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HomeMy WebLinkAbout653 CampbellMr. Kenneth Campbell 2108 Ridge Road Ext. Ambridge, PA 15003 Re: 87 -019 -C Dear Mr. Campbell: A. Findings: b. You are also 2. The minutes of the provide as follows: a. December 23 STATE ETHICS COMMISSION 308 FINANCE BUILDING HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA 17120 ORDER OF THE COMMISSION Order No. 653 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, Beaver County Treasurer and former Director of the Tax Claim Bureau, 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 in that you, while having direct jurisdiction over the issuance of constable posting duties, authorized posting duties and payments to your wife who serves as a constable. 1. You were elected to the office of Treasurer of Beaver County in 1976 and have served in that position to the present time. a. You served as director of the Tax Claim Bureau from 1976 to February 1982. serving as Mayor of Economy Borough. Beaver County Commissioner's meeting 1975 - a resolution establishing the Mr. Kenneth Campbell Page 2 Beaver Tax Claim Bureau was passed to be effective 1/1/76. b. January 5, 1976 - You were recognized as the newly elected County Treasurer. i. The Commissioners discuss the Tax Claim Bureau with Campbell and Van Doren of the Assessment Department. ii. Commissioner Corak stated that the Tax Claim Bureau presently comes under the Assessment Department, and for the time being it will remain under Van Doren's authority. It will be changed later when the office gets into full operation. c. April 1976 - Ken Campbell, Treasurer and director of the Tax Claim Bureau gave a report on the operation of the new bureau. d. February 18, 1982 - Campbell stated that he feels problems have arisen with his continuation as director of the Tax Claim Bureau. He asked that the board accept his resignation as soon as possible. He will continue in this position until a smooth transfer of duties can be made. e. February 25, 1982 - Campbell submitted his resignation as director of the Tax Claim Bureau effective February 28, 1982. His resignation was accepted in a motion by Commissioner Pettibon and seconded by Commissioner Corak. All approved. 3. In 1980, Richard Towcimak was hired as assistant director of the Tax Claim Bureau. a. He became director when you resigned in February 1982. 4. As part of the duties of the Tax Claim Bureau, it was necessary to post sale and claim notices on properties with delinquent taxes. a. Sheriff's deputies were used to post properties that were owner occupied. b. Constable's were used to post all other properties. Mr. ; er neth Campbell Page 3 c. Ethel Campbell began doing posting work with the Tax Claim Bureau - in 1979. d. Constables were used to post sale and claim notice, after the Assessment Office sent out certified letters to the property owners. When the letters were not accepted, the property would be posted. One year later the sale notice is posted or served. e. Constables were paid $10.00 for each sale or claim notice posted. f. Constables were required to return, and have notarized proof of each notice posted (herein after referred to as postings). 5. Donald Naugle, Economy Borough, Constable provided the following information regarding the instant matter: a. our wife, Ethel Campbell, was sworn in as a deputy constable in November 1977. b. You and Don Naugle have been friends for a long time. c. You asked Naugle to make your wife his deputy. d. Ethel Campbell began doing constable work early in 1978. e. When he first went to inquire about posting work for the Tax Claim Bureau he spoke to a man in the office hut was not sure who it was. f. Only some constables were asked to do postings but he did not know how they were selected. g. He signed all returns as the constable. h. You would bring the postings on occasions for him and your wife. i. He did not believe that there was any favoritism. j. He received 40 to 50 postings at a time and thought everyone received the same amount. 6. (`computer records from the Beaver County Controller's Office show the following: Mr. Kenneth Campbell Page 4 1978 - Ethel Campbell was paid $121.32 for performing constable duties for the county. This did not include any postings. 1979 - Ethel Campbell was paid $1,076.80 for performing constable work for the county. Posting accounted for $790.00 of this amount. At $10.00 per posting this amounted to 79 postings. 1980 - Ethel Campbell was paid $830.00 for posting work, and $46.25 additional for county work. 1981 - Ethel Campbell earned $1,530.25, of which $1,470.00 was for posting work. Other constables who did posting work were: Name Total Earned James Hardin Donald Naugle Edwards Steals Dan Radakovich Louis Farioli $1,800.50 5,392.00 420.00 1,290.00 493.72 Total - Postings $1,180.00 1,670.00 420.00 1,290.00 0.00 1982 - Ethel Campbell earned $1,400.00 for posting work. She earned $11.70 doing other county work, the total budget for work performed by constables other than postings was $31,952.28. 7. A log maintained by your wife indicates the following regarding postings for 1980 and 1981: a. 1980 - 32 parcels posted at $10.00 51 parcels posted at $10.00 b. 1981 - controller office, posting for tax for posting tax papers for posting tax papers $320.00 510.00 Total $830.00 $550.00 750.00 170.00 $1,470.00 c. These figures correspond with the figures obtained from the computer runs at the Controllers Office in the Beaver County Court House. 8. Eva Mayo Orr, your former deputy in charge of the Tax Claim Mr. Ke_mneth Campbell ?age 5 Bureau office provided the following information relating to this situation. a. In 1976, you made Eva Mayo your deputy in charge of the Tax Claim Bureau office. She remained in that position until early 1980. b. You were responsible for all major decisions. c. Mayo was in charge of the running of the office. d. You did not get involved in the day to day operation of the office but did make the major decisions on property and ran the sales, and gave advice. e. Constables were all given the same amount of postings to start with, and once they were finished, they could come back and get more. f. The Tax Claim Bureau was set up in 1976, but the first postings were not done until 1978. g. According to Mayo, you never told her to give your wife more postings than any of the other constables, or which areas to give your wife. h. You once told her to make sure the postings were given out evenly. i. Constables who were faster got more postings than those who were not. 9. Michael Kohlman, Chief County Assessor and current head of the Tax Claim Bureau ceased using constables for the postings in order to save money. a. The bureau now completes the posting as part of its function. 10. Richard Towcimak was made Assistant Director of the Tax Claim Bureau early in 1980 and continued in that position until 1982 when he became Director of the Tax Claim Bureau after you resigned. Towcimak remained in that position until approximately 1984. Towcimak is now Controller of Beaver County. He stated as follows: a. He had control of the postings. He took care of all aspects of the sale and claim notices. Mr. Kenneth Campbell Page 6 b. He decided which constables got what, and how many postings. He stated that due to the time factor involved in getting the notices posted within a limited time period and correctly, he selected the constables who were good and efficient. c. He took care of assigning areas, of making the lists by parcel number and making sure the constables returned the proof of postings to him. d. The following constables were the best at posting according to Towcimak: Caugle, Campbell,Hardin, Lakis, Radakovich. e. On more than one occasion he took postings over to your office to take home to your wife. He stated that he initiated this, and did it for another constable whose wife worked in the court house. 11. Constables John Allison and Daniel Baker stated were unable to obtain posting work from your office. 12. Your wife stated that you never approved of her constable work, or working for the Tax Claim Bureau. a. She went to Commissioner Corak and asked for work with the Tax Claim Bureau. He finally agreed that she should be given work with the Tax Claim Bureau along with the other constables. b. She and Don Naugle worked on the postings as a team. She would drive and he would do the leg work. This was more efficient than working alone, and as a result they could get a lot more postings done than someone who worked alone. that they doing c. Both she and Naugle were full time constables. Some of the other constables worked full time at another job and so had less time to spend on postings. d. Some constables were not interested in doing posting work because it required research of the parcel numbers on the county maps and often walking off the boundaries in the woods. e. Your wife stated that you were never in the Tax Claim Office when she went to get posting work. Mr. Kenneth Campbell _;a je 7 f. She received postings from Mrs. Mayo once when Towcimak became assistant director, he gave out the postings. g. Your office was across the hall in the Treasurer's office. h. You sometimes brought postings home for your wife. She would ask you to do this, to save her a trip to the court house, or if she had been to the court house once earlier in the day and the postings were not ready yet. 13. You stated that you did not want your wife to be a constable, you were afraid for her life. a. The only direction you gave in regard to the postings was for them to be given out fairly. The girls in the office took care of everything else in regard to the postings. b. You made Eva Mayo your deputy, she took over the office soon after you were made director of the Tax Claim Bureau. c. You stated that you never gave out postings. d. Towcimak was made assistant director of the Tax Claim Bureau in 1980, and in that position he took care of everything to do with the postings. e. Towcimak did not come to you for anything, you only advised on legal matters. f. Iou stated that your wife did not need to work, and did not work for the money. B. Discussion. As Beaver County Treasurer and the former director of the Tax Claim Bureau, you are a public official as that term is defined under the Ethics Act. 65 P.S. §401; 51 Pa. Code §1.1; McCaique, Order 392. As such, your conduct is 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 Mr. Kenneth Campbell Page 8 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) specifically provides that a public official may not use public office to obtain a financial gain for himself or a member of his immediate family other than compensation provided by law. Immediate family is defined under the Ethics Act as follows: Section 2. Definitions. "Immediate family." A spouse residing in the person's household and minor dependent children. 65 P.S. S402. Clearly, your wife is then a member of your immediate family as that term is defined under the Ethics Act. The specific inquiry of this Commission must focus on whether you have used public office to obtain a financial gain for your wife regarding the posting and payments for constables within the county. Shortly after the beginning of your term as County Treasurer in 1976, the Tax Claim Bureau was transferred from the assessment department to that of the County Treasurer's Office. At that time you served as Beaver County Treasurer and also as the director of the Tax Claim Bureau until your resignation from the latter position in February, 1982. During the tenure of your service with the Tax Claim Bureau, it was the practice to utilize constables for posting tax delinquent properties with sale and claim notices. After your wife became a deputy constable for Don Naugle, who was an Economy Borough constable in November, 1977, she began performing constable work early in 1978. Although your wife did not do any posting work in 1978, she did do posting work in 1979, 1980 and 1981. Under these facts and circumstances, the key question is whether you used public office so that your wife could obtain the posting work during this period of time. In this regard, Eva Mayo, who was your former deputy in charge of the Tax Claim Bureau office indicated: you did not get involved in the daily operation of the office; you advised her that the posting should be given out evenly and lastly you never told her to give your wife more. postings than any other constables. Likewise, Richard Towcimak, who was the assistant director of the Tax Claim Bureau from 1980 through 1982 and who was thereafter the Director following your resignation, advised that he gave the posting to those constables who were most efficient and good at their job. Lastly, your wife states that you were never in the office when she got the posting work Mr. Kenneth rampbe11: k age 9 and that said postings were from Mrs. Mayo except for oie occasion when Mr. Towcimak gave out the postings, The evidence elicited does not reveal that you had any involvement in the issuance of constable posting duties for your wife and hence this Commission finds that there is no §3(a) vi.olation of the Ethics Act based upon the insufficiency of the evidence presented. C. Conclusion and Order: 1. As the former director of the Tax Claim Bureau and Beaver County Treasurer, you are a public official subject to the provisions of the Ethics Act. 2 The evidence elicited does not establish that you violated r3(a) of the Ethics Act regarding the issuance of constable ;hosting duties to your wife who serves as a constable in Beaver County. Our files in this case will remain confidential in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Ethics Act, 65 P.S. S408(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. ee F1 Pa. Code §2.38. During this 15 -day period, no one, including the respondent unless he waives his right to challenge his t >rder, may violate this confidentiality by releasing, c:�.s •tossing o: circulating this Order. Any person who violates the confidentiality of a Commission :lc::eeding is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not more f:�zan $1.000 or imprisoned for not more than one year or both, see 55 F.S. §40S'e). By the Commission, WApOS? Joseph W. Marshall, III Chairman