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HomeMy WebLinkAbout547 PantoSalvatore J. Panto, Jr. 702 Cattell Street Easton, PA 18042 Re: 86 -150 -C Dear Mr. Panto: STATE ETHICS COMMISSION 308 FINANCE BUILDING HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA 17120 ORDER OF THE COMMISSION Order No. 547 DECIDED N 3 0 1987 MAILED 87 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, Mayor of the City of Easton, violated Section 3(a) of the Ethics Act which prohibits a public employee's or public official's use of office to obtain financial gain and Section 3(d) which covers other areas of possible conflict pursuant to Section 7(9), in that you used your office to promote your re- election campaign by sending out invitations to attend the First Annual Mayor's Ball without disclosing that the proceeds would be used by your re- election committee and by listing the telephone number of your office on said invitation as a contact place. A. Findings: 1. You serve as the elected Mayor for the City of Easton. a. You have served in this elected office since January, 1984. 2. During August, 1986, you mailed invitations to a number of individuals regarding the First Annual Mayor's Ball. Salvatore J. Panto, Jr. Page 2 3. The invitation provided as follows: THE HONORABLE SALVATORE J. PANTO, JR. takes pleasure in inviting you and your guests to attend the FIRST ANNUAL MAYOR'S BALL_ on Saturday, the twentieth of September Nineteen hundred and eighty -six at eight- thirty o'clock at the HISTORIC HOTEL EASTON Tickets - Twenty dollars Hors d'oeuvres R.s.v.p. 250 -6610 Dessert and Coffee Cash Bar 4. Telephone Number 250 -6610 is the registered telephone number for the Easton Mayor's Office. 5. Individuals who contacted the above telephone number in order to respond to the invitations were advised to make their checks payable to the Committee to Re -elect Mayor Salvator Panto, Jr. 6. The individuals receiving the responses to the invitations that had been mailed were employees of Easton City. 7. You stated that the original intent of the Mayor's Ball was not to be a major fund raiser for your upcoming re- election. a. You did advise that if any monies were left over, such funds would be deposited to the use of the Committee to Re -elect Mayor Salvatore Panto, Jr. Salvatore J. Panto, Jr. Page 3 8. The invitation that was forwarded to the individuals in the Easton vicinity did not indicate that the Mayor's Ball would be an election campaign fund - raiser and made no reference to the fact that any proceeds from this function would be used for your re- election campaign. 9. After several citizens objected to the use of your office telephone number on a campaign related mailing, you forwarded subsequent mailings to the individuals who had received the invitations. a. This subsequent mailing indicated that the Committee to Re -elect Mayor Salvatore Panto, Jr. wished to clarify the fact that the First Annual Mayor's Ball would benefit the Mayor's re- election campaign. 10. On two days in August, you also advertised the Mayor's Ball in a local news publication. a. That advertisement was in the form of an invitation which indicated that the proceeds from the Mayor's Ball would benefit the Mayor's re- election campaign 11. You stated that your mailing of the invitation to the Mayor's Ball using the telephone number of the Mayor's Office as a contact point was an inadvertent mistake and once you realized this mistake, you started a_ process to correct the situation. B. Discussion: As an elected Mayor in the City of Easton, you are clearly a public official as that term is defined in the State Ethics Act. 65 P.S. §402. As such, you conduct must _conform to the requirements of the State Ethics Act. Rosenfeld, 82 -010. The Ethics Act provides as follows: 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 his public position in order to obtain any financial gain for himself or a member of his immediate family or a business with which he is associated. Under the above provision of law, this Commission has previously determined that a public Salvatore J. Panto, Jr. Page 4 official may not use his public office in support of his own election campaign or in support of the election campaign of members of his immediate family. This would include the use of his district office, public facilities, materials, supplies, or personnel in support of such campaign. In this respect, the Ethics Commission has made various interpretations of the State Ethics Act regarding such situations. The Commission has held that a public official may not use his Commonwealth telephone as a contact point for fund - raising activities or for election campaign activities or other related personal financial endeavors. See Street, 81 -005; Dorance, 456. Similarly, a public official may not use the public office mailing systems and postage meters for dissemination of election or other campaign materials. Rappaport, 126; McClatchy, 130. An elected official may not use his office location in order to conduct campaign activities. Cessar, 82 -002. As a result of the aforementioned opinions and orders, the Commission has more recently, in Fee, 86 -542, enumerated those activities which would be prohibited and those activities which would not be prohibited under Section 3(a) of the State Ethics Act. These activities are as follows: 1. Use of a seal and your 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. You may not use the address of the public office, or your public phone number as contact points. 4. The purchase of the stationery in support of a campaign should not be made through your governmental body and you may not take advantage of any special rates accorded to that body by any printing company for the purchase of official supplies. 5. You may not use official mail or postage for dissemination of this material. 6. Finally, the content of the letter should not indicate or leave the impression that the letter is an official governmental document or part of your official function. In the instant situation, it is clear that you forwarded, through the mails, an invitation to the Annual Mayor's Ball. The contact point for responding to this function is the telephone number of the Mayor's Office. The Mayor's staff, public employees, responded to various inquiries made when contacted at that number. In this respect, there is no doubt and there is no Salvatore J. Panto, Jr. Page 5 contest to the fact that this invitation was indeed mailed and the use of your office occurred in this manner. The content of the original mailing appeared to be related to an official function rather than a campaign fund raiser. You also have admitted that the proceeds, if Eny from the Mayor's Ball, would be utilized in aid of your re- election ?fforts. The use of your telephone number and your office, in this respect, is clearly not in accord with the prior decisions of this Commission. Thus, we believe that your actions did, in fact, violate the provisions of the State Ethics Act. We do note, however, that upon further reflection in this matter, you did take immediate steps to rectify this situation. An equal number of invitations were mailed clarifying that the Mayor's Ball was going to L nefit your re- election campaign. You additionally ran advertisements in the local newspapers. Because of the factors outlined above, however, we will take no further action in this matter. C. Conclusion: Your use of the Mayor's Office telephone number and personnel as a co ntact point for arranging a re- election funding benefit was in violation of the State Ethics Act. As noted previously, we will take no further action in this matter. 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 End 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. S 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, -cl .L aka G, Sieber Pancoast Chairman