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Police.

Accident Or Crime?

By STEVE MOCARSKY smocarsky@leader.net
 Monday, December 27, 2004 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A 





HAZLETON - A taxpayer advocate who lost a bid on a property says the
Hazleton Redevelopment Authority awarded the bid unfairly. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The authority last week voted to sell an empty lot at 408-410 Keifer Ave.
in the city's Heights section for $7,000 to Anthony Mope, who owns a home and
garages next to the property. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Dee Deakos, the only other bidder, placed a $2,700 bid. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Neither Deakos nor Mope adhered to the advertised requirement of submitting
a bond or certified check for at least 10 percent of the offered price with
the bid. Mope submitted a personal check and Deakos submitted cash. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Deakos said she did not expect the authority to award the bid to her
because her bid was lower, but the authority should have thrown out both bids
and solicited new ones. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Deakos, a Hazleton Taxpayers Association member who has been a watchdog of
several municipal authorities for more than a decade, said authorities
routinely throw out bids when the highest bidder does not meet requirements
and other bids are lower than authority members would like. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A Hazleton attorney who has served as a municipality solicitor said he has
seen bids thrown out for these reasons. But Joe Ferdinand added that he has
also seen boards accept bids that don't meet bid requirements if the deviation
is minor and the board solicitor and the agency's engineer agree that doing so
wouldn't compromise the bidding process or the project or sale being bid. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Redevelopment authority chairman Robert Dougherty said that board members,
after consulting with solicitor David Glassberg, awarded the bid to Mope on
the condition that he submit a certified check the next day, which he did. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Glassberg said that given the ``huge discrepancy'' between the two bids,
authority members ``used their discretion to waive that technical
requirement.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 He said that if the board had voted to rebid, it ``would be back in the
same place next month'' and waiving the requirement made for ``a much cleaner,
quicker process.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Dougherty said the authority took possession of the property earlier this
year because the double-block home on it had code violations, the city
received complaints about it and the board wanted to demolish the home. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs donated the property to the
authority after the city told the department about the home's condition. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The department had acquired the home about a year ago after the previous
owner defaulted on a veterans loan. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The department brought the property's tax payments up to date before the
donation. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Dougherty and Glassberg said they have no personal relationship with Mope
and the board made its decision based on expediency and the large difference
between the bid amounts. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Mope did not return a message seeking comment. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Steve Mocarsky, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 459-2005. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Bidder Disputes Award Of Property Dee Deakos Says Neither Of Bidders Met Terms So Both Bids Should Have Been Tossed.