As a kid growing up in Beaver Falls, we used to take the Ohio River Boulevard to go to Pittsburgh. The trip took about an hour, back before construction of the Beaver Valley Expressway. I knew when we were getting close to Pittsburgh when we passed through a small, industrial town called Leetsdale. I don't know what life in Leetsdale was like in the '60s, but if it's like most Ohio River communities in the steel belt, it has fewer jobs and fewer people these days. It lost a Bethlehem Steel plant in the late 1970s.
I wonder if it has more controversy now than it did back then. It's hard to imagine it could have have faced as many governmental crises, or it should have imploded by now.
I want to walk you through the latest crises to split constituents, borough council members, the borough manager, and uniformed and non-uniformed employees. Leetsdale is only about one square mile and has a population of 1,200. As you read the chronological summary of crises, see if there are ties to your work situation, whether you work for the government, a for-profit, or a not-for-profit. At the same time, what would you have done if Leetsdale had hired you to help communicate with stakeholders to diffuse these crises before they split up people and affected lives?
August 13, 2010 (By Bobby Cherry) -- "Amid alleged criminal wrongdoings and many heated moments, Leetsdale Borough Council members approved the controversial hiring of a borough manager. Council member Paul Scimio — who was not in attendance at last night's meeting — was hired by a 5-0 vote to become borough manager.... Many residents asked council to reconsider the addition of borough manager, claiming few had a chance to apply.
"Council member Michael Bajsec said the position was advertised for one day last month in the Beaver County/Allegheny Times. Bajsec could not immediately recall which day the job posting was published. He told a packed room the decision to post the advertisement in one newspaper was to allow people 'familiar' with the borough to apply....
"Also during the meeting, some residents questioned borough expenses on parties, laptops, wireless Internet cards, restaurants, and alleged public money used to pay for cell phone bills of Scimio and Leetsdale police Chief James Santucci. Residents claimed Santucci used borough-issued credit cards three different times to pay for his cell phone bill. Residents alleged Scimio had a cell phone bill of more than $1,000. According to Bajsec, Scimio plans to repay the bill and Santucci had repaid.
"Bajsec, who serves as the finance committee chairman, said in Scimio's case, a billing error occurred and continues to be handled with Verizon Wireless. Bajsec said Santucci mistakenly used his borough-issued credit card instead of a personal card. He added that Santucci's cards were similar and the police chief has since changed his personal card. Santucci, who was at the meeting, refused to comment." (
http://www.yoursewickley.com/blog/leetsdale-hires-borough-manager-residents-accuse-officials-committing-crimes)
Aug. 18, 2010 (By --Michael Pound, Beaver County Times) -- "Leetsdale's longtime secretary was ordered to stay away from work this week while the borough's finance chairman arranges for a full audit of its records.
"Elizabeth Petalino, a borough employee for 19 years, said she was told Monday -- days after she was part of a citizens group that leveled ethics charges against members of Leetsdale Council at a council meeting -- that she was being sent home with pay until arrangements for the audit were complete.
"But Councilman Michael Bajsec, who chairs council's Finance Committee, said Tuesday that Petalino was not suspended and was not being punished. Instead, he said he was following the advice of the borough's solicitor and its auditing firm to keep all officials away from the office until the audit is under way.
"Petalino was among a group of residents who attended Thursday's council meeting to discuss allegations of criminal conduct and ethical violations, including interest-free loans to employees, personal purchases on borough-issued credit cards and making purchases without going through the bidding process. The Concerned Citizens of Leetsdale also urged council to delay the hiring of a borough manager, a position that had been advertised only once. Council instead hired Councilman Paul Scimio for the job, which will have an annual salary of $57,500.
Bajsec said his concern was with the charges of financial improprieties, and because Petalino was one of the people making the allegations, he thought it would be best if she was not in the office while an audit he requested gets started....
"Petalino said when she arrived at the borough building Monday morning, she was met by Bajsec and his wife, Sandra, who was recently hired as an administrative assistant in the borough office. 'Mike asked me for my keys and my laptop, and he gave me a few days off with pay,' Petalino said. 'I welcome the audit, but I'm not comfortable with how this has happened.'
"The audit will be performed by Ambridge (a nearby town) CPA Mark Turnley, Bajsec said; Turnley's wife, Kim, generally performs the borough's audits, but Bajsec said he wanted someone else to complete this one."
They wanted a different, independent auditor, so they hired the usual auditor's husband? That makes me laugh!
"'I want this to be as clean as possible,' he said. '(Petalino) won't be involved, I won't be involved, other members of council won't be involved, and our regular auditor won't be involved.'
"Regardless of what the new audit finds, Petalino said she will follow through with plans to file complaints with the State Ethics Commission and the Allegheny County district attorney's office. And that, she said, has her concerned about her job with the borough, at least in the short term. 'I have already been told that there isn't room for me and a borough manager,' Petalino said. 'I have proof of everything we brought up, and I think I'll have a very good case to get reinstated at some point.'" (
http://www.www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/4419733)
Oct. 15, 2010 (By Michael Pound, Beaver County Times) -- Leetsdale's council lost one member to pressure from residents Thursday night, but council also demoted the borough secretary and gave most of her duties to the new borough manager.
"At the conclusion of Thursday night's meeting, Leetsdale Council demoted Elizabeth Petalino, the borough's secretary of 19 years, to a senior clerk position; that demotion came with a pay reduction of about $10,000 annually. Most of Petalino's former duties were given to Paul Scimio, the former councilman who was named borough manager in September.
"Council also promoted Sandra Bajsec, the wife of Councilman Mike Bajsec who was hired earlier this year as an administrative assistant, to a junior clerk's position."
Okay, so we have a whistleblower demoted and the wife of a councilman who was hired just several months before promoted. The 19-year demoted employee becomes a senior clerk and the promoted rookie becomes a junior clerk. This smells like a dead carp in the Ohio.
"Eariler in the meeting, resident Judy Fulton, blasted Mike Bajsec for singling out Petalino at September's meeting over a quirk in her pay schedule that meant she got paychecks two days before the borough's payday.... While Bajsec pointed out on Thursday that he didn't say in September that Petalino was doing anything wrong, Fulton said the borough secretary had been unfairly singled out for a practice that had been in place since Petalino was hired.
"And Petalino said she had received a written warning in her personnel file over the issue. She did not elaborate, and Rick Start, the borough's solicitor, immediately warned members of council not to discuss the specifics of a personnel matter.
"Council will be looking for a new member after Councilman Ed Glad, who was appointed to the position last month, abruptly resigned from the board at Thursday night's meeting. Glad, who took the seat vacated by Paul Scimio when he was named borough manager, did so after one resident said there were two members of council and two borough employees who owed back taxes.
"Glad was singled out by resident Joe McGurk, who said Glad owed back taxes to the borough and Quaker Valley School District for several years. Glad responded by saying that his wife handles the family's finances and he was unaware of the tax bill; later in the meeting, he said he was stepping down.
"The other member of council and employees were not named during the meeting, although another resident at council's September meeting said Scimio also owes back taxes." (
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/4586316)
By this time, I'm thinking these council members just don't get it. Do they expect to treat people like this and hold onto their elected positions?
March 17, 2011 (By Bobby Cherry) -- "By May, there will be no more individually-issued credit cards for Leetsdale Borough elected officials and employees.... The move comes after months of debate over credit card spending among elected officials and staff members.
"Council member Mike Bajsec said plans to rein in credit cards had been in place for months. 'The fix is already in the works,' he said. 'I want to do away with all of the individual credit cards....'
"A review of receipts, Citizens and National City bank statements and other financial documents from January 2008 through July 2010 obtained by the Sewickley Herald through the state's Right-to-Know Act, show taxpayers paid for about $14,000 in food, drink and a Christmas party since January 2008. The changes to the credit card policy are due, in part, to findings from an audit released in January by Ambridge-based auditor Mark Turnley.
"The 14-page report auditing the municipality's last five years showed 'significant deficiencies,' including use of 12 Citizens Bank credit cards offering a more than $20,000 spending limit. While the audit described the deficiencies, Scimio said work had been under way to implement a spending policy.
"'In addition, certain attached receipts were simply the ‘charge card' receipt showing the total amount, without providing any detail as to what was purchased and for what borough-related purpose,' Turnley wrote. 'Most notably, we found this situation common for ‘restaurant related charges' where it could not be determined from the ‘charge receipt' as to how many individuals were served or for what business purpose, if any, these charges were incurred....'
"Following residents' questions in August regarding items such as borough credit card spending and inventory practices, Bajsec, who serves as the borough's finance chairman, directed Turnley and his wife, Kimberly, to conduct an audit in September. The audit cost borough taxpayers $3,000." (
http://www.yoursewickley.com/sewickleyherald/article/leetsdale-council-votes-eliminate-individual-credit-cards)
This last paragraph contradicts an earlier story that said Bajsec wanted to start clean with an auditor who was not the usual auditor. Remember? So they hired the usual auditor's husband. Now it sounds like it was a team audit.
Up to now, we've seen nepotism, a whistleblower's demotion, potential credit card abuse, and mistrust of local government by the taxpaying voters. We've seen everything except an arrest. What would be appropriate is if a policeman in this Peyton Place ended up on the other side of the bars.
April 22, 2011 (By Larissa Dudkiewicz) -- "A Leetsdale police officer has been suspended without pay after Beaver County detectives charged him with lying to protect another person. Wayne Drish, 36, of Bell Acres, was arraigned Thursday on charges that include hindering apprehension or prosecution of another person, a felony, and misdemeanor counts of obstructing the law and providing false statements to law enforcement....
"Drish and Jason Ludovico, 31, of Economy, left a bar on Aug. 1, when Ludovico’s car struck a utility pole, according to Santucci. Ludovico was charged with drunken driving, according to court records.
"Three days later on Aug. 4, Drish called Beaver County detectives to report that he was the driver, not Ludovico. Detectives said the evidence proved otherwise.... Santucci said Ludovico told authorities he couldn’t remember if he was driving. (
http://sewickley.patch.com/articles/leetsdale-officer-charged-with-obstructing-justice)
May 13, 2011 (By Sarah McCluan) -- "Leetsdale Council members voted 5-0 Thursday night to suspend longtime borough police Officer Wayne Drish without pay due to felony criminal charges filed against him last month in Beaver County. Thursday night's vote upholds a suspension ordered earlier by Leetsdale Mayor Peter Poninsky." (
http://sewickley.patch.com/articles/leetsdale-council-suspends-police-officer)
And now for the inevitable primary election:
May 18 (By Alie Gensheimer) -- "After a long day at the polls and an even longer night battling with voting machines, Leetsdale council votes are in. With more than 100 votes each, the challengers who ran together on a slate defeated the incumbents in a landslide victory — the largest number of votes received by an incumbent was 63, which went to Councilman Michael Bajsec.
"Three four-year Democratic seats will go to Melanie Dunn, Linda Michael and Joseph McGurk, who banded together as part of a concerned-citizens group to challenge incumbents Bajsec, Robert Cobourne and Ben Frederick.
"As unofficial results started appearing on the Allegheny County Election Division’s website about 9 p.m., the Leetsdale council votes were still at 0 percent. Votes had to be manually pulled out of a machine used at Holy Family Institute due to a malfunction, Dunn said.
Despite the unknown outcome of the election, Michael and Dunn said they are thrilled to have won seats after all of their hard work. They said they ran with McGurk on the "Candidates for Change" ticket because they want to change the borough’s spending habits and restore the townpeople's faith in local government.... 'Today, Leetsdale voters definitely let the current political party know where they stand,' (Dunn) said. 'This is the biggest primary turnout that we’ve had in some years.'" (
http://sewickley.patch.com/articles/leetsdale-challengers-win-council-nominations)
May 19, 2011 (By Karen Kane, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) -- "What started as raised eyebrows over some borough practices ended Tuesday with a clear message from voters in Leetsdale that it is time for a change. Linda Michael, spokeswoman for a grass-roots citizens group, won a Democratic nomination for borough council, along with three others from the group who were campaigning on a platform of change.
"Discontent took root in July, as borough council began discussing a change in the structure of the borough administration. That sparked job security concerns for longtime borough secretary Elizabeth Pettalino, who sought advice from Mrs. Michael....
"Among the practices were pay advances to borough employees, which Mrs. Michael considered no-interest loans; use of borough credit cards by employees with no official policies for spending or payback; the nature of the search for someone to fill the new post of borough manager, as well as the need for the position itself....
"It's a bit nerve-wracking for borough manager Paul Scimio, who reviewed the election results Wednesday morning. Barring successful write-in campaigns in November, he will have several new bosses in January. 'Here's how I see it: I work at the pleasure of council, and however council is made up, I fully intend to cooperate with everybody and work for the benefit of Leetsdale and its residents,' he said.
"Mrs. Michael said in a pre-election interview that no decisions have been made as to any changes in personnel in the coming year. She acknowledged Mr. Scimio had begun implementing what she and her supporters consider 'overdue' policies and that 'a lot of issues are being remedied....'
"She also said questions were raised about restructuring borough administration, a move that resulted in Ms. Pettalino being reassigned to senior clerk, which initially included a pay cut from about $46,000 annually to about $37,000 annually. Council ultimately restored her salary."
I wonder if the solicitor was behind restoring her pay. Lawyers in the greater Pittsburgh area had to be salivating over handling the case of a demoted whistleblower.
"The manager credits Mrs. Michael and the other members of the group for bringing about changes that were due. 'We were lax. We know that,' he said.
"He said he is writing new policies and believes he's made strides forward, consolidating borough insurance policies, beginning a program to meet with business owners and initiating a recycling program. Another change was canceling a longtime policy of giving borough employees the use of borough credit cards. Mr. Scimio said the practice is no longer allowed." (
http://postgazette.com/pg/11139/1147542-54-0.stm)
When a new borough council takes over at the end of the year, it will be interesting to see what further changes might be made, and whether the manager will keep his job. It looks like Leetsdale may be starting to move in the right direction. I'll be watching the council in 2012 to see if it is more transparent and open to the taxpaying public.
June 2001 — Mexican Original, a tortilla producer owned by Tyson Foods, had a pressure valve on the building’s roof pop, releasing ammonia. About 90 employees were evacuated, two were treated at the scene.
