Report prompts Windber to withdraw sponsorship of two events

OFF THE WIRE
By DAN DiPAOLO
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WINDBER — The borough will no longer sponsor two popular community events following accusations of financial impropriety in dealing with public funds during a meeting on Tuesday.

Friday Night Cruise-ins and Windber Rumbles with Thunder in the Valley — a series of car shows and a weekend motorcycle rally — are apparently off the calendar after the borough’s finance committee led by council members George Ledney and Sonya Pekala laid a case detailing improper handling of event revenue and accounting procedures.

The report quickly divided council into familiar and diametrically opposed sides and brought heated exchanges that included council members James Spinos and Barry Jerley calling the public report politically motivated and designed to end the popular events.

“You can tell an election year is coming,” Jerley said. “They just don’t want anything (events) in the borough.”

“I think you can agree. The most important thing we do is managing the taxpayers’ money,” Ledney said. “I’m just trying to protect the borough.”

Regardless of motivation it is clear financial protocol was not followed when it came to collecting vendor’s fees, donations and other revenue.

At the heart of the issue is whether cash and checks given to the borough for the fees were deposited into the events funds along with receipts as laid out in borough financial control procedures.

They were not in all cases, Windber Hotel co-owner Scott Penrod said following the meeting.

Penrod — along with several members of council and Mayor Simon Ohler — agreed that now-deceased former Mayor Art Palumbo allowed some of the revenue to go back to the hotel to offset thousands of dollars in expenses the hotel paid as primary sponsor of Windber Rumbles.

That arrangement first occurred before the borough officially sponsored the event during its second year, in 2009.

“If I had known to do it differently, I would have,” Penrod said. “The bottom line is that all these events were at no cost to the borough and there is money in the events fund.”

Penrod estimated the 2010 Windber Rumbles with Thunder in the Valley cost the hotel $12,000 for entertainment, venue preparation and cleanup.

The public airing of the report motivated Penrod to announce that he would run for council. “I believe that most of these decisions they make are out of spite or malice,” he said.

The report detailed a breakdown in the checks-and-balance system by the events committee, which included Spinos, Jerley (contested, but reflected in the minutes), Councilman James Furmanchik, Robin Gates and hotel co-owners Penrod and Thomas Piscitella III.

At the end of the meeting Pekala motioned to no longer sponsor the events, citing liability and accounting concerns.

The motion passed 4-2 with Pekala, Ledney, Michael Winas and council President Anthony Turcato voting yes. Spinos and Jerley voted no while Furmanchik was absent from the meeting.

Turcato was hopeful the events would continue with the support of a properly organized and insured sponsor or nonprofit.

“I feel this is a similar situation to what WAVE (the nonprofit Windber Area Visioning Experience) went through several years ago,” he said.

“This doesn’t mean that we won’t donate to the event. We just won’t sponsor it,” Pekala said.