Peduto: Hamlet ethics violations ‘concerning’
Mayor Bill Peduto on Wednesday said the report of ethics violations by Pittsburgh Public Schools Superintendent Anthony Hamlet was “concerning” and calls into question whether he should remain the district’s leader moving forward.
Mr. Peduto, however, did not outright say if he thought Mr. Hamlet should be removed from his position.
The state Ethics Commission found in a report released last week that Mr. Hamlet violated the Public Official and Employee Ethics Act by improperly receiving travel reimbursements, getting payments for appearances related to his job, and incorrectly filing financial documents.
“These, at a minimum, are ethical violations that if pursued by the school board could be violations that would question whether he should remain superintendent,”
Mr. Peduto told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette while attending the FNB Financial Center groundbreaking ceremony in the Hill District.
The city has no control over the school district, as the two are separate governmental entities. But city and school officials have worked together in the past.
Mr. Peduto said he has not had a working relationship with Mr. Hamlet, “but it’s not just me. It’s throughout the community.”
The mayor said school board members should have taken that into consideration before giving Mr. Hamlet a contract extension. Mr. Hamlet’s contract ran from July 2016 through June 2021, but in August 2020 the school board extended Mr. Hamlet’s contract through June 2025.
“Now those board members who decided not to look into any of the issues or hold any of his past actions accountable are faced with a dilemma of whether they cut the relationship now or if they continue to hold this administration unaccountable,” Mr. Peduto said. “And I think those school board members who are not
putting the children of Pittsburgh first need to answer to their constituents why they continue to look the other way.”
School board members have met at least twice to discuss the situation and possible disciplinary actions since the report was released, but they have not come to any decision.
The commission ordered Mr. Hamlet to pay close to $8,000 — almost $3,000 to reimburse the school district, another $3,000 to the Pittsburgh Promise for contractual obligations, $1,000 related to investigation expenses and $750 for technical errors on paperwork — and directed him to forfeit 14 vacation days, valued at more than $12,000.
Mr. Peduto noted that the city has “very strict limits” on officials traveling or accepting gifts with some exceptions that must be reported to the state.
The superintendent “failed to do so, and at the same time was accepting honoraria for being able to speak at different events, which is completely prohibited,” Mr. Peduto said.
During a press conference shortly after the report was made public, Mr. Hamlet said the commission’s findings vindicated him and showed nothing “of intent on my part to deceive the families, my staff and the taxpayers of Pittsburgh.”
But Robert Caruso, the executive director of the state Ethics Commission, said he disagreed with how Mr. Hamlet characterized the findings of the report, saying that the superintendent had a course of conduct over several years that was “an egregious violation of the public trust.”