And the beat goes on

As many people in Middletown Township know by now, former State Rep. Matt Wright has paid the state $10,000 under a consent agreement regarding allegations he used legislative employees and resources for campaigning, according to a State Ethics Commission report released last Friday.

Basically, the 28-page document concludes that “In considering the Consent Agreement, it is clear that a violation of Section 1103(a) of the Ethics Act occurred in relation to Wright’s use of staff, office space, equipment and materials of his legislative District Office and his Capitol Office to further his re-election campaigns.”

The State Ethics Commission has referred its findings to the state Attorney General’s office, which will review it and decide if further action is required.

It is interesting to note, however, that Wright's case has parallels to that of former state Rep. Jeff Habay, R-Allegheny, who resigned in February 2006 after being sentenced to six to 12 months in jail for having aides perform campaign work on state time. Indeed, it was the Habay investigation that prompted Lisa Deon to write a detailed letter to the House Republican leadership describing how Wright’s local legislative office was being used as a virtual campaign re-election headquarters.

Her efforts to halt the illegal activity was spurned not only by the leadership in Harrisburg, but also by two of the aides who were involved in the activities, Harry Leonhauser (as in Supervisor H. George Leonhauser) and Russell Kavana. When Wright was thrown out of office in 2006, Leonhauser and Kavana would go on to run their own campaign for the Middletown Board of Supervisors the following year.

Leonhauser won a seat on the Board of Supervisors by 32 votes and Kavana, with the Republicans now in the majority on the Board, was just appointed to the Zoning Board. Interesting, huh?