Local lawmakers voice support DeWeese
While some state legislators would like to see state House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese step down or abandon his re-election campaign, his local Democratic colleagues are standing behind him. Reps. Peter J. Daley, Deberah Kula and Tim Mahoney all said they feel calls for his resignation are unwarranted.
The calls for DeWeese to step down followed a grand jury presentment in July that led to the arrest of 12 current and former lawmakers and staffers. The presentment alleged that they used millions in state resources to operate political campaigns. DeWeese was not charged, but his former chief of staff, Mike Manzo, was charged.
Daley, D-California, called it “absolutely treachery” for the legislators – many of whom DeWeese has helped during his time in office – to ask him to step down.
“The calls for his resignation are self-serving,” Daley said, noting that some who have called for him to step down also have indicated a desire to replace him.
“I find it egregious that they would jump on Bill DeWeese’s back to spring forward,” he said.
DeWeese told the editorial board of the Herald-Standard Thursday that he did not expect some of the defections within the caucus.
“I was surprised and disappointed, but life goes on, and I’ll work with all of the members,” he said.
DeWeese said while there may be other defections, “I don’t expect an avalanche.”
He also said he’s been peppered with calls from people who want to make sure he’s not listening to the calls for his ouster, and continuing with his re-election bid.
Kula, a longtime magisterial district judge before, said she draws upon her judicial background.
“People are innocent until they’re proven to be guilty of something,” she said, noting that DeWeese has not been charged with anything.
“Until something is proven to me that there was something done incorrectly by Mr. DeWeese, I’m not calling for him to step down in any way,” said Kula, D-North Union Township.
While DeWeese was in charge of those indicted, Mahoney, D-South Union Township, said there have been no charges filed against DeWeese.
“If he were to be formally charged, then we’d have to discuss it, but right now, it’s a non-issue,” Mahoney said. “I think we’re on the right page, trying to move Fayette out of the past.
“I don’t think Bill DeWeese is the problem. I think the system is broken, and it needs to be fixed. They’ve been doing these things in Harrisburg for 100 years. The problems came to a boiling point, and we need to fix them,” Mahoney said.
He suggested that people asking for DeWeese’s resignation are “grandstanding and trying to put their own political signs on the map.”
Also charged in what many have called “Bonusgate,” were former House Democratic Minority Whip Mike Veon and Beaver County state Rep. Sean Ramaley.
Attorney General Tom Corbett has said that the investigation is continuing, and additional indictments could follow. The investigation was spurred by a series of newspaper stories that questioned whether taxpayer-funded bonuses were paid to employees of the Legislature for work done on campaigns.
The grand jury found that the theft of taxpayers’ funds and resources was extensive and ranged from the obvious – directing public employees to conduct campaign work while paid by the taxpayers, to the subtle – issuing taxpayer-paid contracts for campaign work disguised as legitimate legislative work.
The grand jury found that in 2004, Manzo started having a long-term sexual liaison with a 21-year-old legislative intern from Rices Landing. By September 2005, the indictment alleged that Manzo created a taxpayer-funded job for Angela Bertugli, then 21. Bertugli was put in charge of the Pittsburgh field office for the newly formed House Allegheny County delegation.
There was no interview or application process, and other DeWeese staffers reportedly told the grand jury that they were unaware that there was a field office. The grand jury found the office never existed.
Bertugli was going to graduate school in Pittsburgh at the time, and rarely received jobs to do, prosecutors alleged. When she was assigned tasks, Manzo had her doing campaign-related activities, officials alleged.
She was later transferred to the Democratic Caucus Legislative Research Office in Harrisburg when she matriculated at an law school in that area.
At times, she made upwards of $30,000 yearly, including bonuses.
Daley, like Mahoney and Kula, emphasized that DeWeese faces no criminal charges.
“Is he guilty by association? Because Mike Manzo worked for him? Until the attorney general says so, I don’t believe it,” Daley said.
Daley noted that he’s “not on (DeWeese’s) best friend list,” but said he feels it’s important for legislators to stick together
Mahoney said he is and will continue to work with DeWeese to bring new jobs to Fayette County.
“This is the first time in Fayette County history that all the representatives and senators are working in one direction to try and do the right thing,” Mahoney said. “At this point in time, I am going to stand with Bill DeWeese because we are bringing things to Fayette County and getting things done.”
Although DeWeese is from the area, Kula said she did not know him well before her election as a state representative. Since she’s been there, she said she’s found DeWeese accommodating and helpful to her.
“Right now, he’s doing his job, I’m doing my job, and we’ll see where we go from there,” Kula said.