters Respondent normally attended to, including the Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990, were overlooked due to the stress of these Marion M. Parish September 18, 1992 Page 6 circumstances. In addition, Respondent's son -in -law was stationed on an aircraft carrier in the vicinity of the Red Sea during Desert Storm. This situation added to Respondent's stress at this time and also caused her to overlook many important personal matters including the Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1990. Based upon the above, as well as her record of service for the Commonwealth, Respondent has requested that the civil penalty in this matter be abated and the proceedings be determined in her favor. In considering the mitigating circumstances which Respondent has averred, we are mindful of the stress that Desert Storm must have placed upon Respondent. Yet, in performing our duty to enforce the Ethics Law in a fair and impartial manner, we do not believe these circumstances permit an absolute waiver of a civil penalty, especially since Respondent received Notice of the delinquency. It is noted that following the issuance of the Order to Show Cause, Respondent submitted a Statement of Financial Interests with her Answer, which Statement of Financial Interests is dated June 3, 1992, and was received by this Commission on June 5, 1992. The said Statement of Financial Interests did not designate the calendar year for which it was filed. However, Respondent's Answer at paragraphs 4 and 8 indicated the filing to be for calendar year 1990 as well as for calendar year 1991. Subsequently, Respondent submitted a separate Statement of Financial Interests for calendar year 1991. Thus, the filing dated June 3, 1992, submitted with Respondent's Answer shall be deemed a filing for calendar year 1990. Based upon the totality of circumstances in this case, we hereby levy one civil penalty against Respondent Marion M. Parish in the total amount of $1.00. In levying the aforesaid civil penalty, we are cognizant that we could assess a per diem civil penalty against Respondent up to the total maximum amount of Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00) allowed by the Ethics Law, but have determined that an appropriate exercise of our discretion in this case would be to assess a nominal penalty in the total amount of $1.00. III. CONCLUSIQNS OF LAW: 1. Respondent Marion M. Parish was at all times relevant to these proceedings a Member of the State Board of Occupational Therapy Education and Licensure and as such Respondent was a "public official" subject to the provisions of the Ethics Law, Act 9 of 1989. 2. Respondent failed to comply with the requirements of Sections Marion M. Parish September 18, 1992 Page 7 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). IN RE: MARION M. PARISH Respondent File Docket: 92 -069 -P Date Decided: September 15. 1992 Date Mailed: September 18, 1992 ORDER NO. 039 -S 1. Marion M. Parish, as a Member of the State Board of Occupational Therapy Education and Licensure, failed to comply with Sections 4 and 5 of the Ethics Law, 65 P.S. SS404, 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, a nominal penalty in the amount of $1.00 is hereby levied against Respondent Marion M. Parish. Respondent is ordered to pay the above penalty in the total amount of $1.00 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. Failure to comply with any provision of this Order will result in the initiation of an appropriate enforcement action. BY THE COMMISSION, s Howle � Jame y, air Commissioners Austin M. Lee and Allan M. Kluger dissent as to the inposition of merely a nominal penalty.