I want to discuss one of those warts.
On August 28, 2013, ( see Part 9). before the CRIZ was approved, Lew Ronca set up a conference call with Mayor Callahan, Senator Lidsa Boscola and Ronca's partner in Martin Tower, billionaire Norton Herrick. The purpose of this call was to engage high power lobbyists. Who better than the very lobbyists who managed to get the NIZ enacted for Allentown? So the call also included lobbyists Rocco Pugliese and Heather Browne of Pugliese Associates. It also included governmental relations specialist Daniel Robinson, who most have been on board for the ride with Pugliese. .
Heather Browne is married to State Senator Pat Browne, a ranking Senate Republican whose support would be instrumental in getting the CRIZ enacted. And he supported it.
Browne denied his wife had anything to do with the NIZ, but it's pretty clear she had a lot to do with the CRIZ. How is this not a conflict of interest? When he ran against Senator Browne many moons ago, Rick Orloski discussed this arrangement:
"Pat and Heather Browne have injected something new into Lehigh Valley politics, namely, the husband and wife team working in the Capitol with Pat Browne receiving public monies and Heather Browne receiving private monies to advance private agendas. Senators are supposed to serve the public good, not private agendas. Maybe the ideal solution is for Pat Browne to relinquish his public position and join his wife's lobbyist firm."Under the state Ethics Act,
"A conflict of interest is defined as use by a public official or public employee of the authority of his office or employment or any confidential information received through his holding public office or employment for the private pecuniary benefit of himself, a member of his immediate family, or a business with which he or a member of his immediate family is associated."It appears that Browne's vote to support the CRIZ was for the private pecuniary interest of his wife and hence a conflict.
Let's discuss another wart.
According to the CRIZ application, Martin Tower represents a $175 million investment. There will be $.42.8 million in financing, with an annual debt service of about $3 million. It is projected to create 1,375 jobs. Total CRIZ revenue through 2024 is estimated at $34.2 million.
The only way that happens is with retail. Lots of retail.
What was Sen. Boscola's vote and dealings with all of this?
ReplyDeletePA legislature, the biggest whore house in the state.
ReplyDeleteIt's been evident to regulars you refused to discuss P.Browne's court case but his conduct this year and his plea and being accepted into a special program primarily created for first time offenders has left a sour taste. Now this! This couple are perfect for each other.
ReplyDeleteWhat was Sen. Boscola's vote and dealings with all of this?
ReplyDeleteGood question. Many were shocked that she joined with the Republicans to support former Gov. Corbett's budgets. Perhaps this may be a clue as to why.
Elected to the Senate in 2005 (special), 2006, 2010, 2014. Prior to that a decade in the House. Obviously the voters approve of him and corporate welfare (NIZ,CRIZ). Can't come up with a budget in 5 months, but as long as he keeps the monied folks happy, who cares about anything else. Glad the GOP attraction to "outsiders" at the national level hasn't "trickled down" to the local level, because we need folks like Browne in Government. He's exactly the type of government the voters seem to want in Harrisburg.
ReplyDeleteSen. Boscola also recently bragged about her vote in favor of a right-wing Republican proposal to abolish all property taxes. That sounds good, but it would have caused the poor, renters and middle class folk to pay much more in sales and income tax so that people who own huge estates or skyscrapers would pay nothing. Her vote mattered - the plan came within one vote of passing the Senate.
ReplyDeleteSen. Browne's wife's involvement would seem less suspicious in these matters if she had independent credentials to have been a top government lobbyist. She did not. She had one qualification, and that was her marriage ring.
ReplyDeleteIt all seems fishy to me, but i take issue with your assumption about Martin tower and retail. All of that CRIZ increment, investment and jobs could also have happened if the tower became more office which also produces great CRIZ benefit (look at Allentown). It does not mean it was destine for retail back then.
ReplyDeleteHeather Browne had no role in setting up the NIZ. Her role was that Reilly and Topper paid her a kickback in exchange for Pat Browne getting the legislation passed; they retained her as a lobbyist for $300k/year. I don't know if it's continuing.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.lehighvalleylive.com/allentown/index.ssf/2012/01/pat_brownes_wife_hired_by_firm.html
This was one of the major reasons the whole thing stinks.
The Banker
Were is the sneek that snuk the infamous book of legisltion in on that infamous hot friday night hidden under the skirt of said redd puffy faced representative above for media mans put to print circus law enACT ment RePete soul sale sector apprentece now just simply put Deatheater Representative tool¿!($
ReplyDeleteredd
patent pending
Happy Easter
Banker, I am aware that Browne denied she had a role in setting uo the NIZ, but she sure as hell had a role in setting up the CRIZ. This seems to me like a very clear conflict for the Senator. She is no longer at Pugliese, to my knowledge.
ReplyDelete"i take issue with your assumption about Martin tower and retail. All of that CRIZ increment, investment and jobs could also have happened if the tower became more office which also produces great CRIZ benefit (look at Allentown). It does not mean it was destine for retail back then."
ReplyDeleteA greater mind than mine is looking at the numbers and I will talk to him when he is done.
"What was Sen. Boscola's vote and dealings with all of this?"
ReplyDeleteShe was a vocal proponent of both NIZ and CRIZ.
Oh I'm not arguing her role in the CRIZ, just pointing out what happened in the NIZ as it still pisses me off.
ReplyDeleteThe Banker
So Angle is crunching the numbers?
ReplyDeleteI have not asked Ron, although I know no one better at seeing through bullshit. He must have seen thru you. Hence, your anonymous hate.
ReplyDeleteMs. Brown just closed her second hand clothes business in Emaus.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that the Browns no longer need that revenue stream.
Mrs. Browne is unfortunately ill. I wish her the best in fighting her illness, but her work as a lobbyist on behalf of the Bethlehem CRIZ out her husband in an illegal conflict of interest.
ReplyDeleteJustin Simmmons will be the next Senator. Everyone knows that.
ReplyDeleteAnd people wonder why the biggest fear in the country today , (prior to Paris), was/is govt corruption. this mess in Allentown and the mess to be in Bethlehem backs that up more than ever.
ReplyDeletepeople all over the area, and in this blog, claim the brown family connection is illegal , but nobody , I repeat nobody, gets investigated , let alone charged.
When people keep peeling back the layers , we learn more and more.
if the brown connection is illegal, I say , charge them? if not drop it bc nothing , up until now has happened and the feds and the state have the goods on his families role in the NIZ along with the toppers/Lehigh Gas, and all the other scammers.
lol- how in Gods name can Brown win elections, in this region, based on his sad personal issues, his corrupt family issues, his party affiliation, in a predominately democrat region ?? hmmm wonder how that happens. lol
pat wins on the scratch my back platform...and nothing else. he is a failure in both his personal life and his political life/career and not much has changed with this guy since high school.
this man needs serious help and lets hope , for the sake of his family, he takes his recovery more serious.
what a scam. both parties suck and are corrupt , dishonest and criminal , beyond belief.
None of this would be coming out if not for the FBI investigation of Pawlowski and if not for the NIZ and it's big benefits to developers. If we are going to have the standard that real estate developers shall not make political donations in expectation of favorable treatment by elected officials (which one would have to accept has historically been rather the law of the land), then things will be historically changing in politics and in business, from the local level, on up to the federal level. Many elected officials will be forced to vacate their seats, and many new opportunities will open up for people with no experience, but clean slates. People say this behavior is "wrong," "dishonest," and "corrupt." It certainly looks that way, but is it illegal? In PA, there is a lot of political behavior that wouldn't pass the smell test, but in PA it turns out that it's not an ethics violation -- perfectly legal. Let's acknowledge that this system existed before any of these people held office and way beyond PA. There is a political/business game and these people played it, using the rules of the game. Let's apply this standard to Donald Trump and see how he stands up. Apply it to all of Washington. I hope that young people, women and people of color get their petitions ready to run to fill the vacancies created when these old white men fall.
ReplyDelete