Local Government TV

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Dolan Does Some Damage Control

After resigning from her Executive Director position at the Illick's Mill, under a cloud of suspicion based upon her own mismanagement and conflicts of interest, Bethlehem City Council member Karen Dolan is doing a bit of damage control. She has told The Express Times' Lynn Olanoff that she's merely trying to save her poor little nonprofit from the vicious world of politics. Of course, I'm in the center of this dark world, as Dolan paints it in version #694 of what has happened.

Here's my response.

This has nothing to do with politics. This has everything to do with expecting elected officials to be loyal to the people instead of whoever pays their salary. The organization has been hurt, not by stories on my blog, but by Dolan's own unethical behavior and mismanagement of the nonprofit.

This is a woman who has told several stories now about what is going on. Let's deal with facts. 1) She failed to file nonprofit tax returns for three years in a row. 2) Her nonprofit status was revoked for at least a year. 3) Her vote on last year's budget was in violation of the Ethics Act because she voted on a matter in which she had a direct financial interest as a paid Executive Director. 4) She continued raising money after her nonprofit status was revoked and gave a misleading interview to The Express Times, falsely claiming to be a nonprofit. 5. She violated the Ethics Act again as recently as last Friday, when she threatened the Mayor concerning a new lease. "I will do everything I can to prevent this lease from going to Council."

Incidentally, her threat to the Mayor, in addition to being a conflict of interest under the Ethics Act, is also an example of exactly how she plays politics.

I find it totally incredible that City officials would send her a letter in 2010 about her unpaid $127,000 debt, threatening to suspend services, and then say nothing more about the situation. That is just unbelievable. She obviously had conversations. What were those conversations? Did the Mayor let her off the hook? If so, why? Who made the decision to write off the debt? Who made the decision to begin supplying her free heating oil? Why was that decision made? Why did she suddenly start advocating for wage hikes in Parks?

The best thing Dolan could do for the public now is to resign. She has abused her office. The people of Bethlehem deserve better than someone who plays petty games to advance causes in which she has an interest.

Updated 9:45 pm: In the Express Times story,  Dolan claims that it makes no difference whether booze is permitted in City parks, as she advocated at a recent meeting, because the Illick's Mill has a liquor license.
Reader Hank_Hill, however, has discovered the license is listed as "inactive" by the state liquor control board. Nonprofits can obtain a "special occasion permit", which is what Illick's Mill has, but it can only be used six times per year. According to the Illick's Mill webpage, it hosts 20 weddings and 100 other social events a year. It would seem that, even if the license were active, the number of weddings hosted are more than what the law allows.

Oopsie.

58 comments:

  1. Her attempts at damage control are ineffectual and inconsistent. She needs some advise from some dispassionate professionals before she digs herself in even deeper.
    It's clear that this situation gets a lot worse before it gets better.
    The fact is her political future is dim. The larger question is who does she take down with her.
    It's quickly becoming every man for themself.
    This is bound to get ugly.

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  2. Bernie,

    Go check the lehighvalleylive story out. I just posted a link to the LCB website showing her liquor license being listed as inactive.

    Hank_Hill

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  3. Very good catch Hank. I will update my story. Another layer of the onion is peeled away.

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  4. Did someone say this was gonna get ugly?

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  5. Callahan was running for County Exec Bernie. What is so complicated ?

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  6. Although it is beginning to appear that Callahan decided not to charge utilities, I would like to know what changed between the 2010 letter and that decision.

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  7. Dolan is an ethical mess. I am glad her pick for county council, the school principal was not picked, as they are copies of one another. Another concern I have is that Dolan is a big supporter of Deb Hunter who ran for county council. Apparently Ms. Hunter is going to run for county council next year.

    She supports Dolan and Dolan supports her. She is also in good with Reynolds and Richutti. After what I have learned, I cannot endorse another Dolan for city council.

    Next year we really need some quality people to get into city government. Are there any out there?

    When people applied for the vacant seat, did any of them show any commitment to honest open government. Did any have any concept of what good government and representatives are supposed to do? What is expected of elected officials as far as behavior?

    It just seems Bethlehem is really stuck in a rut with no help in sight. It seems like no one wants to contribute their time to help the city, everyone wants money and recognition.

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  8. Meant to write Ms. Hunter is running for city council next year.

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  9. This doesn't not look good for the most recent former mayor. Not good at all,and its not just his possible collusion in this affair,but the continued boorish behavior of his allies on Bethlehem's City Council.
    They are not doing him,or themselves,any favors with their antics and incompetence.
    Every Bethlehem resident has reason for concern.

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  10. Correction- "This does not..."

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  11. under most imaginable scenarios, don't see to much of this washing on Callahan. The city could have had dozens of legitimate reasons for not charging a not-for-profit for utilities in a lease of a city building.

    even if there was some nefarious motivation behind it, there will probably be a plausible explanation to cover it.

    none of this, however, obviates the depth of Dolan's screw-ups.

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  12. only one person could have told carp to back off - jc. jc needed votes and cover - jc got them. richuttci, wee willy, dolan all part of the jc clan. but they will dump dolan if this gets too hot to save their own useless butts

    feel sorry for booby d - four enemies on council. the above mentioned and Callahan lite

    carp needs to do some soul searching and come clean with his new boss

    when election time comes it's time to purge the filth

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  13. While your work here has been outstanding, I'm glad I didn't vote for the executive candidate whose campaign you effectively handed your blog over to last year. It was a lesser of two evils race, to be sure. But Callahan reeks even more as the onion layers are peeled back on this story. And this is just one story. The arrogance of power and seeming invincibility always leads to exactly this kind of malfeasance.

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  14. Bernie
    If she did nothing wrong, she has nothing to fear but what about all the donors who gave money thinking they could claim it on their tax returns. Interesting predicament.

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  15. I would venture to say that what she should fear most is the mess she created for herself if she served alcohol in violation of the permit - or lack of a permit. That is a state violation and any friends she has locally won't be able to protect her from some major penalties that could be imposed.
    Not only is the onion being peeled, but it will go well with the goose that is getting cooked.

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  16. It's the board of the Mill
    I feel sorry for. Nice people in over their heads who are left looking real silly at best and holding the legal bag,at least in part,at worst.
    Pretty sure they didn't sign on for this misadventure.

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  17. A few years ago a couple of three honest, devoted, smart & caring for the City of Bethlehem REPUBLICANS were running for City Council. The public should have decided then to change their "party"! Its not about the party (DEMOCRAT) its about the candidate and how passionate they feel about honest governmenT. I blame the people of Bethlehem for keeping these a##h!l%s in office! Maybe next time their eyes will be wide open! We can only hope :)

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  18. I really think we need to get over all this Democrat or Republican distinction. BOTH parties have people who make questionable choices. Individual behavior, proper use of taxpayer dollars, ethics, etc. should stand up for scrutiny at all times. Elected politicians supposedly serve all their citizens to the highest of standards. When they seem to stray, they MUST be called out, regardless of party.

    Too many people these days blindly follow whatever their party representatives decide to do and give them cover, even if it means taxpayers have not been served correctly. No matter if you are a Democrat, Republican, Independent, whatever, 'Party' should NOT come first. You can survive without shielding your representatives if they make mistakes along the way.

    On this Dolan issue, answers are still required. Let it all play out as it must. NO free pass.

    Fred Windish

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  19. I will say the Board has handled this well.

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  20. 8:18, I posted but just deleted a response to you. Now is not the time to talk about politics.

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  21. "under most imaginable scenarios, don't see to much of this washing on Callahan. The city could have had dozens of legitimate reasons for not charging a not-for-profit for utilities in a lease of a city building."

    I would agree. Callahan had no conflict of interest. There is some question in my mind whether he has the power to forgive debt bc he is in effect disposing of anticipated revenue without Council approval. I also think it is wrong, even if his rationale was that this is for the greater good. Under that reasoning, every taxpayer in the City could restrict his or her tax money to those projects they want to see funded. Eventually government breaks down.

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  22. I don't think it is proper to blame JC for these shenanigans. All Mayors, regardles of party, have staffers and department heads who handle these types of activities. I believe if the onion is peeled back far enough you will see J Kelly, D Karp and several recently terminated staffers who believed they were helping JC secure an ally on city council.

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  23. And Callahan wants to run for Executive in 2017, no chance.

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  24. Ms Dolan has said JC signed off.
    " He said it was a no brainer!"

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  25. Here are the Dolan facts:

    1) She failed to file nonprofit tax returns for three years in a row.

    2) Her nonprofit status was revoked for at least a year.

    3) Her vote on last year's budget was in violation of the Ethics Act because she voted on a matter in which she had a direct financial interest as a paid Executive Director.

    4) She continued raising money after her nonprofit status was revoked and gave a misleading interview to The Express Times, falsely claiming to be a nonprofit.

    5) She violated the Ethics Act again as recently as last Friday, when she threatened the Mayor concerning a new lease. "I will do everything I can to prevent this lease from going to Council."

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  26. BO. get over your man crush with the wannabe Callahan.

    He is a lair cheat and fake. As soon as your understand thus the better you will be. Hickey can only hide so much.

    Can't wait until the final shoe drops.

    Someone who knows and yes anonymous

    Just like Callahan likes it.

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  27. If the evidence shows some kind of misconduct by Callahan, so be it. Right now it does not. The only person against whom there is evidence thus far is Dolan. As for her statements about Callahan, she has given about 70 versions this far about what happened.

    I will wait for the facts before jumping to conclusions.

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  28. BO. I wish you would give the benefit of doubt to people you do not like or hear things about. You have given the Callahan folks enough. I hope the valanni/cantelmi money was enough for you.

    BTW. YOU want to find out about corruption in the COB?

    Look into the non bid contracts to fix every sidewalk corner in Bethlehem. Guess who got that no bid contract? Conflict of interest? You bet. Did you ask the boy to resign?

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  29. How much tax payer dime did he ( Callahan ) give to Ballard sphare? Rendells firm? You wanna ask questions then ask the right ones? Corruption. I know Dolan is dirty but find out the entire story. Don't stop at Karen. It goes a lot deeper.

    Start at Bierys Bridge road.

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    Replies
    1. Clearly you are a firefighter who doesn't like Ballard Spahr because they were able to get rid of your precious minimum manning and save the City $800,000 in overtime every year.

      Delete
  30. It is easy to come onto a blog anonymously and make accusations of corruption involving a law firm whose name you can't even spell correctly. And to be clear, I have not accused Dolan of corruption. I have accused her of having a conflict. And I sign my name.

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  31. 2:28, I would not trust a word you write. You can't spell names correctly, revealing your own in attention to detail, make a serious accusation about no-bid contracts and lack the personal integrity to identify yourself. Then you accuse me of taking money from people whose names you can't spell. Fuck you.

    If the evidence reveals Callahan acted improperly, I will be quick to point it out. Right now, it's not even close.

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  32. Sorry not a wordsmith like yuo. Story I can't spell but at least I no the facts and not a pos like you

    Your truly
    Anonymus

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  33. If you are on the up and up please stop deleting my posts

    What do you have to fear?

    Oh yes

    The truth

    My bad

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  34. You don't represent truth. You represent hate. You are anonymous, make wild and uninformed accusations, and are deflecting attention away from the issues. In short, you are a troll, and not even a very good one. I will delete you.

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  35. This may test you,BOH. I wish you the best. So far you have done an excellent job on this story.
    Congratulations.

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  36. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  37. Annon commentary goes back in American tradition at least as far as Benjamin Franklin and pre-revolutionary colonial America.
    Much like satire.
    It's called America!

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  38. Maybe it's time the City of Bethlehem take action and remove the questionably non-profit from the mill itself, breaking all ties between the two organizations. The city is only setting itself up for liability issues under the current circumstances. Post a solicitation for bids to the public for legitimate organizations to take over and run the mill and let Ms. Dolan go buy a catering hall and business, while potentially allowing her to focus upon the entire city and not her pet project while "serving" us on city council.

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  39. True the federalist papers published under publius

    8:10 why punish the non-profit? The board wasn't there when this all happened and Dolan resigned the mill (it's possible they probably asked her to step down)

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  40. Please don't tell me you just compared Bernie's blog to the federalist papers? That's gonna go to his head now

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  41. Someone needs to file a complaint with the State Ethics Commission. John Catino would have a field day with this.

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  42. The board wasn't there for the Liquor License oversight ?!?

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  43. by any measure, she's doing a great job. how bout you nut up and shut your mouth, or at least identify yourself, if you're going to continue,

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  44. As usual you missed the point. Anonymous comments have a recognized place in American history. Your stock coward label is jejune. It's quite understandable why someone wouldn't want their name within 20 miles of this hate blog.

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  45. Probably an ex -firefighter fired for calling on sick so he could booze.

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  46. 7:19, anonymity has a place in history, but not anonymous comments in a blog. When used to make personal attacks, they are the refuge of the coward. You are a coward.

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  47. City council is doing their job. They are standing tall against a needless request for more staff from Ms. Karner. People warned she was a train wreak and Bobby D. is finding that out., she is a minor league Boscola wannabe. She needs to hire people to do the job she doesn't know and has fired people who figured out she is clueless. Tank you city council for standing firm in the face of this relentless criticism and attacks.

    Rejoice!

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  48. She fired two divisive people who basically told her they will never work for her or Donchez. She got rid of two people who came and went when they wanted and who spent most of their time in each other's office, gabbing with each other. She fired two people who regularly drank at lunch time in violation of City policy. She got read of two pieces of dead weight who were resented by other City workers bc the rules that applied to everyone else did not apply to them. The negative comments and personal attacks here are a solid indication that Ms. Karner's action was not just justified, but necessary.

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  49. Dude, you were owned. You wrote a shit story and cost someone their reputation and left a city owned non-profit in disarray. Good job!

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  50. Although it is beginning to appear that Callahan decided not to charge utilities, I would like to know what changed between the 2010 letter and that decision.

    I'm guessing someone brought it to the mayor's attention that charging a fledgeling non-profit operational expenses on a city owned building was absurd. Why is this so difficult? Christ, you'd think this place was Mount Vernon or Hyde Park.

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  51. It was no fledgling. That nonprofit gad existed since 29000, and as the Fox, since 2006. Try being honest. Also, I think it is wrong for the mayor unilaterally to change lease conditions, although I can understand him doing so for what he thinks is the greater good. Because of the possibility that there is some quid pro quo between Dolan and Callahan, this requires more scrutiny.I don't think there will be any evidence of that, but there will be lots of evidence of Dolan engaged in a conflict. She needs to resign her seat.

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  52. Fledgeling unless revenues state otherwise.

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  53. In other words, let's change the meaning of words so everything fits your story. This nonprofit had existed since at least 2000, and probably before that. As recently as 2007, it was having no trouble paying utilities. This stopped around the same time that Dolan stopped filing tax return during her mismanagement. It was no fledgling, and had been able to budget and pay for utilities in years past.

    Look, I get "the building looks nice" ARGUMENT. And I have not called Dolan a crook. But she abused the power of her office and the trust the people pout into her, and she needs to go. People like you, quite frankly, should have nothing to do with government. You will defend any outrage so long as it is committed by someone you decide to support.

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  54. Probably true. I don't "support" anyone but recognize that A) this was a city owned property managed by a "non-profit" (meaning the city didn't want to deal with it) and B) people that run non-profits aren't always the best equipped business managers. No personal enrichment, bills paid by the city (who should be paying them anyway) - I see no real problem besides clerical issues and a bad accountant.

    How about naming this clown accountant?

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  55. Actually, in addition to "clerical issues and a bad accountant," there was a blatant conflict of interest, and as recently as last week. You refuse to see that. That alone is the basis of what was a criminal prosecution in the Bonusgate case. That's why Dolan needs to resign.

    The attempt to learn the identity of this accountant is just an attempt to throw someone under the bus and deflect attention away from the person responsible - the Exec Director.

    I could understand Callahan or other City officials saying they will write off the debt in the greater good. I disagree, but can see the argument. reasonable minds can have different opinions there.

    What I can't see is Dolan using the power of her office to extort preferential treatment for an entity in which she is a financial beneficiary. She needs to go.

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