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Home My WebLink About583 CuccaroMr. Roger Cuccaro 620 Franklin Farms Road Washington, PA 15753 Re: 86 -165 -C Dear Mr. Cuccaro: STATE ETHICS COMMISSION 308 FINANCE BUILDING HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA 17120 ORDER OF THE COMMISSION Order No. 583 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 North Franklin Township Police Chief and Zoning Enforcement Officer, violated Section 4(a) of the Ethics Act which states that each public employee shall file a Statement of Financial Interests with the governing authority of the political subdivision by which he is employed no later than May 1 of each year that he holds such a position and of the year after he leaves such a position and Section 4.4(b) which states that incumbent public officials in other governmental bodies who are not candidates shall file their Statement of Financial Interests only with their governmental body, in that you failed to file Statements of Financial Interests in 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, and 1986. A. Findings: 1. You serve as the chief of police for North Franklin Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania. a. You have served in this position for eight (8) years. 2. A review of the Statements of Financial Interests on file with the township indicated that there are no statements for you. 3. You advised that you filed a Statement of Financial Interests for the year 1980 but did not file such statements for any other year. Mr. Roger Cuccaro Page 4 (IV) inspecting, licensing, regulating, or auditing any person; or (V) any other activity where the official action has greater than a de minimus economic impact; and (B) who meets the criteria of either subclause (I) or (II): (I) The individual is: ( -a -) a person who normally performs his responsibility in the field without on -site supervision; ( -b -) the immediate supervisor of a person who normally performs his responsibility in the field without on -site supervision; or ( -c -) the supervisor of any highest level field office. (II) The individual is a person: ( -a -) who: ( -1 -) has the authority to make final decisions; ( -2 -) has the authority to forward or stop recommendations from being sent to the person or body with the authority to make final decisions; ( -3 -) prepares or supervises the preparation of final recommendations; or ( -4 -) makes the final technical recommendations; and Mr. Roger Cuccaro Page 5 ( -b -) whose recommendations or actions: ( -1 -) are an inherent and recurring part of his position; and ( -2 -) affect organizations other than his own organization. (ii) The term does not include individuals who are employed by the Commonwealth or a political subdivision of the Commonwealth in teaching as distinguished from administrative duties. (iii) Persons in the positions listed below are generally considered public employees. (A) Executive and special directors or assistants reporting directly to the agency head or governing body. (B) Commonwealth bureau directors, division chiefs, or heads of equivalent organization elements and other governmental body department heads. (C) Staff attorneys engaged in representing the department, agency, or other governmental bodies before the public. (0) Solicitors, engineers, managers, and secretary- treasurers acting as managers, police chiefs, chief clerks, chief purchasing agents, grant and contract managers, housing and building inspectors, sewer enforcement officers, and zoning officers in all governmental bodies. (E) Court administrators, assistants for fiscal affairs, and deputies for the minor judiciary. (F) School business managers and principals. Mr. Roger Cuccaro Page 6 The statements made by you clearly indicate that you are within the purview of the law. Phillips v. State Ethics Commission, 79 Pa. Commw. Ct. 491, 470 A.2d 695, (1984). The Ethics Act provides penalities for failure to file a Statement of Financial Interests as follows: Section 9. Penalties. (b) Any person who violates the provisions of Section 4 is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned for not more than one year, or be both fined and imprisoned. 65 P.S. §409(b). This Commission has been mandated to make recommendations to law enforcement officials either for criminal prosecution or dismissal of charges arising out of violations of the Act. 65 P.S. §409(11). The State Ethics Act also provides that: Section 4. Statement of financial interests required to be filed. (d) No public official shall be allowed to take the oath of office or enter or continue upon his duties, nor shall he receive compensation from public funds, unless he has filed a statement of financial interests with the commission as required by this act. 65 P.S. §404(d). Pursuant to this provision of the Act, the Commission has taken action to prohibit candidates who are in violation of the law from continuing in the election process, State Ethics Commission v. Landauer, Pa. Commw. Ct. 496 A.2d 862, (1985), and has also required public officials and emloyees in violation of the Act to return any compensation obtained in violation of the above provision. Metzler, No. 389 -R; Huhn, No. 431. As noted, in your position as chief of police for North Franklin Township, you appear to be a public employee as that term is defined in the State Ethics Act. You have, however, to date, not filed a Statement of Financial Interest. While you have indicated that you believe you filed one Statements of Financial Interests , that Statements of Financial Interests was not contained in any township records. As such, there are no Statements of Financial Interests on file for you with the township. You have indicated that you were advised that you were not required to file a Statement of Financial Interests. You have not indicated, however, by whom you were Mr. Roger Cuccaro Page 7 informed that the requirement for the filing did not apply to you. While we do believe that your failure to file is not in accord with the provisions of the State Ethics Act, we have determined that there appears to be no indication that your failure to file was of an intentional nature or that you were attempting to hide any particular financial interest by not filing. As such, we believe that the appropriate remedy, in the instant situation, would be to offer you the opportunity to file Statements of Financial Interests for each year that you have served as the North Franklin Township Chief of Police. C. Conclusion and Order: As chief of police for North Franklin Township you are a public employee as that term is defined in the State Ethics Act. As such, you would be required to file Statements of Financial Interests for each year in which you serve and the year following your termination of service. Your failure to file a Statements of Financial Interests during your eight years of service is a violation of the State Ethics Act. You are hereby ordered to file Statements of Financial Interests for every year in which you served as chief of police. These statements must be filed with the State Ethics Commission within thirty days of the date of this order. Upon receipt of those statements, this Commission will take no further action based upon the fact that there is no evidence to indicate that your failure to file was intentional in nature or that you were attempting to conceal any conflict of interest. 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