Why We Need To Keep Government Officials As Far Away From Money And Power As Possible
by Vince Daliessio
NEW CASTLE, Pa. - First, county Treasurer Gary Felasco hadn't paid his property taxes for years. Then, his county cell phone number turned up on a Web site promoting sex parties.
The local newspaper conducted a sting: They called the number at "Jeannie in the Bottle" and got directions from someone named Gary to an Ohio hotel where a swingers' party was advertised. Outside, they snapped a picture of Felasco's van.
A year later, Felasco is still Lawrence County treasurer - angering colleagues and befuddling residents.
"He's a bum," said County Commissioner Steve Craig, a fellow Democrat. "He's got no business being in public office."
Felasco, a 37-year-old former auto mechanic, was elected in 2003 to his third four-year term as treasurer of this rural county on the Ohio line.
The county's three commissioners and the county prosecutor asked him to resign the $45,000-a-year post. Dozens of courthouse employees also signed a petition asking him to leave.
But he has refused - even though the commissioners and others in the courthouse say he often doesn't come to work.
"The only thing I will say is that everything that's been reported with this is more complicated than it's been made out to be in the New Castle News," Felasco said.
A state investigation has been under way for a year, but the state attorney general said this month he did not know when it would be completed.
Apparently, Felasco also put all of his properties, and those of friends on a roll of tax-exempt properties.