PRACTICAL WISDOM RULES IN WASHINGTON COUNTY

 

Practical wisdom is a concept identified by Aristotle as a fundamental method of achieving goals in our complex society. At its essence, practical wisdom is the essential human quality that combines what we learn over a lifetime with our empathy and intellect. As defined by the two authors of the book by the same title, practical wisdom includes: “the right way to do the right thing in a particular circumstance, with a particular person at a particular time.” (Practical Wisdom, Barry Schwartz, Kenneth Sharpe, 2010)

Recently, the Pennsylvania Auditor General’s Office released a misguided audit involving the collection of criminal fees and costs in the Washington County Court of Common Pleas. The background of this sordid tale, which reeks of ignoble actions and questionable motives on the part of the Auditor General, has unintentionally highlighted how practical wisdom can bring many different public and private interests together for the betterment of all.  Specifically, the audit presented us with a perfect example of how practical wisdom can work to better a local criminal justice system and ultimately a community. 

It all began on a recent Friday afternoon when the Auditor General called a news conference in Pittsburgh (to maximize media exposure) and made serious allegations against the Washington County judiciary. There was little advanced notice to Washington County officials of the bizarre audit findings and no attempt to correct clearly erroneous conclusions.

The primary allegation was that over a period of years the Washington County Judges have improperly permitted criminal defendants to perform community service in lieu of paying fines and other penalties. A cursory audit of a small handful of examples was extrapolated into 3420 cases to make the claim that Washington County and the State had lost $1.56 million because of the egregious actions of our local judges.

The after-audit response of both state and local officials was both swift and critical of the Auditor General and offered unqualified support for the Washington County judiciary.  The Commonwealth’s Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC) immediately issued a statement to the press that the audit “provided an incomplete and distorted picture of the community service program” that has operated in Washington County for the past 25 years. The statement said the program of sentencing indigent defendants to community service to “work off” their fines and court costs is consistent with state law.

The statement went on to say: “In the last three years alone, this program has provided services valued at nearly $600,000, representing more than 82,000 hours of work performed in public buildings, parks, churches and other non-profit organizations located only in Washington County.” AOPC criticized the Auditor General for “infringing” on the court’s authority to interpret the law.

County Commissioner Chairwoman Diana Irey Vaughan, although not directly involved in the judicial process, praised the County’s community service program. She noted that the program has offered both nonprofits and municipalities countless hours of needed assistance.

Several days later, Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone issued a statement critical of the audit. He echoed the AOPC findings that the state audit was legally flawed and had misquoted the statute cited by the Auditor General. The District Attorney went on to point out that Washington County had adopted an “on point” local rule of criminal procedure without objection from the Commonwealth. The local rule specifically permits defendants to perform community service as a punishment option in lieu of court fines and expenses.

Vittone went on to refute the other argument made by the Auditor General that our local judges were not holding evidentiary hearings to determine indigency before permitting community service. He pointed out that the Pennsylvania Superior Court made clear in a recent opinion that such time consuming hearings are only required in cases of contempt when defendants fail to make proper payments.

Aristotle in his classic work Nicomachean Ethics concluded that practical wisdom is not about developing inflexible procedural rules. Rather, good government entails public officials being able to provide a beneficial social practice. This means figuring out the right way to do the right thing in a particular circumstance. In exercising practical wisdom, our leaders must be smart, but also have empathy if they are to act with wisdom toward others who are less fortunate.

As District Attorney Vittone points out in his statement: “One of the key goals of our criminal justice system is to rehabilitate non-violent offenders…..Drug Treatment Court was done in order to permit participants who were working to resolve their substance abuse issues the ability to work off many years of prior criminal case court costs. In this way, participants are given a fresh start. Since then, Washington County has created many specialty courts which serve defendants with different needs.”

Frankly, in over 45 years as a lawyer, I am unable to remember a better example of practical wisdom in action. First, a local nonpartisan effort by elected officials, judges, human service representatives, municipalities and non-profits all working together to think outside the box. Second, a holistic system that permits nonviolent criminal defendants to address their issues, give back to the community, develop a sense of pride and avoid languishing in jail.

The State Auditor General and the obstreperous clown car objectors who run the antiquated Row Offices are way out of bounds.  Washington County is an over-the-moon winner and deserves accolades for employing practical wisdom in its community service programs.

 

 

 

 

LOCAL ELECTED REPUBLICAN CHOOSES POLITICAL GRANDSTANDING OVER PUBLIC SERVICE

Local elected officials tend to seek public office for one of two reasons. The higher purpose is to serve those fellow citizens who are part of a lifelong community. The low road is populated with political grandstanders out to earn partisan political stripes by exploiting local voters who placed them in office. The first group views public service as an honor and privilege.  The second comes to office for the gratification of power and hope for personal advancement.

The Washington County Republican, Register of Wills, James Roman, is one of the grandstanders. On May 12, 2021, Mr. Roman submitted an Op-Ed article that attacked Commissioner Larry Maggi for asserting that it was time for Washington County to examine its form of government and make needed changes.

Full disclosure, I have often agreed with Commissioner Maggi and suggested that a Home Rule model of government would best serve Washington County. In part, it would permit replacement of the outdated Row Offices, including the Register of Wills, with a modern system of trained professional administrators.

Mr. Roman wrongly suggested in his commentary that Commissioner Maggi was proposing changes to county government only because Republicans had taken control of the Board of Commissioners and the Row Offices.  Mr. Roman went on to criticize all three Commissioners, including two of his fellow Republicans, for refusing to cut the budget and reduce the staff in his office as he had proposed.

What is particularly shocking is that when Mr. Roman wrote his blistering attack on May 12, he was only weeks away from being served with a devastating audit raising significant issues in the management of his office.  The County Code Act establishes that the Washington County Controller must conduct audits of those offices who collect, receive, hold or disburse the public moneys of the county.  As reported by this newspaper, “the audit found various problems with record keeping, internal controls over bank accounts and untimely payments to the state and county.”

Why would Mr. Roman seek to cut the budget and reduce staff when his office was already failing to meet the most basic requirements of his elected position? As reported in the audit findings, why would Mr. Roman refuse to participate in a scheduled “audit exit conference” designed to discuss problems and reach solutions?  Finally, why would Mr. Roman respond to the troubling findings from a non-partisan, mandated, audit function by labeling it “superficial information to try to discredit me?”

Ironically, Republicans captured control of the Washington County Row Offices by attacking Democrats for allegedly poor administrative performance and by emphasizing the theft charges brought against the Democrat official who ran the Clerk of Courts office. Unfortunately, as evidenced by this audit, under Republican management, Row Office operations have deteriorated. 

It is interesting that Mr. Roman chose to continue his employment as a realtor after being elected to this important office. The Register of Wills performs many complicated functions in its interaction with lawyers and with the Orphans Court. Without dedicating a full-time effort to learn all facets of managing the office, the poor results of the audit were predictable if not inevitable.

It is further beyond the pale that rather than perform his mandated clerical responsibilities, Mr. Roman has sought to invoke his right wing political views during his short tenure in the courthouse. Last summer, he posted a sign leading to his office that proclaimed “James Roman Register of Wills Believes in YOUR FREEDOMS. While masks are required in the Courthouse, masks are NOT required in the Register of Wills Office.” Mr. Roman has also flaunted a county ordinance by insisting on his right to wear a firearm inside the courthouse.

Regarding Mr. Roman’s anti-masking policy, it received an immediate and sharp rebuke from then President Judge Katherine Emery. On August 20, 2020, she sent him a letter demanding that the sign be removed and that the Register of Wills enforce her Administrative Order requiring all individuals in the courthouse to wear masks.

The Row Offices are designed to perform ministerial functions so that the court system will run smoothly and the county general fund will receive the various fees important to offset expenses. There is no place for a loose cannon like Mr. Roman.  His refusal to attend the exit conference, his attacks against the audit process and his petty self-serving political actions tell us all we need to know. Mr. Roman should resign and consider running for state or federal office, where his political gamesmanship might be appreciated.

Returning to Commissioner Maggi’s call for a resolution to initiate a Government Study Commission, the recent dark history of the County’s Row Offices makes such a project hard to ignore. With a Home Rule form of government the patronage-driven offices for civil filings (Prothonotary), criminal filings (Clerk of Courts), real estate filings (Recorder of Deeds) and wills and estates (Register of Wills) could all be combined into one court-based, professional operation.

The new Department of Court Records would be organized in accordance with best record-keeping practices and would save money by eliminating overlapping expenditures in each of the existing smaller operations. Appropriate oversight from a qualified manager would eliminate fiascoes like the stolen deposits in the Clerk of Court’s office and this most recent Register of Wills audit.

In the words of Commissioner Maggi, “It’s time for Washington County government to join the 21^st century.”

 

THE POLITICS OF REVENGE

“The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.”
― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

The unfortunate developments in the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office last week have turned my attention to the use of revenge in our political system. The Allegheny County controversy stems from an email the District Attorney, Steve Zappala, sent to his office staff in May saying they were not to make plea offers to an African American defense attorney, Milton Raiford. This came after Raiford criticized the justice system and the DA’s office as “systematically racist”. Legal professionals have weighed in that should these instructions from District Attorney Zappala be carried out, this action would be unethical and retaliatory to criminal defendants.

On its face, the plea bargain ban by Zappala constituted revenge against one member of the bar for his unwanted comments. Under the best of circumstances, Zappala’s long career will be stained by this disclosure.  It is possible he will be forced to resign in the face of mounting public pressure.

Revenge is defined as the act of committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived.  The desire for revenge is a basic human instinct. It has formed the basis for innumerable Shakespearean plays, novels, television shows and movies.

In the political sphere, history has taught us that elected officials who are motivated by power and the desire for status tend to be more revengeful than most.  They resent being challenged and losing face.  Retaliation is sometimes an emotional over-reaction as in Zappala’s case, but more often a calculated scheme to achieve retribution.

American politics is riddled with examples of powerful people taking revenge against their pesky opponents. Those who continue to look for a conspiracy in the JFK assassination see the revenge (take your pick) of the Cubans, Russians, Chicago Mob, CIA or Kennedy’s Vice President as the motivating factor in his death.

When Lyndon Johnson became president, he loathed his predecessor’s brother, Robert Kennedy and took actions to limit his political ambitions. Moreover, Johnson was not above using the Hoover run FBI to investigate and disrupt any elected official or group that spoke out against his policies on the Vietnam War.

Richard Nixon doubled down on the politics of revenge. As president, Nixon’s deep resentment for those that opposed him brought out his worst traits. Watergate was more than a political caper; it was one part of a frequent, systematic abuse of power by Nixon and his staff to dole out punishment to opponents.  To accomplish this goal, an "enemies list" was created that contained the names of hundreds of politicians, bureaucrats, intellectuals, Hollywood figures, reporters and others.

Most recently, revenge was a hallmark of the Trump presidency. Unlike his predecessors, Trump was open and deliberate about his goal to cause political and economic harm to his detractors. During his years in real estate, Trump often stated that he was driven by revenge and that it was a basic tool to use in business. He admits he continues to be obsessed with payback. In 2016, at the second presidential debate, then nominee Donald Trump went where no major candidate had gone: He vowed that if elected he would prosecute and imprison his opponent, Hillary Clinton.

Following his defeat in November, rather than concede the election, Trump concocted “the big lie” that the election was rigged and that he remains the legitimate president. Trump retreated to his Florida fortress and began plotting revenge against Republican lawmakers who voted to impeach him for inciting the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection. Any Republican who has plans to gain a seat or remain in Congress must seek out Trump and “kiss the ring” in order to avoid a primary challenge from Trump voters.

The politics of revenge has taken a new turn in American politics. Millions of Trump supporters are now infected with the Trumpian instinct to exact punishment on those who disagree with their chosen candidate. The revenge is directed at any individual or group which challenges the version of the truth Trump chooses to adopt.

Most troubling of all, a majority of the Republican Party is caught up in the call for revenge. The Republican House membership removed uber-conservative Representative Lynne Cheney from her leadership position for opposing Trump. All Republican efforts are now directed at leveraging Trump’s revenge based politics into gaining majorities in Congress in 2022 and none toward advancing public policy.

What can be done to counter the politics of revenge? It is hugely destructive to a political system because it unleashes cycles of further revenge and potentially counter revenge. In the case of District Attorney, Steve Zappala, it can promote departure from legal norms.

Despite the recent polarization of U.S. politics, our political history tells us that moderation and restraint will usually prevail in the end.  Well thought out policy actions will speak louder than noisy hateful words. Empathy and common goals as a nation will win over more citizens with a positive vision for America.

This is why I have complete confidence in the path that President Biden has taken since assuming office. His administration does not engage with Trump and has no interest in revenge against him. The revenge cycle is being broken. The Biden White House has more important tasks on its agenda than punishing Donald Trump.

 

 

ON THE ROAD IN A REOPENING AMERICA.

 

There is nothing like a road trip to provide first hand observation on the state of our country. Like many others, we have endured several months of listening to conflicting news commentary on the status of the post vaccine economy and the confusion surrounding masking policy.  A trip that took us through four neighboring states and the District of Columbia offered a real-time experience on the reopening of America.

Our departure was two weeks before Memorial Day. The weather prospects were clear and warm. We rented a beach house in Chincoteague Virginia, along with two other couples. We visit this small “other world” community on a regular basis, usually out of season before Memorial Day and well after Labor Day. If you go, avoid Vrbo and Airbnb and call the local realtors directly. This will save you fees and leave more money on the island.

Our drive through West Virginia and Maryland was uneventful. The pit stops revealed few travelers or store personnel wearing masks.  The parking lots were littered with old masks leaving little doubt what pandemic evidence would show up in the geological record a thousand years from now.

The town of Chincoteague is connected to the National Refuge on Assateague Island.  This 37-mile-long barrier island along the Atlantic coasts of Maryland and Virginia includes adjacent marsh islands and ocean waters. The park offers an extraordinary beach experience that allows visitors to enjoy wildlife and outdoor activities in a beautiful natural setting. About 3.2 million people visit the national seashore annually to boat, bird-watch, fish, hunt, crab, clam, camp, ride over-sand vehicles and see the park's famous wild horses.

We go to Chincoteague for the fresh flounder, raw oysters and soft shell crabs, all of which were in season.  The restaurants maintained a mask policy and were thrilled to see a party of six hungry patrons come through their doors.  The 2020 tourist season was a total loss for most establishments, and several have closed. 

The retail shops in town were an interesting dichotomy when it came to masking policy. Island residents who go back generations were done with enforcing regulations and happily posted door signs stating, “no masks required.” Conversely, newer residents like the millennial bookstore owner, tended to be more concerned with health standards, and were keeping strict wipe-down and masking policies in place.

We spent several hours with a fifth generation waterman who now makes his living taking small groups of tourists on ecological tours. COVID regulations were not on his radar. He made it clear that island residents were not happy that the famous Chincoteague “Pony Penning” event was canceled for the second year in a row.  This July extravaganza attracts thousands of tourists, with fat wallets, to view the penning and purchase fouls.

Few masks were in evidence on the beach and hiking trails. This was not unexpected given the general lifting of mask requirements for outdoor activities in Virginia. Except for the canceled July influx of tourists for Pony Penning, the rentals are seeing evidence of a normal season.

After five days, our Chincoteague adventure was over.  The other couples headed home as we drove to Old Town Alexandria, Virginia for a weekend at our nation’s capital.  Timed tickets to the Smithsonian museums became available for the first time since March 2020 in the middle of May 2021.  Our first choices were not available, but we landed tickets for The National Museum of Women’s Art for Sunday afternoon and parking/admission passes for the National Zoo on Monday.

It was clear upon our arrival that indoor pandemic procedures were still  enforced in the District of Columbia and surrounding communities. This area, which experienced 49,000 COVID cases and 1200 deaths, appeared to be emerging from hibernation on a beautiful late spring weekend. There were singles, couples, families, elderly with canes and walkers and many dogs on leashes everywhere we went. Our weary Sunday afternoon Uber driver dropped off his last fare from a busy Saturday evening at 3 am Sunday morning.

The museums and restaurants continued to follow masking protocols. The National Zoo was the most interesting of all venues we visited. We observed hundreds of small children outside, walking or in carriages, who were wearing masks of every description. 

The masks were lifted for ice cream and drinks only.  Most parents were also masked, presumably to set the tone. I did not hear one child complain about mask wearing. It was simply a familiar accessory to their outfit, permitting them to escape the confines of home for the day.  Had they been available, the Zoo could have sold several thousand panda masks.

Our takeaway after a week on the road is that attempts to politicalize mask wearing is not the reality on the ground. There was no evidence of oppressive regulations interfering with individual freedoms. Families out for the day have turned public health protection into a common ritual. No one is agitated when an individual or family chooses not to mask-up while outside. Patrons respected the rules of private establishments as a necessary inconvenience in order to shop or eat at restaurants.

Now we know to ignore the publicized outlier incident that turns masking into a fistfight, or the rogue politician who equates mask requirements with policies in Nazi Germany.  The country is recovering from the pandemic just fine. 

 

TUUU