Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Who Is Trying To Strangle Phyllis Copeland-Mitchell's Candidacy For InsolvenCity Council -- And Why?

Unless there is a huge goggle-napping spree underway at Somerset County ski areas, or Teresa Heinz-Kerry has been spotted ignoring a stray kitten along a Ligonier boulevard, the Post-Gazette and/or the Tribune-Review should currently be connecting (or at least collecting) dots concerning the strange story of Phyllis Copeland-Mitchell.

Ms. Copeland-Mitchell (left) works worked for Program For Offenders, a relatively small social services organization funded by government (and represented, at least with respect to its dealings with Copeland-Miller, by a lawyer from one of the world's largest law firms).

Mildly vague early reports suggest Ms. Copeland-Mitchell was compelled by her employer to take leave from her job after she challenged Rev. Ricky Burgess for the Democratic endorsement for InsolvenCity's District 1 council position, then was informed that if she did not abandon her campaign by Sunday (the day on which she was endorsed over Burgess) her continued candidacy would be deemed to constitute a resignation.

Why did Program For Offenders attempt to strangle an employee's candidacy? Who control's Program For Offenders' government funding? Who are Program For Offenders' directors and officers?

If Rev. Burgess is handling four jobs -- preacher, teacher, council member and candidate -- why does Program For Offenders conclude that Phyllis Copeland-Mitchell could not work while standing for election?

UPDATE: Regardless of petty ski gear heists or juvenile taunts of the Kerrys, this might be a job for the City Paper.

Infinonytune: Da Doo Ron Ron, The Crystals

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Is this Program For Female Offenders or Program for Offenders? Just curious because I can find one but not the other. Also who is Carol Hertz?

Infinonymous said...

Both, apparently.

The formal corporate name appears to be The Program For Offenders, Inc. But it seems to be known, at least at times, as Program For Female Offenders.

Who is Carol Hertz? That is likely a question for the City Paper.

MH said...

I'd thought this was a Hatch Act thing, but none of the stories mention it. Here's to hoping McCullough knows what he's doing on this.

Anonymous said...

A quick google search makes me think a candidate for public office would be better off not being connected to this organization. They have quite a few issues over the years with not paying the county for rent and forgery accusations.

MH said...

How much does the county charge for forgery accusations?

MH said...

To answer my own question, I guess I'd need to look-up how much it costs to hire lawyers who don't notice things until after the jury goes out.

Anonymous said...

Investigate, by all means. But why eschew the most blindingly likely explanation. Small nonprofits are often entirely dependent on foundation support, and foundations are notoriously averse to being perceived to be getting enmeshed in politics.

Infinonymous said...

This program is funded on a fee-per-day basis by government agencies.

Anonymous said...

Ah.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't vote again for burgess if he offered me a million doallars. I gave my labor vote to prater-holliday over copeland mitchell because some of us were lied to and misled. I spoke to Jack about it. Someone should ask him his comments. After researching prater-holliday, I read about her tarnished record from fraudent activities which are to many for me to consider her. The strategy seems to be for burgess to keep prater-holliday in the race to split the vote with the endorsed democrat, copeland mitchell. i think that is why he isn't attacking her residency or the fact that she has been fired from 4 jobs in the last 7 years, including the last one being HACP which burgess is president of the board. I read that she doesnt pay her rent, went to court over numerous creditors, is a frequent cluber and drink like a fish, was arrested by the Port Authority for fraud and had to go through an entire trial to get exonerated after being found guilty. I checked with the election division to see if it was true that she changes her address a lot and they disclosed that she has changed her address several times in the last 3-5 years to run for different offices. She just revealed that she took over the fraudently organization ACORN and reorganized it under a new name after the government shut it down. Why is she still in the race? Copeland Mitchell doesn't seem to be experienced, but is worth looking at especially when we want to get rid of burgess and when someone with a very tarnished record has tricked the unions to get this far in a race. The word "strangle" is very appropriate for copeland mitchell's campaign. The question to ask though is, WHY? Ravensthal seems to really want her out the race. I hope the voters do their research. Oh, copeland mitchell has my apology for not doing my homework before i cas my council vote. Many of us were disappointed by what we learned afterwards.