Zimmerlink’s comments make her look foolish
I am sure it is therapeutic for Fayette County Commissioner Angela Zimmerlink to write commentaries about her holier than thou performance, but she is not fooling anyone. Everytime she does this, she sticks her foot in her mouth, rambles on, makes things up, contradicts herself and whines on and on.
In her commentary dated March 23rd, she is whining about the Herald-Standard, Joe Maher and intelligent constituents that feel misled, like me, who are simply trying to hold her accountable for her actions.
I have been involved in Fayette County politics for a long time and I cannot think of one instance that Zimmerlink has stood up and taken responsibility for her many mistakes. We all make mistakes, but how you handle and rectify those mistakes shows us one’s character or lack thereof. Not only will Zimmerlink refuse to take responsibility for the bad decision to appoint Monty “Cash” Lilley to the Fayette County Airport Authority, she has dug her heels in defiance and will not solve the issue by rescinding Lilley’s appointment.
Where are Vicites and Lohr on this issue? They have been silent, which tells me they are her puppets and she is controlling the strings. I am starting to wonder what Zimmerlink has on them that they do whatever she says. They certainly have not demonstrated what they promised in their campaigns! It is very disappointing that they have not stepped up to do the right thing.
Zimmerlink’s commentary threw county solicitor John Cupp under the bus by quoting him as saying he did not find Mr. Lilley to have a record. Either Cupp did not do his job or she is about to throw him under the bus for not doing his job competently. Anyone can do a Google search on Lilley and find his convictions and sentencing. There is an article showing the large group of employees, whose money he took. showing up to witness his sentencing.
Throwing people under the bus, causing chaos and distracting people from the issue at hand, is what Zimmerlink does best! These attributes make for a very interesting resume, wouldn’t you say?
In the same commentary, she also attacked an individual in our community without naming him, but gave us just enough information to know who she was talking about in her rant. Zimmerlink’s attack on this reverend is appalling and again, shows her lack of character and inability to give anyone credit, except herself, for contributions to our county.
The reverend and his family have dedicated their lives to ministering to prisoners, providing shelter, providing training to become better citizens, fathers, husbands, sons and brothers, provide jobs and rehabilitation. They have found a way to bridge that very important gap between jail and being released into the community.
The reverend clearly understands the drug and prisoner issues and has proven he can successfully implement solutions. She stated that because the reverend, now a pillar of our community, was convicted many, many years ago for robbery and drug-related crimes that it would only be fair if he also was singled out with Lilley and be asked to resign from his prison ministry.
The commentary proves she is not capable of understanding or looking at the big picture! Not capable of compassion or helping others which violates her responsibilities as a commissioner! Zimmerlink has put the reverend, a pillar of society, and Lilley, an embezzler, in the same category. You have to ask yourself what is the risk to our community if the reverend continues his appointment to minister to the prisoners and the risk to our community if Mr. Lilley, who according to the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, states he embezzled $3.1 million dollars from his company’s pension plan in 1992 continues his appointment to the airport authority? Remember the airport authority just received $2 million dollars for the hanger project and they continue to seek millions for a runway extension.
The current airport authority has been very successful and finally is seen as a hard-working team who are trustworthy, intelligent and respected in the aviation community. I am surprised Zimmerlink cannot figure out the difference between these two men and the associated risks and rewards to our community.
Vicki Hartsek is a resident of Uniontown.