Sunshine still not shining in Hempfield

Infighting persists on Hempfield board
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And we all thought and hoped that we had heard and seen the last of elected and appointed leaders carrying on the “people’s business” in secret and out of sight from the public, then, Bob Regola, chairman of the authority and an appointee of the Hempfield Township Supervisors hid from the public again.
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It seems to be another example of Hempfield leaders avoiding Sunshine in their decision making. (See previous article “GOP Chair agrees with Supervisor Kim Wards "BAD POLICY" of taking public action in secret!” further down this page).

The Trib reported that, “After the controversy broke, Regola said last month that he intended to introduce a "comprehensive reform package" to make the authority's spending practices more accountable.”
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What could possibly be in a "comprehensive reform package" that these board members don't want the public to know about?
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Taking action in front of the public, one would think, would be moving in the right direction after all the criticism that has been lobbed at the Hempfield Authority member’s who have allegedly misused the Authority’s credit cards. One would think that they would want to show the public they are trying to get things moving in the right direction.
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But NO! – the Authority Board action leaves us with the perception that they definitely have something to hide and really come off even more arrogant by attacking the one member of the Authority Board that stepped forward and blew the whistle on the alleged credit card abuse.
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It is a pitiful attempt to again try and blame the Authority Board Member that is trying to restore integrity to that board.
It is even a lamer attempt to spin the story away from themselves and upon someone else.
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Read the full story here
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Infighting persists on Hempfield board
By Chris Foreman
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Infighting on the Hempfield Township Municipal Authority continued Monday night as board member Kathy Hopkin asked the newest member, township Supervisor Bob Davidson, to resign.Reading from a prepared statement, Hopkin said it is apparent that Davidson has no intention to work with his fellow board members, some of whom Davidson has accused of misusing authority-issued credit cards.All four of Davidson's authority colleagues -- Hopkin, Robert T. Regola Jr., Brian Melenia and Matthew Pecarchik -- have refused supervisors' calls for them to resign because of the credit card controversy.The authority's past practice of granting credit cards to its board members has come under fire as supervisors complained that Regola, Hopkin and Melenia were attending several out-of-state conferences. Melenia also has charged the authority for alcohol purchases, sightseeing and nightclub visits.Pecarchik never activated his card, but he repaid the authority $300.12 for an airline ticket to take his girlfriend to a June 2005 conference in San Francisco.Supervisors voted last month to send details about the controversial spending to the State Ethics Commission's investigatory division for its review.Hopkin, a 10-year member of the authority, defended her appearances at conferences and workshops, saying they enable board members to keep up with state rules and regulations and avoid possible problems with the state Department of Environmental Protection.She refused to give the Tribune-Review a copy of her complete statement. Her term expires at the end of the year.Davidson rejected her resignation request."No, I'll be around, but I know some other people that won't be," he said in response to Hopkin.Also last night, Regola, the authority's chairman, said he presented a list of reforms to authority Manager Rege Ranella during an executive session.After the controversy broke, Regola said last month that he intended to introduce a "comprehensive reform package" to make the authority's spending practices more accountable.No discussion of a reform package occurred during the public portion of the meeting.A copy of the paperwork submitted to Ranella was not available before press time last night.