Solicitor quits over pay dispute

Supervisor Steve Galizia threatened to have Kearney removed from the meeting.
By MARY GRZEBIENIAK
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Union Township Solicitor Joseph Kearney has resigned, stating that Supervisor Steve Galizia will not pay him for representing him in a vacancy board dispute in 2003.
He said he plans to sue Galizia and thinks it would be inappropriate for him to continue as solicitor.
He said Galizia wanted the township to pay his legal bill and would not pay Kearney even after the State Ethics Commission issued an opinion in February 2004 stating that for the township to do so would violate the Pennsylvania Ethics Act.
Kearney added that the township has hardly consulted him this year in his capacity as township solicitor and by failing to do so has placed itself in jeopardy.
Kearney sat in the front row at Tuesday's supervisors meeting, standing up during an initial public comment period and demanding to know why his resignation was not on the agenda though he said he submitted it in an Oct. 13 letter.
Threat
Galizia, who is chairman, at first refused to let Kearney speak, and threatened to have him removed from the meeting if he would not be quiet because the first opportunity for citizen comment is limited to agenda items.
But Kearney spoke unhampered during a second opportunity for public comment at the end of the meeting.
He said Galizia owes him an undisclosed amount of money for representing him in a 2003 dispute over a Union Township Vacancy Board hearing to fill the unexpired term of deceased Supervisor Ralph Nuzzo.
Galizia had asked Kearney to file for an injunction to prevent the hearing from occurring while Galizia was on vacation in Maryland and to seek a declaratory judgment on whether Vacancy Board Chairman Mickey DeLeone had a conflict of interest in serving in that capacity. At that time, Kearney was a private attorney.
It was not until Jan. 5, 2004, when he was appointed Union Township solicitor. Kearney said Galizia later wanted the township to pay Kearney's fees for representing Galizia. In January 2004, Kearney sought clarification from the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission. In a Feb. 23, 2004, letter Kearney made available for the first time Tuesday, Ethics Commission Chief Counsel Vincent Dopko said Galizia is only entitled to publicly paid legal representation as to "official conduct but not as to conduct which is personal in nature."
He added that Galizia's initiation of legal action to stop a Vacancy Board meeting and determine whether the board's chairman had a conflict of interest "clearly was not necessary to the general conduct of municipal matters, and therefore, he is not entitled to reimbursement of his legal expenses from the township."
Kearney said Galizia has told him to file a lawsuit to collect the money.
Galizia did not comment during the meeting. Afterward he said Kearney "has stepped out of the boundaries of attorney-client privilege." He added that Kearney's statements are "accusations only." Galizia faces re-election next month.
Supervisor Pat Angiolelli did not attend the meeting. Galizia said Angiolelli was in New Jersey on business, his return delayed by bad weather.
Other action
Also Tuesday, supervisors:
UApproved a one-year contract extension with a wage freeze for the police department's AFSCME bargaining unit.
USet leaf pick-up for November. The first and third weeks, leaves will be picked up in the first and fourth precincts and the second and fourth weeks, leaves will be picked up in the second and third precincts;
UAnnounced the November meeting will be held Nov. 8. The meeting will be advertised.