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HUB Law - NO Ethics

March 25, 2004

All public officials are required by the Pennsylvania State Ethics Act (click to read entire act) to file a Statement of Financial Interest (SFI) form listing direct and indirect sources of income. ALL public officials. So 5thEstate.com went to look at School District of Lancaster (SdoL) solicitors' George Brubaker and Bob Frankhouser. What did we find? It seems that Brubaker, who is practicing law for over 35 years and Frankhouser who is practicing law for almost 25 years, don't know the ethics law.

No surprise.

Hub law firm is infamous for the Sunshine-law-breaking Barley deal in which the trash authority schemed behind closed doors to sell out an entire neighbor for a landfill - all to enrich former state Rep. John E. Barley. Brubaker and Frankhouser are expert in advising clients on how to keep things from the public.

5thEstate.com has discovered that the HUB law firm is equally ignorant about the State Ethics Law. In what has to be their most ridiculous interpretation of law yet, George writes in a letter SDoL business manager, Eleanor Bosserman, with copies to then superintendent Ric Curry and then SdoL board president Mike Winterstein that "There is some question under the ethics law whether a law firm is required to file a Statement of Financial Interests required by the Ethics Act" (click to read entire letter)

The problem? (click to read illegal Statement of Financial Interest) The law firm is not the one REQUIRED to file a Statement of Financial Interests form! What is funny about this is that the form is very clear when it asks for a LAST NAME and FIRST NAME. Brubaker instead of putting his own name, puts the name of the law firm! Then under the section where Brubaker is suppose to put his sources of income, this high-price lawyer writes that "Disclosure not permitted under Code of professional responsibility"!

No one on staff at 5thEstate.com is an attorney. No one on staff plays an attorney on TV. BUT we do know how to read. Under the section of the Pennsylvania State Ethics Act entitled, "Statement of financial interests required to be filed" (click to read section) , it states very clearly that:

"Persons who are full-time or part-time solicitors for political subdivisions are required to file under this section."

Pleased note the words Solicitors and REQUIRED. The act does not refer to law firms but rather solicitors!

What is Brubaker hiding? What is Frankhouser hiding? Do they have a conflict of interest that they don't want you, the public to know about? Under the law, public officials like Brubaker and Frankhouser are required to list sources of income OVER $1,300. What stock doesn't George want us to know about? For instance, under the section Direct Sources of Income, both attorneys should put Hartman, Underhill and Brubaker as a source of income. BUT they also need to list corporations and other sources that have nothing to with attorney-client privilege. Any "barter" type arrangements they must list.

According to the Ethics law, it says, "No public official shall be allowed to take the oath of office or enter or continue upon his duties, nor shall he receive compensation from public funds, unless he has filed a statement of financial interests as required by this chapter."

Would you like to PERSONALLY force Brubaker and Frankhouser to file this Statement of Financial Interests? It's easy, just print out the following three documents, fill out the complaint form and send it to the Ethics Commission. They will take care of the rest!

Send all three

Ethics complaint form

Letter Explaining illegal action

illegal Statement of Financial Interest

The crying shame of it all is that these two attorneys with almost 60 years experience between them, have been thumbing their nose at the law for years!