Jan 30, 2017 2 min read

The state Ethics Commission has found a Washington Township, Fayette County, supervisor didn’t break restrictions on public officials engaging in conflicts of interest in connection with two separate allegations the commission investigated.

The first allegation concerned efforts by Supervisor Charles Yusko, also a member of the township’s municipal authority, to avoid paying an additional tap-in fee on property he owns in the authority’s service area. The municipal authority began billing Yusko in April for two dwellings – instead of one as it had done previosuly – on the property following an anonymous complaint. Yusko has a pending challenge before the authority over the additional billing.

The Ethics Commission found in a consent agreement reached last month with Yusko that he acted in his capacity as a property owner and hadn’t used his office in his efforts to avoid being charged for the second dwelling.

The consent agreement also states the supervisor didn’t violate the conflict-of interest provision of the Ethics Law when he voted in February to reappoint himself and other authority members. The move was made to correct a discrepancy between his $100-a-meeting pay and the other two members’, which was $75 until the vote to reappoint them.

The agreement found Yusko’s actions didn’t change the compensation he received because the other two township supervisors had already set that level of pay without Yusko’s participation. It also holds Yusko’s vote didn’t extend his term on the authority board.