State cites Moon swimming coach
HARRISBURG -- The aquatics director for Moon Area School District violated state ethics law and will pay the state $13,000, according to an Ethics Commission order released Wednesday.
Jamie Morton used his authority for personal gain by scheduling use of the pool without charge for private corporations he owned or with which he was affiliated, the order says.
"I have no comment until I get a chance to speak to some people who know more about this than I do," said Morton, who owned Premier Coaching Associates, which provided coaching for the Moon Aqua Club and Moon Area Aqua Club.
The Moon Area Aqua Club used the district's pool at no cost, the ethics board said.
The board said Morton, who coaches the high school boys and girls swimming teams at Moon Area School, received a "financial benefit" of $89,822 as a result of payments from Premier's account for lease payments on a BMW, automobile insurance, car expenses, payments for a private wireless account used by Morton and his family members, and rent for a home office.
Moon school Director Benjamin G. Bonham said the Ethics Commission investigation was the reason the board decided last year not to reappoint Morton as aquatics director. Several months later, the board bowed to community pressure and changed its position.
The Ethics Commission order, signed by Chairman Louis Fryman, said Morton violated ethics law by not filing statements of financial interest from 2002-06. It said Morton used the nonprofit status of Moon Aqua Club to circumvent payment of rental fees to the district.
In April, Morton filed a federal age and sex discrimination lawsuit against the school district, seeking lost wages and other costs for six months in 2007.
The district hired Morton in 1989 as aquatics director and varsity swim coach, but his contract wasn't renewed in May 2007. A month later it declined to renew his coaching position. He was rehired in December, after athletes and their parents protested at school board meetings that summer.
"I'm hoping we can review this as soon as possible and take the appropriate action," Bonham said. "Both of my kids are on the swim team. This has put us in a horrible position for the last year and a half. I'm hoping now we can deal with it as it should have been dealt with earlier and never gone this far.
"The board knew he was under investigation, yet (some members) found it politically expedient to make hay out of that when we were taking a responsible position," Bonham said. "We knew he was under investigation and found it best to not reappoint him until he was either cleared or a finding was handed down.
"This is an ugly blight on Moon Township once again."
