The scathing 37-page report says the grand jury, which investigated the sale for more than a year, was “hampered by inconsistent testimony ... and a consistent lack of documentation to support or refute certain claims.”

The grand jury considered bringing serious criminal charges against those involved in the sale but did not because much of the evidence could not be independently confirmed.

The grand jury in its report did not consider Commissioner Molly Henderson a target for those serious charges, but Henderson knew of the proposed sale for at least three months before the public learned of it.

While the report does not recommend criminal charges, it does document how the commissioners:

• Kept the sale process “cloaked in a veil of secrecy.”

• Orchestrated the hiring of a hand-picked administrator, Gary Heinke, to help facilitate the sale.

• Sought a political contribution from an attorney involved in the sale.

• Involved administrators to help them maintain the secrecy.

The report also suggests the county revamp how officials hire administrators and requests that the state Legislature enact tougher laws prohibiting secret meetings by government officials.

Fallout from the report was varied Wednesday, from Commissioner Molly Henderson saying she was “vindicated” by the findings to former Lancaster city Mayor Arthur Morris, an opponent of the nursing home sale, demanding the commissioners’ resignations.

“Personally, if I had a wish, I would ban (Commissioners Pete Shaub and Dick Shellenberger) from public office for five lifetimes and Henderson from public office for one lifetime,” Morris said Wednesday night.

Shellenberger wrote in a legal response as part of the report that he is “saddened” by county District Attorney Donald Totaro’s use of the grand jury to investigate the Conestoga View sale.

“I question the motivation behind those persons who led this investigation in the first place,” Shellenberger’s statement says. He was unavailable for comment Wednesday.

Totaro said Shellenberger was trying to “shoot the messenger” rather than take responsibility for a “betrayal of the public’s trust.”

“Commissioner Shellenberger’s response to the grand jury report suggests he does not take seriously the recent exposure of his secretive and unlawful activities,” Totaro said. “Rather, his response displays continued denials and further attempts at minimizing his culpability.”

In September 2005, the county sold the 454-bed nursing home to Complete HealthCare Resources for $8.5 million. The reason for the sale, commissioners have said, was because Conestoga View’s operating deficit was draining the county coffers of up to $1.3 million a year since 2000.

Opponents of the sale have disputed that figure.

Among the key findings in the grand jury’s report:

• A “team” composed of commissioners, administrators and consultants worked on the proposed sale from 2004 until the transaction in September 2005 through a series of closed-door meetings.

The report refers to the meetings as a “veil of secrecy which cloaked the sale of Conestoga View.”

The report mentions concerted efforts by county officials to skirt the state’s Sunshine Act, which is meant to prevent elected officials from meeting secretly to discuss public matters.

• Shaub and Shellenberger purposefully and secretly spearheaded the proposed sale, even before taking office in 2004.

Shaub and Shellenberger kept the proceedings secret because they “were concerned about the potential outcry from the residents and employees at Conestoga View, as well as the possibility of criticism from the general public.”

• Shellenberger manipulated the hiring process in 2004 so Gary Heinke, who formerly worked for a restaurant Shellenberger managed, would be interviewed for the post of chief services officer.

The commissioners hired Heinke, who oversaw Conestoga View’s operations and was involved in its sale. Heinke resigned in October 2005 after allegations surfaced that he had falsified his résumé.

During a subsequent internal county investigation into Heinke’s hiring, Shellenberger “pleaded” with then-county Solicitor John Espenshade “to get him out of the whole ordeal (investigation),” the report states.

• Henderson apparently was not formally informed of the proposed sale until April 1, 2005, months before she approved the transaction, but there is a dispute about when she learned of it.

Henderson said the report “validated” her statements about when she first learned of the sale.

The report, however, references a meeting Henderson had with Heinke after he resigned. The meeting took place at a library, where Henderson allegedly told Heinke she “had known about the impending sale of Conestoga View” and about the secret meetings.

Henderson contradicted that account Wednesday, saying she did not know the details of the sale, only of the concept, which was discussed during the 2003 election campaign.

“The fact that they were considering (the sale), that was known publicly,” Henderson said Wednesday. “The fact that attorneys were being hired, appraisers were being hired, financial help was being hired, none of that was discussed with me.”

The grand jury report also suggests there may have been political motivations for the sale.

In the report’s final pages, the grand jury says Shellenberger on Nov. 1, 2005, allegedly approached Espenshade about a $20,000 contribution from Espenshade’s Stevens & Lee law firm to Shellenberger’s election committee.

“Shellenberger stated, ‘Look, we just paid you $300,000 (for the Conestoga View sale), I think you can afford $20,’ ” an apparent reference to the $20,000, the report states.

Espenshade did not agree to the contribution.

The report also criticizes Shaub, who resigned Jan. 4 to take a job in the private sector.

Shaub instigated the sale when he met with Shellenberger in September 2003 as both ran on the Republican ticket for commissioner, the report states.

“Conestoga View is going to be sold; it’s going to be gone,” the report quotes Shaub as saying. “I don’t care how we get there; we’re going to get there.”

Shaub, however, apparently testified to the grand jury that Shellenberger pushed for the sale.

From that point until April 2005, Shaub and Shellenberger worked together with Heinke and other county advisers and attorneys to sell the nursing home and keep the sale out of public view, according to the report.

In September 2005, though, when it came time to finalize the sale, Shaub reversed his position.

During a recess in the middle of a public meeting, Shaub called an attorney who worked on the sale into his private office, according to the report.

Shaub told the attorney “that he was going to vote against the sale but that (the attorney) had better make sure that the other two (commissioners) voted for it,” the report states.

Shaub dissented, but the sale was approved 2-1.

Wednesday evening, Shaub released a statement about the report.

“I willingly provided the grand jury with all the information that I had. I did not hire a lawyer. I did not make any attempt to squash my testimony. I have already publicly acknowledged that the process was flawed,” the statement says.

On Dec. 14, the three commissioners pleaded guilty to charges of violating the Sunshine Act. Shellenberger and Shaub pleaded guilty to two counts of meeting secretly, and Henderson pleaded guilty to one count.

They paid fines of $100 on each charge and court costs.

The report makes 11 recommendations to county and state officials. It recommends all upper-level county employees receive formal training on the Sunshine Act and that county job applicants who falsify documents be subject to prosecution.

It also calls on the state Legislature to stiffen the penalties of the Sunshine Act.


Report details ‘veil of secrecy’ in county


Dave Pidgeon’s e-mail address is dpidgeon@lnpnews.com.