High Anxiety

Poor Sam Hyder, he just couldn't take it anymore. Despite being a martial arts expert and possibly the most well trained employee in the history of Luzerne County who has travelled all over the USA to gain knowledge on how to be the best deputy warden of a county lockup he could be he just couldn't deal with people whispering mean things about him at church.

He has been on paid leave until the County Salary Board eliminated funding for his position in a cost cutting move.

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Hyder has filed the fourth workman's compensation claim in his career. This only the second one with Luzerne County when he previously got beat up triyng to break up a fight in the jail and the other two had to do with injuries in a warehouse. Greg Skrepnak brought him back after his traumatic experience at the jail.

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He made some wild accusations at his workman's comp hearing including receiving death threats from a motorcycle gang and alleged that Luzerne County Commissioner Maryanne Petrilla was out to get him, participating in an autopsy against his will and being responsible for a suicide.

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To add his stress level Luzerne County Controller Walter Griffith says the numbers don't add up as far as his vacation and sick pay claims and refuses to pay him any more money

Untangling the web

"I just look at the little tab that has my name next to them and I sign them.- Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak


Mike Buffer has great rundown of the latest web of deceit that we call Luzerne County government in the Citizens Voice today.

The crime fighting research trips to New York City by a bunch of county officials who have nothing to do with law enforcement were never approved by the board of commissioners and in many cases were paid for by county debit cards that got them all into hot water. The crime fighting superheros are Skrep, former Chief Clerk Sam Guesto, former Human Resources Director Doug Richards, indicted multi job holder Bill Maguire, exotic dance critic prison Deputy Sam Hyder and the best dressed man in Luzerne County, Bill Brace. No changes in policy resulted from the research although Skrep wanted to buy a $2 million computer system that none of the local police departments could agree on.

Since then we have learned that Doug Richards invented a company to do payroll work for the county drawing up a contract that was never approved by the commissioners but invoices were still approved by the Controller's office. Nobody seems to know anything about Continental Consultants Group Inc. and B&M Investigations Inc. or William Grub and John Luango. Grub and Luango are retired NYC cops that have done well in the security consultant business. They are doing so well that Luzerne County paid B&M $35,000 for a background policy report that no one can find. Reputation is everything.

Some choice Skrep highlights and quotes:



Skrepenak also denies knowledge that two retired New York City police detectives involved with those trips had business ties to county contracts now being investigated by the FBI and the county solicitor....Skrepenak has acknowledged that several former top aides are talking to federal investigators and could implicate him in the ongoing corruption probe...Skrepenak said he didn't know this month Grub and Luongo had ties to contracts between Luzerne County and two companies - Continental Consultants Group Inc. and B&M Investigations Inc..."What we found is guys who have 20 years in the police department, they don't make great money with the NYPD," Skrepenak said...


Skrepenak said he didn't notice that Grub was listed as B&M president when he signed the $35,000 contract. He said he "didn't know specifically who B&M was" and doesn't "look at whose names are on" contracts he signs.

Get well Sam

The CV is reporting that Luzerne County Deputy Warden Sam Hyder has been on sick leave for over a month. It must be serious because he has been a workhorse that has not taken a sick or vacation day in the previous 3 years according to county records.


I'm going to resist rehashing the controversies he has been involved in over the last few years and wish Sam and his family well.

Skrep closes the debit card investigation

WILKES-BARRE -..."I have been informed by the proper authorities that the matter into the debit card situation has been closed," Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak wrote in a May 11 letter to Acting Controller AJ Martinelli. "There were no criminal findings."

Martinelli denies the US Attorney has informed him that the investigation is closed and US Attorney Martin Carlson won't confirm or deny anything about any investigation. Skrep turned in receipts for about $2000 less than he charged on his card. He blamed that on poor eyesight as did Sam Hyder when he used his card in a strip club in Las Vegas.

All those that have been caught abusing the debit cards have supposedly paid back the charges that are not allowed. I would like to see one of the papers publish an accounting if they can get the numbers.

Republican Commissioner Steve Urban once said "We have a jail full of people who wish they could just pay it back."

If you are disappointed by the outcome of this investigation so far you can look forward to other scandals being swept under the rug.

Debit Cards

Sam Hyder

Luzerne County Prison

Bonds

No Bid Contracts

The Latest Outrage in Luzerne County

This is the short list. A few other things have come up such as health insurance benefits for unpaid prison board members and MORE.

Prison Board change

The 2 Luzerne County Court appointed members of the Luzerne County Prison Board have been given their walking papers according to the CV:

The judges also announced Tuesday they’ll seek new candidates for the two court-appointed positions on the county prison board. The board consists of the three county commissioners, the warden and the two court appointees — Wister Yuhas and Robert Payne. Muroski said he had no specific complaint about Yuhas and Payne, who have presided over scandals involving the misuse of county-issued debit cards by prison personnel and a breach of county policy on bidding for food purchases.

The Warden is not a member of the prison board.

In the last few months (years?) Yuhas and Payne have teamed up with minority Commissioner Greg Skrepenak to defend Sam Hyder's world training travels and the no bid contracts that we will be hearing about again very soon. And much more nonsense.

Another reason to back Home Rule is that it could eliminate an anachronism like the prison board.

Luzerne County scandals

SCRANTON – The U.S. Secret Service has concluded its initial investigation into the Luzerne County debit card scandal and has turned over the results to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for review, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday.

Forget the Secret Service and the US Attorney General the agency that matters in this is the IRS. I think it's pretty simple. If the people who had the debit cards in 2006 and charged personal expenses to it without declaring it as income on that year's 1040 should have to answer to charges of tax evasion.

Also, there has to be a Pennsylvania law about then County Manager/Chief Clerk Sam Guesto having a slush fund to pay the bills for Sam Hyder's trips to strip bars, etc. that then Controller Maryanne Petrilla claims she was not aware of. I don't know if any federal laws were broken but the PA Auditor General and Attorney General should be all over this.


Some of my previous posts on this and other related subjects:

Debit Cards

Sam Hyder

Luzerne County Prison

Bonds

No Bid Contracts

The Latest Outrage in Luzerne County

Gene Fischi takes a well deserved retirement

I haven't been a fan of the Luzerne County early retirement schemes* but maybe this time it has done some good.

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WILKES-BARRE – Luzerne County Prison Warden Gene Fischi has opted to accept the early retirement incentive being offered by the county after efforts to secure a contract that would guarantee his job failed.

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After all the fun and games that have gone on at the prison the last few years Fischi and Deputy Warden Sam Hyder asked for 5 year contracts that the prison board ignored. So he quit, good for him. I wasn't aware that senior county managers even had contracts. I was under the impression that the top administrators were "at will" employees of the Commissioners like all political appointees. Mr. Fischi is still a young man so I'm sure he will find another government position after he "retires" ala Bill Brace.

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*The original "Life Transition Plan" in 2006 was supposed to save $2 million over 15 years by floating a bond to finance the plan that will cost $23 million over 15 years. I have yet to see an accounting or progress report that documents any money that has been saved. Another feature of this scheme was to hire back many of the people who took the golden parachute through a temp agency owned by PA-10th Congressional GOP candidate Chris Hackett who gave his first campaign contribution ever to the Democratic Luzerne County Commissioner candidates Vondy and Skrep.

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I've been asking Chris Hackett for an interview but he has been reluctant. The last time I asked him about it he gave me the weather report for Hades. Saying I will get a sit down when the weather down there turns unseasonably cool. I thought our last chat went very well. He wants to debate Chris Carney but he won't debate Gort? I've also asked Carney for some time but his campaign has yet to get back to me. He won't debate Hackett and he won't debate Gort?

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Well, not a debate, I would just like to ask them both some similar questions about budgets, spending and taxes. And a few other things.

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Gene Fischi's greatest hits.

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The Prison violated the county purchasing policy and possibly state law.

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His Deputy, Sam Hyder, travels the world on the county dime and has not still payed back his personal expenses incurred during his visit to a strip club. Bad eyesite.

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And we became a laughing stock of the country when Hugo Selenski used bed sheets to escape from the lockup on Water Street. It was a cliche from a bad old campy Movie.

The jury is out

Democratic Luzerne County Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla has been getting some high marks from some of my friends lately. She has been joining with GOP Commissioner Steve Urban in making all the right noises about the countless scandals that have come to light over the last year. But what action has she taken?

She called for an investigation of Judges Mark A. Ciavarella and Michael Conahan business relationship with PA Child Care owner and Cargo Airport builder Robert Powell after it was widely known that the FBI and IRS had already launched a probe.


She called for Sam Guesto's head when it was revealed that he was strong arming county prison officials not to bid out items that were previously bid and deciding on his own to build a bigger prison. Not to mention the Debit Card Debacle. But Guesto has a job with the courts now and his boss is Ciavarella who says he's doing a great job. I have an idea, since this newly created court director job was invented for him after his position as chief clerk became untenable how about the salary board meet and eliminate the job.

The prison board suspended Warden Gene Fischi and the Purchasing Director for a week for violating the county bidding policy and possibly breaking state law. They should have been fired. Some sort of secret police organization is supposed to be investigating this mess according to DA Jackie MO.

And why does Sam Hyder still have a job on the public payroll?

Remember when Controller Steve Flood was screaming about the 20 year lease with PA Child Care and a bunch of other things. He was making too much noise and asking uncomfortable questions so he had to to go. So the County Dems recruited Maryanne Petrilla to take him out in the Primary of 2005. In her 2 years as Luzerne County Controller I don't remember her making any waves except for auditing the Republican Row Officers and even then she didn't find much wrong.

With all that said I hope that she does kick ass and takes names but I'm a cynical old bastard that has to see results.

Bad eyesight

”We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes.” - Leona Hemsley

She would fit right in at the the Luzerne County Courthouse. Newly elected Recorder of Deeds James “Red” O'Brien has been getting a free pass on unpaid taxes dating back to 2003. He owes $17,855 in property taxes for his bar in Avoca which he is trying to sell. Last year's Sheriffs sale of properties that owed back taxes included many homes with unpaid taxes from 2005 and earlier but Red's business wasn't included. Why not? Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla asked Sam Diaz who "said it was an oversight."

Wow, how did we ever get so many people working in the courthouse who can't see what is right in front of their nose? Sam Hyder claimed he used his county debit card at a strip club in Las Vegas because it looked just his own credit card and Commissioner Greg Skrepnak offered a similar excuse when it was revealed that he used his county card to pay for his family's extra hotel rooms at a conference. The lack of competitive bidding at the prison was explained as an oversight or misunderstanding of the law or regulation. And on and on.

With all these officials with eye problems I think that the county should look at hiring an Optometrist to make sure everyone has proper reading glasses and maybe a reading teacher to help them brush up on their comprehension.

I'm sure somebody in the Courthouse has a brother-in-law that is an Optometrist that could provide corrective lenses, just ask Judge Conahan or Ciavarella. No need to advertise the job.

Some bigwigs eventually do pay their taxes. Sam "the untouchable" Guesto, the former county manager and the director of specialty courts , paid off delinquent taxes he owed the county tax claim office last week, he owed $832.84 from unpaid 2007 taxes and fees.

On the road again

“I think (Hyder) abused his privileges on other trips.” - Luzerne County Commissioner Maryanne Petrilla


WILKES-BARRE – The Luzerne County Prison Board voted 3-2 Monday to approve sending Deputy Warden Sam Hyder and two other employees to a three-day seminar on gang investigations.

The trip is the first to be approved by the board since controversy erupted over the use of Hyder’s county debit card at various training functions in 2006 and 2007.

Board members Wister Yuhas, Robert Payne and Commissioner Greg Skrepenak approved the trip. Commissioners Stephen Urban and Maryanne Petrilla voted against it.


Hyder has to be the most travelled and best trained county employee we have ever had.

Sam Hyder’s debit-card purchases

Hyder is still looking for receipts

WILKES-BARRE – Luzerne County Prison Deputy Warden Sam Hyder Thursday turned in receipts for $1,385.35 in expenses charged to his county debit card and paid another $1,377.73 to cover charges that were deemed unallowable by the controller’s office...He previously paid back $1,390.20, bringing his total reimbursement to the county to $2,767.93.

Hyder said he is still trying to obtain receipts for the $2,767.93 in expenses he cannot account for.

I can understand his dilemma because I'm having trouble finding copies of some tax documents from 2006. When you were never asked to produce a receipt for a few years to justify your expenses it's easy to get lazy about paperwork. When Hyder was issued the debit card he had to sign an agreement that stated he had to produce a receipt within 3 days whenever he charged something, it must of been in the fine print and he missed it. Controller Maryanne Petrilla was suppossed to review the charges and approve them but she claims she didn't know anything about the cards. So now Mr. Hyder has been reappointed to his job with a raise with the help of his sponsor Greg Skrepnak and the votes of 2 prison board members who had a nice meal and other fun while on a junket to Las Vegas with Hyder.

Regular commenter Zen who writes Political Rants asks what is the difference between the Luzerne County debit card abusers and the PSU-W-B maintenance director that was charged with theft for abusing his debit card. Good question.

What is the difference between this guy and Hyder?

Hyder keeps his job

Split saves Hyder's job

A divided prison board on Monday reappointed Sam Hyder as deputy warden, with the key swing votes coming from the two lay members of the board.
Commissioner Chairwoman Maryanne Petrilla, a Democrat, again allied herself with Republican minority Commissioner Stephen Urban in calling for Hyder’s ouster. But they were outvoted by Democratic Commissioner Greg Skrepenak, who garnered the support of board members Wister Yuhas and Robert Payne in reappointing Hyder.

Yuhas and Payne were also on that now infamous trip to Las Vegas when Hyder used his county debit card to buy a round of drinks at a strip club. So you have to ask who was he buying drinks for? Where these guys with him that night? And who was at that famous dinner at Paris Las Vegas La Rotisserie that cost $896.88 that the county solicitor James Blaum coughed up $300 to cover the booze bill?

The CV has a list of all of Sam Hyder's debit card purchases. If my math is right he had 81 charges to the card with 61 lacking receipts. On December 17th the Prison Board gave him 60 days to produce receipts or pay back the money but today they rehired him before the deadline expired. Only in Luzerne County.

His 3 day trip to check out a prison in the finger lakes region of NewYork also stinks to high heaven. The warden of the jail said the tour he does usually takes a couple of hours not 3 days. And I picked up on this tidbit, on his way there he spent $42.52 at Wellington’s Pub, Clarks Summit, for a meal. He couldn't make it past Scranton before he had to eat? Reading the list I was taken aback on how much he spent on food. He certainly likes Subway (no receipts). He's a big guy and I'm shure he needs 3 squares a day but some of these charges are nuts.


Oct. 1, 2006: MacGregors Grill & Tap Room, Canandaigua, N.Y., $86.18, meal, no receipt

Oct. 3, 2006: Dinosaur Bar B Que, Rochester, N.Y., $93.78, meal, no receipt.

Oct. 3, 2006: The Lodge, Canandaigua, N.Y., $102.85, meal, no receipt.

And so on. I wish I could eat this well.

Greg Skepnak and the other board members are willing to forgive him because he does such a great job at the prison. Steve Urban has been calling for his head since this all broke and Maryanne Petrilla seems to get it.

I believe that as a leader in the county, I have an obligation to the residents to chose leaders that will bring confidence in our government," she said. "We need leaders that will bring confidence that their hard earned tax dollars are not being frittered away. I don't need the Secret Service to tell me that a policy was grossly abused. I have not heard one legitimate excuse for actions that I consider inexcusable. Our taxpayers and residents have high standards for their elected and appointed public officials, and as a result I cannot support this action."

A friend comments:

By that logic, she should be asking for the resignations of Mr. Brace, Mr. Piazza, and the rest of the debit-card holders who abused the system. Commissioner Urban called for those folks to be fired in December. Can we expect that all of those involved, because of Petrilla's statements today, will be out of a job after the next commissioner's meeting?

Urban voted to oust them when he knew that he was going to be out-voted 2-1 at the December meeting, but he failed to make the motion to fire those involved at the January Commissioner's meeting. If Commissioner Petrilla is so adamant about making changes and HOLDING EVERYONE WHO HAD A DEBIT CARD ACCOUNTABLE, I guess we can expect that she and Mr. Urban will send the rest of them packing, FINALLY, next month when one of them makes the motion to fire the debit card holders and the other seconds that motion.

Or, maybe Commissioner Urban and Commissioner Petrilla will provide us with another excuse?
I guess we shall see.

Protest on the Courthouse lawn

From Walter:

Dear Fellow Taxpayers,


Please be aware that there will be a Rally on the Luzerne County Courthouse Lawn on Dec 17th at 9 AM to make the Luzerne County Prison Board remove Deputy Director Sam Hyder from his position. This is a Rally that will be very important to the integrity of the government in Luzerne County. Sam Hyder is one of the seven people that have abused his power asdeputy warden and has used his County issued debit card for purchases that were not authorised by his department supervisor. This is a direct violation of County Policy and the taxpayers must rally for accountability by having the Prison Board fire Sam Hyder. Please be prompt as the Prison Board meeting will start at 9:15 AM and we need to be there to show that the taxpayers will not allow this type of insubordination in our county government. I understand that Sam Hyder is in the process of getting his people together to make sure he has support there for himself. Let's all show the County Government that we are going to voice our displeasure with this type of behavior.

Luzerne County Debit Cards

It's really getting hard to keep up on this. Everyday brings another revelation, another headline and even more outrage.

There is a danger that this will overshadow all the other mismanagement such as the ballooning debt and failure to balance the county budget year after year and hiding it until after the last election. The sweetheart deal with PA Child Care for a juvenile jail in Pittston that is subject to a state audit that says the county may lose state reimbursements because of the way the lease was written. Declaring "emergencies" so they can avoid the bidding process to make improvements at the county prison and supposedly fix county owned bridges. How's the bridge repair going? A county owned bridge on Cleveland Street in Plains was damaged during the flood in November 2006 making it impassable and it's still not fixed! And on and on.

Yesterday it was revealed that Luzerne County Commissioner Greg Skrepenak used his card to pay for hotel rooms for his kids that went with him to the conference of the PA County Commissioners in York. He said it was a mistake because he thought he used his own credit card to make the reservations. I used to be in the hotel business and whatever card you use to guarantee the room doesn't matter as you have to provide a form of payment when you check-in. So I'm sure when the desk clerk asked how he was paying he produced the county card and didn't offer another card for the kids rooms that had to be paid for separately. I listened to Corbett interview him on WILK and he denied that he even had a credit card. But then he told the TL he can’t say for sure how much he overbilled the county until he finishes reviewing his personal credit card receipts.

More questions have arisen about the star of this show Luzerne County Deputy Warden Sam Hyder about training in Lancaster and a couple of fact finding trips to a New York prison. Then it was revealed that he uses a county owned 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe that he takes home even when he is on vacation. Predictably, he has lawyered up.

And he should:

Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett should make his determination “in the next week of so” whether to launch a criminal probe into alleged debit-card abuse by Luzerne County officials, a spokesman said Wednesday.