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HomeMy WebLinkAbout527 SiglerMr. George Sigler 1811 Highland Avenue New Castle, PA 16656 Re: 85 -148 -C STATE ETHICS COMMISSION 308 FINANCE BUILDING HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA 17120 ORDER OF THE COMMISSION Order No. 527 DECIDE 2 8 198 MAILED f Dear Mr. Sigler: The Ethics Commission has received a complaint regarding you and a possible violation of Act 170 of 1978. The Commission has now completed its investigation. The individual allegations, conclusions, and findings on which those conclusions are based are as follows: I. Allegation: That you, the inCumhent Sheriff of Lawrence County and candidate for re- election, violated Section 3(a) of the Ethics Act which prohibits a public employee's or public official's use of office or confidential information gained through that office to obtain financial gain or 3(d) of the Ethics Act by using county facilities, stationery and the county's list of firearm licensees to promote your candidacy by mailing campaign material to persons on this list. A. Finding: 1. You serve as the Sheriff of Lawrence County and were in that position during the activities covered in this Order. 2. As Sheriff of Lawrence County, you are a public official and subject to the requirements of the State Ethics Act. 3. You were a candidate fur re- election in the 1985 primary and general elections. 4. Your office maintained a list of persons who seek and/or receive firearm licenses. a. These records are open to the public except for those pertaining to juveniles. Juvenile records are kept under lock and key in the prothonotary's office. 5. You mailed approximately 1,500 letters to holders of these permits. a. You took the names of gun permit holders from the official list. Mr. George Sigler Page 2 b. You stated that this list is a public list. c. On December 20, 1985, you paid the Treasurer of Lawrence County $10.50 for xerox copies. The receipt states this was an election expense. 6. The letters and related material were prepared, paid for and distributed as follows: a. The envelopes and stationery were printed at Struthers Print Shop, 98 Poland Avenue, Struthers, Ohio 44471. b. On October 24, 1985, Struthers was paid $90.8i for 2000 letters printed on a letterhead. On October 8, 1985, you also paid them $78,.90 for 2,000 envelopes. 7. The letter was mailed on October 31, 1985 and included the following: a. The letterhead of the Lawrence County Office of Sheriff, phone number 652-5121, New Castle, Pennsylvania, was used. b. This is the phone number for the County Sheriff's Office. c. It was addressed to "Dear Firearms Licensee ". d. It cited your extensive experience as Sheriff and asked for their vote and support on November 5, 1985. e. It also asked for support for William R. "Bill" Balph for Judge. f. It contained the statement: "Paid For By The Candidate ". 8. You reported expenditures for postage and printing on your Campaign Finance Reports, The printing cost for those from Struthers Print Shop. Postage cost was shown as $118. 9. Envelopes were addressed and stuffed by workers of the Committee to Re -elect Judge W. Balph. B. Discussion: As a County Sheriff, you are clearly a public official as that term is defined in the State Ethics Act. 65 P.S. Section 402. As such, your conduct must conform to the requirements of the Act. See Hawkins, No. 368 -R, Shultz, 369 -R. The Ethics Act provides as follows: Mr. George Sigler Page 3 Section 3. Restricted activities. (a) No public official or public employee shall use his public office or any confidential information received through his holding public office to obtain financial gain other than compensation provided by law for himself, a member of his immediate family, or a business with which he is associated. 65 P.S. 403(a). Within the above provision of law, no public official may use their public position in order to obtain a financial gain for themselves or a member of their immediate family or for a business with which they are associated. A public official may not use confidential information for similar purposes. This Commission has held, on a number of occasions, that within the above provision of law a public official may not use his office in order to conduct or assist his election or re- election campaign effort. See Cessar, 82 -002; Markosek, 382. In the above cases, the Commission specifically determined that a public official could not use his office location, facilities within his office, public employees as$igned to that office, or other materials or equipment of his office in order to advance his election campaign. The Commission has indicated that a public official may use his title and a facsimile of his official seal on documents relating to his campaign efforts. Generally, the standards regarding the use of stationery similar to that used in the official's public capacity was reviewed by the Commission in Fee, 86 -542. Specifically, the Commission determined that: 1. Use of official seal and official title is permitted. 2. All stationery containing the aforementioned items should set forth a disclaimer indicating that the stationery is not official stationery and has been paid for with private funds. 3. The address of the public offices and the telephone numbers of the public offices may not be used or listed as contact points on the campaign stationery. 4. The purchase of stationery in support of the campaign should not be made through the public office. The public official may not take advantage of any special rates accorded to public officials by any printing company for the purchase of public supply. 5. A public official may not use governmental mails or postage for dissemination of the material. Mr. George Sigler Page 4 6, The content of the letter should not indicate or leave the impression that the letter is an official governmental document or part of the official's functons. We have reviewed the instant situation arm: criteria set forth in the Fee Advice. Specifically, we note that the s ton...y used In the instant situation was not that of the Sheriff's Department. it we!, copy of the official stationery and was acquired at your own expm: ;e, Mc use of the county seal and your title would have been permitted within the purview of the State Ethics Act. Additionally, the letter did have a disclaimer, although such disclaimer could have been somewhat more instructive pursuant t the above advice. Additionally, the stationery did not lend itself to an indication that it was an official document. We are concerned, however, that listed as the contact point for you on this letter is the Office of the County Sheriff. This causes particular concerns in that while your letter was disseminated clearly for personal election purposes, all contacts that are made pursuant to this letter would have been made to the Office of the County Sheriff. This is the type of use of public facilities that we specifically determined should be prohibited 'under the purview of the State Ethics Act. See also Street, 81 -005. As such, we believe that your use of the county office telephone number on the stationery was not in accordance with the State Ethics Act or our prior opinions. In addition to the foregoing, we have reviewed the situation regarding the dissemination of this particular letter. Specifically, the letter was disseminated to individuals who had acquired, through your office, licenses to carry fire -arms. You obtained a list of those individuals from your office and the letter was thereafter disseminated. We have reviewed the Uniform Firearms Act, 18 Pa. C.S.A. Section 6109 et. seq. There is no indication, pursuant to that law, that the information regarding firearm licenses is confidential in nature. Because this information is available to the general public, we do not believe that your use of this list to disseminate information regarding your campaign would be a violation of the State Ethics Act. We do note that the State Ethics Act was intended to insure the public that the financial interests of their officials nor conflict nor appear to conflict with the public trust. As a public official, you must be constantly sensitive to public perceptions in your future actions. As an official, you should be primarily guided by the fact that public office is a public trust and you must act in the interest of the public. 65 P.S. §401. C. Conclusion: Your use of a county sheriff office telephone number as a contact point on a re- election campaign letter was not in accord with the State Ethics Act. In light of the fact, however, that in all other respects Mr. George Sigler Page 5 the letter you issued was in accord with the provisions of the State Ethics Act, we will take no further action in relation to this matter. In the future, your conduct should be in accord with the intent and spirit of the law and if a question as to your duties and responsibilities under the Ethics Act develops, you should seek the further advice of the Commission prior to the activity. 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. Any person who violates the confidentiality of a Commission proceeding is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year or both, see 65 P.S. 409(e). By the Commission, G. Sieber Pancoast Chairman