Michael Weiss, a local openly gay businessowner facing federal indictment for tax fraud, was recently denied reappointment to a state commission.
Gov. Rendell nominated Weiss for reappointment to the Pennsylvania Real Estate Commission April 12, but revoked that nomination four days later, according to Rendell press secretary Gary Tuma.
“When the governor sent his nomination to the Senate, he was not aware of the indictment,” Tuma said. “I don’t know when he became aware of it, but soon after, he recalled the nomination.”
Tuma said the governor may have learned of the indictment from news reports and said he remembered him hearing about the charges around the same time that the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced federal tax-fraud charges against local car dealer Gary Barbera, which occurred April 14.
The Pennsylvania Senate’s executive calendar dated April 19 lists Weiss on the docket of nominees who required Senate confirmation, but Tuma said the nomination had already been recalled at that point.
He said that while he doesn’t believe there is a “formal policy” banning the appointment of those facing indictment to state commissions, the governor felt it was not a “desirable situation.”
Weiss, co-owner of Woody’s and president of the board of Voyeur, was indicted by a grand jury in January on charges that he underreported earnings from the Palmer Social Club, a Spring Garden Street nightclub, by more than $1.6 million in the club’s tax filings. Weiss pleaded not guilty to the charges in February, and his trial — which was scheduled to begin April 12 but was postponed following a request from the defense — is now set for July 6.
Tuma said that following the filing of the indictment by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Weiss, whose five-year term on the commission expired in March, ceased participation with the agency, which grants and renews licenses to real-estate brokers and salespeople, among other duties.
“As I understand it, once the indictment occurred, he suspended activity and had not been participating in the board activities or attending meetings,” Tuma said.
At the local level, Weiss is not among eight of the 12 members of the Police Advisory Commission seeking another term.
John Contino, executive director of the Pennsylvania Ethics Commission, said there is nothing in the state ethics code that expressly prohibits those facing indictment from serving on a state board or commission, as the code primarily addresses the use of public office for financial gain.
Weiss’ original bail agreement stipulated that he could only travel in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the Southern District of California, where he owns property, but the agreement was modified last month to allow him to travel to Delaware and the Central District of Pennsylvania.
According to Dauphin County property records, Weiss currently owns a home in Harrisburg, which he purchased in 2005 with Michael Marsico, the current deputy director of the Pennsylvania Office of Public Liaison, an agency that oversees appointment to state commissions.
Weiss and Marsico purchased the 1,500-square-foot home in August 2005 for $122,500. They took out a mortgage on the house in September 2005 through Wachovia Bank for $110,200, and refinanced in January 2006 for $110,000.
Tuma said he could not confirm the accuracy of the homeownership agreement, but said the governor was not aware of such a situation.
Contino said a joint homeownership between an official of the Office of Public Liaison and a commission member could constitute an ethics violation only if the state employee was directly involved in influencing the member’s appointment and if that appointment amounted to financial gain for the state employee, such as if the commission member received compensation for his or her service that allowed him or her to contribute more money to the mortgage payments.
According to Tuma, the Office of Public Liaison “screens potential candidates and advises the governor on possible nominations for various vacancies on the boards or in other offices” and also “acts as a liaison between the governor’s office and the Senate during the confirmation process.”
Tuma said members of the Real Estate Commission do not receive a salary but are given a $60 per-diem stipend to cover costs related to board work, such as travel expenses.
Zack Stalberg, president and CEO of government watchdog group Committee of 70, said that while Weiss should be entitled to a presumption of innocence, he said “it sounds like he was the wrong person to nominate, given the indictment, and I think it’s proper for the nomination to have been revoked.”
Stalberg noted that there could be more than just monetary gain that a person can receive by being appointed to a state commission.
“Depending on the person and the commission, there can be intangible benefits. There’s influence, because you have a status and position because you’re on a commission, so the fact that it’s not paid doesn’t necessarily mean that there isn’t value in the job for the individual.”
Weiss, Marsico and members of the Real Estate Commission did not return calls for comment.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].