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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Monday, May 23, 2016

West Easton Has Paid $18k in Legal Fees This Year

Holy Ghost, West Easton landmark
Blogger Matt Dees, who has been serving on West Easton's Borough Council since January, has had some interesting stories. Kelly Gross, daughter of Mayor Gerry, was ousted by voters last year in a shocker. She had been President of Council and was certainly its de facto Borough Manager. Though her heart was certainly in the right place, she had been publicly ridiculed and defamed for several years in some vicious screeds. Something inside her snapped, and she began reacting inappropriately with everyone.

When the new Council came aboard in January, they were not only beset by missing records, but missing computers as well. They were also plagued by false rumors that the Borough would discard its one and only public works employee, Dane Thatcher, in favor of one of their pals. They also had to contend with a final parting shot from Kelly Gross, in the form of publicly funded newsletter.

Under circumstances like these, where none of them really knew what was going on, you could expect high legal bills. Since the date of his appointment in January, Easton Attorney Steve Goudsouzian has been paid $18,443.87. Of that sum, $1,203.37 is for legal work involved in defending West Easton from the legal slings and arrows of Tricia Mezzacappa.

Her honeymoon with the new Borough Council was brief one, and a hearing is scheduled in June for her latest nonsense. She will lose, but so will the Borough because it will cost at least another $1,000 in attorney fees. .

There are several other loose ends from the Kelly Gross days. Goudsouzian told Council that  the goodbye letter from Kelly Gross "was of a personal nature." Yet taxpayers paid about $520 for it. She also managed last year to slip herself a check for $450 as "Acting" Emergency Management Coordinator, even though she has none of the training and was never appointed to that position by anyone.

On February 8, Goudsouzian was instructed to get the money back.

It is known that outside auditors had concerns about Kelly Gross' use of petty cash. That audit should be public soon. There is no suggestion of anything beyond sloppy bookkeeping and a lack of internal controls.

Finally, there's a strange insurance policy that Matt Dees tells me was approved by a prior Council in 2002. West Easton Borough Council members are only paid $900 per year. By law, they could be paid as much as $1,875. Mayor Gerry Gross is paid only $1,200, but could be paid as much as $2,500. Some Council members likely felt they were entitled to this benefit in view of their low salary..

In response to a Right-to-Know, West Easton has only been able to reconstruct records since 2012. Since that time, it has gone through four different insurance companies. It covered only some Council members, mostly because borough officials forgot to add and remove Council members as they changed.

In February, Council decided to stop paying on that policy, and it is currently in limbo.

Dees has done a commendable job of helping to create a West Easton Borough webpage, complete with minutes of meetings and a calendar of events.

One of these will be the replacement of Council member Louis Niko, who has resigned.  Council is expected to vote on a new Council member tonight.

Removing Kelly Gross has done nothing to end the shouting matches during meetings. Dan DePaul regularly interrupts and yells at other Council members, particularly Robert Lewis. Two Council members, Henry and Tom Nodoline, are suing each other. And historically, Wast Easton has always been a fractious board. The only real difference between now and then is that now, it gets almost no coverage in the local newspapers.

That's why I hope Matt Dees continues to video and blog about the government.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Niko should have resigned a year ago, so that someone could have run to fill his seat. There was no way he was coming back. Another indication of how dysfunctional the board was.

GG CB DD said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

This borough needs to be disbanded! Give it up and join the civilized world. Cede the borough by popular vote to Wilson and be done with the nonsense. The residents deserve better than this Mom and Pop situation. Stop already!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Matthew A. Dees said...

It should be noted that the insurance policy was offered through the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs (PSAB). It is life insurance for elected officials at a very low rate. During one of our first meetings this year our solicitor pointed out that there could be a conflict regarding our salary, if it were to continue being paid for from the general fund, which is why we suspended paying it. My own opinion is that the option of having it should remain available to the elected, but it should be paid for by the individuals who opt in, whether by payroll deduction, or a personal check paid to the Borough for reimbursement.

Matt

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Stop the madness! W. Easton is the laughing stock of the valley! Chapman gets more respect. Propping up this disaster ins not fair to the residents. If you poll the entire boro..the results would be overwhelming.. DISBAND!

Anonymous said...

@ 6:04
Her friends DePaul and H. Nodolene won't even vote for Mezzacrazy. Why would any council member want to attach a loose nut to the wheel?

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Bernie O'Hare said...

I have deleted a few comments posted by Mezzacappa and the Blog mentor anonymously.

Anonymous said...

6:04, you have it all wrong ...the wanna be constable "mezzacappa" was too busy fighting her criminal charges with her taxpayer funded public defender , to dethrone anyone, let alone Kelly Gross. Morganelli bit and missed, so sadly she is free and roaming the halls of the courthouse again, looking for her next taxpayer funded payday.

Word has it that her days as a magistrate errand runner will be short lived because Momma's wheels cannot transport criminals.

Bernie O'Hare said...

No magisterial district judge would ever hire Mezzacappa for anything, especially when she has not paid her own outstanding criminal fines. https://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/CPReport.ashx?docketNumber=CP-48-SA-0000154-2013

Bernie O'Hare said...

Mezzacappa's anonymous comments here will be deleted.

Anonymous said...

Once again, the People get screwed by scam artists , who claim to be serving the same People and the Peoples best interests. Love the excuse of sloppy book keeping to justify any public official skimming cash, paying themselves, paying their friends and or their friends favorite community groups. FOLLOW THE MONEY !
Stop paying these fools. People either serve bc they want to and do it for free, or don't run for the elected position. Take the cash out of the equation.

Anonymous said...

Public referendum needed. Get the question on the ballot. Disband W. Easton boro asap. The vote will be overwhelming. Somebody please start the ball rolling. Have some pride in your community and join Wilson boro. Stop the madness before it gets even worse.

Bernie O'Hare said...

If West Easton were to disband, it would automatically go to Palmer, which is where it comes from. That means much higher taxes for West Easton residents and is why they are in no hurry. What makes more sense is a merger with Wilson. Bt that would require the approval of Wilson residents, too, and i don;t think Wilson Boro is crazy about merging with West Easton.

Anonymous said...

Wilson the better option by far. Wilson probably wants no part of current officials in W. Easton so they would have to step aside until an election cycle comes around and then run for Wilson boro seats. Easton also an option and maybe panto needs to think about that option as well as Wilson. Bidding war perhaps?

Anonymous said...

That's right West Easton Residents help us pay for all the policing of shootings between 15th and 16th St. at Ferry and Lehigh St.

Anonymous said...

Mezzacappa is elected by a vote of 6-2, eat your heart out boonie!

Bernie O'Hare said...

This kind of dishonesty eplains why you've been sued for defamation, Blog mentor. My prediction is she gets 0 votes.

Anonymous said...

West Easton and Wilson should merge. Same school district so the taxes should not increase for anyone, they can save money by consolidating public works, administration, etc., get real police coverage instead of PSP or contracting to Easton. It will never happen though.

I never figured out why Palmer taxes are so high, they are at NJ rates currently.

Anonymous said...

What's the matter BO it hurts when the truth gets out. Oh I don't lie I always want the truth to be told.