When Bethlehem's outside auditors told City Council that the City had finished 2009 in an $8.5 million sea of red ink, Mayor John Callahan was nowhere to be found. Maybe he was busy practicing his ribbon-cutting skills. City financial advisor Concord Public Finance, which has proposed most of the City's borrowing schemes, was also MIA. But don't you worry. Concord may be lousy for Bethlehem's finances, but it's been very, very good for Mayor Callahan's campaign coffers. Here's a breakdown of the $12,400 given to Callahan since 2008:
Michael Setley - $1,500 to Callahan on 4/15/08 and another $3,900 for the Congressional race.
Daryl Peck - $2,000 to Callahan on 4/11/08 and another $1,600 for Congress.
Christopher Gibbons - $2,000 to Callahan on 4/14/08, and $1,400 for tighter regulation on people like him.
Updated 8:45 AM: Add another $7,000 to that pot! - From copies of earlier campaign finance reports.
Gibbons-$1,500-12/24/04
Gibbons-$1,000-10/16/03
Peck-$1,500-12/24/04
Setley-$1,500-12/24/04
Setley-$500-10/20/05
Setley-$1,000-10/16/03
It's interesting that professional/issuance fees associated with financing deals were rolled into borrowing, a portion of which found their way into Callahan's campaign coffers. If that isn't sticking it to the rate-taxpayers, nothing is. What a sweet deal for both the financial experts and the candidate(s). It's almost like money laundering!
10 comments:
Concord Public Finance - Part 1 of 3
http://www.concordpublicfinance.com/resumes.htm
*****
Resumes
Michael A. Setley
Daryl S. Peck
Christopher M. Gibbons
James H. Schlesinger
Michael A. Setley
MSetley@AOL.com
Experience:
Prior to becoming a founding Principal of Concord Public Financial Advisors, Inc., Michael A. Setley most recently served as co-chairman of the Structured Finance Group at a large Pennsylvania law firm. Over his more than twenty-five years in the municipal finance industry, Mr. Setley’s practice has focused on structuring and implementing traditional and complex finance transactions for municipal, corporate and nonprofit clients and consulting with municipal, nonprofit and corporate clients with respect to finance-related matters.
Professional Activities:
Mr. Setley is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania and in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania federal courts. He is a Member of the American, Pennsylvania and Berks County Bar Associations, as well as the National Association of Bond Lawyers and the Pennsylvania Association of Bond Lawyers, where he served as President in 1995-1996.
Education:
Mr. Setley is a graduate of Lebanon Valley College (BA) and The Dickinson School of Law (JD, magna cum laude).
Concord Public Finance - Part 2 of 3
http://www.concordpublicfinance.com/resumes.htm
*****
Resumes
Michael A. Setley
Daryl S. Peck
Christopher M. Gibbons
James H. Schlesinger
Christopher M. Gibbons
CGibbons@ConcordPublicFinance.com
Experience:
Christopher M. Gibbons has more than twenty-five years of experience as a financial advisor in the public markets. He has considerable experience working with the needs and constraints faced by local governmental units. Mr. Gibbons’ experience is in the general municipal area, where he has been involved in all phases of financing both general obligation and revenue debt. This experience has included structuring financings for both large and small issuers, using both competitive and negotiated methods of sale, the completion of bank loans and bond issues, credit analysis and rating agency presentations. Mr. Gibbons has worked on several hundred municipal transactions in five Mid-Atlantic states with a par value of over $3.0 billion. Mr. Gibbons has experience in all types of municipal transactions, including variable and fixed rate financings, refundings and general consulting. Mr. Gibbons has developed a special expertise in refundings and refunding techniques.
Mr. Gibbons has six years’ experience in municipal management, having served as the Assistant to the Town Manager of Stratford, Connecticut, while also holding an administrative position for the City of Gaithersburg, Maryland.
Education:
Mr. Gibbons is a graduate of the American University (B.A. Political Science; M.P.A. Urban Administration) and was awarded a full graduate scholarship.
Concord Public Finance - Part 3 of 3
http://www.concordpublicfinance.com/resumes.htm
*****
Resumes
Michael A. Setley
Daryl S. Peck
Christopher M. Gibbons
James H. Schlesinger
Daryl S. Peck
DPeck@ConcordPublicFinance.com
Experience:
Daryl joined Concord in 2002 as a Senior Financial Advisor and became a Principal of the firm in 2005. He has nearly twenty years of experience in the municipal finance industry. During Mr. Peck's tenure at Concord, he has become instrumental to the firm's clients in creating creative financing structures. Mr. Peck's extensive experience covers conventional bank financings, bond financings as well as interest rate swaps and other derivative products for all types of issuers including governmental units and not for profit entities.
Prior to joining Concord, Mr. Peck was Vice President in the Corporate Trust Department at a large regional bank. In this capacity, Mr. Peck served as a Municipal Bond Trustee for numerous municipalities, authorities, school districts and not-for-profit entities. Mr. Peck's wide-ranging experience in the municipal bond market provides Concord's clients with an added resource for knowledge and hands-on experience throughout the life of the issuer's financing. Part of Mr. Peck's role was to invest money for his Trustee clients as well as closely monitor the investments for his clients.
Education:
Shippensburg University (B.S. Economics and B.S. Finance).
James H. Schlesinger
JSchlesinger@ConcordPublicFinance.com
Experience:
Mr. Schlesinger has worked for Concord since 1999, where he has assisted in the completion of over 200 financings. Mr. Schlesinger's particular expertise is Concord's Bank Loan vs Bond Issue Dual Track Financing Strategy. He has vast experience working with local and regional banks on creative bank structures for Concord's clients. Part of Mr. Schlesinger's responsibilities is managing Concord's Continuing Disclosure Department. Prior to joining Concord, Mr. Schlesinger spent five summers working at a mortgage securities firm in New Jersey where he spent his time managing four securities totaling 11,000 loans.
Education:
Albright College (B.S. Business Administration: Finance)
Yeah, and Pawlowski has a degree from a Bible College and is religious and would never ever ever do anything to sell his soul. Except that he has.
So have all these pay-to-players, whose education means nothing to candidates looking for the next contribution.
Yeah, Bernie had a law license until he was dis-barred for unethical behavior by stealing client money, so there. You guys aren't so smart!
You tell em Bernie.
Are we to trust people merely because of their resumes? Should we suspend judgment of those who involve themselves in public finance because they graduated magna cum lauded?
Education and work experience are not guaranties of integrity. Otherwise Washington and Harrisburg would be paragons of virtue.
Scott Armstrong
hear richard and callahan are going to both resign and go into business together. Screwem and Cheatem Friendly Loan Company. Their motto. If we can't bankrupt you, no one can.
Bernie
Are you saying these guys who investigate how the city runs its finances actually donated to Callahan's campaign. How can they be trusted?
"City financial advisor Concord Public Finance, which has proposed most of the City's borrowing schemes, was also MIA. But don't you worry. Concord may be lousy for Bethlehem's finances, but it's been very, very good for Mayor Callahan's campaign coffers. Here's a breakdown of the $12,400 given to Callahan since 2008:
Michael Setley - $1,500 to Callahan on 4/15/08 and another $3,900 for the Congressional race.
Daryl Peck - $2,000 to Callahan on 4/11/08 and another $1,600 for Congress.
Christopher Gibbons - $2,000 to Callahan on 4/14/08, and $1,400 for tighter regulation on people like him."
Yes, and I agree it's outrageous. I do not think any entity having anything to do with municipal finance, from bond councel to financial advisor, should be allowed to contribute to political races in entities where they do work. Police officers can be restricted. Judges can be restricted. The some prohibitions should apply to the financial people. The City should be paying for advice, not contributions.
The shame of this is that underwriters are prohibited from making contributions like these. The law should be extended prohibiting campaign contributions from this type of financial adviser. Many states have acted to prohibit this type of contribution.
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