Investigating Quakertown is like poking into an old tree stump. Wherever you probe, you find something rotten.
In the wake of council's many ethical malfunctions, Qtown needs to take a hard look at its professional consultants. Those advisors who are paid big bucks to manage your bucks, and to assure council's compliance with all laws and procedures. Taxpayers have been poorly served, and, of course, they are footing the bills.
Topping the to-do list is "re-evaluate the performance of Chuck Fonzone", the borough solicitor since 1985. He was paid about $80,000 over the past two years. Because he has the ultimate responsibility for the legality of council's actions, his advice, or lack of same, has been key to the many problems. And the government in secret.
The Pennsylvania Borough Code empowers the solicitor to advise council on contracts, resolutions, and questions of law:
Contracts: Quakertown has handed out hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of contracts which should have been publicly bid, but were not. Every citizen suffered from this failure to follow a state law designed to maximize competition and lower costs.
By The Way: The position of borough solicitor is usually not bid competitively, but it can be. In Quakertown it is not. Fonzone has no competition, and no review. A bad system, that can lead to the chummy, lackadaisical attitude that seems to be prevalent here.
Resolutions: In 1991, council passed a special resolution authorizing the borough to purchase up to $3000 per year from Councilman Jim Roberts' Friendly Bookstore. While certainly questionable back then, the purchases became illegal after the state passed the 1998 Ethics Act. Did Fonzone bring this to anyone's attention? Quakertown bought over $11,700 from Roberts from 2000-2005 (and still counting).
By The Way: The original motion to appoint Fonzone as borough solicitor was made by - Jim Roberts!
Questions of Law: Fonzone did not attend the January reorganization meeting, sending instead an associate from his office, who apparently had no idea of the state Sunshine Law requirements, and never red-flagged the illegal vote for president. Fonzone, and his partner John Ashley, sat silently through the same illegal procedures at the 1988 and 1992 reorganization meetings.
Contracts: Fonzone either misread - or worse, never read - Quakertown's electric contract last year, allowing everyone to believe that rates would be frozen until at least 2007. This glaring error lead to the recent embarrassing revelation that the borough will actually be paying 7.1% more for electric in 2006, on top of last year's 25 percent increase.
By The Way: Council claimed that they only charged you a 20% electric increase last year, instead of the full 25%. And that they won't pass on any of the $500,000 increase this year. Major deception. You, the residents, pay every penny of every increase, either as larger monthly bills, or from the borough's funds, which are really needed for long-overdue infrastructure improvements. No matter which pocket they take it from, it's your dollars. You filled those pockets, and you'll eventually refill them.
Contracts: Fonzone was solicitor in the 1990's and 2000's when Qtown systematically overcharged Bucks County Water and Sewer Authority, resulting in $800,000 of your taxes being used for a settlement.Questions of Law: For years, council has repeatedly violated the Sunshine Law, meeting in secret executive sessions without fully explaining the reasons. And Fonzone himself never filed his required financial disclosure in 2005.
Next case. Ted Wallover of West Chester was the architect hired to plan and supervise the municipal pool renovations. He reported to council that the work could be done for about $2.2 million. That sounded reasonable, but, apparently, had no basis in reality.
The bids came in hundreds of thousands of dollars over Wallover's supposedly professional calculations. Borough Manager David Woglom even noted in his report to council that rebidding would not produce a better result. Wallover just grossly mis-estimated the costs.
So, naturally, council replaced Wallover, right? Before more damage could be done? Nope. In fact, Woglom wrote to council that he was still confident of Wallover's abilities, and that he should be retained. After the dust had settled, the cost had skyrocketed to about $3 million - a whopping 33% over budget!
Wallover received over $200,000 in fees, with no penalties for his mammoth misjudgments.
Council also authorized payments of more than $60,000 for several projects designed by landscaper Lynn Kraft. The work had no contracts, no bidding, no budget limits, and no written plans. Kraft was given virtual carte blanche to design, build, and spend your money. He has also been handed, without bidding, the position of designer for the proposed new bandshell, which, he has estimated, will cost about $300,000.
Though these consultants have failed the residents, they did satisfy one person's needs - Woglom. All were beholden to him for their Qtown paychecks, giving him control. But how did he behave when there was one he couldn't control?
Richland's traffic engineer Jeff L'Amoreaux, of Carroll Engineering, worked for more than a year to obtain a grant to synchronize traffic lights on Route 309 through Qtown and Richland. Everything would be computer controlled, and local emergency services could override it if needed. The original $1.2 million grant has grown to $2.5 million in value, one of the largest such projects ever in this area.
Normally, the company that obtains the grant gets the engineering contract. Especially when the entire concept is their brainchild. But, despite the fact that Woglom had no part in the idea, or obtaining the money, he tried to insist on public bidding. After he ignored the many borough contracts that actually required such bids!
Even council couldn't swallow that one. Carroll got the contract. There will be at least one good consultant in Quakertown this year.