Bray Retirement 11-15-10

Open Letter to Elected Officials 11-15-10 November 15, 2010
Gennaro A. Marino P.E.
409 W. Main St.
Kutztown, Pa 19530
610-683-7977
Kutztown Mayor Green &
Kutztown Borough Council
Dear Elected Officials,
Today I made a Right to Know Request concerning the details of the retirement of Borough Secretary Bonnie Bray. Secretary Bray left very quietly, no one was aware of it and no one is allowed to speak about it. You all know that this is public information. Why is her resignation a secret, and what deals, if any were made? Actually where is it noted that you have the authority to make secret deals and keep them from the residents. I believe this was all done illegally with the approval of Borough Solicitor Mooney.
Speaking of Borough Solicitor Mooney of Barley Snyder LLC, he is currently defending the Borough in denying my Right to Know Request asking for the finances of the Telecom Department. In his letter to the Office of Open Records dated October 11, 2010 he states and I quote,”you have asked that I explain the relationship between the Borough and the Telecom entity. The Telecom entity is not a separate entity and is a department of the borough as is the water department, the sewer department and the electric department”. The fact is Telecom is not a department as he states but is a Business Venture that can make a profit or incur a loss and it was sold to the residents of the Borough as a future big money maker by former Borough Manager Keith Hill, President Malcolm Eidle, past Presidents Jan Crooker, Carl Mantz, Eric Eely, Information Technology Director Frank Caruso, Former Borough Manager Jaymes Vettraino and others. In fact Mr. Vettraino states in his Hometown Utilicom Annual Report dated August 1, 2003 that Fiber To The Home is a government venture whereby its financial information should be reported to the citizens of the Borough. He also states it is our belief that the public should be provided with updates on major government projects on a timely basis and in a concise format. He goes on to say it is appropriate to measure the progress of the project against presentations and projections that were previously made.
Counselor Keith Mooney states my requests were vague and incomplete, if the Borough followed the procedure as outlined above by Mr. Vettraino I wouldn’t have to make requests. The finances would have been made public periodically. All of you have short memories. The above report by Mr. Vettraino was hand delivered by me to the Borough Hall for you with my letter dated November 3, 2010.
I would like to inform Solicitor Mooney and you seven that to get an annual report on any firm on the stock exchange all you have to do is call any brokerage house and say you are interested in a certain company and you will receive an annual report and spread sheet with all the facts such as profits, losses and earnings for the past few years and forecasts for the next few years. They are happy to provide the report.
You have appointed a Telecom Advisory Commission and you have not given them a financial report because I believe there are no financial reports. It is verified by Solicitor Mooney’s letter where he states my request would seem to be onerous and require a herculean task on the borough to account for each and every expenditure made from the telecommunication fund. To me this shows the Borough does not have the total expenditures totaled out because funds are intertwined illegally with other Borough Departments.
To sum up, the situation is that the Borough has never published and has no intentions of publishing a financial report on Telecom because it loses money and has lost money for all the years since its inception in 2002 and does not want the public to know. I demand you publish a financial report on Telecom for the residents of the Borough.
Sincerely,
cc: The Public

Gennaro A. Marino P.E.