Posted on 11/29/2009 5:07:56 PM PST by Born Conservative
The concourse is pretty quiet most days at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, but on a spring night in 2006 about 900 people were milling about at a black-tie affair dining on hors d'oeuvres as they took in a $30,000 laser light and music show.
Few knew the lavish, invitation-only party cost $176,000, and even if they did, they probably never would have guessed that the tab was picked up, for the most part, by companies that received public contracts for the $80 million airport renovation.
The construction contracts and the big party - a night that cost more than an above-average home in Lackawanna County - are now under scrutiny by federal investigators as part of an ongoing probe into business practices in Lackawanna County under former Commissioner Robert C. Cordaro.
The FBI's general interest in the airport, as well as other large-scale construction projects, has been reported in The Times-Tribune for months, after requests and subpoenas for records and contracts went out from the U.S. attorney's office.
In August, the airport handed over records of all contracts it entered into between 2004 and 2008 "for design, construction, remodeling, refurbishment and concessions - and all invoices submitted and payments made related to said contracts."
Last week, airport Director Barry Centini said federal investigators also asked for records concerning the party celebrating the completion of the Joseph M. McDade Terminal Building, a $41.5 million steel, stone and glass structure that replaced the airport's 47-year-old terminal.
Mr. Centini has said about 900 people attended the party at the terminal.
"It was paid for by the contractors, and we paid some of it," Mr. Centini said. "They (the federal investigators) received information about it."
According to documents supplied by Mr. Centini, the airport paid about $23,000.
About a dozen contractors picked up the rest of the tab, said attorney John O'Brien, the airport's solicitor, who collected the paperwork and turned it over to the FBI.
Besides the free drinks and food, which ranged from mussels ala Centini to lobster au gratin, the crowd was entertained by three bands, a string quartet and a harpist, all framed by more than $16,000 worth of backdrops, signs, lamp posts and flowers.
No detail escaped the party planners, whose invitations came in the form of a miniature steamer trunk with international luggage labels. Partygoers were even catered to in the restrooms by $15-an-hour bathroom attendants.
One of the larger payments, if not the largest, was made by Acker Associates, possibly $25,000 to $35,000, Mr. O'Brien said.
A woman who answered the phone at Acker Associates, a civil engineering company in Moscow, on Tuesday referred all questions about the airport and the party to engineer P.J. McLaine, who she said was in Rome for the week.
Efforts to reach other contractors also were unsuccessful; these included the general contractor on the project, Sordoni Construction Services Inc. of Forty Fort; Everon Electrical Contractors Inc., Moosic; Highland Associates, an architectural firm in Clarks Summit; and Rado Enterprises Inc., a mechanical and plumbing company in Bloomsburg.
Mr. Centini said he did not have any information on who the contractors were who paid for the party. He said that information was in the hands of CDS Creative, an advertising, marketing and public relations company that was hired to throw the party.
Catherine Shafer, the president of CDS, which lists offices at 1221 Wyoming Ave., Forty Fort, said in a brief interview last week that "somebody requested the documents."
Asked who wanted the records, she said, "I don't know if I can (say)."
"All of the payments from the contractors were paid to us," she said. "We ran the party. We paid the vendors."
Lackawanna County Commissioner A.J. Munchak was among the VIPs at the party.
Mr. Munchak said the party was "fantastic."
Asked if he knew how much the party cost, Mr. Munchak said he did not know.
When he was told it cost $176,000, he said, "Holy s---!"
"I didn't realize it was that much," Mr. Munchak said.
Mr. Munchak said that "contractors contributed to the cost of the party.'
"The airport had x-amount of dollars in its budget - I believe it was the marketing budget - and whatever the cost that was exceeded, the various vendors (contractors) would contribute toward the cost."
"I knew ... that various contractors were going to contribute to whatever the cost would be," he said. "The difference would be made up by contractors."
Mr. Munchak said he did not know the names of the contractors that paid. Asked if he could track down their names, he said, "No, I'm not going to find out."
Mr. Munchak said he saw nothing unusual in contractors paying for a party to celebrate the grand opening of a project they had been paid to build.
"It's done every day, all the time, to promote business, advertising, marketing," Mr. Munchak said. "Why do contractors contribute to campaigns?"
Barry Kauffman, executive director of Pennsylvania Common Cause, said the expense of the party and the way it was paid raises a lot of questions.
"That's one hell of a party," Mr. Kauffman said, referring to the $195 per-head cost, based on Mr. Centini's estimate of 900 party-goers.
After hearing how the party was paid, Mr. Kauffman said, "That's kind of a bizarre arrangement."
"What's in it for the guys who are picking up the tabs?" Mr. Kauffman asked. "Were their arms twisted in some way? Pony up now or you don't get a future contract?"
"Those are the kind of things that come to mind."
Lackawanna County Commissioner Mike Washo said he was unaware how much the party cost.
When he was told the amount, he said, "I think that's an extraordinary amount of money to spend on the opening of a public building, no matter what the source of the funds may have been."
He said the airport should have served hot dogs and hamburgers and invited the public to attend.
The FBI's interest in the airport is apparently intensifying.
Last week, the FBI spent about two hours interviewing Al Brocavich, the airport's in-house engineer. Mr. Brocavich's lawyer, David Solfanelli, would not say why the FBI wanted to talk to Mr. Brocavich.
Four weeks ago, Mr. Brocavich appeared before a federal grand jury in Scranton. Mr. Brocavich has declined to discuss his grand jury testimony and his interview last week with the FBI.
"I think the FBI is just turning over every stone," said Mr. Solfanelli.
Asked what he thought investigators were looking for, Mr. Solfanelli said, "I think they are looking for corruption, and I don't even know if there is any."
"It's like an elephant in the room - millions of dollars and a new airport, and chatter about a big party," Mr. Solfanelli said. "I don't have any clients that have first-hand knowledge about expenditures for a party."
As the airport's engineer, Mr. Brocavich had a pivotal role in the $80 million makeover including the terminal building, a new parking garage, roads and cargo building.
Mr. Centini has repeatedly declined to talk about the federal probe.
"We are not commenting on anything regarding the investigation," Mr. Centini said. "All I know is they asked for records and we supplied them."
Ping
Bob Casey, Jr.’s home airport. I’m sure it is just a coincidence.
What role did Paul Kanjorski play in this?
The Transporation Industry is a perennial Congressional favorite....
ping
Millionaires would not go to the terminal in their private jets. They would go to Saker Aviation, the Fixed Base Operator at the airport. The terminal is for scheduled air carrier aircraft.
LOL, you are talking about the one stinking case, I’m talking about the continuous ear mark legislation from a-hole congress on both sides for the dam private county airport. However, having been to Scranton, I have no ideal why anyone would want to go there.
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