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NLRB: Wilkes-Barre General Hospital violated federal law by withholding nurses’ longevity pay

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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Democratic mayoral nominee Tony George will be granted a week to provide amended campaign finance forms in response to allegations from an anonymous source that he failed to report a $2,500 donation.</p><p>Luzerne County Board of Elections Solicitor Mike Butera said Monday evening that George&#8217;s forms had &#8220;obvious mistakes that need to be corrected&#8221; before he can determine whether any campaign finance laws have been violated.</p><p>Materials from an anonymous source mailed last week to the Times Leader and offices of the Luzerne County District Attorney and elections office allege George failed to report the donation during the May 8 through May 19 reporting period in which all donations above $500 must be reported within 24 hours.</p><p>Butera said the forms had numerous clerical and organizational errors but of particular concern was the $2,500 contribution, which lists &#8220;Bob Francella&#8221; as the contributor, &#8220;Fraculla Enterprise&#8221; as the employer name and &#8220;5/17/1984&#8221; as the date received.</p><p>It was unclear whether &#8220;Fraculla Enterprises&#8221; is Wilkes-Barre contracting company Franchelli Enterprises.</p><p>Attempts to reach Franchelli contractor Bob Frankelli for clarification were unsuccessful.</p><p>George will be given a week to file an amended form that explains the donation, Butera said.</p><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think it&#8217;s clear when that contribution was made,&#8221; Butera said. &#8220;I want to know the exact date and manner of the contribution before I make any definitive holdings as to what occurred.&#8221;</p><p>Calls to both George and Charlotte Raup, his campaign co-chair, were not returned Monday.</p><p>Butera, however, said he had been in contact with members of George&#8217;s campaign committee and that were cooperating with his requests.</p><p>They agreed the forms were &#8220;sloppy,&#8221; he said.</p><p>While sent anonymously, Butera said the materials did raise legitimate questions over the content of the forms.</p><p>&#8220;Whoever brought this to the attention of the media did it because they did see some discrepancies,&#8221; he said. &#8220;There is no doubt that there are discrepancies, and they need to be clarified,&#8221; he said.</p><p>The latest allegations mark the second time an unknown source has targeted George.</p><p>The day before the primary election, city residents received two mailers that claimed George had ties to the Nation of Islam. The mailer suggested George, while police chief in 2001, invited members of the Nation of Islam to sensitize city police officers.</p><p>A second mailer, colored bright yellow and titled &#8220;Fraud Alert,&#8221; warns of a scam being perpetrated in Wilkes-Barre and alleges George made fraudulent statements during his campaign.</p><p>Both have the same Houston, Texas return address but feature different senders, the &#8220;Fraud Service Center&#8221; and &#8220;Concerned Citizens for Transparency and Equality.&#8221;</p><p>After being reached by a Times Leader reporter in May, Raul Elorduy, general manager of USA2Me.com, confirmed someone from Wilkes-Barre purchased the return address from his company a few days before the election.</p><p>Elorduy said USA2Me.com merely sold the mailbox address and was not involved in the printing of either ads.</p><p>Because the account holder did not provide a copy of U.S. Postal Service form 1583, an application for mail delivery through an agent, or provide copies of their IDs, the account was closed, Elorduy said.</p><p>After consulting with his attorney, Elorduy said he could not provide the name of the account holder without a subpoena.</p><p>Despite the mailers, George won the Democratic nomination over George Brown, Brian Kelly and Darlene Duggins-Magdalinski. He will face GOP candidate Frank Sorick Nov. 3 in the general election.</p><p>However, if the violations prove to be willfully deceptive, George could be struck from the ballot.</p><p>Upon receipt of the amended return, Butera said it should paint a clearer picture regarding what should be done.</p><p>&#8220;When they file the amended return and it&#8217;s compared to the original, it should give a picture of what the problems were and why the first return was done the way it was,&#8221; Butera said.</p><style>
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<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Joe Dolinsky</p><p>jdolinsky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Joe Dolinsky at 570-991-6110 or on Twitter @JoeDolinskyTL</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre mayoral candidate George granted more time to correct ‘obvious mistakes’ in campaign finance forms