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HomeMy WebLinkAbout358 ZatalavaMr. John Z a t a l a v a , Director Manpower, - Program Butler County 138 Cornell Drive B!t1er, PA 16001 R e No. 83 -73 -C D Zatalava: 1. Allegation: That you, Dire Manpower office, are using your cpnf1dential information gained 4f ; _ 14r. Richard A. Huff and that 3;fbj of the Ethics Act, 65 P.S. 4 A. Findings: STATE ETHICS COMMISSION 308 FINANCE BUILDING HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA 17120 ORDER OF THE COMMISSION December - 27,'`1984 Order No. 358 E: Fil ear Mr. The State Ethics Commission as received a complaint regarding you and a possible violation of Act 170 of 1978. The Commission has now completed its investigation. The individual all,egations, conclusion's and fi- ndings `.o whvth those conclusions-are based are as follows Y ctor of the' 'Manpower Program of the Tri County public office or employment and /or from that office' to assisryt: the' :ref- electaan this is a vioaation 7of Sett- id:03Ea) and /or 03(a) and lb) respectivery.n the {•r 1. You are employed as the Executive Director of the Tri- County Manpower Programs and are a public employee subject to the requirements of the Ethics Act. a. You have been employed as Executive Director since July, 1974. *� . b. You were appointed by and serve under the authority °bf'the'Manpower Executive Board. 2. Tri - County Manpower Programs were created on July 1, 1974 by joint agreement between Butler, ,Indiana, and Armstrong Counties. y Mr. John Zatalava, Director Page 2 December 27, 1984 a. The Manpower Programs are directed by the Manpower Executive Board which consists of one County Commissioner from Armstrong County, one from Indiana County, and three from Butler County. b. Butler County was the prime sponsor of the Consortium and is designated the administrative agent for the Manpower Executive Board and provides support services to the Board. c. All employees of the Tri- County Manpower office are designated as employees of Butler County. 3. Richard Huff, Butler County Commissioner, has served on the Manpower Executive Board since his appointment as a County Commissioner in January, 1982. a. He is a voting member of the Executive Board. b. He sought election to a full -term as Butler County Commissioner. He was successful in this candidacy. 4. You served as the campaign chairman for Mr. Richar Huff's campaign for Butler County Commissioner. a. The Tri - County Manpower office telephone number is listed as a contact number on a political instruction sheet for campaign workers which was prepared by Mr. Huff's secretary, who is on the County payroll. b. There is no evidence that any of Mr. Huff's campaign material was prepared or processed in the Tri - County Manpower office. c. There is no evidence that this action was repeated. 5. There is no evidence that you offered, solicited, or accepted any thing of value to serve as Mr. Huff's campaign chairman with the understanding that your official actions would be influenced. B. Discussion: Section 3. Restricted activities. (a) No public official or public employee shall use his public office or any confidential information received through his holding public office to obtain financial gain other than compensation provided by law for himself, a member of his immediate family, or a business with which he is associated. 65 P.S. 403(a). Mr. John Zatalava, Director Page 3 December 27, 1984 (b) No person shall offer or give to a public official or public employee or candidate for public office or a member of his immediate family or a business with which he is associated, and no public official or public employee or candidate for public office shall solicit or accept, anything of value, including a gift, loan, political contribution, reward, or promise of future employment based on any understanding that the vote, official action, or judgment of the public official or public employee or candidate for public office would be influenced thereby. 65 P.S. 403(b). The Commission has ruled that the use of a public phone number, used for personal purposes, would be a violation of Section 3(a). See Street, 81 -005. Your public office phone number was listed on campaign material and this is a violation of Section 3(a) of the Ethics Act because serving as Mr. Huff's campaign chairman is not part of your official responsibilities. The Commission has already ruled that the use of public. facilities, equipment, and personnel is a violation of the Ethics Act. See Cessar, 82 -002, Breighner No. 160. However, there is no evidence of the use of your office or confidential information gained through that office, other than the use of the telephone number, and no evidence that the use of that number was part of a concerted effort to use your public position to support Mr. Huff's candidacy. In addition, the use of the office number has stopped. See Spence No. 272. While the use of your public offfice phone number is a violation of Section 3(a), we will take no further action as long as you do not engage in similar activities in the future. We find no violation of Section 3(b) of the Act because there is no evidence that you solicited or accepted the campaign director position with an understanding that your official actions would be influenced. C. Conclusion: We find that you violated Section 3(a) of the Ethics Act by having your public office phone number used on campaign material. However, we find no evidence of use of your public office for confidential information other than the use of the phone number and will take no further action. We find no violation of Section 3(b). Our files in this case will remain confidential in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Ethics Act, 65 P.S. 408(a). However, this Order is final and will be made available as a public document 15 days after service (defined as mailing) unless you file documentation with the Commission which justifies reconsideration and /or challenges pertinent factual findings. See 51 Pa. Code 2.38. During this 15 -day period, no one, including the Respondent unless he waives his right to challenge this Order, may violate this confidentiality by releasing, discussing or circulating this Order. lir. John Za to la va , Director Page 4 Any person who violates the confidentiality of .a CQmmiSsiOn proce;edittg is- guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be firuedt not : more- than:' $1sQOCr 'or' itr►pri Soritd for not more than on.e.;year or both, see 65 P.S. 4091e:); B :the •mmissioni. EMS /rdp Her rt Conner - Chairman. December 27, 1984