Monessen to continue receiving state aid for emergency responder pension plans
MONESSEN – As city officials move forward from concerns about pension plans for their emergency responders, council members and absentee Mayor Matt Shorraw continue to trade barbs.
Deputy Mayor and Councilman Tony Orzechowski said he received a letter from the state auditor general’s office stating that the city is in compliance with recommendations made in an audit of police and firemen’s pension plans. The audit covered Jan. 1, 2015, to Dec. 31, 2016, and the auditor general’s office had issued an order to show cause why the state should not withhold aid for the plans.
On Thursday, Orzechowski said state officials found the city provided sufficient documentation to warrant a withdrawal of the order to show cause.
“It is long done; it is finished,” he said. “This council fixed the pension issue with the help of the police. And now we can move forward.”
In a Facebook post made earlier in the day, however, Shorraw said he didn’t believe the city was in the clear.
“It is my understanding that the auditor general has a limited investigatory scope. Just because his office has withdrawn the charges, there are still federal violations that need to be investigated, and if appropriate, prosecuted,” he wrote.
Shorraw hasn’t attended a meeting in person since May 2018.
In July 2018, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale found city officials did not follow state law or the city’s procurement procedures in replacing a pension investment firm in 2017, including not providing records to explain how the firm was selected.
Last November, city officials agreed to re-bid investment and advisory services with transparency and repay $54,390 to the police pension plan from an unauthorized pension benefit improperly awarded to a retired officer years before he was eligible to collect it.
In other business, council approved a motion to advertise for sealed bids for anyone who wishes to purchase lots from the city’s repository list. Solicitor Joseph Dalfonso said adjacent property owners will be given first opportunity to bid on the properties.