Leasing influence: Local officials need a primer on conflict of interest
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The Marcellus Shale gas boom has brought many things to Pennsylvania -- jobs, environmental concerns and a debate over whether to tax the industry. No one expected an epidemic of conflict of interest.
But that's what has happened in municipalities where elected officials who have the duty of regulating the industry also hold personal drilling leases.
A report in Sunday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Janice Crompton revealed that, in Washington County, more than a quarter of such officials, who were chosen to act in the public interest, have a pro-Marcellus financial relationship. That's 94 leaseholders among 349 elected officials.
In 45 of the 66 municipalities in the county, ground zero in Western Pennsylvania for the new industry, at least one official has a lease.
Constituents who are wary of or opposed to drilling call it a deal with the devil. To everyone else, it's at least bad judgment and maybe worse.
A vexing situation exists in South Fayette, Allegheny County, where several of the township's zoning board members have leases with Range Resources. Last week the board put off a decision on a challenge from the energy company to the township's new drilling ordinance as calls mounted for those board members to recuse themselves.
Even South Fayette's solicitor believes it's a conflict of interest, one that should be remedied by appointing alternate zoning board members to hear Range's response to the law.
In Washington County, 19 municipalities have half or more of the seats on their governing bodies occupied by leaseholders. Five of the 19 communities -- Blaine, Carroll, Donegal, Morris and South Franklin -- have councils or boards of supervisors unanimously controlled by leaseholders. In the hamlet of Green Hills, pop. 29, the mayor is the only government official and he's got a lease, too.
Although the state Ethics Commission says officials with personal leases or close family members employed in the industry should not vote on or discuss issues that involve drilling, what happens when all three Carroll Township supervisors, not to mention the solicitor, have leases?
There's a price to be paid when one seeks election to government office, and part of it is to forgo some of the opportunities commonly available to one's neighbors. It's called maintaining independence and integrity, and it's about doing one's job as an impartial public servant.
We would have thought this would be obvious to public-minded citizens, but evidently not. It's clear politicians need a three-credit course on how to avoid conflict of interest.
First Published October 22, 2011 12:00 am
