-----


Very few people have seen the report. Everyone wants to know what’s in the report.


There are a lot of rumors as to what’s in the report.


In a little over a week from now, the public might get a chance to peruse the report for itself.


On Dec. 19, Lancaster County Court President Judge Louis J. Farina ordered that the findings of a grand jury investigation into the sale of Conestoga View be sealed until individuals criticized in the report, but not charged, have the opportunity to respond in writing.


Farina gave them 20 days to do so, and “will make a decision on releasing the report and the responses at the end of that 20-day period,” Jan. 8, according to his order.


By law, however, it appears there’s no decision to make. Farina must release the report, or his refusal to do so could be appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.


Political observers are waiting for the shoe to drop, as the report is said to be sharply critical of the manner in which Lancaster County commissioners handled the sale of Conestoga View, the county nursing home, to a private firm last year. It appears there will be no formal charges filed as a result of the investigation, but sources say aspects of the report are likely to be damaging politically, especially to Republican Commissioner Dick Shellenberger.


Neither Shellenberger nor his attorney returned phone calls seeking comment for this article. Republican Commissioner Howard “Pete” Shaub, who on Tuesday will announce that he is stepping down as commissioner to take a private-sector job, declined to comment, saying only that, “It’s all behind me now,” and that he is leaving politics for good.


Democratic commissioner Molly Henderson, however, did agree to comment, saying not only had she found it unnecessary to respond in writing to the grand jury report, but that she thinks Judge Farina should release it immediately.


“Holding the report for 20 or more days makes this kind of speculation possible, which is why the report should be released now so everyone can read exactly what the grand jury found,” said Henderson in a written statement.


Former Lancaster Mayor Art Morris, a vociferous critic of the Conestoga View sale and the commissioners who executed it, finds common ground with Henderson on this one:


“We need to release this thing.”


Going public


The grand jury, impaneled by Lancaster County District Attorney Donald Totaro last year to investigate the sale of Conestoga View, the hiring of former county human services director Gary Heinke and other issues, delivered its final report to Farina on Dec. 14. It was the same day all three commissioners pleaded guilty to violating the Sunshine Act in selling Conestoga View to Complete HealthCare Resources in September 2005.


The timing was no coincidence.


In fact, all three commissioners were informed “that there was overwhelming evidence to establish Sunshine Act violations,” said Totaro. The commissioners “were then provided an opportunity to plead guilty to those charges” on Dec. 14, the same day the grand jury’s report was to be delivered to Farina, “or await any presentments that might be issued by the grand jury later that same day.”


Pennsylvania grand juries don’t hand down indictments, but can, via a “presentment,” recommend that charges be filed.


All three commissioners agreed, with Shaub and Shellenberger pleading guilty to two Sunshine Act violations, and Henderson to one.


Said Henderson, “It would have been unhelpful to the county, and an unacceptable diversion from my responsibilities, to spend an unpredictable amount of time in court defending a $100 summary fine.”


Totaro said that if any of the commissioners had refused to plead guilty, “we would have submitted the matter to the grand jury for their determination of whether to issue a presentment for Sunshine Act or any other possible violations.”


Totaro declined to identify what additional violations the commissioners might have faced. “I believe once the report is released it will answer any additional questions,” he said.


But will it be released?


According to the Pennsylvania Judicial Code, the judge to whom a grand jury report is submitted “shall issue an order accepting and filing such report as a public record” unless the report would “prejudice fair consideration of a pending criminal matter.” While the county commissioners are embroiled in a number of legal cases, all are civil suits.


That, ostensibly, means Farina is required to make it public, possibly with the written explanations attached. Should he fail to do so, the decision can be appealed, by a state attorney to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.


Farina did not return a phone call to his office seeking comment for this story.


William H. Lamb, a West Chester attorney and former Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice who represents Shellenberger, told the Lancaster New Era last month that “I don’t know what’s proved by releasing the report.” He did not return a phone call Friday for comment for this story; but the scuttlebutt is that Shellenberger, in particular, might be “blistered” politically by some of the report’s findings, though no one with first-hand knowledge of the report would spell out specifically what those findings were.


Shaub and Shellenberger in the spring publicly admitted holding meetings with attorneys and others in 2004 that set the stage for the sale of Conestoga View. Shellenberger has publicly blamed former county solicitor John Espenshade, a member of the Stevens & Lee law firm, for the “secret” meetings.


Shaub, whose resignation is not connected to the grand jury’s report — he reportedly had been looking for a job for months — is said to have submitted a written response to the grand jury report. It’s unknown whether Shellenberger did the same.


Not Henderson, though. “I think the report will speak for itself,” she said, as did a previous report prepared by Harrisburg attorney James West, which found “numerous legal flaws” with the way the sale of Conestoga View to Complete HealthCare was handled.


“I see no need to file a formal response,” said Henderson. “Based on the grand jury questions to me and my answers, other than the one open meeting citation I voluntarily accepted, I was never concerned that any formal grand jury recommendation would involve me.”


She reiterated her assertion that when she went to the “secret” meeting that would ultimately result in a citation for violating the Sunshine Act, she was “unaware that Stevens & Lee had been working on Conestoga View for more than a year,” and that she attended only because she believed it was supposed to be “an initial informational session, allowed under the Sunshine Act.”


Shaub has said that while he did participate in “secret” meetings, it was he who wanted to go public with the sale, issuing a request for proposals, an idea the other two commissioners rejected.


Shaub testified twice before the grand jury, but Shellenberger and Henderson testified only once. Shaub, who did not hire a lawyer to represent him during the investigation, has said that Shellenberger and Henderson hired lawyers to help them avoid testifying a second time.


The appearance of “taking the fifth,” say observers, could be extremely damaging politically.


“I don’t know how you can have county commissioners who won’t even appear in front of a grand jury,” said one local official.


Now, it comes down to a waiting game. If and when Farina does release the report, it is sure to provide plenty of additional fodder for the commissioners’ critics.


“I think [Farina] would have a helluva time not releasing it,” said Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray.



Contact Gil Smart at gsmart@lnpnews.com.