Letter Alleges Fayette Ethics Breach
By Mary Pickels
Two Fayette County commissioners Tuesday dismissed an anonymous letter writer’s claims that they allowed unionized county employees to distribute pamphlets and that the commissioners themselves distributed tickets to a political event, with both incidents occurring at the courthouse on county time.
The letter was faxed to the Tribune-Review, and contained accusations that commissioners Vincent Zapotosky and Vincent Vicites disputed. It included the words “Not signed. Fear of retailation” (sic).
It stated, “SEIU, through its county employees, stood in front of the Fayette County Courthouse and Public Service Building distributing pamphlets between 4-4:30 p.m.”
No date was listed.
The pamphlets were nonpartisan.
The commissioners said any such distribution was done on public property, and in the case of the SEIU would have to be done during non-working hours.
“This is a public building, a public facility,” Zapotosky said yesterday. “They were outside expressing their constitutional rights. I think even the anonymous party who faxed that would support that right.”
“We granted permission,” Vicites said. “I think they should be able to do that. This is the United States of America. It’s a public building. As long as they are orderly, they are allowed to express free speech.”
In fact, said Eileen Connelly, executive director for the SEIU Pennsylvania State Council, anyone wearing SEIU clothing and handing out pamphlets was likely working as a “member political organizer.”
She said the SEIU has about 100 people around the state working full time on the election. They are members and staff from different locals who have taken paid leaves of absence to campaign, she said.
She said they may hand out nonpartisan leaflets and speak about issues important to the union and encourage voting in general.
They go only to work sites where union members — not necessarily SEIU — are employed, she said.
“Our interest is to be there to talk to employees,” Connelly said.
She said they generally ask permission of a facility’s officials ahead of time.
The leaflets are directed to union members.
“We may ask, ‘Do you work here?’ ” Connelly said.
Nonunion members or people who are not employed in a particular building may be handed a leaflet, she said, but the organizers are not targeting the public at large.
“That is not our purpose,” she said.
The faxed letter further claimed that when Hillary Clinton campaigned at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus in March, the “two democrat (sic) commissioners Vince Vicites and Vince Zapotosky gave out tickets in the courthouse and had their staff help on county time.”
“That’s a false allegation,” Vicites said.
“There were no tickets,” Zapotosky said, dismissing the letter as “political propaganda.”
Tickets were not required for the event, which was advertised as “first come, first served.”
Zapotosky said any staff help was limited to answering a few phone calls from the public asking the time of the event.
The letter further accused Zapotosky of mailing invitations to a fundraiser to some county department heads at their county offices.
Zapotosky responded that the invitations were not done on county letterhead and more than 500 went out, using mailing labels.
(c) 2008 Tribune-Review/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.