PITTSBURGH: Four current or former Tarentum Council members testified Tuesday that they never authorized former Borough Manager C. David Turner to pay himself more than his $65,000 per year salary.
The four also said council never authorized Turner to start paying himself $36 per hour, as he did in fall of 1999.
Testimony continued in Turner's nonjury trial Tuesday before Allegheny County Judge John Zottola even though Turner, 54, of Grove City left the courthouse because of medical reasons before testimony began. Turner's lawyer, Michael Streib, would not elaborate on Turner's condition, and it was unclear if he will be in the courtroom when testimony is scheduled to resume at 9 this morning.
Turner is accused of overpaying himself about $38,400 from March 1999 through November 2000 without council's approval. He's also accused of forging council member's signatures on his paychecks.
If found guilty, Turner could face 14 years in prison, a $30,000 fine or both.
Councilmen Joe Davidek, Pete Varos, Tim Cornuet and former councilwoman Eileen Klein took the stand Tuesday. They testified that they never authorized Turner to pay himself a larger salary although he took on the extra work of day-to-day accounting.
At least three of the four said they were certain that their names were forged on at least one check.
"That's my name, but it's not my writing," Davidek told prosecutor Mark Larson as Davidek squinted to look at the signature on a copied check.
Klein testified that her signature was forged on four checks.
Varos said he was sure his signature had been forged on at least three checks but he said he wasn't sure about three others.
Cornuet said his signature might have been forged on a check, but he wasn't sure.
The four said that two signatures from authorized individuals, along with Turner's, were required on each check.
Accountant Gary Merge of Merge and Hill, the borough's auditors, said he was not in favor of the borough making Turner an independent contractor in March 1999.
That's when all of Turner's fringe benefits were taken away, at Turner's request, and his salary was raised from about $48,000 to $65,000.
"I don't think the IRS would have approved of an arrangement like that," Merge said.
Merge also testified that the borough's bookkeeping system was a mess before and during the time Turner was manager.
"The way it was set up at that time, I don't think they were auditable," Merge said of the borough's books.
Merge said he advised the borough to prepare monthly financial statements, but because the books were such a mess the borough stopped preparing them.
"Their financial statements were not very meaningful for public record," Merge said.
Under cross examination, Merge testified that council authorized a bonus for the borough's former secretary-treasurer, Jim Bloch, for taking on extra work after a previous borough manager, John
Shepard, resigned. Bloch later was forced to resign for what borough authorities claimed was sloppy work.
After Bloch's resignation in 1999, Turner took on the accounting responsibilities. Turner has argued that he was entitled to extra pay for taking over Bloch's workload.
The difference, borough officials contend, is that council approved Bloch's extra pay while they claim Turner took extra pay without anyone's authorization.
