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HomeMy WebLinkAbout577 ZolloMr. Patrick J. Zollo 507 Glencoe Avenue Fort Washington, PA 19034 Re: 83 -186 -C Dear Mr. Zollo: STATE ETHICS COMMISSION 308 FINANCE BUILDING HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA 17120 ORDER OF THE COMMISSION. Order No. 577 DATE DECIDED: July 21, 1987 DATE MAILED: July 28, 1987 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, a Township Supervisor in Upper Dublin Township, Montgomery County, have violated Section (a) and /or Section 3(b) of the Ethics Act, 65 P.S. §403(a) and 403(b) respectively, by using your office or confidential information from that office for financial gain, or by soliciting or accepting something of value based on the understanding that your official actions would be influenced when you accepted free gifts from Salt Service and Chemicals Incorporated and Ultracorn Cable TV, who had contracts with the Township. A. Findings: 1. You serve as an Upper Dublin Township Commissioner from January 1980 to the present. a. You have been President of the Upper Dublin Township Board of Commissioners from January 1982 to present. 2. Mr. Frank Kamor, Secretary /Treasurer, Salt Services & Chemicals, Inc., advised that he had no knowledge of swimming pool chlorine being accepted by you as a gift from this firm. a. Kamor advised that pool chlorine is often used by his firm to develop lines of friendship with customers. Mr. Patrick J. Zollo Page 2 b. He was aware that owner Dick Ortlip, who was president of this firm until his death in 1982 or 1983, was a personal friend of former Township Manager Marvin Feller. c. Kamor stated that if Mr. Ortlip did give pool chlorine to Mr. Feller or you, company policy directed that records of such a gift would be destroyed after a five year lapse. d. He was doubtful that records would_have been retained under the above circumstances because Mr. Ortlip often did not keep records of his own activities. e. Kamor denied that he had any knowledge of his firm using free pool chlorine to obtain no -bid contracts from Upper Dublin Township. 3. Mr. Harold Etsell, Jr., former vice - president of Marketing Operations for Ultracom Cable TV, related that he had no knowledge of any tickets to Phillies baseball or Flyers hockey games being given to you by Ultracom. a. Etsell stated he was aware that free tickets to Phillies and Flyers games were available to Ultracom employees for their personal use during 1983. b. He related that he was uncertain as to whether or not employees were required to record the actual user of such tickets. Etsell disclaimed having knowledge of the location of any records pertaining to the users of these tickets. c. Etsell stated he was aware that on some occasions tickets would be wasted because no one wanted to use them. 4. Mr. Marvin Feller stated that he did obtain swimming pool chemicals for you on one occasion. a. He related that you had a new swimming pool at your residence and were experiencing discoloration in the water. b. Feller continued that he obtained the pool chemicals from Mr. Dick Ortlip, Salt Service Chemical, Inc., owner, and had them delivered to your home. c. Feller estimated that cost of the pool chemicals was $40.00 to $50.00. Mr. Patrick J. Zollo Page 3 Feller stated that he received the pool chemicals at no charge from Mr. Ortlip. e. He stated that he did not expect to be paid by you nor did you make any offer to pay for these pool chemicals. 5. You advised that during 1981 - 1982, you accepted a 35 -pound container of swimming pool chlorine from then Township Manager Marvin Feller. a. You asserted that this occurred after a conversation with Feller, wherein you told him of a discoloration problem with the water in your swimming pool. b. You stated that you agreed to pay for the chlorine when Feller received a bill for it. c. Feller, at a later date, told you to forget about paying for the chlorine. d. You stated that you subsequently learned that Mr. Feller was receiving free chlorine from Salt Services Chemical, Inc., a township contractor. e. You denied that accepting this chlorine affected any decisions you made in behalf of the township. 6. You averred that during 1982 - 1983, you accepted about three sets of free tickets to sporting events from Ultracom, Incorporated. a. You asserted that these tickets would be wasted if you did not accept them. b. This acceptance occurred at least two years after you chaired a township committee which selected Ultracom for a 15 -year cable television contract, and was before any request for a rate increase was even contemplated. c. The tickets were accepted by you and then passed on to others for their use. d. You denied that acceptance of these tickets, influenced any decisions you made in behalf of the township in dealings with Ultracom, Incorporated. Mr. Patrick J. Zollo Page 4 7. You stated that the above allegations emanated from an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Friday, August 19, 1983. a. You described this article as slanted and completely unfounded. b. You related that the township commissioners were looking into allegations reported in this article, one -and one -half years prior to this expose. c. You stated that the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation opened investigations during 1980 - 1981 as a result of information provided by you and other township officials, concerning many allegations in the Inquirer's expose. d. You stated that the reporters who wrote the newspaper article were reprimanded when all facts became known to their supervisors. B. Discussion: As a Township Commissioner in Upper Dublin Township, you are a "public official" as that term is defined in the State Ethics Act. Accordingly, your conduct must conform to the requirements of the Ethics Act and the restrictions therein are applicable to you. Section 3(a) of the Ethics Act provides: 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). It is further provided in Section 3(b) of the Ethics Act: Section 3. * Restricted activities. (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 Mr. Patrick J. Zollo Page 5 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). Factually, during 1981 and 1982, you accepted a 35 pound container of swimming pool chlorine from Township Manager Marvin Feller who in turn received the chlorine from Dick Ortlip, the former owner of Salt Service Chemical, Inc. Mr. Feller received the pool chemicals at no charge from Mr. Ortlip. Although you state that you offered to pay Feller for the chlorine, you subsequently learned that Feller received the chlorine free from Salt Services Chemicals, Inc. You deny that your acceptance of the chlorine affected any township decisions that you made. During the years 1982 and 1983 you accepted three sets of free tickets from Ultracom Incorporated which received a 15 -year cable contract with the township. You state that you received the tickets two years after the contract was awarded but before any rate increase request was submitted. After you accepted the tickets, you passed them on to others. Lastly, you state that the acceptance of the tickets by you did not influence your decisions regarding Ultracom. In the instant situation, based upon the facts before us, it does not appear that you accepted the pool chlorine through the use of your public office to obtain financial gain nor did you accept the chlorine with the understanding that it would influence your official action. Hence, as to the receipt of the chlorine, this Commission does not find any 3(a) or 3(b) violation of the State Ethics Act. As to the receipt of the three sets of free tickets from Ultracom, you should not have accepted these tickets given your position as township commissioner. However, since you passed the tickets on to others and since it does not appear that the receipt of the tickets influenced your township decisions regarding any matters that Ultracom had before the township, this Commission does not find a violation of either Section 3(a) or 3(b) of the Ethics Act. C. Conclusion and Order: Under the foregoing facts and circumstances, the receipt of the pool chlorine and tickets by you does not constitute a violation of Section 3(a) or 3(b) of the State Ethics Act. However, you must avoid such circumstances in the future. 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 Mr. Patrick J. Zollo Page 6 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 tot more than $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year or both, see 65 P.S. 409(e). By the Commission, sZr. G. Sieber Pancoast Chairman