Braddock suspends manager amid fiscal scandal
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Concerned Braddock residents listen to members of council speak at an emergency meeting over missing funds. -
Braddock mayor John Fetterman turns away from concerned Braddock residents at an emergency council meeting over missing funds. -
More concerned Braddock residents at an emergency council meeting over missing funds. -
Braddock Boro Solicitor M. Lawrence Shields III at an emergency council meeting over missing funds.
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Braddock council voted unanimously Monday night to suspend borough Manager Ella Jones but reached little consensus on how to move past the town's financial scandal.
Ms. Jones, 58, of Turtle Creek, is accused of embezzling more than $170,000 from the borough since 2008. During Monday's special meeting, council voted to suspend her without pay pending the result of a criminal investigation.
Ms. Jones was arraigned Thursday on three counts of forgery and three counts of theft by unlawful taking. She is accused of forging the names of council members on 153 borough checks written to herself, totaling $170,428, about 12 percent of the borough's budget. She also is accused of misappropriating nine borough checks made out to Orchard Bank worth about $5,390 and making five online payments toward her personal credit card bill using borough funds, according to an affidavit.
Ms. Jones did not attend the Monday meeting.
About 40 residents packed into the compact council chambers for the meeting, many questioning how the money could have been stolen when borough finances are audited annually and also monitored by the state as part of Act 47, which places municipalities that are in financial trouble under state oversight.
"I suspect this has been going on for some time. Nobody was aware?" asked Jim Kidd, a Corey Avenue resident. He also cautioned council against placing too much responsibility in the hands of one employee in the future.
Act 47 coordinator Nick Bianchi said it wasn't his job to determine how the borough spent funds. He said he is responsible for keeping spending within an operating budget. He and solicitor M. Lawrence Shields said they believe the auditing firm, Maher Duessel, could have done a more thorough job during annual audits.
"We have very, very grave concerns about the auditor because every audit report given to Nick Bianchi, council, the mayor -- it was clean," Mr. Shields said. "In fact, they even commended Ms. Jones on the great job that she did. We want to know why that was the case, obviously."
First Published August 24, 2010 12:00 am
