CLARKE REPORT EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Mantura Gallagher

On Friday morning at the county courthouse, I conducted an exclusive interview with Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Mantura Gallagher.  Mrs. Gallagher requested my time because she took issue with parts of my recent article concerning the alleged fraud of custody conciliation officer Lynn Bressi and perceived diversionary tactics by Gallagher and Pottsville Republican and Herald publisher Henry Nyce. In the interest of fairness, I agreed to print Gallagher’s “clarifications” to allow the readers to decide for themselves what really happened.

Before getting to the interview, I just wanted to express my appreciation to Commissioner Gallagher for reaching out to me and wanting to tell her side to the story, instead of having family members send threatening e-mails to myself and my family, like some other public officials did. She was very candid and answered most of my questions straightforwardly with class and dignity.

Its not a secret that I had a lot of respect for Mrs. Gallagher before today because of my family’s relationship with hers and because of my dealings with her husband Jim. After today, I respect her even more. The questions posed below were not necessarily asked or answered in this order. We had a 45-minute conversation and bounced around quite a lot, but I placed it in this order for you to better follow along.

CLARKE REPORT: Thank you for inviting me here today, Commissioner. What can I do for you?

MANTURA GALLAGHER: Since I entered public life, I have made it a point not to usually read things on the internet like The Green Screen, The Purple Page, and other sites, because I know that I will want to reply to inaccurate stories, gossip, and rumors. However, I broke my own policy when your story was brought to my attention because you called into question my integrity and actually accused me of a criminal act . . . trying to cover-up the Lynn Bressi matter.

CLARKE REPORT: Well, to be clear Commissioner, I never accused you of using your office to faciliate a cover-up. I merely stated my opinion that because of your past run ins with [Schuylkill County Controller] Melinda Kantner and your friendship with Lynn Bressi and Henry Nyce, that I believe you were attempting to divert public attention away from the scandal for political purposes.

GALLGHER: You called it a cover-up.

CR: No, I pondered the question of whether the act of not referring the case to the Attorney General and instead giving it to the Pottsville PD, who doesn’t have jurisdiction here, is an attempt at a cover-up. Regardless, let’s get down to the facts of my story.

**Editor’s Note: According to today’s Pottsville Republican, the Bressi case has finally been officially turned over to Attorney General Tom Corbit.

CR: Are you friends with Lynn Bressi and do you play cards with her?

GALLAGHER: I play bridge, not poker, once a week with a few other professional, high profile women. Lynn used to play with us bi-weekly, but since this happened, she has not come back.

CR: Have your spoke with her since the story broke?

GALLAGHER: Only once in a parking lot. She tried to convince me that she did not do what she was accused of. However, I had already seen the evidence for myself. But before getting into all of that, I want to make a few things clear to you and your readers. My office has no jurisdiction in this matter. Lynn was employed by the courts, which is overseen by Bill Baldwin [Court of Common Pleas President Judge William Baldwin]. The only thing the Commissioners have to do with the courts is that we approve their yearly budget. All personnel decisions and the day to day operations go through Bill and his staff at Court Administration. So, even if I wanted to, which I don’t, I had no say in the investigation or the decision to terminate Lynn. I was notified as a courtesy by Bill when the investigation was concluded and the decision was made to let her go. However, as a point of fact, she was not fired. She resigned in lieu of termination.

CR: So, are you not disputing the allegations of fraud on the part of Ms. Bressi?

GALLAGHER: Well, its not my place to. I and the other commissioners were merely given a heads up as a courtesy. We were not involved in this at all.

CR: And I believe I made that very clear in my article, too. However, my issue was with how quickly after this story broke you and the Republican switched gears to the Kantner late rental payment, when this is a very important story to the taxpayers of Schuylkill County. We are talking about allegations of a public official stealing money!

GALLAGHER: If you have issues with the Republican’s coverage, you need to talk to them.

CR: Aren’t you friends with Nyce?

GALLAGHER: We went to school together. I occassionally socialize with him, yes.

CR: So then, can you explain the disparity in coverage? On one hand, you have allegations of fraud by a public official, someone who is your friend, that leads to her dismissal. That story garners a 50-word, below the fold, barely visible story with two 35-word follow-ups. That night, you bring up the late rent payment at the Commissioner’s meeting, which leads to a banner headline, 700-word, half page article, that leads the local news on page 3 the following day. Do you see where people might scratch their heads?

GALLAGHER: Again, I had nothing to do with that. You have to understand, this courthouse is in a standstill financially. Its not just me that has problems with Melinda Kanter, its most of this courthouse. Did you know she has held up payment to court-appointed conflict attorneys because we don’t have official contracts with each individual? That is ridiculous. 17 lawyers are not getting paid for work already completed because she thinks we have to have contracts with each and every one of them before they get paid!

CR: I am one of them, I just haven’t submitted any invoices lately.

GALLAGHER: I wouldn’t be counting on that money anytime soon.

CR: Ugh. That was going to be my Christmas money.

GALLAGHER: We brought up the late rent payment because now her actions are not only affecting individuals, it is costing the taxpayers money, ruining the county’s credit, and souring our relationship with vendors. We thought the people had the right to know. In addition, that brings up another one of the inaccuracies of your article. Your timeline was completely wrong.

CR: How so?

GALLAGHER: The rent payment was not due on the 1st, it was due on the 5th. That invoice was in Kantner’s office on September 29th and had plenty of time to be processed.

CR: That is not what the Republican said. I took my time line directly from Ben Wolfgang’s article.

GALLAGHER: I know. He got it wrong, too. And I told him about it afterward.

CR: So, is it your contention that at no time did you ever discuss pushing the Kantner story over the Bressi story to Henry Neese?

GALLAGHER: I swear . . . . I NEVER talked with Henry about the Bressi matter, ever.

**Editor’s Note: Please notice, how she did not fully answer the question.

CR: Let’s get back to Bressi. You said earlier that my article had other inaccuracies.

GALLAGHER: Yes. Now, again, the information I have about the investigation is not personal knowledge. What I know was told to me by Bill Baldwin. After reading your article, Bill called me and asked “where does this man get his information?”

CR: Why would he say that?

GALLAGHER: Because what he explained to me was completely different from what you reported. He said that he had received complaints from attorneys about excessive continuances in matters in front of Bressi. So, he tasked his staff with looking into if this was happening and trying to find out why. When they reviewed the invoices, cross-checked them with other court documents, and conducted interviews with the attorneys in some of the involved cases, they found that she was double billing the county. Melinda Kantner had NOTHING to do with the investigation. It was all Judge Baldwin and his staff. The only thing she ever did was provide billing records to Ben Wolfgang when he requested them for his story.

**Editor’s Note: Melinda Kantner was NOT my primary source for this article. My primary source works for a prominent local law firm who was involved with reporting on Bressi’s conduct and told me specifically that the Controller’s office had conducted an audit and reported the findings to Judge Baldwin. I talked to Kantner after the first source gave me all the info, to corroborate what he/she said. Kantner’s story matched up almost perfectly with my primary source. The source does not know Kantner personally and does not work with/for her. That is why I ran the story. I explained this to Mrs. Gallagher.

GALLAGHER: What infuraited a lot of people was that she was claiming credit for something she never even knew about and you believed her!

CR: That is only because I had a source saying the same thing.

GALLAGHER: You have to understand. She is a grandstander. If she really had uncovered this, don’t you think her first phone call would have been to the media and not Bill Baldwin?

CR: I asked her that question specifically, because I too had found that to be a bit unlike her. However, she explained that she that Bressi was different because it involved a criminal investigation and the possibility of someone going to jail. She said that it would be inappropriate for the primary investigator to be going public before the police completed their own investigation.

GALLAGHER: And you believed that? This is a woman who spends her days conducting audits that she is not empowered to complete in an effort to play “gotcha” with her political enemies. The only two audits she has done this year were over cell phone usage and vehicles, both of which she has no authority to do.

CR: Why? That’s her job.

GALLAGHER: The county code says that the Controller only completes audits at the request of the Commissioners. We did not authorize any of those audits. She was merely rummuging through records trying to catch one of us doing something wrong so that she could run to the papers.

Now you have both sides of the story. You decide.

Local GOP Lays an Egg

On a night when Republicans statewide and nationally enjoyed the riches of election night victory, scores of local GOP candidates went down in flames, some more painfully than others. Former Pottsville City Police Chief and Sheriff candidate, Dale Repp, lost a heartbreaker to incumbent Joseph Groody by 500 votes. Pottsville mayoral candidate Beth Pillus fell short of incumbent Mayor John DW Reilly by 100 votes. And, District Attorney contender Christine Holman was shellacked by current DA, Jim Goodman, by over 3000.

But, while Schuylkill Republicans were drowning themselves in quarts of Yuengling, the rest of the GOP nation was toasting to victory. In Virginia, McDonnell recaptured the Governor’s mansion in impressive fashion by dispatching his democrat opponent by nearly 20 points, while his GOP slate-mates swept the rest of the statewide races. Likewise, in New Jersey, GOP challenger Chris Christie upset  incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine. In the Pennsylvania judicial races, Republicans were victorious in 6 of the 7 contests on the statewide ticket.

The only GOP success story of the night in Schuylkill County was political phenom Scott Thomas, who at the age of 19, was elected to the Pottsville School Board. Still, even that story had a sour after taste as incumbent board president, Jack Dolbin, was ousted from his seat by democrat Denise Fanelli. 

So what happened?

Two words: Bob Ames.

All those winning races I mentioned above had one thing in common . . . organization. Schuylkill democrats had a great game plan coming into election day and were effective in implementing it. Every precinct in the county was covered during all hours the polls were open. Every worker was armed with arms-full of campaign literature. Prominent democrat politicians were present in swing districts. All these factors tipped the scales in the democrats favor tonight. 

Meanwhile, the Republican ground game was non-existent. Polls were left uncovered. Signs were not posted. Literature was in short supply. And leadership was invisible. I witnessed this first-hand. In my hometown of Orwigsburg, the Applewood precinct was left vacant. While democrat Clerk of Courts Stephen Lukach stumped for Goodman and Groody, Holman and Repp didn’t even have a sign visible. The only reason there were signs at the borough hall precinct was because I took the ones in my yard and staked them out in front of the poll myself. Goodman ended up winning Orwigsburg by 3 votes, while Groody only lost by 150. This, in a town that is nearly 70% Republican. Dave Argall and Jerry Knowles easily won here less than a year ago by double digits. And, this in a town where the long-time GOP committee members stepped down two months ago, but their posts remained unfilled today (even though I personally asked if I could fill the void, but was refused).

In East Brunswick Township, another Republican bastion, the designated poll worker failed to show up. Calls to Republican Headquarters in Pottsville went unanswered. It took Christine Holman going out there herself late in the afternoon to have a Republican presence at that precinct at all. I personally called HQ four times to attempt to fill vacant polls and obtain more literature for other poll workers. However, each of my calls were never answered.

Key Republican political operatives, who are battle tested campaign veterans that know how to get out the vote, were either never contacted to contribute on election day or were told that they were not needed.

These faux pas are merely the tip of the iceberg. It doesn’t even get into the major problems with anemic fundraising, disappearance of phone banking, and no support with neighborhood canvassing, that ALL the Republicans candidates in Schuylkill County experienced during this election cycle.

2009 marks the fifth straight election defeat for the local GOP and the fourth in a row for the current Schuylkill Republican Chairman. To add insult to injury, this Election Night was historic in the fact that a Republican candidate who won Pottsville was unsuccessful county-wide due mostly to the fact that he (Dale Repp) lost key voting districts in Ames’ backyard of Coaldale and Tamaqua, and in places like Hegins where democrats actually hide the fact that they are democrat for fear of public flogging.

For years, I have been screaming at the top of my lungs for a change in leadership in the Schuylkill County GOP Committee. Maybe after tonight’s embarrassing effort, the rest of the party might actually get a clue and join my bandwagon.

Commissioners & Local Media Playing Politics with Bressi Fraud Case

More than a week ago, news broke that Pottsville attorney Lynn G. Bressi, who was employed as a custody master by the Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas, was fired from her position and was being investigated for fraud relating to the alleged over-billing of the county.  According to sources close to the investigation, the alleged fraud was uncovered by Schuylkill County Controller Melinda Kantner after complaints from local attorneys about protracted custody proceedings. Once Kantner discovered discrepancies in the billing records, she immediately reported her findings to President Judge William E. Baldwin, who promptly canned Bressi on October 12th.

According to public documents, Bressi billed the county for nearly $82,000 in services last year and over $64,000 so far this year in a position that is traditionally a part-time job. Bressi, a prominent democrat, who serves on the Schuylkill County Board of Elections, is reportedly a close personal friend of County Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Mantura Gallagher. The two are rumored to play a weekly card game with each other. In addition, in an ironic twist of fate, Gallagher reportedly leaned heavily on Kantner when she took office to hire Bressi as that office’s solicitor. Kantner eventually decided on Pottsville attorney Sudhir Patel. Bressi is also married to attorney Charles Bressi, a former assistant district attorney under incumbent James P. Goodman.

Although Kantner is a democrat and has been criticized heavily on this site for some of her antics, The Clarke Report would like to applaud Kantner in spear-heading the initial probe that brought down another purported dirty public official. It is even more impressive because Kantner’s target is a prominent figure in Kantner’s own democratic party. However, not everyone is as appreciative as I. One who is said to be on the war path is Gallagher. And she was reportedly used her relationship with Harold Nice, publisher of the Pottsville Republican, the most widely circulated newspaper in Schuylkill County, and other county officials to smear Kantner as payback for getting her buddy fired.

The Pottsville Republican & Herald was the first major news outlet to report on the alleged fraud following a days worth of rumors on the popular local message board, The Green Screen. The initial article, written by staff reporter Ben Wolfgang, ran in small type on the front page of the Saturday edition of the paper. Two very short follow-up stories have been printed in past two weeks, again in small type, in the middle pages of the newspaper.

The day after this story broke, Gallagher and fellow democrat Commissioner Francis McAndrew lambasted Kantner at a public board meeting for allegedly paying one of the county’s bills late. The Republican reported this story with a banner headline and half page story on page 3 of its publication, unlike the Bressi story, which only garnered moderate attention as mentioned above.

If Kantner paid a bill late due to negligence or malfeasance, resulting in unnecessary fees to county taxpayers, I agree with Gallgher’s criticisms. However, my own investigation has revealed that this is a contrived story whose purpose is political revenge. Gallagher contends that the county was forced to pay nearly $500 in late rental fees for a building that is used by MH/MR  because Kantner failed to meet the October 1st deadline, despite the fact that MH/MR’s fiscal officer hand delivered the invoice to the Controller’s office on the afternoon of September 29th. McAndrew said, “If the controller’s office can’t handle a rent transaction, then we have a problem. This is costing taxpayers money. And it’s making me very mad.”

Problem is that no one in the Controller’s office can remember the fiscal officer coming into the office on that day. They contend that they did not receive the invoice until October 5th, at which time is was paid within days. My issue is that even if you give MH/MR the benefit of the doubt, the fact is that the bill STILL WOULD HAVE BEEN LATE! The Controller does “check runs” every Tuesday and Thursday morning. After checks are cut, they are forwarded to the Commissioner’s Office for signatures (county code states that 2 of the 3 members must sign off). Once the signatures are obtained, the checks are sent back to the Controller to be logged and then sent over to the county Treasurer’s Office to be sent by mail. From the time the invoice is received until it reaches the mailbox of the recipient usually takes a week to 10 days (this I know from experience as court-appointed counsel). September 29th was a Tuesday, so a check for the invoice, even if received that afternoon would not have been cut until Thursday October 1st, which was the deadline. And even if MH/MR had delivered it that morning, it would have been an all-time record for that payment to have been received by the building’s landlord two days later.

What this means is that the criticisms are merely posturing meant to reduce the credibility of the Controller and her employees. Sad thing is, is that the Republican has been a partner in this sham. However, their actions are not suprising. Nice is reportedly a big democratic party benefactor and Wolfgang is widely looked at as a party mouthpiece who selectively reports “news” that is is beneficial to democratic candidates and politicians.

Then, you have the criminal investigation into Bressi’s alleged fraud that has left many scratching their heads. Following Bressi’s termination, Baldwin forwarded the case to DA Goodman for an investigation and possible prosecution. However, Goodman, citing a “conflict of interest”, pitched the case to the Pottsville Police Department. I don’t take issue with Goodman farming the case out because it is clear that he would have a conflict, but his choice of where to send the Bressi matter is questionable. Bressi’s alleged actions happened INSIDE the county courthouse. Pottsville Police Department has NO JURISDICTION inside the courthouse. So, even if they wanted to bring charges, they can’t. Usually, in cases where a public official is alleged to have committed criminal conduct in association with their job, the prosecution is immediately forwarded to and handled by the Attorney General of Pennsylvania. As of the date  of this post, no one has turned the case over to Tom Corbett, who just happens to be a Republican. Is this an attempt at a cover-up to save a political ally or just a case of a DA not knowing proper procedure?  Who knows. After the goings on in the courthouse over the past two years, nothing would surprise me.

School Board Race Gets Dirty

Charlie Dries will do anything to hold onto a slim majority on the Pottsville School Board. It looks as though he’ll even use Nixonian dirty tricks on a civic-minded teenager. Dries, the Pottsville City democratic party chairman, has reportedly been leading a door to door smear campaign against School Board candidate Scott Thomas, telling voters that Thomas is dating a Pottsville High student and that he is “mooching” off his parents.

Thomas, a 19-year old college freshman at Lehigh-Carbon Community College, became the youngest elected official in Schuylkill County history last fall when he won a seat on the GOP state committee. For this race, though, Thomas is on both sides of the ballot, as he easily was nominated on the Republican and democratic tickets this past spring. And that has Dries fired up.

Friends of The Clarke Report in such areas as the Yorkville section of Pottsville and Palo Alto have called in and reported that Dries and some other democratic candidates have approached them complaining about Thomas’ dating habits, his living arrangements with his parents, and a lack of driver’s license. Dries has also reportedly been urging democratic voters in the city to split their ticket, meaning to not just vote strictly for all democratic candidates, in an effort to keep Thomas off the Board. If both Thomas and current board president Jack Dolbin win in November, the Republican Party will have a majority on the Pottsville Board for the first time in 27 years.

“I am not going to dignify these smears with a response,” said Thomas, who chose to talk exclusively to The Clarke Report. “This campaign is about issues important to students and parents, like closely monitoring high school drop out rates and encouraging better communication between the district and parents. This race will not be decided by idle locker room chatter.”

He added, “We have too many problems to solve in our schools for me to get hung up on something like this. I am just going to keep knocking on doors, making phone calls, and telling the voters of the Pottsville School District where I stand on the critical issues facing our parents and students. Hopefully, on Election Day, that will be enough.”

Here is my take: If Dries wants to make an issue about Thomas’ relative inexperience in the adult workforce or the fact that he doesn’t pay school property taxes yet, fine. Those are all relevant to deciding whether someone is qualified to hold public office. However, when you start discussing who Thomas may be dating without substantiation or using buzzwords like “mooch” to describe a private family decision, you have crossed the line. Dries and his democratic candidates have resorted to the politics of personal destruction only because Thomas has them outhustled on the campaign trail and has them pinned down with his superior policy positions. The last gasp of a defeated politician is always to start attacking the person and his family.

But, for the record, if Scott Thomas wanted to date a high school girl, I believe that would be completely appropriate. Remember, he is only 19 and graduated just a year ago. Dating a junior or senior would not only be legal, but most parents wouldn’t even bat an eye at it. Second, it is common place for college students to continue living at home while attending school, especially if that school is local. Thomas, nor his parents are breaking any rules with his arrangement. In fact, I have talked to Scott’s father, who assures me that Thomas continues to pull more than his weight around the household, while still finding time to study, attend class, campaign, and volunteer in his church and with the elderly.

If gossiping like a high school clique during lunch period is all Charlie Dries and the democratic party have to offer the voters this November, they may just find themselves in the principal’s office come Election Day.

Holman & Goodman Slug it out at Chamber Debate

Chamber breakfasts are supposed to be quaint affairs. Business people and politicians coming together to revel in their successes, network, and make their best pitch for an upcoming project or votes in an election. I have been to more than a few of these events, which usually turn out to be snoozefests. However, today’s Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce debate between incumbent District Attorney James P. Goodman and Republican challenger Christine A. Holman was anything but.

Instead of staging the debate as a joint press conference, where one candidate gets an allotted time to make his case and is followed by his opponent, this year’s debate committee decided to allow opening and closing statements, questions from the floor, and rebuttals of an opponent’s answer. This format allowed Goodman and Holman to go at each other with full force. And that is exactly what they did.

Things started off civil enough, though , as Goodman lauded his prosecutorial record, citing the fact that he has sent more people to state prison this year, almost triple, than former DA Frank Cori did in 2005. He mentioned the fact that he has used grant money to form elder abuse and sex crimes units within the District Attorney’s office and has hired three new full-time prosecutors over the past four years to staff those units. In addition, Goodman praised himself for clearing an alleged log jam of cases left by his predecessor.

Holman countered with her resume of work as a prosecutor of juvenile crimes under Frank Cori and her trial work as a public defender. She claims to have tried over 2000 cases during her years of public service and promised to be a “working district attorney” by maintaining her own load of cases that she will prosecute personally. Finally, Holman pledged to serve out her term as DA if she was elected and not accept any appointments to higher office. She asked Goodman to do the same, but he never did.

Things became a little testy when the subject turned to illegal immigration. Holman promised to combat illegal immigration in the county by forming a task force, financed partially by the federal government, to hunt down, detain, and prosecute those who live in this county illegally. She recited statistics that indicated when local law enforcement joins the fight against illegals, crime goes down, and advocated a desperate need in this county for the top law enforcement official to be in the lead. Then, she brought up Shenandoah, claiming that Goodman “embarrassed Shenandoah and the rest of Schuylkill County by mishandling the [Luis Ramirez murder] case” and chided him for delegating the responsibility of prosecuting the case to a subordinate.

Goodman brushed off Holman’s criticisms, stating that he had looked into forming a task force, but claimed it was “too costly” and he didn’t believe that the district attorney should be the county officer to hunt down illegals. He said that he would prefer the Sheriff’’s office to take the lead in such an endeavor. Furthermore, Goodman said that he was more concerned with prosecuting all crimes equally and not leaving victims who happened to be illegal immigrants out in the cold. Goodman explained himself in the Shenandoah case by saying that he followed the law and the facts by putting those on trial that the evidence pointed to, despite the fact that the victim was an illegal alien.

Goodman went on to report that he had prosecuted three first degree murder cases in his four years and asked Holman of she ever participated in a jury trial and what she would do if an illegal immigrant was the victim of rape. Holman rebutted by stating that juvenile cases are all bench trials, where judges who are trained and experienced in the law decide cases instead of juries stacked with laymen who “learn as they go”. She claimed that bench trials are much harder to prosecute than juries and that she would have taken part in more adult prosecutions if Goodman hadn’t canned her when he first came into office merely because she had supported her former boss during the 2005 campaign.

The biggest fireworks came when discussing the drug epidemic in Schuylkill County. Goodman heralded his record of “taking drug dealers off the streets and putting them behind bars.” He cited recent examples in the news about huge drug busts as evidence of his accomplishments. However, Holman disagreed with his assessment, stating that Goodman had broken his main campaign platform of no deals for drug dealers. “Over the past four years, my opponent has pleaded down or withdrawn the cases of 48% of this county’s drug offenders,” Holman said. She went on to cite numerous examples of alleged drug dealers who had their cases unceremoniously dropped.

Goodman took issue with Holman’s statistics. He became noticeably red-faced and some in the audience reported that he was even shouting when he asked Holman to qualify her statistics. He explained that in many cases where charges were withdrawn against drug dealers, it was because either the defendant had died or the police’s confidential informant had failed to appear to testify.

WPPA radio’s Step Up to the Mic, broadcasted the first half of the debate in their second hour of programming today. Those who were unable to attend the debate or those who just want to hear the candidate’s go back and forth can find the recording in WPPA’s show archive on their website. The second half of the debate may be aired on tomorrow’s show, time permitting. I would encourage all to listen in.

The Mystery of the Phantom Courthouse Car Accident

Over the past few months, a string of allegations of abuse of power has swept through the four corners of the Schuylkill County Courthouse. Now, I am not here to judge the veracity of those allegations, but considering that many of these stories have been swept under the rug, some by government themselves, and others by our trusted local media, it seemed proper to use this venue to at least bring one such allegations to the light of the public’s attention.

It is no secret that many county agencies are assigned government vehicles for business use. Children and Youth Services has vans for transportation of children and Juvenile Probation has cage cars to transport delinquents to and from court and secure placements. Most of these vehicles are nothing special, just minivans and old police cars. However, a few years ago, the Adult Probation Office purchased a brand new black Dodge Charger for use by officers on-call overnight and on the weekends. Some critics at the time argued that it was extravagant and unnecessary, but the county commissioners permitted the department to kept it. Now, this vehicle is only permitted to be driven by authorized county personnel on official county business. Joy riding and personal use are, of course, strictly prohibited.

A few months ago, though, APO’s Charger was allegedly involved in an automobile accident during one of those weekends. A source in the courthouse, who is a high ranking county employee privy to the details, exclusively told The Clarke Report over the summer that not only was the accident the fault of the person driving the Charger, but that the person manning the wheel, although a county employee, was not an authorized driver of the Charger and was not conducting county business at the time.

The source further said that the accident victim had filed suit against the county for damages. As a result, a memo was reportedly sent to certain personnel with knowledge of the incident ordering them not to talk about the incident to anyone. Violators would reportedly be terminated immediately.

My source did not disclose the identity of the driver, nor did I inquire further as to who it was. Although, interestingly enough, a few short weeks after I was given the story, County Administrator Darlene Dolzani abruptly resigned. Coincidence? You decide.

 

I’m Baaaaaaaaack!

Like a moth to porch light, I just couldn’t stay way. With exactly one month to go until Election Day, the draw was just too damn strong and as much as I try, I just can’t stay silent any longer. So, by the power vested in me by me, I hereby re-christen The Clarke Report and return to the political fray.

Just a little over four months ago, I shut down this blog in order to build my new law practice and out of respect for my clients’ interests. I did not want to continue stepping on the toes of those who might have a direct impact on the fate of my clients and their interests. However, while I was gone, I continued to get comments on the site and e-mails asking me to come back. There were even quite a few of you who confronted me in person to ask me why I left and prod me to return. Well, I heard you all loud and clear.

Nothing has changed for me professionally. I still am building my law practice. In just six short months, I have built an active client caseload of 36. I opened a second office in Berks County, where I spend two days every week. The business still not where I want it to be, but we are well on our way. I am still active in the Knights of Columbus, albeit in a different capacity. And I have continued to keep my nose to the grindstone within the local Republican party. It’s just that I did so a bit more quietly.

So what have I learned?

1. When you are out of sight, you are out of mind: Although I have stayed active in a few local campaigns and in touch with a few of the power players  in this county, for the most part, without a megaphone from which to amplify my thoughts and ideas, I fell on deaf ears.

2. The Bi-Polar Controller isn’t so crazy after all: In fact, she is actually quite nice and she seems more concerned about wasteful government spending than some of the Republican leadership we currently enjoy. I have gotten to know her on a professional level and like what I see from her and her employees. She may not have the political savvy of other row officers, but her heart is in the right place and she has done a fantastic job.

3. Local candidates are not getting the support they need from their county party: The Schuylkill GOP is broke. They don’t have any resources to help out their local candidates. That means many of this year’s slate have had to gut it out financially, prompting most to practice some old fashioned press the flesh campaigning. And it seems to be working. So, thank you Bob Ames for bankrupting the county committee financially, so that our candidates could get back to basics. Being destitute may be the best thing that has ever happened to the Schuylkill GOP.

4. This is shaping up to be a great year for Republicans: Christine Holman is giving Jim Goodman the race of his life. Dale Repp looks like he will blow out Joe Groody. Scott Thomas will be on the next Pottsville School Board. And a vast majority of borough councils and township supervisor boards in this county will be stacked with Republicans, most of them new to the political scene. 2008 was the darkest year in recent political memory for out party at every level of government. 2009 is looking like it’s going to the year that we banded together, turned on a flashlight, and began working our way out of the pitch black.

I have amassed a great many stories and complaints during my time off. You will hear all of them as well as the usual up to the minute news and analysis on a variety of topics. However, I will be doing some things a bit differently this time. There will be some topics that I will not comment on or provide independent analysis about. Those will be topics that have the ability to affect my clients adversely. No matter how strongly I feel about such things, my clients interests come before my desire to spout off.

Otherwise, buckle your safety belts, return your tray to the upright position, and hang on tight, because The Clarke Report is BACK and looking to cause a little turbulence.

Clarke Report Shutting Down

It has been a great ride, but like all good things, The Clarke Report must come to an end. As most of you know, last month I opened my own law practice. Since then, the majority of my time has been spent recruiting and servicing clients, leaving little time in the day to spend with my family and fulfill my other political and community obligations, let alone regularly contribute to this site.  In addition, I now have professional relationships with many of the people I have written about daily. To continue to operate this blog as I have in the past may not be in the best interests of my clients.

It is for these reasons that I have decided to shut down The Clarke Report, effective immediately.

I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute that I spent on this project. The Clarke Report has opened so many doors for me so quickly and that is all thanks to you, my readers. I will be eternally grateful to all of you for all of the time you spent with me here.

Rest assured, I will continue to be active in Schuylkill County politics, pushing the envelope with the party and keeping government officials honest. Albeit, it will be from behind the scenes from here on out.

Those who know me best realize that I will not be able to keep my mouth shut for very long. That is why I will continue to contribute to PA Watercooler and to the local internet message board, The Green Screen on a part-time basis. So, if you need a Clarke Report fix, just hop over there.

Again, thank you everyone for your kind words, your leads, and your readership. The comment section will remain active, so if any of you need anything, just shoot me a comment.

Sincerely,

Hank J. Clarke, Esq.

Goodman Blew It

There. Someone finally said it.

The talk around the water cooler the past few days centered around one question: How did the Shenandoah teens get away with murder?  The answers given have spanned everything from the race card to conspiracy theories. Thank goodness the Clarke Report is here to set the record straight. In my opinion, the main reason why Brandon Piekarsky and Derrick Donchak were found not guilty of homicide and aggravated assault in the beating death of Luis Ramirez was the poor performance of Schuylkill County District Attorney James Goodman.

From his rush to judgment as soon as the media’s cameras turned their lenses on Schuylkill County, which tainted his objectivity and focus during the investigative stages, to his tactical errors in and out of the courtroom during the past two weeks, DA Goodman should bear the brunt of the responsibility and criticism for this fiasco.

It was Goodman who decided to ignore Office Senape when he reported that Arielle Garcia had identified Brian Scully as the person who kicked Ramirez in the head while he lay unconscious on the ground to instead focus his attention on Piekarsky.

It was Goodman who decided not answer “the shoe question” until mid-trial.

It was Goodman who decided to drop all state charges against the sucker-puncher, Colin Walsh, in exchange for his testimony even though the evidence suggested he was the most aggressive teen during the fight.

It was Goodman who decided to charge Brian Scully as a juvenile in exchange for his testimony even though he had changed his story three different times and was reportedly the instigator of the entire melee.

It was Goodman who decided to allow Rob Frantz, a part-time ADA who is also a partner at Goodman’s old law firm, to be the lead prosecutor instead of Goodman himself or the office’s top gun, AJ Serina.

Just think where we’d be, if Goodman had just relaxed, gotten all the facts before talking to reporters, and charged the right teens with the right crimes. Justice might actually have been done!

From my vantage point, it looked as though Goodman became intoxicated with the limelight from the state and national news media, which pushed him into making arrests before the police and county detectives knew for sure just what went down that night.  Then, when that adoration turned into pressure to convict, Goodman shriveled up in the intensity of that same limelight. Its not an unusual tale. A small-time prosecutor who sees the opportunity for to take a step up the political ladder, but unwisely takes short cuts to get there faster, ends up getting burned, and being ultimately worse off than he was before it all started.

Now, I am not taking anything away from Fred Fanelli or Jeffrey Markosky. They were PHENOMENAL as defense counsel. But, Goodman’s blunders made their job all the more easier. It was like giving steroids to Secretariat. In the coming months, the citizens of Schuylkill County are going to receive flyers in the mail, listen to commercials on the radio, and watch advertisements on television, explaining how much “good” Jim Goodman has done as our district attorney. If you start to believe any of it, I would suggest thinking back to the moment you heard that the verdict in the biggest trial in Schuylkill County history was NOT GUILTY and then make cast your ballot.

Jury Deliberations Begin Today in Shen Murder Trial

After a day of testimony where District Attorney James Goodman saw two police officers and one of the victim’s friends testify that Brandon Piekarsky was NOT the person who fatally kicked Luis Ramirez in the head, his battered prosecution team will look to recover during closing arguments today. The “trial of the decade” has not gone according to plan for Schuylkill County’s top law enforcement official. It was all supposed to be a slam dunk, but after days of contradictory testimony from Goodman’s own witnesses and the stirring revelations that eyewitnesses identified Brian Scully as the kicker from the police who arrived on the scene first, some trial watchers believe that an acquittal on the murder and manslaughter counts is completely feasible.

West Mahanoy Township police officer Robert Senape and Frackville police officer Michelle Ashman both testified yesterday that eyewitness Arielle Garcia clearly identified Brian Scully, charged as a juvenile in this case and who testified for the prosecution earlier this week, as the teen who kicked Ramirez in the head as he lay unconscious on the street. Mysteriously, that fact never ended up in any official investigation report. Chief Schuylkill County Detective Anthony Carroll claimed that he was never told about Garcia’s Scully identification, but Senape did have a face to face meeting with both Carroll and DA Goodman later on. However, the context of that meeting was excluded from evidence by President Judge William Baldwin.

Hmmmm, something just doesn’t seem right about this.

Although he was the chief investigator on this case, prosecutors did not call Carroll as a witness, but lead defense counsel Fred Fanelli sure did. He thundered away on Carroll asking him why he did not further investigate “the shoe question”, which refers to earlier  testimony from a Ramirez friend that said the person who kicked Ramirez was wearing white and blue shoes. Piekarsky was wearing blue and gray shoes that night, but Scully was wearing white and blue ones.

These revelations further highlight what has become a continuing trend for the prosecution: witnesses who have contradicted themselves and the prosecution’s theory of the case on the witness stand.

First, on Day 1, the neighbor who first heard the fight and called 911 testified differently than what she said on the 911 tape, which was played for the jury. Then, on Day 2, Colin Walsh and Brian Scully, two teens who were key participants in the fatal melee (Scully was the first to approach and punch Ramirez, while Walsh landed the sucker punch that floored Ramirez) were skewered on cross-examination by Fanelli due to their changing their stories multiple times over the course of the case.

For weeks, Scully denied even being at the scene. Later he admitted his involvement, but said that there wasn’t a kick. It was only after he made a deal with Goodman to be charged only as a juvenile that Scully said Piekarsky landed the final kick. It is the defense’s contention that Scully is the person who kicked Ramirez in the head.

Walsh, the prosecution’s star witness and recipient of a sweetheart deal in exchange for his testimony, couldn’t seem to get his story straight either. He gave three different statements to police, all of which contradicted his testimony on Tuesday. Walsh punched Ramirez in the side of the head when he wasn’t looking, which led to Ramirez falling to ground and hitting his head off the street. He was originally charged with murder, manslaughter, assault, and ethnic intimidation (the same as Piekarsky and Donchak), but they were all dropped by Goodman after Walsh plead guilty to a Fair Housing Act violation in federal court and agreed to testify against   his two best friends.

All of this points to lead prosecutor Robert Frantz needing a stellar closing argument today, if this case is to be saved at all.