Lawrence County officials must not settle for crumbs

The threat of financial retribution seems to have paid off for the Lawrence County commissioners in their quest for information about Affordable Housing of Lawrence County.
Last week, commissioners made it clear that if the two members of the non-profit housing agency -- four others resigned and one died some time ago -- refused to meet with them to answer questions, they would withdraw millions of dollars from First Commonwealth Bank. Member William Bonner is an official with the bank.
The other member, Donald "Ducky" Conti, serves on the Lawrence County Housing Authority.
But given that Bonner and Conti had to be persuaded to meet with commissioners Daniel Vogler, chairman, Ed Fosnaught and Steve Craig, we believe they should be treated as hostile witnesses.
Last month, we urged the federal government to delve into Affordable Housing's operation, considering that $200,000 in public funds were used as seed money when the agency was spun-off from the county housing authority.
We argued that the infusion of taxpayer dollars overrides the contention that Affordable Housing is a private entity and the directors, therefore, are not required to respond to the commissioners.
To their credit, the Lawrence County officials were unwilling to take no for an answer. Their threat of financial retribution was a masterstroke.
"We've been trying to get action out of these guys for at least two weeks," Fosnaught said last week. He accused the directors of stonewalling the county's efforts to meet.
Such intransigence on the part of Bonner and Conti is troubling and should prompt the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to work with the commissioners in conducting an in-depth investigation into the creation and activities of Affordable Housing. HUD funds the county housing authority, which funneled the $200,000 in seed money to Affordable Housing in 2003.
Resignations
A good starting point for the probe would be the four board members who resigned. They are: Robert Evanick, who had served as the group's president and is executive director of the county housing authority; Atty. Frank Natale; New Castle Councilwoman Karen DeCarlo, and the Rev. James Blackwell. The board was already short one member with the death of Jon Librandi.
The underlying question focuses on the decision by the Affordable Housing board to buy seven homes in New Castle for $88,000 less than the total assessed value of the properties.
Of the $327,000 total purchase price, $250,000 came from a loan the agency secured from First Commonwealth Bank. The rest came out of the $200,000 from the county housing authority grant.
The homes were owned by Nick DeRosa, John Orlando, Harry DeRosa and David L. Definbaugh.
There has been no explanation for the discrepancy in what Affordable Housing paid for the homes compared with county assessments, other than Conti, the board's secretary, saying that the bank handled the appraisals of the homes. Conti also could not explain why most of the homes were bought from Nick DeRosa and Harry DeRosa. It's unclear whether the two are related.
Another intriguing aspect of this case is that Evanick resigned his position as board president shortly after he co-signed for the $250,000 bank loan. He said he "didn't want to prevent them from what they were doing."
Today's meeting between the commissioners, Affordable Housing board members and others is a start. A full-blown investigation must follow.