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HomeMy WebLinkAbout619 TragusMr. Leonard Tragus 190 Pennsylvania Aver ue Shenandoah Heights, PA 17976 Re: 85 -099 -C Dear Mr. Tragus: STATE ETHICS COMMISSION 308 FINANCE BUILDING HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA 17120 ORDER OF THE COMMISSION Order No. 619 DATE DECIDED: October 14, 1987 DATE MAILED: October 20, 1987 The Ethics Commission has reviewed the allegation(s) that you have violated the Ethics Act, Act 170 of 1978. The nature of the alleged violation(s) is as follows: I. Allegation: That you, a Manager /Secretary in West Mahanoy Township, 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 other than compensation allowed by law or Section 3(c) of the Ethics Act which prohibits a public official or a member of his immediate family from entering into a contract valued at $500 or more with his governmental body unless the contract has been awarded through an open and public process when you authorized preparation of a 1984 Community Development Application by your wife, Helene Monices Tragus, and the wife of a township supervisor, Marianne Yanchulis, at a cost not to exceed $3000. A. Findings: 1. You serve as a West Mahanoy Township Secretary /Manager. a. You have served in this position since January, 1974. 2. As township secretary /manager, you are responsible for the daily administrative functioning of the township. Your wife, Helene Monices, is employed by the township as Administrative Assistant to the Board of Supervisors and as Project Director for Community Development. Mr. Leonard Tragus Page 2 a. She has been intermittently employed by the township since May, 21, 1980. 3. As a township employee, you are enrolled in the township pension, life and medical insurance programs. a. Your wife is enrolled in these programs. 4. The minutes of the township board of supervisors' meetings indicate as follows: a. January 7, 1985 - Chairman John Yanchulis reported that for 1984, West Mahanoy Township is anticipating applying for a Community Development Block grant. Vice - Chairman John Letcavage announced that a public hearing to receive citizenry input as to the possible uses of grant monies will be conducted in the near future. In closing, the West Mahanoy Township Board of Supervisors authorized the preparation of a 1984 Community Development application by Helene Monices and Marianne Yanchulis with a total cost not to exceed $3000.00. Voting in favor, William Griffin and John Letcavage. b. January 15, 1985 - A special meeting was conducted to receive citizen input on the block grant application. c. February 11, 1985 - A special meeting was held to adopt a resolution authorizing the submission of the 1984 Community Development Block .Grant application. d. December 5, 1985 - A motion was made by John P. Letcavage and seconded by William Griffin Sr. to have Helene Monices Tragus share the duties of Community Development Director and Administrative Assistant to the Board of Supervisor. This was approved unanimously. A motion was made by William Griffin, Sr. and seconded by John Letcavage to appoint as Treasurer and employ on a full basis Mr. John A. Yanchulis. Mr. Yanchulis abstained from voting. 5. Your wife was paid as a townsnip employee in the Community Development Program and as Administrative Assistant to the Board of Supervisors as follows: Mr. Leonard Tragus Page 3 Year Gross Net 1980 $ 9,805.94 $ 7,435.97 1981 $16,383.68 $11,619.88 1982 $14,307.52 $11,307.26 1983 $ 2 $ 1,609.64 1984 $ 1,500.00 $ 1,185.80 *1985 $12,076.76 $ 7,927.30 1986 $26,872.73 $21,091.51 *During 1985, the $1,500 your wife received was for her work in preparing an application for 1984 Community Development funds. This was half of the $3,000 spent for preparation of the application. a. As a Rehabilitation Specialist, your wife interviewed prospective applicants for the community development program. b. She documented the income of the applicants. c. She verified that all program requirements were met. d. She provided a determination as to whether or not the applicants were eligible for the program. e. Your wife is also compensated for the position of Administrative Assistant to the Board of Supervisors. 6. Department of Community Affairs, Small Community Program Contract, No. S- 85 -54 -7 in the amount of $379,940.00 was affirmed November 15, 1985 and forwarded to you as township chairman. a. Article VII of the contract provided as follows: The CONTRACTOR covenants that it and its employees presently have no interest and shall not acquire any interest, direct or indirect, which would conflict in any manner or degree with the performance of its activities hereunder. The CONTRACTOR further covenants that in the performance of this CONTRACT, it will not knowingly employ any person having any such interest. Mr. Leonard Tragus Page 4 The CONTRACTOR will establish safeguards to prohibit employes from using position for a purpose that is or gives the appearance of being motivated by a desire for private gain for themselves or others, particularly those with whom they have a family, business or other ties. b. Article VIII of the contract provided as follows: No officer, member or employe of the COMMONWEALTH and no member of its governing body who exercises any functions or responsibilities in the review or approval of services being performed under this CONTRACT shall participate in any decision relating to this CONTRACT, which affects his personal interest or the interest of any corporation, partnership, or association in which he is directly or indirectly interested; nor shall any such officer, member or employee of the COMMONWEALTH and no member of its governing body have any interst, di rect or i ndi rect, in this CONTRACT or the proceeds thereof. 7. Township records reflect that the following amounts were paid to consultant, Bernard Tatcher, 422 Pheasant Lane, Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania, for professional services related to community development application prior to 1984. a. 1980 - $16,000.00 b. 1981 - $8,500.00 c. 1983 - $12,00.00 8. You provided the following information in relation to the instant situation. a. In 1985, the township board of supervisors authorized your wife and Marianne Yanchulis to develop and prepare a 1984 Community Development application. b. The cost of the application was not to exceed $3,000. c. You stated that you did not participate in this decision. d. You stated that your wife and Ms. Yanchulis met the qualifications for preparing such applications. Mr. Leonard Tragus Page 5 e. Your wife was paid $1,500 from the township general fund which was later reimbursed with federal funds. f. Both your wife and Ms. Yanchulis were township employees at the time of preparation of the grant application either as Rehabilitation Specialist or a Community Development Specialist. (Interchangeable positions). g. You stated that a consultant who filed similar applications in prior years charged much more that) $3,000 for his services. h. In December, 1985, your wife was appointed to the position of Community Development Director for the township. B. Discussion: As a township Manager /Secretary for West Mahanoy Township, you are a public employee as that term is defined in the Ethics Act. 65 P.S. §402. As such, you are subject to the provisions of the Ethics Act and the restrictions therein are applicable to you. Section 3(c) of the Ethics Act provides: Section 3. Restricted activities. (c) No public official or public employee or a member of his immediate family or any business in which the person or a member of the person's immediate family is a director, officer, owner or holder of stock exceeding 5% of the equity at fair market value of the business shall enter into any contract valued at $500 or more with a governmental body unless the contract has been awarded through an open and public process, including prior public notice and subsequent public disclosure of all proposals considered and contracts awarded. Any contract made in violation of this subsection shall be voidable by a court of competent jurisdiction if the suit is commenced within 90 days of making of the contract. 65 P.S. 403(c) . Section 3(c) of the Ethics Act, which deals with contracting restrictions as to a public employee contracting with his governmental body in excess of $500, not only applies to public employees but also to their immediate family (or business) which would include your wife in this case. However, since the allegation has been filed against you and not your wife, this Commission must scrutinize your conduct,in this matter to determine whether any of your activities were prohibited by Section 3(c). Mr. Leonard Tragus Page 6 In the instant situation, it is noted that when the township board of supervisors authorized the preparation of the application by Helene Monices, your wife, you did not participate in this matter. As to the community development.application, although it is clear that Marianne Yanchulis and your wife did get township authorization for the preparation of the application, there was no official action on your part because you did not participate in the award of that contract, amounting to $3,000, to your wife and Marianne Yanchulis. Based upon the foregoing factors and circumstances, this Commission finds that you did not violate Section 3(c) of the Ethics Act because you did not vote or participate in authorizing the preparation of the community development application by your wife and Marianne Yanchulis. It must be noted, however, that this Commission has not addressed the question as to whether any other provision of law, aside from the Ethics Act, or contract such as the Department of Community Affairs, Small Community Program Grant No. S- 85 -54 -7, has been violated or breached. C. Conclusion and Order: 1. As a secretary /manager in West Mahanoy Township, you are a "public official" and, as such, are subject to the provisions of the Ethics Act. 2. There is insufficient evidence to establish that you violated Section 3(c) of the State Ethics Act. However, this matter will be referred to the Department of Community Affairs for review as to whether there was a breach of program contract No. S- 85 -54 -7. 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 ROOEI(F M. ZIMELIERMA . JOHN IL LUE11ER TAX, 10 RONALD T. I)EI(E.\"/.O FRANK L T.LMITONIS..1)1 MARK A. IIARKE( .101•'E A. STACK C. WILLIAM S1 11LLIX(: KATE I)REIIER PAIL.). (*TAW) CORTLL \77( C. (YIOATE..IR. State Ethics Commission 308 Finance Building Harrisburg, PA 17120 ZINIMERMAN, LIEBERNIAN & DERENZO LAW OFFICES 111 EAST MARXET STREET P. 0.110X 238 PO1TSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA 17901 (717)622 -1988 ATTENTION: G. Sieber Pancoast, Chairman Re: Order of Commission No. 619 Re 85 -099 -C Dear Mr. Pancoast: December 15, 1987 S� A 38 EAST CE. \TI SIntEIT .WIA. \(T' ('TTY. PA.)134t1 (717)776F6 o • Upon receipt of the above - referenced Order of the Commission, we filed a Request for Reconsideration /Clarification, which is presently pending before the Commission. As the Conclusion and Order of the Commission were entirely favorable to Mr. Tragus, we are no longer pursuing our Request for Reconsideration, but at this time we wish to point out the following: (a) On January 7, 1985, West Mahanoy Township Supervisors, John Letcavage and William Griffin, Sr., authorized the following individuals to prepare an Application for 1984 Community Development Block Grant Funds: Helen Monices Tragus and Marianne Yanchulis. (b) The cost of the Application Preparation was paid entirely by West Mahanoy Township general funds. There was at no time a reimbursement to the General Fund by grant monies nor was there any intention to do so. (c) The authorized cost of the Application Preparation, as well as a preliminary engineering report on the work projected under the grant, were considered to be a local share /utilization of monies on the part of West Mahanoy Township in their request State Ethics Commission Page 2 December 15, 1987 Accordingly, we are requesting that this letter be appended to the Order of the Commission. FLT:lrr Enclosures Thank you for your consideration in this matter. • Frank L. Tamulonis, Jr. cc John J. Contino, Executive Director Vincent Dopko, Esquire, General Counsel Mr. Leonard Tragus Mr. Leonard Tragus c/o Frank L. Tamulonis, Jr. Zimmerman, Lieberman & Derenzo 111 East Market Street P.O. Box 238 Pottsville, PA 17901 Re: Order No. 619, File No. 85 -099 -C Dear Mr. Tragus: VJD /na STATE ETHICS COMMISSION 308 FINANCE BUILDING P.O. BOX 11470 HARRISBURG, PA 17108 -1470 TELEPHONE (717) 783 -1610 December 17, 1987 This acknowledges your letter of December 15, 1987, wherein you set forth certain facts relating to the above referenced matter and advise that you will not request reconsideration. In light of the above, your letter of December 15, 1987, will be made part of the public record in this matter and a copy thereof, along with this correspondence, will be appended to Order No. 619. Si ncerely, Z �J Vincent J. Dopko General Counsel