CLEARFIELD – Tempers flared and tensions ran high during yesterday’s Clearfield County Recreation and Tourism Authority meeting, at which the executive director was suspended for 30 days without pay and two board members tendered resignations.
Nine board members were present at the beginning of the meeting, including Commissioners John Sobel, Mark McCracken and Tony Scotto, along with Hildred Rowles, Izen Lingenfelter, Randy Schmidt, Mark Burnett, Kenn Starr and Bonnie Harper.
Also present were Director Holly Komonczi, Travel Development Specialist Sue Swales-Vitullo and the two couriers as well as members of the public and media. Board Solicitor Fred Neiswender was also present at the meeting.
First, there was some discussion regarding operating the meeting and the position of ex-officio members and what constitutes a quorum. At the request of Rowles, the board again nominated candidates and voted for a chairman.
Sobel and Rowles were nominated with Sobel receiving five votes during the roll call from himself, Harper, McCracken, Scotto and Burnett and Rowles receiving votes from himself, Schmidt, Starr and Lingenfelter.
Both the bylaws and Robert’s Rules of Order were referenced on ex-officio members and whether they should be allowed to vote or even be considered as a quorum. Sobel noted Robert’s Rules is a guide while McCracken stated the bylaws say nothing about whether the ex-officio member, in this case a commissioner, can vote.
The board then moved onto the meeting held Sept. 14. McCracken read a series of e-mails from prior to that meeting sent Sept. 12, noting the time of each e-mail sent to the rest of the board.
Initially, Lingenfelter and Schmidt stated they couldn’t come, and then an e-mail from the executive director stated the executive committee, consisting of the officers of the board, directed her to cancel the meeting.
Then, Scotto and McCracken e-mailed the group stating they would be able to attend, with Burnett, Sobel and Harper also stating they could come. McCracken e-mailed the group stating a quorum would be able to attend and the meeting should be held.
Shortly after 12 p.m., Starr also reported he would be unable to attend, and later Rowles also reported he would be unable to attend and finally Komonczi e-mailed everyone and stated that because no executive members would be present, the executive committee opted to cancel the meeting.
McCracken noted the date stamps on the e-mails and stated Komonczi was directed to cancel the meeting as early as 10:41 a.m. Sept. 12.
A discussion on who may or may not sit on the board and how board members are removed then followed with board members referring to the municipal code. Rowles stated that in last week’s meeting, Scotto had referred to section 56.10, but only the first part and added that a member may only be removed by the court of common pleas.
“If you want to take us to court to sue us, please do that, take us to the court of common pleas,” he said, adding that the board also had the right to appoint someone to fill the unexpired term of a member who has resigned. Referring to the discussion regarding the code verses the bylaws, he said they had to follow either one or the other. “You can’t have your cake and eat it, too.”
Komonczi then reminded the board that the bylaws have been an issue for 10 years and haven’t been followed well, if at all.
McCracken then stated that one person can’t cancel a meeting and Rowles replied that it was cancelled due to the fact that no executive committee members would be present.
Neiswender then stepped in and stated in his opinion the quorum in August was valid because there were only seven board members at the time, and four were present at the meeting: Rowles, Lingenfelter, Starr and Scotto. He said his opinions were sent to all board members but not mentioned at last week’s meeting.
“If you are not going to follow the bylaws, then there is no point in having them,” he said.
Sobel responded by first noting his respect for Neiswender and said he disagrees, and it is his opinion that the bylaws should govern the authority, but the state law overrules bylaws.
He agreed the bylaws need to be updated and said it is very clear in the bylaws that a cancellation must be in agreement of the entire board.
Sobel then added that the commissioners intended to explain their position regarding their recent actions. “We’ve been pulling our punches,” he said, adding the explanation would come later in the meeting.
In 2014, the board had discussed an addendum to the bylaws regarding the position of the commissioner on the board.
However, that addendum was rescinded at the end of the year, two months later, and McCracken, who was reading from the minutes of that time, expressed the opinion that the action, which wasn’t explained in the minutes, seemed underhanded. There was some protest to this statement, but then the board moved on.
Sobel stated the commissioners are not interested in “flooding” the board, but they are very unhappy with recreation and tourism and the only way to be heard was to have a significant presence on the board.
This resulted in a heated discussion regarding how appointments to the board have been made by the commissioners with members questioning whether Sobel’s and Burnett’s appointments were valid.
Ultimately, Rowles called for a vote on Sobel’s and Burnett’s appointments and the vote was four to five again with four stating the appointments were invalid (Rowles, Lingenfelter, Starr and Schmidt) and the other five stating they were. The minutes of last week were then approved along the same voting lines.
Reviewing the actions of last week, Sobel again stated the commissioners have concerns about recreation and tourism. He said after Act 18 was passed in April, allowing for the increase of the hotel tax from 3 percent to 5 percent, the commissioners were approached with the request to raise the tax.
He said the commissioners wanted to review the original ordinance and also the status of recreation and tourism. He, Kesner and county treasurer Carol Fox met with the executive committee once but haven’t been able to meet since.
Sobel said he understood when the authority was first formed the point was to have the money used to promote the county and tourism, but now more than 50 percent is used just to keep the authority running with staff, building costs, etc.
The commissioners then learned about what happened at the fair parade regarding the executive director and the reprimand, which they felt was not enough.
Rowles responded by stating that the other meetings weren’t held with regards to Act 18 because he couldn’t be there at all. The first meeting was held July 11 and at that time, Sobel had stated the commissioners were concerned with the staff and proposed to make them county employees and there hasn’t been time to have a meeting since.
He is concerned that the board would lose control of the employees if they are under the auspices of the county. Rowles added he was affronted at Sobel stating they couldn’t meet and it was physically impossible to attend.
Regarding the reprimand of Komonczi, which Rowles said was a secondary matter, he related what happened. He stated Harper had called him a week after the fair parade, told him what she had learned and said she didn’t want to be vindictive but that something needed to be done.
He agreed and said it was an in-house issue and was dealt with and only mentioned in executive session. But soon after the matter was public, he suggested Scotto had gone to the commissioners and told them what happened, and that was a breach of confidentiality.
“All I want is what is morally, ethically and legally correct,” Rowles said.
On Aug. 17 the board chose to place a letter of reprimand in Komonczi’s file and nothing else was said at the meeting regarding the matter.
On Aug. 19 The Progress printed a story regarding the meeting and in the story, it was stated Komonczi had made an obscene gesture during the parade. The reporter had been unable to attend the meeting on Aug. 17 and had called for information. Other media outlets did not report the matter until later.
McCracken, who is the longest serving commissioner, briefly reviewed the history of CCRTA and said initially the director was a county employee.
He said the commissioners have seen problems over the years, adding the board has not been responsive to the commissioners, which is why he suggested the dialog and the dialog is sorely needed.
Sobel also added that whenever an entity has the words “Clearfield County” attached, whether it’s under the county or not, the commissioners hear all the complaints from the public. Rowles said the solution would be to change the name, adding they’ve not gotten complaints from the public at CCRTA.
“I don’t know where I stand right now,” he said. “Have I had it? Should I resign from this board? I have three meetings left…” After a few more moments of consideration, Rowles then tendered his resignation.
Schmidt then said he understands Rowles’ position, and suggested the problems may stem from personal issues and the meeting has not been conducted properly. He then tendered his resignation.
Public comment was then held with many people stating support for Komonczi. Cara Artiola questioned the ethics of all three commissioners being on the board and stated she and others are losing faith in the commissioners.
Angela Stewart, a hotel manager from DuBois, stated concerns with how seats were filled and said she was interviewed by phone by Sobel and was surprised when he was then appointed to the board.
She added she has submitted Right to Know requests regarding how the commissioners have spent their portion of the hotel tax money and said she only got partial information. She concluded by stating the actions of the commissioners were bullying and all they’ve done is close off communication.
Jennifer Swatsworth, Doug McClellan and Holly Ryan also stated what the board is doing is wrong, expressing frustration with the commissioners and lack of faith in the county and expressing that Komonczi has been doing a great job.
An executive session for personnel was then called, which lasted two hours. Afterward, a motion was made by Starr to suspend Komonczi for 30 days without pay and requesting a public apology.
Any further infraction would result in dismissal. The vote was five to two with Scotto, Harper, Lingenfelter and Burnett also voting yes.
The meeting of Sept. 14 was then approved with Lingenfelter and Starr voting no, and then the board voted to authorize payment of all bills and adjourned.
The couriers then spoke up and asked about their positions. They had been told after last week that they would not need to report to work for the next week. Stewart added that the couriers bring brochures and other items to partners and take inventory.
Sobel said it would be dealt with later and they were to not report to work. The couriers then stated they were being punished and hadn’t done anything wrong and other board members stated they would try to work something out.