Will Grace Cuozzo Finally Answer Sean Donahue's Questions?

Kelly Monitz of the Standard Speaker wrote this article today describing Sean Donahue's prolific career writing what was on his mind penning hundreds of emails and letters to the editor, writing on an Internet blog and newspaper forums, and calling into radio talk shows.

An interesting email exchange is found on the internet where Mr. Donahue chose to store his writings "in the cloud" after shutting down his blog, Blogginghazletoncity.blogspot.com.

In the Standard Speaker article Grace Cuozzo, disastrous candidate for Mayor of the City of Hazleton, makes the following representation of her interactions with Mr. Donahue.

Grace Cuozzo, a long-time government watchdog, communicated with Donahue while on the campaign trail in Hazleton last year, and still received his emails until his arrest Tuesday.
"I don't know why he sends them to me," she said.

She wonders why none of the recipients, including law enforcement, didn't reach out to help.

"He should have been put in a hospital for an exam," Cuozzo said. "There's no question there was a problem. I'm not a doctor, but it doesn't take a mind-trust to see there was a problem. I'm floored they didn't put him in the hospital.
"
I think he needs help, not jail," she said.

The real question is why did Cuozzo, who by her own words, converse with Mr. Donahue if she believed him to have psychological problems?  Why did she enlist him as a soldier in her fruitless campaign for Mayor?  Read the following exchange obtained by SOP.

From: Sean Donahue

To: Grace Cuozzo; loubarletta [rest of barletta address redacted]

Cc: MarkKatchur ; Carl Christopher ; Chiefof Police Robert Ferdinand ; Sr. CEO Sam Lesante ; Kristen Buczynski; Lisa; Jim Reinmiller ; AndyMehalshick ; NancyDoyle ; Drew Speier ; NancyStasko ; [Seven email addresses redacted for privacy reasons] Kevin ODonnell ; SteveCorbett ;[ 4 emails redacted for privacy concerns;] MaryellenLeib ; Bernadette DeBias ; [5 emails redacted for privacy reasons]

Sent: Monday, September12, 2011 8:50 AM

Subject: Questions For Cuozzo Campaign Headquaretes

Dear Ms. Cuozzo,

Please answer the questions listed below;
Why didn't you send your below e-mail to others so that they know it was you who contacted me to find out what Lieb had sent me regarding her salary, made wild claims and then backed off them?
Why did you tell me that the executive order Lieb sent mew as a xerox of a document that Barletta only recently signed and that Deakos could verify the date of the original document having been signed?

Why then when I requested documents that would confirm plans to allow Deakos to examine the document, as you claimed needed to be done, did you back off of your claim?

Why didn't you share acknowledgment of your error with others? You are running for Mayer here. You can't be calling constituents hoping to rally support with outlandish claims and then back off those claims when someone pursues your claims in order to prove them right or wrong. You are in a political race her for a position that would allow you to make decisions that would affect my life. Your claims must now be proven to be either true or false. That must be done prior to election day and voters must know whether or not you were correct.

You called me several times, intentionally seeing me out hoping to conjure up the political spirits. Do you feel that you mistook my criticisms of government agencies as a constituency farm for yourself?

Sincerely,


Sean M. Donahue


Hazleton, PA
It appears her contact was more than just communicating; it seems incendiary.

As Mr. Donahue's computer, hard drives, and portable drives are examined by law enforcement much more information may arise outlining how many politicians were trying to exploit Mr. Donahue's instability for their personal agenda.  Was there a premeditated effort to politically charge Mr. Donahue into explosive anger?

Sean Donahue and A Hazleton City Councilman

Photo Standard Speaker Jamie Pesotine

 

In today's Standard Speaker veteran writer Mia Light covers the arrest of a nemisis known to many public officials for his plethora of harassing emails written to them with escalating overtones.

A Hazleton man is facing charges after allegedly making terroristic threats against Luzerne County District Attorney Stefanie Salavantis.

Sean Donahue, 43, of 625 Cleveland St., was remanded by Magisterial District Judge Joseph Zola to Luzerne County Correctional Facility in lieu of $100,000 bail following preliminary arraignment Tuesday on charges of terroristic threats and harassment.

According to court documents, Donahue sent an email message to Salavantis on Aug. 17 stating that he would engage in a gun fight with city police if the district attorney did not comply with his demands.

Police said Donahue sent multiple email messages to Salavantis, threatening violence toward government employees and police. One email asked the district attorney to provide him with various assault weapons and bullet-proof clothing.

Going back to 2009 his rants are still on the internet placed by Mr. Donahue in response to articles appearing in the Standard Speaker.  Here is one example.

Dear All,
(1). I am not opposed to an organized Halloween event, similar to what the Freeland Mayor promoted this year. The events should occur on different days in both towns.(2). I agree with using a church picnic environment.(3). I stand adamantly opposed to desensitizing children to the dangers of going near car trunks, especially to get free candy. Please have the FBI tell me that I am wrong in voicing this concern and I will back off of it (but not until after I complain to every FBI office in the country). (4). Finally, all of you seem to be claiming that if you collocate 40 to 100 children in one place with sugar filled candy, the threat of chaos ensuing is minimal. Do you really believe that? To "tire of sean donahue" My job in the Army was to be a threat analyst. It was a natural it. It was a place where pessimism prospered. There are bad people in society. Sincerely,
Sean M. Donahue

What becomes puzzling and disturbing is the recent contact by one Hazleton City Council member who copied by means of a "cc" to Sean Donahue over  a city matter. 

From: "Jack Mundie" <  email redacted for privacy reasons>
Date: July 30, 2012 2:35:47 PM EDT
To: < editorial@standardspeaker.com >, "richard ammon" < email redacted for privacy reasons >, "Peter O'Donnell" < email redacted for privacy reasons >, "Kent Jackson" < email redacted for privacy reasons >, "Kent Jackson" < email redacted for privacy reasons>, "Elaine M. Curry" <email redacted for privacy reasons >, "Scott   McCarthy" <  email redacted for privacy reasons>, "Sean Donahue" < smd5389@verizon.net >, Steve Hahn < email redacted for privacy reasons >, <  email redacted for privacy reasons>, "Thomas A. Makowski" <email redacted for privacy reasons  >, Sam Galski<  email redacted for privacy reasons>
Subject: FW: billable hour mistakes



From:   Jack Mundie [email redacted for privacy reasons ]
Sent:   Monday, July 30, 2012 2:20 PM
To:   'Jack Mundie'; 'Keith Bast'; 'Karin Cabell'; 'Jim Perry'; 'Jim Perry'; 'Jean Mope'; Chris Slusser, Esquire; Jack Mundie; MaryEllen
Subject:   billable hour mistakes
Chris,  I know you donated $500.00 to the city because you made a mistake by having us pass  a resolution instead of a required  ordinance for eminent domain on the Greco property.  Now, I know everyone makes mistakes and I make one every day, but, mistakes are not billable hours.  Your invoices show eminent domain research of $1200.00  and I estimate another $800.00 billed expenses for  the eminent domain of the Greco property.  Hazleton taxpayers should not pay for
anyone’s mistakes.   The total comes to $2000.00. If you want to take credit for the $500.00  that you donated  the total that you should refund to the Hazleton taxpayers is $1,500.00.  Please drop a check off at City Hall at your earliest convenience. Cheers, Jack

From:   Jack Mundie [ email redacted for privacy reasons ]
Sent:   Friday, July 27, 2012 3:14 PM
To:   'Keith Bast'; 'Karin Cabell'; 'Jim Perry'; 'Jim Perry'; 'Jean Mope'
Cc:   'Lisa Barkus'; 'Chris Slusser, Esquire'
Subject:   TRANSFERS
MaryEllen, According to  our monthly report that we received recently, under the special litigation line item we have paid out $16,154.00. We have budgeted $5000.00. So you paid them without coming to council to request a transfer. You said you would be requesting transfers this year. If there is a reason why you are not doing transfers and not following the third class city code please let me known. Chris if you have any thoughts on this I would appreciate a reply.
Cheers, Jack
.
Sean Donahue replied with this email exchange.  He copied the former police chief, the present police chief, a failed candidate who ran for Mayor of the City of Hazleton as well as Wilkes Barre radio hosts.

From: "Sean Donahue" <smd5389@verizon.net>
To: "Steve Corbett" <email redacted for privacy reasons>
Cc: "Robert Ferdinand" <email redacted for privacy reasons>, "DeAndrea Jr." <email redacted for privacy reasons>, "Grace Cuozzo" <email redacted for privacy reasons>, Webster< email redacted for privacy reasons>, Nancy K <email redacted for privacy reasons>
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2012 5:06:31 PM
Subject: Fwd: billable hour mistakes
Dear Steve Corbett,

Now their doing it to me (sending the "I'm pissed off e-mails").  I got something going here.  Its the stuff of democracy.

Sincerely,
Sean M. Donahue

Among public officials there exists an undeniable belief that Sean Donahue possesses a threat to them because his out of control behaviors were escalating.  Almost every Hazleton Area government entity was a target of his menacing emails where the brashness climbed to new heights with each click of the mouse.

A question for Jack Mundie is why did he think Sean Donahue needed to be copied on a city matter?   Sean Donahue's minacious demeanor towards public officials was common knowledge. Being a Hazleton City Councilman did he have knowledge of the F.B.I. visit to Hazleton City Hall? What was the motive behind that action to copy Donahue?  If Mr. Donahue's computer was seized how many more public officials and those seeking a public life will have communications found on his computer? Only time will tell.

Yannuzzi And Graham Job Creators Leads to Continued Employment For Hazleton

In the City of Hazleton Municipal races for Mayor and City Council, Mayor Joe Yannuzzi and Councilwoman Evelyn Graham placed this ad in the Standard Speaker to highlight the amount of jobs both officials created in Hazleton during their lifetimes.

Yannuzzi created several companies that continue to operate today.  Yannuzzi Inc., Yannuzzi Plumbing and Heating, J Distributing, and Crossroad Computers were started by Joe Yannuzzi and still operate today in some capacity.  Yannuzzi Inc. and Crossroad Computers continue to operated under their same name.  Yannuzzi Plumbing and Heating is now part of Zola's Plumbing and Heating.  J Distributing is now YOU Trucking.

Evelyn Graham and her late husband, Seymour started Kama Plastics in the Heights Section of Hazleton.  Eventually the company was sold to Alcoa who then sold it to Multi-Plastics, Inc.

The amount of jobs remaining in Hazleton from those business startups is at least 250 jobs. 

Their opponents have no job creation experience or any adminstration experience.  Grace Cuozzo has refused to answer the question surrounding her Social Security Disability award, however she has not held a job in decades according to her State Ethics Commission filings.  Her inexperience in any management position as well as any elected governmental position cannot be ignored in applying for the lead job in Hazleton.

John Medashefski opposed portions of the Illegal Immigration Relief Ordinance that is very popular with most voters in Hazleton.  Past remarks by Medashefski regarding the direction from the city's chief executive supports the following assessment.

Yannuzzi's experience and leadership speak volumes to the reason voters in Hazleton should re-elect Yannuzzi to the position of Mayor.  Yannuzzi has brought the compliment of officers in the Hazleton Police Department back to 40.  He has added two additional code enforcement officers and one health officer to help with the City's enforcement.

Yannuzzi announced that the deficit spending of the last few years has been stopped in the year 2010.  It appears that financial results will have the city breaking even when compared to its budget.

Yannuzzi brought in the Pennsylvania Economy League to look at all operations of the City of Hazleton and asked for recommendations.  Their overall examination will be reported in the future and can provide a blueprint to keep Hazleton's operations in the black.

The candidates will face off in a debate to be aired on Channel 13.  Let's see if Cuozzo can act like a proper person and leave the name calling at the door. 

Graham's accomplishments in the Hazleton area are too numerous to mention.  Her generosity and committment to Hazleton residents make her re-election an almost certain victory.

Polling numbers for both Yannuzzi and Graham show significant leads, however they intend on campaigning right up until the polls close. 

Cuozzo And Deakos Cost Taxpayers Thousands And Were Dead Wrong

Hazleton's constant complainants, Dee Deakos and Grace Cuozzo teamed up against their own City of Hazleton to make incredulous allegations regarding a lease arrangement including debt passed by Hazleton City Council to the Department of Community and Economic Development filed June 27, 2011. Their initial complaint was faulty and they resubmitted an amended complaint on June 30, 2011.

SOP has obtained a copy of the decision by C. Alan Walker, Secretary of Community and Economic Development in favor of the City of Hazleton in their latest unfounded attack. Categorically, the Secretary catapults their claims as inaccurate through failing to provide any concrete evidence to their assertions with phrases like - in this regard the Complainants have not provided any concrete evidence, the Complainants challenge that the nature of the project is inconsistent with the provisions of the URA law is also without merit, and the Complainants do not cite any specific provisions of the URA law.

The best one that sums up the inability of these two vexatious complainants is this description found on page 6. Finally, the Complainants allege that the borrowing should have been approved by ordinance, not by resolution, in accordance with the Third Class City Code. This allegation is without merit factually. The city did pass an ordinance for the Project, No. 2011-10 on June 7, 2011, not a resolution.

In part II of his answer titled "Challenges to the Regularity of the City's Debt Proceedings" the Secretary reminds them that his department does not deal with allegations of violations of the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law or the Pennsylvania Sunshine Act.

The pair also alleged that the borrowing was an open ended agreement with no limitations on maximum interest payments and was summarily dismissed as misplaced. In part III they had to be reminded that Tax Anticipation Notes are not "debt".

None of this information made Kent Jackson's article in the Standard Speaker regarding this matter. He reported that their complaint was dismissed because it wasn't timely filed.

Hazleton mayoral candidate Grace Cuozzo challenged the city's plan to borrow $5.6 million too late, a state lawyer said when explaining why her complaint was dismissed.

Scott Longwell, assistant counsel for the state Department of Community and Economic Development, said Cuozzo needed to challenge the tax and revenue anticipation note when the city borrowed it in January. Instead, she and Hazleton resident Dee Deakos filed the challenge this summer after the city sought to extend the repayment and long after the 15-day deadline ran out.

Cuozzo said dismissing the challenge on a technicality leaves unanswered two concerns that led her to file the challenge.

It seems odd to SOP that a letter signed by the Secretary is quoted in a newspaper article as information from the assistant counsel.  It seems even odder that given the detail with which the Secretary dismissed their complaints only timeliness made it to the people of Hazleton via publication. It is also evident that Cuozzo appears to mislead the public about the entire content of the Secretary's letter.

Kent Jackson wrote about the cost of their futile challenge to the taxpayers of the City of Hazleton.

Hazleton's acting Director of Administration Mary Ellen Lieb said the complaint delayed the borrowing and cost the city $20,000 to $25,000 in legal fees. Also, additional interest paid while extending the original loan, which expired June 30, exceeds $10,000 so far and will accrue at $270 a day until the new loan is finalized, which Lieb said might take a few more weeks.
The accrual could amount to thousands more if it will take a weeks to resolve. 

Grace Cuozzo's Rants, Half-Truths, and Distortions

When Grace Cuzzo announced she was seeking the office of Mayor of Hazleton she cited her tenure on the Hazleton Housing Authority as proof of some government experience. SOP has secured many documents saved from her term as a board commissioner. The information provides a very disturbing pattern of lack of cooperation, but more importantly, points to a failure of the duty of loyalty in the performance of her duties. This series will explore her term to educate the public on her behavior.

Cuozzo wrote to many state and federal authorities and agnecies claiming to have uncovered improper actions by the board. She questioned experienced and certified professionals without matching their qualifications with legitmate ones of her own. At one point she proclaimed "No I am not in construction but I am not stupid". Her actions were cited in the resignation of the recording secretary for the board in September, 2001. Those observations are just the tip of the iceberg.

Ms. Cuozzo started her tenure on the Hazleton Housing Authority in 1999. According to her Statements of Financial Interests she had no income nor worked during her entire term on the board(we will explore those documents at a later date). She either was a "homemaker" or "none" for occupation.

One of her rants occurred in September, 2001 when she questioned the recommendation of Larry Meiers, A.I.A. for a bid award in Phase III of work performed for the authority. Her statement "Both you and I know a good bid would assume nothing, therefore the bid would include the correct amount needed to reach that R-value, period." Mr. Meier responded that Ms. Cuozzo failed in her analysis to account for the R-value(insulation) existing in the building. "Apparently, you did not understand my statement since we did add the correct amount, unit by unit, to reach the required thickness and R-vlue."

Meiser's response in this episode was two pages long. Item by item he discredited Cuozzo. His frustration spilled over onto the end of his letter.

"Every single day I ask myself how our frim can be the most professional, qualified, technologically advanced and yet competitive firm it can be. This process never stops. Our records shows that we are a highly qualified, professional firm and can compete with any firm in this area and beyond. I resent your implication that we are not.

If you are searching for the perfect firm with perfect human beings, you will not find one.

Any and all correspondence should be directed to the A/E through the Housing Authority. We will reply only to correspondence through the Housing Authority, if so directed.

Imagine the time and energy expended because Ms. Cuozzo distorted facts and felt her "questions" were factual. She called her questions "legitimate concerns". That assessment depends on which side of the court you look from.

It should be noted that Cuozzo received just 512 votes in the Democratic Primary of 2012 for the office of Mayor. Her opponent, Joseph Corradini(there is a strange twist to their relationship) received 365. Write-In for Mayor received 465 votes meaning Cuozzo didn't even capture 39% of the total vote. Her opponent, now Mayor Joseph Yannuzzi received over 54% of the Republican vote at 765.

Next issue will deal with a censure by the Board of Commissioners against Grace Cuozzo signed in October, 2001.