May 5, 2008...10:22 am
Democrats Plot to Remove Kantner from Controller’s Office
Over the past few weeks, we have watched the catfight between Schuylkill County Controller Melinda Kantner and County Administrator Darlene Dolzani grow from a clash of egos to a public relations war and then to an all out civil lawsuit. Some courthouse commentators and political opponents have found the feud entertaining, while others brush it off as nonsense. The Clarke Report has discovered a more devious angle in this saga. I believe that Dolzani’s lawsuit is the first step in a Democratic Party plot to remove Kantner from the controller’s office.
Dubbed “The Bipolar Controller” by other row officers and county employees, Kantner has not made many friends or allies within the courthouse since succeeding Gary Hornberger in January. Besides this feud with Dolzani, Kantner has also sparred with County Solicitor Eric Mika over her speaking out of turn during Commissioner’s workshop meetings, with State Sen. James Rhoades over an unsigned county contract obligation that she refused to pay out, and with the Commissioners themselves over the perceived mishandling of the sale of the 1912 building. In addition, my sources within the Schuylkill Democratic Party told me that Kantner was involved in a heated argument with US Rep. Tim Holden a few weeks ago. Kantner allegedly told Holden “I don’t care what your father did”, a comment which reportedly sent Holden on an expletive laden verbal rampage.
As a result of these disagreements, Kantner finds herself politically isolated. Republicans never believed she was qualified to hold the office of Controller to begin with and now the consensus within the Democratic party is that her inability to get along with anyone has made her nomination and subsequent election a horrible mistake. One county employee who wished to remain anonymous told me, “She just doesn’t know how to talk to people. Everyone hates her.”
Which brings us back to the Dolzani lawsuit. Last month, Dolzani made headlines when she filed an unprecedented defamation suit against a sitting row officer for comments Kantner allegedly made to Pottsville Republican and Herald reporter Ben Wolfgang. Dolzani stated in her complaint that Kantner told Wolfgang that Dolzani had been fired from her job at Schuylkill Savings and Loan Association. Dolzani claimed that was an outright lie and decided to sue her in county court. However, the amount of damages that Dolzani is seeking to recover ($1.00) confused many. If Kantner had indeed defamed Dolzani as she claims, why only go after a buck? Kantner has money. Her husband is employed by Fred Fanelli. There are plenty of deep pockets to get into here. Why that amount?
The Clarke Report got the answer a few weeks ago when a source reported that high ranking Democratic party officials had met with Dolzani to allegedly coax her into pursuing a judgement of liability against Kantner in order to give them reason to request that she be removed from office. According to PA law, any person holding office within the Commonwealth, who pleads nolo contendre, guilty, or is convicted of extortion, embezzlement, bribery, malfeasance or misfeasance in office, or fraudulent conversion of public moneys or property, or for any misdemeanor in office, shall forfeit his office, and the sentence imposed by the court shall include the direction for the removal from office of such person (65 Pa.C.S. 121).
The term at interest here is “malfeasance or misfeasance”, which is defined as “the performance of a discretionary act with an improper or corrupt motive” by the case Specter v. Rothman. A finding of liability for defamation in civil court could lay the groundwork for criminal charges for malfeasance or misfeasance in office and ultimately her removal from office.
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