On
Friday, I told you that, for Allentown School Director Ce-Ce Gerlach, it's all about Me-Me. While holding herself out publicly as a vocal critic of Allentown's Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ), she's managed to get a DeSales scholarship. It's funded, at least in part, by NIZ developer City Center Investment Corp (J.B. Reilly). Coincidence? I think not. Sell-out is the operative term. I have since learned that there's more to the story. Gerlach engaged in a conflict of interest last week in violation of the state Ethics Act. What is more, she participated in a Sunshine Act violation.
Allentown Mayor Edwin "Fed Ed" Pawlowski would be very proud.
Before I get into that, let me tell you a little about her scholarship to DeSales University. It is part of the
ACCESS program, designed for people who are already in the workforce. Classes are held only one night per work, with the rest of the course work being done online. NIZ developer City Center Investment Corporation (J.B. Reilly) is footing part of the bill with table crumbs from at least $54 million in state taxes that has gone into its coffers. In fact, Me-Me is probably a lot cheaper than community organizer Alan Jennings, who relies on contributions from City Center for CACLV.
Alan admits he's a prostitute, but he's more expensive and has an ulterior motive. He's actually interested in the poor instead of himself.
There's another big difference, too. Unlike Me-Me, Jennings has no conflict of interest.
Under our
state Ethics Act, a public official like Gerlach has a conflict of interest when she votes in a matter in which she has a private pecuniary interest.
This brings us to Allentown School District's lawsuit against the NIZ Board, challenging the tax exempt status of properties owned by the NIZ, but under which City Center [J.B. Reilly] runs a risk of being held liable if loans are not repaid. According to a
Morning Call story by Matt Assad, the Allentown School Board had a back-room meeting last week in which it decided against appealing Judge Doug Reichley's opinion dismissing the lawsuit. School Board Solicitor John Freund, whose law firm represents the NIZ Authority, is obviously unable to file a suit on behalf of the school district. He is conflicted, so an outside gunslinger was hired. But amazingly, he conveniently advised the Board that it's time to fold and forget about an appeal in the very matter in which he is conflicted.
Having suddenly developed amnesia about his own conflict of interest, it's no surprise that Me-Me participated in the back room discussion and was all for dropping the appeal instead of recusing herself in a matter in which she has a pecuniary interest.
It gets better. This meeting in the back room is a
Sunshine Act violation. A vote on ending the case needs to be made in an open meeting, not behind closed doors. A school board can certainly discuss litigation out of the public eye, but the votes need to be public.
So she got a scholarship. What's the big deal?
Ask State Senator Larry Farnese. He's just been i
ndicted for offering scholarships to a political rival's daughter.
The feds call this bribery.
