CLARKSBURG, W. Va. — A hearing date has been set for the state Ethics Commission to evaluate allegations that a Harrison County commissioner used taxpayer money to fund personal trips and abused his position to provide a no interest loan to a volunteer fire department.
The first case brought against Commissioner Bernie Fazzini by the Ethics Commission’s Probable Cause Review Board deals with allegations that he “used his public position for his private gain and private gain to his wife” during three trips taken for county-related events.
The first count deals with a trip to Portland which lasted from July 15, 2011 through July 19, 2011, in which he is accused of:
– Receiving reimbursement for his wife to get into the county-related conference at a cost of $50 and receiving reimbursement for her baggage fees at a cost of $20.
– Receiving reimbursement for airplane shuttle services in which he submitted two receipts with the second, for $37, being a copy of the first with the date altered.
– Receiving reimbursement for a $28.23 meal dated for July 20. However, the receipt had allegedly been altered from July 25, five days after the conference when he and his wife had traveled to Florida for vacation.
– Receiving reimbursement for his parking at the Pittsburgh International Airport, including the $49 extra for the five days he was on vacation after the conference ended.
– Receiving a check for $3,097 five months after already receiving a reimbursement check for the same amount. When notified, he returned the second check.
The second count deals with a trip to Morgantown lasting from August 6, 2011 through August 9, 2011, in which he is accused of:
– Constructing two false receipts to improperly obtain $35.50 for the meals.
The third count deals with a trip to Orlando, Florida for a county-related meeting from December 7, 2011 through December 10, 2011 and then stayed until December 14, 2011 on vacation, in which he is accused of:
– Altering the dates of two personal meal receipts to reflect they occurred during the county-related meeting to receive a reimbursement at a cost of $88.
– Receiving reimbursement for a rental car, including the extra $49.08 for the car used while on vacation.
Fazzini described the allegations as “weak,” saying he always attempts to save the taxpayers money when he can.
“If I drive to Bridgeport and come back, I could turn in an expense for that. Same when I go to Salem or any place I go within the county, I could actually, legally turn in an expense for that,” he said. “But I’ve never done it.”
For this reason, Fazzini believes the allegations against him won’t hold up.
“I am giving up expenses out of my own pocket for county,” he said. “If you think I’m going to try to cheat them out of 22 bucks for a meal I ate in Morgantown, there’s something wrong with you, if you believe that.”
However, while he does not claim to be without fault, he credits it to poor expense reporting practices within the county.
“As far as I’m concerned, I made some mistakes. I turned in the wrong receipt with the wrong trip,” he said. “Therefore, yeah, I did something wrong but it was just an honest mistake.”
The county commission revamped its policy after the incident was first brought to light.
The second case alleges that Fazzini “used his public office as a member of the Harrison County Commission to provide an interest free loan [of $60,305 for six months] to the Spelter Fire Department” for the purchase of a “tanker/pumper truck.”
The Volunteer Fire Department paid the alleged improper loan back in full.
The ethics commission alleges Fazzini took this action to secure votes in the 2012 County Commission election, in which he defeated recently-appointed Commissioner Frank “Chunki” Angotti in the Democratic Primary.
Fazzini said the accusations are not valid.
“Hopefully the ethics commission will look at it differently, the commission itself, not the review board, and will try to settle this thing.”
The hearings are set for 10 a.m. on May 18 at the commission’s office in Charleston.