Ambrosini-Zapotosky regime is a failed administration
The Al Ambrosini-Vincent Zapotosky regime is a failed administration for the people of Fayette County.
Poor Judgment from A to Z is the common theme. With a thorough analysis, Democrats Ambrosini & Zapotosky have proven their bad politics and poor judgment. Their public-be-damned attitude and their proposed $40 to $100 million dollar Taj Mahal prison fiasco is the icing on the cake. They wasted $2 million of taxpayer money on the jail which went down the drain, and we are still waiting for the final tally.
The biggest flaw in the Ambrosini & Zapotosky regime is their abuse of power, bad politics and bad judgment. Just like the Titanic, they have set Fayette County on a course for icebergs and higher taxes. With their shenanigans, they have destroyed the public trust with the citizens of Fayette County.
From the beginning of the administration, they slapped the people of Fayette County in the face with the hiring of a Westmoreland County attorney for solicitor. There are many competent attorneys in Fayette County who all passed the Pennsylvania Bar Exam. Instead of working with and hiring a local solicitor, they played politics. This single controversial action showed a clue and a pattern of pure political decision making that was to come along with their public-be-damned attitude. It was bad politics and poor judgment.
Ambrosini showed his true colors and arrogance by pitting Uniontown and Connellsville hospitals against each other. Here is a man who lives in Connellsville and works against the people in his own hometown. It’s ironic that the mental health facility at the Uniontown Hospital ultimately shut down. Bad politics and again poor judgment!
Another slap in the face is how they withhold, and keep Commissoner Angela Zimmerlink out of the loop. Whoever the minority commissioner is, it is inappropriate and illegal to withhold information to an equally elected official. Whether you like Zimmerlink’s politics or not, she has a right to be kept in the loop from the single fact that she was elected by the people of Fayette County. More arrogance, bad politics and poor judgment.
On the prison front, four senior citizens, Dr. Evelyn Hovanec, John Cofchin, and Ralph & Jerri Mazza showed wisdom by asking for a referendum on the prison issue. They wanted the county to consider other options and have a public process to review alternate plans.
Although they received over 3,700 signatures from residents of Fayette County, they were left out in the cold. The referendum was shot down. However their work did not go in vain. Zapotosky who has been a rubber stamp for Ambrosini for two and a half years, finally saw the light and voted to stop the Taj Mahal prison.
Instead of listening to the public, they tried to jam the prison down the throats of the Fayette County Fair, Menallen and German townships without consulting them first. They proposed to build a $40 to 50 million prison, where they need to upgrade the sewage, build roads and infrastructure, and remove tons of soil with pyrites to be replaced with more tons of soil. Not one brick has been laid, for the project. This project would have ended up being a $100 million mistake.
Clearly, it would be a mistake to move the prison jobs and the thousands of visitors who come to downtown Uniontown. This would have been a devastating blow to the city of Uniontown. All we need to do is remodel the jail that we have and build an addition onto the existing facility using the Michael Molnar plan. This would save the taxpayers of Fayette County millions of dollars. Zapotosky now says that the prison projects price can be cut in half. We are glad you finally saw the light, but what were you thinking all along Vince?
After two and a half years of this failed administration, the honeymoon was over when Ambrosini turned spy operative with video surveillance and reported Zapotosky to the ethics commission for secretly giving plans to a Morgantown businessman. You know it’s bad when your try to cut the throat of your go-to-guy.
On Sept 18, Ambrosini, who is beholden to his political donors, had a fundraiser to get re-elected. For $5,000 you could have become a platinum sponsor where you could have dined with Al and have your choice of grilled fillet mignon, rack of lambs, or sea bass at the Mountain Club which is a Private Social Club in Fayette County.
Hiring Westmoreland county attorneys and having $5,000 fundraisers has no common sense. It’s bad politics and poor judgment. Al, you must have forgotten what Lincoln said; “God must have loved the common man because he mad so many of them.” What’s wrong with a pancake, spaghetti, and holuski dinner in Fayette County at five bucks a plate?
The Ambrosini and Zapotosky administration has been a setback for the people of Fayette County. They have given us awful planning, corruption, playing bad politics, keeping the minority commissioner out of the loop, and wasted millions of taxpayer dollars, including $2 million on the prison alone. Bad Politics and poor judgment!
There is some light at the end of the tunnel. Zapotosky promised that he would only serve two terms so he is leaving, and he voted to ax the Taj Mahal prison project. Ambrosini without a doubt will only be a one-term commissioner based on his lack of common sense, bad politics and his poor judgment.
When I was elected in 1995, I said it then and I will say it again, no matter what our plans are for Fayette County, we must address the corruption and the crime or we will continue to make backward steps and not make progress.
We need integrity and leadership coupled with a bold vision that gives our citizens hope and faith to grow and aspire to a better Fayette County. Our ships need to sail in the right direction of progress, cooperation, and good government. We must be against crime, corruption, cronyism, nepotism bad politics and poor judgment that exists in Fayette County.
Sean M. Cavanagh is a resident of Uniontown.