Wagner wants to examine airport authority votes, records
Allegheny County Controller Chelsa Wagner intends to examine the actions and votes of airport authority board members in the wake of disclosures that two of them invested in OneJet.
In a statement Thursday, Ms. Wagner said she is requesting authority board and committee meeting minutes, financial disclosure forms of members and employees, and contracts with Pittsburgh International Airport vendors, all dating to 2015.
Her right-to-know request comes on the eve of an expected vote by authority board members Friday on a proposal that would require them to divest of any investments they have in airlines or resign their seats.
The proposal directly affects two board members, Robert Lewis and Jan Rea, who invested in OneJet, the regional business carrier being sued by the authority for breach of contract.
Another proposal to be voted on by the board Friday would ban members from directly investing in airlines in the future.
Ms. Wagner, who has called for the resignations of Mr. Lewis and Ms. Rea, said the proposals do not “negate the need for reforms and increased oversight.”
“The fact that a policy banning such a textbook example of conflict of interest has to exist at all indicates that the culture of this board has not been one that emphasized ethical practices,” she said in a statement.
“While changes to state law may be necessary to create the level of transparency that should be expected from public bodies, I believe that it is necessary to show those who have been entrusted with these positions and those who hope to do business with them that someone is, indeed, watching.”
Ms. Wagner said an added incentive for conducting such an examination is the $1 billion airport modernization the authority is preparing to start.
That project, she said, “could present ample opportunities for self-dealing and favoritism,” adding, “we must use the tools at our disposal to shine light on this authority’s actions.”
Airport authority officials declined to comment.
Mr. Lewis and Ms. Rea have not said whether they will divest of their OneJet investments or resign.
Airport Authority Solicitor Jeffrey Letwin has said that he sees no conflict in the two sitting on the board despite their investments as long as they recuse themselves in any votes involving the airline.
Nonetheless, the authority, which operates Pittsburgh International, has said the new proposals are meant to “avoid any perceived conflict of interest.”
Board Chairman David Minnotte also has said he “remains confident that the board’s practice in the past has been both ethically and legally sustainable, and that board members have recused themselves from votes when any conflict exists.”
Ms. Rea has said the investment she and her husband, Don, made in OneJet involved the “minimum amount of notes” the airline was offering investors. She said they made the purchase to take advantage of private charter flights the carrier was offering to Naples, Fla.
Her investment and that of Mr. Lewis, according to Mr. Letwin, came well after the authority awarded $1 million in incentives to OneJet to operate from the airport.
The authority now is suing
the airline to recoup $763,000 of that, claiming the carrier did not live up to a 2016 agreement that required it to serve 10 destinations, including three new markets.
OneJet did launch flights to 10 markets but was down to just two — Hartford, Conn., and Indianapolis — from Pittsburgh before suspending service last month.
The deal required the carrier to maintain round-trip nonstop service at least five days a week for at least five years to the new destinations, the lawsuit stated.
OneJet suspended all flights Aug. 29. It stated it did so while it transitions to a “fully owned 135 operating certificates over the next eight weeks.” It expects inventory to reopen for sale beginning Oct. 1.
The suspension came as the airline faced a federal tax lien for the nonpayment of $621,556 in excise taxes dating to Sept. 30, 2015, as well as the authority’s lawsuit.
Ms. Wagner has taken on the airport authority and others in the past. Three years ago, she went to court in a bid to audit the airport authority, the Port Authority, the Sports & Exhibition Authority, and the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority.
Common Pleas Senior Judge Joseph James ruled against her, saying all four authorities were created under specific acts of the state Legislature that gave auditing responsibilities to outside auditors and either the state attorney general or auditor general.
Ms. Wagner said Thursday she will continue to fight for more transparency, urging the authorities to voluntarily open their books.