Ex-manager says he will pay debt

A former administrator in the West Mifflin Area School District who has been under fire for failing to reimburse the district for continuing education classes acknowledges he owes the district and will honor a court order to begin repaying the debt immediately, his lawyer said.

An investigation into whether Phil Martell, former business manager for the district and current business manager for the Connellsville Area School District, double billed for expenses also is continuing, according to the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office. Mr. Martell also serves as president of the Elizabeth Forward school board.

Mr. Martell’s lawyer, Joel Sansone, said his client owes $5,174.70 for continuing education expenses he incurred during his tenure at the district, from June 2007 until December 2009.

There was a dispute between Mr. Martell and the district over whether he was required to reimburse the district for the classes, spawning a January lawsuit from the district. The district argued that because Mr. Martell wasn’t employed for at least five years, as his contract stated, he was required to reimburse the district for a portion of the continuing education costs.

A judge last week ordered Mr. Martell to repay the district the amount owed, plus 6 percent interest and court costs. Mr. Sansone said Mr. Martell has been willing to begin repayment but the district hasn’t been responsive to his requests to make payment arrangements.

Mr. Martell paid a total of $750 in 19 monthly installments between May 2010 and June 2012 before he realized his Pennsylvania Act 93 employment contract might not require him to repay the district and he stopped making payments.

“He started paying it because he didn’t want to cheat anybody,” Mr. Sansone said of his client. “When it became clear to us that he owed the money, we called the other side to figure out a way to deal with it, but they weren’t amenable to resolving it.” The district denies that. “That’s completely false. I’ve never been approached to meet with him or his

lawyers,” district solicitor Matt Racunas said. Mr. Racunas also said he did not know that Mr. Martell would no longer dispute the debt.

“I had no idea he was intending to pay anything,” he said.

After the district filed suit in January, Mr. Martell countersued in May, claiming that district officials defamed and slandered him and interfered with his ability to make a living. He accused them of fraudulent conduct for failing to investigate claims against him before making them public.

Mr. Martell dropped that lawsuit in state court, but he plans to replace it with a federal civil rights suit, alleging his rights were breached by district officials who have wasted public resources to single him out for political purposes.

“We plan on appealing this decision into a trial level where depositions can take place of the board of school directors, superintendent and the solicitor who circumvented the interpretation of the law for political purposes,” Mr. Martell said in a statement. “We have obtained additional information where other people where permitted a pass on payment and not mandated to follow the rules the district interpreted for me.”

Mr. Sansone said the expense to taxpayers for legal fees and other costs could have been avoided.

“Arrangements should have been made [for repayment],” he said. [Mr. Martell] wanted to work out a payment schedule. This has been a continuing effort to retaliate against my client. It’s fueled by a long-standing revenge against the previous administration and everybody there knows. it.”

Mr. Martell’s tenure at West Mifflin Area coincided with that of the district’s late superintendent Pat Risha, who was accused of using district employees to complete personal work and criticized for his close relationship with contractors and politicians.

West Mifflin Area school director Phil Shar said he has no animus toward Mr. Martell or anyone who worked for Mr. Risha. He said the district has been following policy for all employees.

“Mr. Martell had five years, which expired in December, to pay his tuition and he didn’t do it, and we just basically followed our policy,” Mr. Shar said.

The ongoing feud over Mr. Risha and his allies is behind the current vitriol aimed at his client, Mr. Sansone said.

Regardless of why Mr. Martell is being asked to repay the money, Mr. Sansone said Mr. Martell will begin making payments, but he wasn’t sure how much his client would pay per month.

Mr. Sansone said his client is also being railroaded by accusations that he double billed for travel expenses, calling the allegations “utter nonsense.”

A representative for Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala said an investigation into so-called “double dipping” is “still ongoing,” after the office sought travel and expense records from West Mifflin Aera and the Allegheny Intermediate Unit.

At issue is whether Mr. Martell billed both the AIU and West Mifflin Area for the same business trips.