- The PA Office of Open Records ruled in my favor. No land was donated to kill deer. Property owners only granted access for deer to be killed. Mt. Lebanon appealed and won. Twice. PA Supreme Court would not hear it.
- A local magistrate threw the book at a visitor from Boston when she came across a hunter who had just killed deer in an area which had no warning signs posted. When the case was appealed in Common Pleas Court, the judge called the case, "A tempest in a teapot."
- A school board director had to resign from office because her son was interviewing for a teaching position and ultimately got the job. The job posting was altered nine months after he was hired. She ran again and is back on the school board. Yep, no conflict there. It also helped that she made a sizable donation to the capital campaign. Covering all her bases, she pushed for an early contract amendment for the Superintendent, that resulted in a pecuniary gain of roughly $50,000 over three years. I filed a complaint with the PA Ethics Commission, but they dismissed it.
- A man is out until 4 AM and gets cited for public drunkenness and similar misconduct, runs for commissioner, beats out a fire fighter, has his hearing delayed to two days after the election, and then gets his case dismissed. He also had other cases dismissed by his next door neighbor, the magistrate. (See above.)
And the final blow?
A year ago, I filed a complaint with the PA Ethics Commission against Mary D. Birks. I felt that it was a conflict of interest with Mary D. Birks serving as president of the Mt. Lebanon School Board while being the executive director of Outreach Teen and Family Services. She represented Outreach and the School District and never recused herself from any votes whenever the District contracted with Outreach. Mary Birks used her position to speak with PTA. She had a close relationship with the magistrate (see above) who referred defendants to Outreach. He also officiated at her daughter's wedding in Lake Tahoe.
Complaints filed with PA Ethics Commission against Birks and Cappucci
The PA Ethics Commission recently issued an order concerning my complaint. Finding: "De minimis economic impact." I haven't gotten a copy of the final order, but Mary Birks spoke at the school board meeting tonight and talked about the complaint.
Personally, I will never forgive that woman. After how she treated Nick Meduho at the October 17, 2017 school board meeting, Nick was really upset. His sister told me that she had seen him the next day and knew something was bothering him, but Nick didn't say anything to his sister. It wasn't until after he died, did Nick's family have any idea as to what was going on. With a heavy heart Nick was asking about the capital campaign. Watching that segment of the video, Nick was trying to find out about taxpayer money being paid back to the general fund. Based on Mary's terse response, the money in the general fund is there to be used by the District. It has been out of the general fund for five years. Kiss that $910,930.02 goodbye.
There is no justice in this world. However, Mary did admit guilt. I know that the Democratic and Republican Committees want nothing to do with her. She lost the election big time. Mark Hart had gotten in trouble for not filing Statement of Financial Interests. Because he won the presidency over Josephine Posti, a scathing report was in the Posti Gazette. Former Mt. Lebanon school director cited in audit In this case, Mary Birks admitted to voting on Outreach contracts while on the school board. She admitted guilt. Let's see how this is covered up by the media since she is best buds with Josephine Posti.You won't hear much from the Posti Gazette. It was certainly downplayed by anonymous commenters in my post from June 20, 2017. Yesssss!
Update May 15, 2018 1:24 PM To hear Mary Birks' rant, go to the timestamp 01:59:05 of the May 14, 2018 school board meeting. She doesn't get it. Her behavior over the years, caused her to lose the election. Back when I attended school board meetings, Mary would make snide remarks during my comments. She would roll her eyes when residents would speak. Her attitude as school board president, particularly to anyone who questioned her, was dreadful. To put it simply, she was a bitch. She was power hungry and it went to her head. She didn't lose the election because of my complaint or because of any board member. She lost it all on her own.
www.post-gazette.com/local/south/2017/05/05/Mt-Lebanon-school-board-Elaine-Gillen-refrains-from-voting-president-nonprofit/stories/201705050031
ReplyDeleteThere is justice Elaine. Birks lost the election.
ReplyDelete8:41 has it right. The rantings of an opportunist and ethically bankrupt individual should not overshadow the fact that she's no longer on the school board and her capacity to do harm has been reduced to virtually nil.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that Mary went public before the thirty days were up. The order was issued to the respondent (Mary) on April 16, 2018. The final order is public thirty days later or May 16, 2018.
ReplyDeleteElaine
Here's hoping that the decision encourages Mary to run again. The fact that she thinks that this was a witch hunt and it cost her the election is comical. Capucci got more votes than anyone! Sorry, Mary, you're just that unlikable AND unethical.
ReplyDeleteMary thinks it was a witch hunt? OMG. She did it to herself! Her actions were despicable.
ReplyDeleteElaine
I wasn't at the meeting last night, so I am anxious to watch the video. It hasn't been uploaded yet.
ReplyDeleteElaine
What happened to HER ? Birks depicted herself as a victim last night. SHE IS NOT A VICTIM !
ReplyDeleteI caught that too, 2:47 PM. Mary feels as though she was targeted. Targeted! Because of the timing before the Primary? Mary, you had what, seven months? to clean up you act before the General Election. You were rude, hostile, and treated your peers on the board like crap. And how you treated Nick when he died just a couple of days later? How I asked you to remove your yard sign which was strategically placed directly across from Nick's house after he died? The ethics investigator explained to me that this was personal and that you were not entitled to be represented by Tom Peterson. He is not your attorney, as you learned. I see that you were surprised by that from your rant last night. You say, "Knowing the truth." Mary, the truth is that the dollar amount was not worth their time to fight. Do you know what "De minimis economic impact" means? It means "An economic consequence which has an insignificant effect." The dollar amount wasn't worth pursuing any further. I had nothing to gain by filing the complaint. It cost me quite a bit of money and time. I felt what you were doing was wrong. I agree with the commenter at 10:01 AM. It wasn't a "witch hunt." You brought this all upon yourself. So you can blame me, or the school board, or the governor, or even Trump. You were not a victim. You can't point fingers to anyone but yourself. I don't expect to get a copy for another few days. I am looking forward to reading the final order.
ReplyDeleteElaine
Birks, Cappucci, Lebowitz and Posti ... who are four people who want things to be one way (clubby with Tim, important people at the BBQ or football game, helping friends get or maintain jobs for which they are unqualified, etc.), but are slowly realizing that they are another way (powerless, shallow thinkers who most people recognize have - along with Steinhouer - overseen a slow but steady decline of our schools). The schools can be fixed and positive changes are coming, but Larry and the gals won't play much of a role. Welcome to irrelevance.
ReplyDeleteWhy does Caste associate with these dubious people?!? She's so pulled together while Mary and company are such hot messes. You are the company you keep.
ReplyDelete