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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1068 CannonIn Re: Glenn Cannon STATE ETHICS COMMISSION 308 FINANCE BUILDING HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA 17120 File Docket: prde6No. 1068 X -ref: Date Decided: 10/2/97 Date Mailed: 10/22/97 Before: Daneen E. Reese, Chair Austin M. Lee, Vice Chair Roy W. Wilt Boyd E. Wolff Julius Uehlein This is a final adjudication of the State Ethics Commission. Procedurally, the Investigative Division of the State Ethics Commission and conducted an investigation regarding a possible violation of the Public by Official above - Employee Ethics Law, Act 9 of 1989, P.L. 26, 65 P.S. §401., Y named Respondent. At the commencement of its investigation, the Investigative Division served upon Respondent written notice of the specific allegation(s). 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 waived. The record is complete. A Consent Agreement was submitted by the parties to the Commission for consideration which was subsequently approved. This adjudication of the State Ethics Commission 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 Act 9 of 1989, 65 P.S. §408(h). Any person who violates confidentiality of the Ethics Law is guilty m a misdemeanor s 65 P S. §409(e). of Confidentiality does preclude discussing this more than one year, case with an attorney at law. Cannon, 95- 068 -C2 Page 2 I• ALLEGATION: That Glenn Cannon, a public official /public employee in his capacity as Executive Director for the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, violated the following provisions of the State Ethics Act (Act 9 of 1989) when he used the authority of his position for a private pecuniary benefit by utilizing the Y g personnel and resources, including but not limited to telephones, office space, equipment and supplies, of the PWSA for his private consulting business; and when he used the authority of his position for a private pecuniary benefit and when he was compensated as Executive Director on June 6, 1994, March 23, 1994, August 5, 1994, and November, 1994, days when you were not working on Authority business. Section 3. Restricted Activities (a) No public official or public employee shall engage in conduct that constitutes a conflict of interest. 65 P.S. §403(a). Section 2. Definitions "Conflict" or "conflict of interest." Use by a public official or public employee of the authority of his office or employment or any confidential information received through his holding public office or employment for the private pecuniary benefit of himself, a member of his immediate family or a business with which he or a member of his immediate family is associated. "Conflict" or "conflict of interest" does not include an action having a de minimis economic impact or which affects to the same degree a class consisting of the general public or a subclass consisting of an industry, occupation or other group which includes the public official or public employee, a member of his immediate family or a business with which he or a member of his immediate family is associated. 65 P.S. §402. II. FINDINGS: 1. Glenn Cannon served as the Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Water & Sewer Authority (PWSA) from June, 1992, until October, 1995. a. Cannon previously held the position of Public Safety Director for the City of Pittsburgh. b. Cannon currently is employed by Allegheny County as its Chief Operating Officer /County Manager. 2. Glenn Cannon possess a law degree from Duquesne University. a. Cannon attended law school from August 1989 through June 1993 as an evening division student. Cannon, 95- 068 -C2 Page 3 b. For the first year of his employment at the PWSA Cannon attended law school during the evenings. 3. During calendar years 1992 through 1994, the PWSA was staffed by five(5) employees including Cannon. a. Cannon, as Executive Director, had supervisory responsibilities over all staff employees. b. Cannon oversaw the activities of Solicitor Dawn Botsford and clerical personnel Joann Williams, Sharon McDonald and Beverly White. c. PWSA employees shared a common office facility. 4. The position of Executive Director for the PWSA is full -time. a. Normal working hours are 8 -4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. b. The Executive Director is not required to punch a time clock or record start and finish times in any manner. c. Cannon was not required to work strictly 8 -4:30. d. Cannon's work hours as Executive Director would vary. 5. Cannon's benefits as Executive Director included: a. Salary b. Pension Plan c. Medical Coverage d. Use of Authority Vehicle e. Use of Authority Cellular Phone 6. Robert Porter is the owner of CenPenn Systems, a health care consulting firm operated from Porter's residence, 6261 Warren Avenue, Harrisburg, PA 17112. a. Porter is the owner and sole employee of CenPenn. b. Cannon does not have an equity interest in CenPenn. c. Cannon's relationship with Porter is of a legal professional /consulting nature. 7. Porter, doing business as CenPenn Systems, entered into a contract with the City of Roanoke, VA., to provide professional services relating to fire and EMS services in the City on March 28, 1994. 8. Porter formed a consulting team to assist him on the Roanoke project. Cannon, 95- 068 -C2 Page 4 a. Glenn Cannon was hired as an attorney with EMS background and experience to be a member of the consulting team. 9. Cannon utilized equipment and facilities of the PWSA in concert with the work he performed for Porter d /b /a CenPenn Systems. Utilization of such equipment and facilities was limited to the use of telephone and fax transmissions, as specifically set forth below. a. This included telephones within the PWSA offices as well as a cellular telephone assigned to Cannon by the PWSA. b. The making or receiving of such calls was not prohibited by any PWSA policy and the cost of all such calls were reimbursed to the PWSA. 10. Calls at the PWSA office were not logged. 11. As a matter of unwritten policy, City [sic] employees who have cellular phones issued to them are responsible for paying 25% of the air time charges regardless of the nature of the calls. a. There was no prohibition on the personal use of City [sic] owned /issued cellular phones. 12. Financial records of the PWSA confirm that Cannon made several reimbursement payments to the Authority for charges related to the cellular phone. 13. Cannon received three (3) payments totaling $7,894.94, for services provided to Porter d /b /a CenPenn Systems. a. Payments were made from Porter's checking account #02- 308778 -6, maintained at Commerce Bank, 4700 Jonestown Road, Harrisburg, PA 17109. 14. Fax machines at the PWSA were used to fax invoices from Glenn Cannon to Ronald Porter. a. Faxes were sent to Porter on July 14, 1994, July 30, 1994 and November 14, 1994. 15. The cost of these three faxes was less than $2.00, however, Cannon did not make any reimbursements to the PWSA for the time and expense associated with the preparation of faxes or their transmissions to Robert Porter. a. Cannon viewed these expenses to the PWSA as being incidental. 16. Cannon attended a PA. Emergency Health Services Council meeting in Bedford on March 23, 1994. 17. Minutes from the PA. Emergency Health Service's Board of Directors, March 23, 1994, meeting, confirm Cannon's attendance at the meeting. a. The meeting started at 10:10 a.m. No finish time is indicated. Cannon, 95- 068 -C2 Page 5 b. Cannon is identified as representing the City of Pittsburgh EMS. c. Cannon asserts that he attended this meeting "on loan" as a representative of the City of Pittsburgh. 18. Records indicate that on four (4) other days in 1994, Cannon spent parts of these days attending to matters other than PWSA business. a. The days are January 27, 1994, June 6, 1994, August 5, 1994, and November 23, 1994. 19. On each of the dates in question, while not working standard hours, Cannon claims to have put in a full day by working an adjusted schedule, in that he came in early, left late, or a combination of the two, therefore using no leave time. a. Cannon, as executive director, worked a varied schedule and was not required to record start or finish times. (See Finding No. 4). b. In light of this practice, there are no records to confirm or refute the allegations contained in the Investigative Complaint or Cannon's claims with regard to his varied work schedule. 20. Cannon was paid a total of $5,811.80 by Porter for services rendered during the year 1994. III. DISCUSSION: At all times relevant to this matter, the Respondent, Glenn Cannon, hereinafter Cannon, has been a public employee subject to the provisions of the Public Official and Employee Ethics Law ( "Ethics Law "), Act 9 of 1989, Pamphlet Law 26, 65 P.S. §401, The allegations are that Cannon violated Section 3(a) when he used the auhtority of his position for a private pecuniary benefit by utilizing the personnel and resources, including but not limited to telephones, office space, equipment and supplies, of the PWSA for his private consulting business; and when he was compensated as Executive Director on June 6, 1994, March 23, 1994, August 5, 1994, and November, 1994, days when he was not working on Authority business. Pursuant to Section 3(a) of the Ethics Law quoted above, a public official /public employee is prohibited from engaging in conduct that constitutes a conflict of interest. The term "conflict of interest" is defined under Act 9 of 1989 as quoted above. Having noted the issues and applicable law, we shall now summarize the salient facts. Cannon served as the Executive Director of the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority (PWSA) from June, 1992 until October, 1995. Cannon is currently employed as the Chief Operating Officer /County Manager of Allegheny County. Cannon, 95- 068 -C2 Page 6 As Executive Director of PWSA, Cannon had supervisory responsibility over all staff employees and oversaw the activities of the Solicitor and clerical personnel. The normal working hours for the Executive Director were 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. The Executive Director is neither required to punch a time clock nor record start and finish times nor work strictly 8:00 to 4:30. One of the benefits Cannon received as Executive Director was the use of a PWSA vehicle and cellular telephone. An employee with a cellular phone is responsible for paying 25% of the air time charges regardless of the nature of the calls but there is no prohibition on personal use of the cellular telephone. PWSA's financial records reflect that Cannon made several reimbursement payments for charges related to his PWSA cellular phone. In a private capacity, Cannon had a legal professional /consulting relationship with Robert Porter of CenPenn Systems, a health care consulting firm owned and operated by Porter out of his residence. Cannon does not have any equity interest in CenPenn. After Porter entered into a contract with the City of Roanoke, Virginia to provide professional services relating to fire and EMS services, Porter assembled a consulting team to assist him which included Cannon who was hired as an attorney due to his EMS background and experience. Cannon utilized equipment and facilities of PWSA in connection with the work he performed for Porter d /b /a CenPenn. In particular, Cannon used the telephone and fax transmissions within the PWSA offices as well as the cellular telephone that was assigned to him by PWSA. Cannon reimbursed to PWSA the cost of such calls which were not logged at the PWSA office. Fax machines at PWSA were used to fax invoices from Cannon to Porter on three separate occasions with the cost of such faxes being less than $2. Cannon did not make any reimbursement to PWSA for the time or expense associated with the preparation and transmission of the faxes to Porter. Cannon received a total of $7,894.94 for the services provided to Porter d /b /a CenPenn Systems. On March 23, 1994, Cannon attended a PA Emergency Health Services Council (Council) meeting which started at approximately 10 a.m. with no stated finish time as per the Council meeting minutes. Cannon is identified as representing the City of Pittsburgh EMS although he asserts that he attended the meeting "on loan" as a City of Pittsburgh representative. There are four other dates in 1994 which reflect that Cannon spent parts of days attending to matters other than PWSA business: January 27,1994; June 6, 1994; August 5, 1994; and November 23, 1994. However, Cannon asserts that he put in a full day by working an adjusted schedule. There are no records to prove or disprove the claim that Cannon varied his work schedule during these times. Having summarized the above relevant facts, we must now determine whether the actions of Cannon violated Section 3(a) of Act 9 of 1989. In order to establish a violation, Section 3(a) requires a use of the authority of office or confidential information by a public official /employee for the private pecuniary benefit of himself, a member of his immediate family, or business with which he or a member of his immediate family is associated. In this case, we find no violation of Section 3(a) of Act 9 of 1989 regarding Cannon's activities as a PWSA employee in using the telephone, fax or cellular telephone as to his private consulting business. There was a use of authority of office by Cannon because, but for the fact that he was the Executive Director of PWSA, he Cannon, 95- 068 -C2 Page 7 could not have used such government facilities for his private business use. However, Cannon reimbursed PWSA as to the cellular telephone calls. Cannon did not reimburse PWSA for the fax charges which totaled $2. Given that the private pecuniary benefit was de minimis, we find no Section 3(a) violation as to that particular activity. However, as to the attendance by Cannon at the Council meeting which occurred during normal business hours of PWSA, we find an "unintentional technical de minimis violation" as per the Consent Agreement of the parties. As to Cannon spending parts of days attending to matters which were not PWSA business on January 27, 1994, June 6, 1994, August 5, 1994, and November 23, 1994, we find no violation of Section 3(a) of the Ethics Law. Cannon asserts that he put in full days on those dates by adjusting his schedule. There are no PWSA records to confirm or disprove Cannon's assertion. Accordingly, we find no violation based upon an insufficiency of evidence. We will close this case with no further action. However, we must remind Cannon, who is now in another position of public employment, that public office is a trust. Public officials /employees cannot engage in private business for financial gain, election, campaign, or other non - official governmental activities during regular office hours nor can they use the offices, personnel, equipment or supplies for such activities. Cohen, Order 610; Williams, Order 734; Rakowsky, Order 943; Roberts, Order 1018. Cannon must insure that his future conduct will conform to the requirements of the Ethics Law. Lastly, as noted, the parties have filed a Consent Agreement and Stipulation of Findings which set forth a proposed resolution of the allegations. We believe that the Consent Agreement is the proper disposition for this case based upon our review as reflected in the above analysis and the totality of the facts and circumstances. IV. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW: 1. Glenn Cannon (Cannon), as Executive Director for the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, was a public employee subject to the provisions of Act 9 of 1989. 2. Cannon did not violate Section 3(a) of the Ethics Law as to the use of PWSA telephone, faxes and cellular telephones in that he made reimbursement for cellular telephone calls and the use of the FAX was de minimis. 3. Cannon committed an unintentional technical, de minimis violation of Section 3(a) of the Ethics Law by attending the PA Emergency Health Service's Board of Directors meeting on March 23, 1994 on behalf of the City of Pittsburgh. 4. Cannon did not violate Section 3(a) of the Ethics Law by attending to matters other than PWSA business on January 27, 1994, June 6, 1994, August 5, 1994, and November 23, 1994 based upon an insufficiency of evidence. In Re: Glenn Cannon File Docket: 95- 068 -C2 Date Decided: 10/2/97 Date Mailed: 10/22/97 ORDER NO. 1068 1. Glenn Cannon (Cannon), as Executive Director for the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, did not violate Section 3(a) of the Ethics Law as to the use of PWSA telephone, faxes and cellular telephones in that he made reimbursement for cellular telephone calls and the use of the FAX was de minimis. 2. Cannon committed an unintentional technical, de minimis violation of Section 3(a) of the Ethics Law by attending the PA Emergency Health Service's Board of Directors meeting on March 23, 1994 on behalf of the City of Pittsburgh. 3. Cannon did not violate Section 3(a) of the Ethics Law by attending to matters other than PWSA business on January 27, 1994, June 6, 1994, August 5, 1994, and November 23, 1994 based upon an insufficiency of evidence. 4. This case will be closed with no further action. BY THE COMMISSION, otYN4mA) E aut..i DANEEN E. REESE, CHAIR