Recipient FRIENDS OF SKREPANAK & VONDERHELD
PLAINS, PA 18705
Date 11/5/2005
Amount$2,500.00
Description: DONATION
Filer/Payer: CIAVARELLA, MARK JUDGE RETENTION COM
Report: 2005 Cycle 6
Was it a reward? Sitting judges are not to donate to political campaigns according to the Judicial Cannon No. 7.
CANON 7: Judges should refrain from political activity inappropriate to their judicial office
(1) A judge or a candidate for election to judicial office should not:
(c) solicit funds for or pay an assessment or make a contribution to a political organization or candidate, attend political gatherings, or purchase tickets for political party dinners, or other functions, except as authorized in subsection A(2);
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
More On Juvenile Detention Center Issue Relevant to Subpoena of Luzerne County Commissioner Minutes
From James Convy Citizen's Voice 07/16/2005
County officials say juvie center lease saving money
One of Luzerne County's biggest budget problems is more cost-effective thanks to the lease of a Pittston Township juvenile center, said Sam Diaz, county chief of budget and finance.
Total expenses at the facility through the first six months of 2005 are $2.1 million, or 42 percent of the year's anticipated $5 million budget, Diaz said.
On the revenue side, the county estimated receiving $5.2 million from the facility in 2005. With $2.2 million billed through June and a more aggressive marketing campaign in place, the projections are on target, Diaz said.
In fact, with other cost-cutting measures implemented by Judge Mark Ciavarella, the county has spent $1.8 million less on juvenile placements than it did through June 2004, Diaz said. The juvenile placement line item finished last year about $3 million over budget.
"It's not all doom and gloom here," Diaz said. "(The juvenile placement budget) is on track. It's exactly where I expect. It's definitely not losing money."
Minority Commissioner Stephen Urban did not back down from his belief the county should build or buy a facility. He was not disappointed juvenile placement numbers were down, but claimed the figures are inflated by high charges levied by the county.
"
We could have entered into a 20-year lease for $100 million if we hike up the rates enough to pay the bills," Urban said. "The lease of the facility for $58 million, when records in the county reflect the facility only cost $6.7 million to build, is excessive. We're passing that cost onto the federal government."
Note: He was referring to federal funding paying about 66 percent toward the cost of housing juveniles in the facility.
Skrepenak insists the per-day rates are not excessive. To defend his point, he referred to a facility in Berks County that charges $8 more per day for detention than Luzerne County's $290 per-day rate.
Note: Urban is exposing the scheme but no one is listening.
County officials say juvie center lease saving money
One of Luzerne County's biggest budget problems is more cost-effective thanks to the lease of a Pittston Township juvenile center, said Sam Diaz, county chief of budget and finance.
Total expenses at the facility through the first six months of 2005 are $2.1 million, or 42 percent of the year's anticipated $5 million budget, Diaz said.
On the revenue side, the county estimated receiving $5.2 million from the facility in 2005. With $2.2 million billed through June and a more aggressive marketing campaign in place, the projections are on target, Diaz said.
In fact, with other cost-cutting measures implemented by Judge Mark Ciavarella, the county has spent $1.8 million less on juvenile placements than it did through June 2004, Diaz said. The juvenile placement line item finished last year about $3 million over budget.
"It's not all doom and gloom here," Diaz said. "(The juvenile placement budget) is on track. It's exactly where I expect. It's definitely not losing money."
Minority Commissioner Stephen Urban did not back down from his belief the county should build or buy a facility. He was not disappointed juvenile placement numbers were down, but claimed the figures are inflated by high charges levied by the county.
"
We could have entered into a 20-year lease for $100 million if we hike up the rates enough to pay the bills," Urban said. "The lease of the facility for $58 million, when records in the county reflect the facility only cost $6.7 million to build, is excessive. We're passing that cost onto the federal government."
Note: He was referring to federal funding paying about 66 percent toward the cost of housing juveniles in the facility.
Skrepenak insists the per-day rates are not excessive. To defend his point, he referred to a facility in Berks County that charges $8 more per day for detention than Luzerne County's $290 per-day rate.
Note: Urban is exposing the scheme but no one is listening.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Juvenile Detention Center Or Is That Front And Center Stage?
Skrep's dad had his day before the grand jury. Is it related to a subpoena for Luzerne County Commissioner meeting minutes from 2004 to 2007?
A look at the Juvenile Detention Center issue.
New Luzerne County Commissioners, Greg Skrepenak and Todd Vonderheid took office on January 1, 2004. At the end of the year they suddenly decide there is an “emergency” when in fact they had been paying PA ChildCare on a per diem basis for almost two years. On what grounds can they claim an emergency when they already were contracting with PA ChildCare and other facilities throughout the state. They can’t claim there was a capacity issue because the bed census was not at 100% throughout the state or at PA ChildCare. One Commissioner admits bypassing the normal bidding process.
Citizens Voice article 12/31/2004
"An emergency was declared to bypass normal advertising requirements for services, Vonderheid said."
Another Commissioner points out that this lease was costing Luzerne County more money than need be.
Citizens Voice article 12/31/2004
Commissioner Stephen Urban did not support any of the contracts. He said declaring the emergency was unnecessary and proves Vonderheid and Skrepenak acted on the lease too quickly.
Urban continues to push for the county to construct a new facility. He said the cost to taxpayers would decrease by $90 per bed, per day.
"We're spending $4,000 a day more by leasing, rather than building," Urban said. "This was poor management on the part of the majority commissioners."
According to officials at the Committee of Seventy (215-447-3600 Ext. 104) in Philadelphia such a tactic is absurd and should not be tolerated.
Commissioner Vonderheid tries to cover his tracks by asking for the results of the audit being conducted by the State Department of Public Welfare when he already voted for the lease. Once you enter a lease it is very difficult to break. Vonderheid justifies the lease cost based on prices paid for the last three years. Again, if they are doing it for the last three years where was the emergency?
Citizens Voice article 12/31/2004
Vonderheid's letter to Estelle Richman, secretary of the Department of Public Welfare, asking to expedite an audit, which allegedly warns the lease is a bad deal for taxpayers, is too late, Urban said.
"He didn't do his due diligence on this," Urban said of Vonderheid. "His letter is nothing more than back tracking. He is asking questions that should have been asked before he signed the lease."
"The lease was based on rates approved for three straight years, by two different administrations," Vonderheid said.
Vonderheid states if the audit comes back and is unfavorable to PA ChildCare he will do what is right for the taxpayers. What were his actions when he found out about the results of the audit? Nothing.
Further, at the same meeting support services for the PA ChildCare facility are authorized for only 30 or 120 day periods. How can you have an emergency for the main facility but not the services that support it?
Citizens Voice article 12/31/2004
Other contracts approved were for food service, custodial and maintenance service, and health insurance. They were all for 120 days, except the custodial and maintenance contract, which is for 30 days.
It's just keeps getting better.
Monday, August 3, 2009
This Is Why We Have No State Budget
| July 29 House and Senate Budget Conference Committee |
How in God's name are we going to have a budget when they spend this much time on deciding how they are going to do it?
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Only The Shadow Knows For Sure
Bloggers everywhere are writing about Senior U.S. Judge Edwin M. Kosik's recent decision to reject the plea deals reached with Conahan and Ciavarella. There are a multitude of mainstream newsprint articles on the subject.
Jerry Lynott in the Times Leader writes Senior U.S. Judge Edwin M. Kosik’s order voiced displeasure with the conduct and statements of the two men since they pleaded guilty on Feb.12 to participating in a $2.6 million kickback scheme related to the construction of two juvenile detention facilities and the placement of youths in the facilities.
A report the U.S. Probation Office prepared on Conahan for sentencing purposes indicated he “refused to discuss the motivation behind his conduct, attempted to obstruct and impede justice and failed to clearly demonstrate affirmative acceptance of responsibility with his denials and contradiction of evidence,” Kosik wrote.
Ciavarella has been less obstructive, but, Kosik noted, the former judge “has resorted to public statements of remorse, more for his personal circumstances, yet he continues to deny what he terms ‘quid pro quo.’ ” Ciavarella said he did not take money for placing juveniles in the centers and described his payments as a “finder’s fee” for having the centers built in Pittston Township and Butler County.
“Quid pro quo can be implied from the evidence,” wrote Kosik, adding the government does not have to show “explicit promise to perform official acts in return for payment.”
In a visit to the past one must look at a previous case involving Conahan where he escaped prosecution.
Government witness Neal DeAngelo testified Judge Conahan called him in 1986 and said he had heard Mr. DeAngelo’s brother, Paul, had been buying cocaine from a dealer who was under investigation. Judge Conahan offered to put the DeAngelos in contact with a Florida dealer, Mr. DeAngelo testified.
Mr. Belletiere, who is a former Hazleton resident, subsequently called Mr. DeAngelo at Judge Conahan’s request, according to testimony, and the DeAngelo brothers and another man traveled to Miami to buy $26,500 worth of cocaine from Mr. Belletiere.
The federal prosecutor in the case, during a “sidebar” conversation with the judge out of the jury’s earshot, called Judge Conahan an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the case, according to a transcript.
From a Citizen's Voice article published July 16, 2008
“Fourteen years ago, Luzerne County Judge Michael T. Conahan said allegations that he helped connect a Florida cocaine dealer with a Hazleton buyer were “bogus” stories told by “common criminals” hoping to curry favor with federal prosecutors.
Four years ago, the convicted cocaine dealer and Conahan’s wife, Barbara, formed a Pompano Beach used-car business, according to an official with the company who said Monday that he met with Conahan, Conahan’s wife and the former dealer in Florida to discuss setting up the business in 2004.”
The Times Leader published the following in January of this year.
Paul DeAngelo was sentenced by Judge Kosik to 18 months in prison for his guilty plea to aiding with the distribution of a kilogram of cocaine in 1987.
Judge Kosick would be the same Senior U.S. Judge Edwin M. Kosik who rejected the plea deal. Do you think the Judge is sending a message? "You escaped my courtroom once but it won't happen a second time."
As the Times Leader published ’91 case casting shadows on today
"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!"
PA Legislator's Approval Rating Plummets
When George Bush left office his approval rating was 31%. The liberal media plus Obama and Co. really hammered Bush to make Obama look so much like the coming of theMahdi of the century.
The problem is that perception of the Democrats in Pennsylvania are just like George Bush but they refuse to admit it. Look at the Roll Call in the column to the right. These are the leaders in their party who have disgraced themselves with their actions and their behaviors.
According to Lauren Boyer of the Patriot News the latest Quinnipiac University poll shows the legislature's approval rating is at 27 percent -- a mere percentage point higher than it was months after the General Assembly voted themselves a pay raise at 2 a.m. on July 7, 2005.
No doubt some of this is the economy spreading gloom over all incumbents, said Peter Brown, assistant director of Quinnipiac's the polling institute. But some of this may have to do, in Pennsylvania, with this summer's long slog without a state budget.
"They... don't like the fact that the people they hired to do business can't pass a budget," said Brown.
"They've called legislators every name in the book," Durgin said of his callers. "They're just very very angry. I don't blame them."
The 2005 pay hike episode was particularly bloody for lawmakers, leading to a turnover of a full one fifth of the General Assembly's 253 seats in the 2006 election cycle by retirement or defeat at the polls. While political scientists aren't predicting a similar mass exodus in November 2010, they say the 98 percent re-election rate once customary in Harrisburg is likely a thing of the past.
"Legislators will run very scared next year," agreed political analyst G. Terry Madonna, of Franklin & Marshall College. "There will be deep concern by legislators in certain districts. They'll be looking over their shoulders."
In Dostoevsky's The Idiot Hippolite describes a dream that features a horrific monster about to devour him. This ugly monster fills him with terrible fear. On a psychological level, the monster represents nature as Hippolite sees it—a force that is about to devour him through a death from consumption. On a broader scale, however, the monster represents the ugliness and corruption within the society(and our government.) The moral decay we see everywhere threatens to devour the characters in within the novel much as the monster threatens to destroy Hippolite in his dream.
The legislative pay raise plus their pension grab of 50% in 2001 is starting to set in with voters. In the present economic crisis the lack of a paycheck will surely resonate in the voting booth this November.
The extreme lack of leadership by Todd Eachus is tearing the Democratic party apart. He rules by initimidation. I know for a fact he uses his title to initimdate and threaten lobbyists into submission to try to win on any issue. It is a known fact that persons in his own party are not satisfied with his lack of leadership. But it is more than that. He fails to emulate statesmanship. He wants to win at all costs. He forgets that the opposing side on any issue is not all wrong.
The problem for the Democrats will be told this fall when Eachus's hegemonious style cost them at the polls. He believes in monopolies not republics. His meteoric rise to the Majority post will be met with an equal precipitous fall. He may have paid off Mike Veon's debt but he didn't learn one lesson from it.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Intellacom- Maybe Not So Intell-igent
Martin Carlson, U.S. Attorney and Rich Southerton of the FBI must feel like they hit the motherload when they landed in Northeastern Pennsylvania. They probably feel like Michael Corleone in Godfather III- "Just when I thought I was out...they pull me back in.."
But according to disgraced Mark Ciavarella the media is making more out of it than there is. According to him there is no mass corruption in Northeastern Pennsylvania- Luzerne County Court System, Luzerne County Row Offices, Pittston Area School District, Wilkes-Barre Area School District, Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center, Luzerne County Community College, Wilkes-Barre Scranton Airport, PNC Field. Nahhh Chiv you are sooo right.
It was only a matter of time before Lackawanna County entered the FBI crosshairs.
Intellacom and its President Anthony J. Trombetta have been in the news for several months. A Pittston Area School District contract with Intellacom worth nearly $300,000 that was supposedly awarded under a state program never went through the agency, PEPPM, that coordinates that program. Superintendent Ross Scarantino was later charged with accepting thousands of dollars in bribes to influence the awarding of district contracts.
Subsequently Dave Janoski of the Scranton Times revealed that a board member's son worked for Intellacom said board member who made the motion to award the contract and voted on the contract. According to the board president Mark Singer he thought that wasn't a conflict of interest since the son wasn't an owner.
Evidently Mr. Singer didn't read this Auditor General report for the Weatherly Area School District in 2005. 65 PA C.S. § 1102 The Ethics Act specifically prohibits a public official from using the authority of his office in order to obtain a private pecuniary benefit for himself, a member of his immediate family, or a business with which he or a member of his immediate family is associated. It is pretty clear that an mere association gives rise for concern.
In the meantime the FBI headed to Luzerne County Community College for more Intellacom records. Ross Scarantino was on the board of Luzerne County Community College as well. Intellacom received a no-bid contract in 2007 for an “off-campus closed circuit television” system at the college's Hazleton, Kulpmont, Shamokin, Berwick and Wilkes-Barre campuses. Intellacom submitted a proposal of $191,000. Records show LCCC paid $134,802 to Intellacom before the contract was cancelled because the company did not provide service as promised in the contract.
I guess cash flow became a problem because Dave Janoski reported Intellacom was behind on its rent payments at their Cross Creek offices. Subsequently Jennifer Learn-Andes reports that Tormbetta's restaurant, Portifino, near the arena temporarily closed.
Missed payments and an abrupt vacation closing raised questions about the viability of the Portafino Ristorante and its owner, Anthony Trombetta, who's already under scrutiny in the growing public corruption probe in Luzerne County.
A notice taped on the inside of the front door Thursday and a message on the electronic sign outside the restaurant on Schechter Drive alerted the public to the vacation.
"We will be reopening next week. Sorry for the inconvenience," read the notice.
The Italian restaurant opened last year on the site of a franchise that closed for lack of business. Trombetta secured a $1 million mortgage on the property from Wachovia Bank, according to court documents.
The restaurant and Trombetta, president and treasurer, were named in a complaint filed May 27 in Luzerne County Court alleging Portafino and its owner failed to pay for advertising and design of its Web site. Tree Design Studio Inc. of Shavertown sought $21,452 plus interest for services provided since May 1, 2008, according to the suit.
In the same article she also reports that another of Trombetta's compaines missed a payment on a business development loan to Luzerne County.
Terra Firma Land Development Group Inc. did not pay its monthly installment on a $500,000 community development loan for the restaurant. A payment of $3,103 was due June 12 and the next due July 12, said Andy Reilly, director of the county Community Development Agency.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, Trombetta is president, secretary and treasurer of the company that has an East Oak Street, Pittston, address. He holds identical titles with Intellacom.
County commissioners voted to loan Terra Firma the money at the start of 2008. Terra Firma still owes $477,579 on the note, which was borrowed at 1.5 percent interest over 15 years.
The county will receive all money owed no matter what because borrowers must secure a letter of credit guaranteeing repayment of all money owed if they default, Reilly said. Terra Firma's letter of credit is with Wachovia Bank, he said.
And the beat goes on.
But according to disgraced Mark Ciavarella the media is making more out of it than there is. According to him there is no mass corruption in Northeastern Pennsylvania- Luzerne County Court System, Luzerne County Row Offices, Pittston Area School District, Wilkes-Barre Area School District, Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technical Center, Luzerne County Community College, Wilkes-Barre Scranton Airport, PNC Field. Nahhh Chiv you are sooo right.
It was only a matter of time before Lackawanna County entered the FBI crosshairs.
Intellacom and its President Anthony J. Trombetta have been in the news for several months. A Pittston Area School District contract with Intellacom worth nearly $300,000 that was supposedly awarded under a state program never went through the agency, PEPPM, that coordinates that program. Superintendent Ross Scarantino was later charged with accepting thousands of dollars in bribes to influence the awarding of district contracts.
Subsequently Dave Janoski of the Scranton Times revealed that a board member's son worked for Intellacom said board member who made the motion to award the contract and voted on the contract. According to the board president Mark Singer he thought that wasn't a conflict of interest since the son wasn't an owner.
Evidently Mr. Singer didn't read this Auditor General report for the Weatherly Area School District in 2005. 65 PA C.S. § 1102 The Ethics Act specifically prohibits a public official from using the authority of his office in order to obtain a private pecuniary benefit for himself, a member of his immediate family, or a business with which he or a member of his immediate family is associated. It is pretty clear that an mere association gives rise for concern.
In the meantime the FBI headed to Luzerne County Community College for more Intellacom records. Ross Scarantino was on the board of Luzerne County Community College as well. Intellacom received a no-bid contract in 2007 for an “off-campus closed circuit television” system at the college's Hazleton, Kulpmont, Shamokin, Berwick and Wilkes-Barre campuses. Intellacom submitted a proposal of $191,000. Records show LCCC paid $134,802 to Intellacom before the contract was cancelled because the company did not provide service as promised in the contract.
I guess cash flow became a problem because Dave Janoski reported Intellacom was behind on its rent payments at their Cross Creek offices. Subsequently Jennifer Learn-Andes reports that Tormbetta's restaurant, Portifino, near the arena temporarily closed.
Missed payments and an abrupt vacation closing raised questions about the viability of the Portafino Ristorante and its owner, Anthony Trombetta, who's already under scrutiny in the growing public corruption probe in Luzerne County.
A notice taped on the inside of the front door Thursday and a message on the electronic sign outside the restaurant on Schechter Drive alerted the public to the vacation.
"We will be reopening next week. Sorry for the inconvenience," read the notice.
The Italian restaurant opened last year on the site of a franchise that closed for lack of business. Trombetta secured a $1 million mortgage on the property from Wachovia Bank, according to court documents.
The restaurant and Trombetta, president and treasurer, were named in a complaint filed May 27 in Luzerne County Court alleging Portafino and its owner failed to pay for advertising and design of its Web site. Tree Design Studio Inc. of Shavertown sought $21,452 plus interest for services provided since May 1, 2008, according to the suit.
In the same article she also reports that another of Trombetta's compaines missed a payment on a business development loan to Luzerne County.
Terra Firma Land Development Group Inc. did not pay its monthly installment on a $500,000 community development loan for the restaurant. A payment of $3,103 was due June 12 and the next due July 12, said Andy Reilly, director of the county Community Development Agency.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, Trombetta is president, secretary and treasurer of the company that has an East Oak Street, Pittston, address. He holds identical titles with Intellacom.
County commissioners voted to loan Terra Firma the money at the start of 2008. Terra Firma still owes $477,579 on the note, which was borrowed at 1.5 percent interest over 15 years.
The county will receive all money owed no matter what because borrowers must secure a letter of credit guaranteeing repayment of all money owed if they default, Reilly said. Terra Firma's letter of credit is with Wachovia Bank, he said.
And the beat goes on.
I Will Dare This Story
Sotamayor may feel that her upbringing and environment shaped her outlook on life but I think she misses the mark. Who she is as a person, her personality, how she lived life from her perspective shaped who she is. What she says comes from her, not her life's experiences. Who she is comes from her inner self not her life's experiences. She was born her, not shaped to be her.
That is how I feel. Barack Obama is half white. Henry Louis Gates,Jr. traces his heritage back to white roots. So why do they put their African-American heritage above being just American? Is it due to their life's experiences or just them being them? Do they want to be black when it is convenient or black because it serves an agenda? Being human means just that, being human. There is no color to human; there is only life. Do we want to help the plight of others or do we only want to help persons of color? If we only helping persons of color does that mean we are reverse discriminating?
Barack Obama, you are an American. Not black, not white, not African-American, but an American. You represent the United States of America. I don't see any color in that title, only honor. Start emulating the role. Forget the rhetoric. Leave that for Al Sharpton. As Commander in Chief you have an obligation to stand with the troops, not the indignitaries whom you have extended an apology to. Never apologize for an American death. Never apologize for an American injury. When Mom and Dad watch their child represent the United States on the battlefield, understand the sacrifice made to uphold our liberties.
That is how I feel. Barack Obama is half white. Henry Louis Gates,Jr. traces his heritage back to white roots. So why do they put their African-American heritage above being just American? Is it due to their life's experiences or just them being them? Do they want to be black when it is convenient or black because it serves an agenda? Being human means just that, being human. There is no color to human; there is only life. Do we want to help the plight of others or do we only want to help persons of color? If we only helping persons of color does that mean we are reverse discriminating?
Barack Obama, you are an American. Not black, not white, not African-American, but an American. You represent the United States of America. I don't see any color in that title, only honor. Start emulating the role. Forget the rhetoric. Leave that for Al Sharpton. As Commander in Chief you have an obligation to stand with the troops, not the indignitaries whom you have extended an apology to. Never apologize for an American death. Never apologize for an American injury. When Mom and Dad watch their child represent the United States on the battlefield, understand the sacrifice made to uphold our liberties.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Ciavarella- Shame Shame Shame Chain Of Fools
"You can't imagine how it bothers me because juvenile court was a passion to me. It wasn't something where I was looking to hurt a child, I was looking to help each and every one of those kids who came in front of me. Maybe they didn't like the way I helped them but I was doing what I thought was appropriate and right for them,"
"I mean, I had the greatest job in the world. It was the best job anybody could ever have and I screwed it up. I the one who did it. I have myself to blame for that, nobody else. I'm sorry that I brought such shame to the bench. There's a lot of good people who sit on the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas who don't deserve to be tarnished by what I did. Unfortunately they do get tarnished for that and that's wrong. They didn't do anything wrong. I did, they didn't," the former judge added. "I pled guilty to an honest service fraud, pled guilty to some tax matters. I did not plead guilty to cash for kids or quid pro quo or extortion."
"I didn't do anything wrong relative to any juvenile. I never took a dime for sending a kid away. All I ever did is what I thought was in the best interest of that child," said Ciavarella. "I devoted 13 years of my life to that court. I loved the juvenile court. I loved helping those kids. I would never do anything to hurt a child. That's just not my, that's not what I do. That's not me. I was always there for those kids and I resent the fact that people think I did something improper. I didn't do anything improper when it came to the care of those kids."
"I don't know if things in Luzerne County are as bad as the press has depicted them to be. I don't think there's this mass corruption.
If I were Ciavarella I would stop talking. Brains should engage before mouth opens.
From The Smoking Gun
Here's the link to The Smoking Gun. The document speak for themselves. Amazing how the drive by media have spun this into Officer Crowley's fault.
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