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HomeMy WebLinkAbout652 ValentineSr. Albert Nicholas Valentine 628 Glenwood Avenue Ambridge, PA Re: 87 -043 -C Dear Mr. Valentine: A. Findings: 7 STATE ETHICS COMMISSION 308 FINANCE BUILDING HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA 17120 ORDER OF THE COMMISSION Order No. 652 Date Decided: June 10, 1988 Date Mailed: June 24, 1988 The State 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, President of Ambridge Borough Council, 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 when, on July 3, 1986, you had water authority personnel work on your personal vehicle in the borough garage during regular working hours. 1. You served as a member of the Ambridge Borough Council: a. You served as president of council. b. You also served on the Ambridge Borough Water Authority having been appointed on January 6, 1987. 2. On July 3, 1986 an Ambridge Borough Water Authority employee performed repair work on your personal vehicle. 3. Douglas D. Heitzenrater an employee of the Ambridge Borough Water Authority provided the following information in relation to this situation. Mr. Albert Nicholas Valentine Page 2 a. You asked him to look at your vehicle because it was not running correctly. b. He did this during his normal Borough working hours. c. No borough parts were used. d. He adjusted several wires and timed the auto. e. It took approximately 30 minutes. 4. Mark Hochevar, manager of the water filtration plant for the borough, provided the following information in relation to this situation. a. A mechanic employed by the borough did look at your car. b. He did not know why you were at the plant. c. He could not recall if he authorized the mechanic to look at your car. d. You were not on the water authority board at that time. 5. Minutes of the meeting of the Ambridge Borough Council provide in part as follows: a. January 5, 1983 - Mr. Valentine stated that the borough should look into second hand trucks; that there should be better car maintenance and that maintenance on police cars, regarding plugs, tires, batteries was excessive. b. January 17, 1983 - Mr. Valentine questioned auto bills for large amounts. c. April 18, 1983 - Mr. Valentine expressed concern with expenditures for auto equipment. He voted for all bills except auto bills. d. May 31, 1983 - Mr. Valentine stated that there are very high bills for auto parts. There is no description as to where these parts go. e. June 20, 1983 - Mr. Valentine stated that there are very high bills for auto parts. More information should be included in these items with'the monthly bills. • :.;..,++- ` Mr. Albert Nicholas Valentine Page 3 f. September 17, 1984 - Mr. Valentine mentioned excessive repair bills. He voted to pay all bills except parts bills. g. J January 16, 1984 - Mr. Valentine felt the expenses incurred for tire service and other related auto repairs could be reduced. h. December 17, 1984 - Mr. Valentine stated that the amounts expended for parts are high and are over budget. i. March 18, 1985 - Mr. Stubins felt that no fireman should work on their private vehicles or any_private vehicle while on duty. October 21, 1985 - Mr. Valentine questioned several bill amounts for the repair of the street sweeper and other vehicle repairs. k. January 6, 1987 - Mr. Valentine was appointed to a five (5) year term on the Ambridge Water Authority. The motion passed unanimously and you abstained from the vote. 6. You provided the following information relating to this situation: a. Your vehicle was not running properly. b. You were at the borough garage on business and questioned whether anyone could assist you. You were advised that there was a good mechanic at the water authority. c. You proceeded to the Authority and asked the manager if the employee could look at your vehicle. d. The employee fixed the vehicle by moving some wires e. This was an emergency situation. f. No Authority parts were used. g. You did not reimburse the Authority for this work. h. You did not believe there was anything wrong in such an emergency situation. x 'l r s.^ T A , ' > F._ ': "'^ .",..:- T.", xiy,.' L` e�'` s ."`..j''+�'.= '_`"�x�'.";•rts+'"s }?,s Mr. Albert Nicholas Valentine Page 4 B. Discussion: As a member of the Ambridge Borough Council, you are a public official within the definition of that term as set forth in the Ethics Act and the Regulations of this Commission. 65 P.S. §402; 51 Pa. Code S1.1. As such, you are subject to the provisions of the Ethics Act. 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). Section 3(a) of the Ethics Act specifically provides, in part, that a public official may not use public office to obtain financial gain for himself other than compensation provided for by law. In determining whether your use of Ambridge Water Authority personnel to work on your personal vehicle in the borough garage during regular working hours violated Section 3(a) of the Ethics Act, it is necessary to factually review your conduct in conjunction with Section 3(a), supra. In this case, the facts established that you did have a water authority employee perform repair work on your personal vehicle during regular working hours. Mr. Heitzenrater, who is an employee of the Ambridge Borough Water Authority, indicated that you asked him during normal working hours to look at your vehicle because it was not running correctly and that he spent a half hour adjusting several wires and timing the vehicle; no borough parts were used. Further, Mr. Hochevar, who is the manager of the water filtration plant for the borough corroborated the statement of Mr. Heitzenrater in that he indicated that the mechanic did look at your car. In applying these facts to Section 3(a) of the Ethics Act, it is necessary to determine whether all of the five component elements in Section 3(a) of the Ethics Act have been implicated: public official, use of office, financial gain, for himself and not part of the compensation provided by law. In this case, you did use public office in that you used your position as a member of borough council as a means for having Mr. Heitzenrater work on your car. Restating the above, there is no doubt that if you were a citizen and not a public official, your car would not have been worked on Mr. Albert '<acholas Valentine Page 5 by the authority mechanic. Further, you did receive a financial gain because manual labor (but not parts) was employed in the repair: that is, to the extent that you did not pay for that labor to repair your car, you did receive financial gain. See Huff, Opinion 84 -015. Further, the financial gain enured to you individually because it was repair work on your personal vehicle. Lastly, such - financial gain was not compensation provided for by law because there is no provision in the Borough Code which allows for repair work on your personal vehicle by a municipal employee. See Huff, supra. You have indicated that you did not see anything wrong in this situation because it was 4n emergency and no authority parts were used. It is somewhat difficult to accept your statements in light of the public statements that you made at various meetings of Ambridge Council from January 5, 1983 through October 21, 1985 wherein you expressed great concern regarding expenditures for repair and parts as to various pieces of borough equipment. Under these circumstances the Commission finds that you violated Section 3(a) of the Ethics Act but will take no further action. The decision in this case consonant with Curry, Order 639 where this Commission found that a councilman violated Section 3(a) of the Ethics Act when he directed summer participants in an employment training program to do personal work on his automobile among other things. C. Conclusion and Order: 1. As a member of Ambridge Borough Council, you ,ire a public official subject to the provisions of the Ethics Act. 2. You violated Section 3(a) of the Ethics Act when you had water authority personnel perform repair work on your personal vehicle at the borough garage during normal working hours. 3. You must not, in the future, engage in similar conduct. 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. Mr. Albert Nicholas Valentine Page 6 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. S409(e). 0 By the Commission, Joseph W. Marshall, III Chairman • • • •- .••• ' "ft.*: - 1-z7v"SAL--**-57...".