Oct 22, 2021 4 min read

Rep. Bud Cook, R-West Pike Run Township, said he has more unanswered questions now than when he started his investigation into the Local Share Account (LSA) in Washington County.

Cook held a press conference Thursday afternoon on the Washington County Courthouse steps to share what he called “findings and details of his five-year investigation,” including his seven right-to-know requests to the Redevelopment Authority of Washington County and the legal fees he said have been spent to fight those requests using taxpayer money.

“This has literally been a quest to make sure that government is fair, accountable and transparent,” Cook said.

The Washington County LSA was established to support community and economic development through gaming revenues generated in accordance with the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act.

Without elaborating on those findings, he said three questions remain unanswered by the Washington County Commissioners:

• How can the LSA be fair if it is not accountable and transparent?
• Why would the commissioners spend $30,000 in legal fees to block an incumbent representative from information that should be public?
• Why are the commissioners refusing to address the apparent conflict of interest in grant selection?

Cook alleged without offering evidence to support the claim that as of Oct. 1, “$10 million remains unaccounted for from 2015 to 2020.” He claimed research had been done in conjunction with the treasurer’s office, the redevelopment authority and Department of Community and Economic Development in regard to the allegation. “I want to be very clear on this; I’m using the term, ‘unaccounted for,'” said Cook, who did not elaborate.

“We think we’re going down the right path to find and identify where that money is,” Cook said.

Cook also opined that over the last 13 years, 10 grants have been awarded “that have a blatant conflict of interest.” He did not name what specific grants he claimed were problematic.

“The chairman of the review committee is also the executive director of both the chamber and the tourism committee,” Cook said. “That causes me a great amount of pause.”

Jeff Kotula, president of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce and Washington County Tourism & Promotion Agency, reiterated that the allegations are false.

“Mr. Cook said it himself today when he stated that he is making allegations he cannot prove and that his suspicions are ‘gut feel,'” Kotula said. “So, I will repeat what I have been stating for the past five years to the media – until Mr. Cook produces tangible facts that support his false allegations, proves his outlandish conspiracy theories, or justifies his baseless conflict of interest claims, I consider the matter closed.”

Diana Irey Vaughan, chairman of the board of the county commissioners, also refuted Cook’s claims.

She said no money has been spent on litigation, no conflict of interest exists and the process for awarding grants is very thorough to ensure fairness.

“There are individuals who comprise that board that are members of the economic community,” Irey Vaughan said. “They were chosen because they are in that community. If they apply they must disclose that and they are not part of the deliberation vote for that process.”

As far as accountability and transparency, Irey Vaughan said there is a very thorough review process with many steps that include education on how to apply for the grants and a review process to make sure applications are complete and adhere to policies in place. Projects are approved at a public meeting.

“I”m very proud of this process,” Irey Vaughan said. “I’m very proud the commissioners have taken their hands out of the process, never inserted themselves in any way or added or taken away a project. We’ve always taken the recommendation of the LSA Committee.”

Cook said he just wants his questions answered.

“This should not be this complicated. We are talking on an annual basis of about $6 million in this fund that’s available,” Cook said. “Thank, goodness, it’s out there and can be used for really good purposes. This cannot be fair unless it is transparent and accountable.”