The cat is out of the bag in Charleroi surrounding a special meeting called Monday in the borough.

Three members of council didn’t show up and another remained outside to protest while dressed in a leopard print outfit and wearing cat ears.

Councilmen Larry Celaschi and Joe Smith were the only two council members who were at the 6 p.m. meeting to rescind a motion that passed unanimously to draft a letter of support to Fix Ur Cat for an “upcoming expansion and an associated fundraiser.”

Fix Ur Cat is a Washington County nonprofit organization that helps offer low-cost spay/neuter clinics for pets. During a voting meeting Sept. 13, the agenda was amended after Councilwoman Nancy Ellis asked if the borough would draft a letter of support to Fix Ur Cat for grant money through the Washington County Local Share Account program for an upcoming expansion.

At that meeting, Ellis also spoke briefly about a fund-raiser she was planning — not as a borough official — Kitty&Pupper Palooza, originally scheduled for today at Kodiax in Speers.

That event has been canceled because of the issues that have ensued, Ellis said. The fundraiser and letter of support are not directly related to each other, she added, and the borough has not offered any financial support to either project.

That motion passed unanimously, but Celaschi said he feels like council was “hoodwinked” without being given the proper information as he learned about a few red flags that led him and three other council members to call Monday’s special meeting.

Celaschi said council members Joe Smith, Paul Pivovarnik and Randy DiPiazza were all on board with calling the meeting.

DiPiazza did not attend Monday and Pivovarnik participated by phone.

Ellis, who seemed to be the focus of Celaschi’s problems, stood outside with protesters in a leopard jack-CHARLEROI • A2 FROM A1 et and cat suit instead of attending the meeting inside, which meant there was not a quorum and no votes could be taken.

Celaschi said he feels it’s necessary to rescind the motion to make sure the borough is covered and that he had questions about the fundraiser, which was mentioned in the letter of support that was drafted.

He contends that he and other council members were not properly informed about the letter or its intent, and argues that the fundraiser is not legitimate.

“They (both organizations) were blindsided by everything,” Celaschi said. “In our letter of support, it mentions the fundraiser with great enthusiasm. I am not attaching my name to this letter of support when we were hoodwinked with the whole thing. The truth did not come out.”

The letter of support was drafted and signed by Borough Administrator Roberta Doerfler after the Sept. 13 meeting. She sent it electronically to Dr. Faith Bjalobok and Ellis.

The problem, Celaschi claimed Monday, is that neither Bjalobok or Ellis have any “legal affiliation” with the Fix Ur Cat organization. He believes if the organization wanted a letter of support from Charleroi, a representative should have contacted them directly instead of through a third party.

Bjalobok, on the contrary, said while she is not on the board or in any way “legally affiliated” with Fix Ur Cat, she does volunteer with them and handles various grant projects and opportunities.

She added that Ellis was simply addressing council on her behalf as a representative of that organization.

Bjalobok runs her own nonprofit, the Fluffyjean Fund for Felines, that also helps with spay/neuter services. She has done projects in Charleroi for more than a decade and is now questioning why she continues to help.

She is frustrated that her character and her efforts are being brought into question.

“I spent thousands of my own money in Charleroi over the last 10-12 years,” she said. “I used to bring mobile clinic there, to hold free spay and neuter days, I have set hundreds of traps and made sure they were properly trapped, spayed neutered and returned.

“I didn’t think it would be a problem asking support on behalf of Fix Ur Cat as they plan to build a high-volume clinic in Washington County. I know the need in Charleroi, and I know that the new clinic will be able to assist Charleroi residents and I have worked in the borough on these projects for years.

“The motion passed unanimously, and now some lunatic is complaining about a letter that I have already tore up and threw in the garbage because I don’t need it or any of these childish antics.”

Celaschi said Monday that he tried to put the letter on hold immediately after it was approved.

“There was a lot of things going on at the last meeting, three things added to the agenda and amendments,” Celaschi said. “This letter was one of them. I am calling it hoodwinked because that’s how I see it now. We dove into this, and I did not recognize the red flags until the following day and immediately called Roberta and said to hold on sending the letter because of concerns.”

Celaschi began to address the fundraiser, which he said brought concerns from business owners as a flier began to circulate.

The flier in question says the event benefits the Charleroi Spay/ Neuter project.

In a different flier, it lists various sponsorship levels and says checks can be made payable to the Washington Humane Society or Fix Ur Cat and could be mailed to Ellis’ personal address.

Both things, Celaschi said, were red flags and when they were pointed out to him he made a few calls for clarity.

Ellis claims she had conversations with both organizations.

“Additionally, the checks come to my home because I always have levels of support. For the event, I list the sponsors under each category. I keep track of everything and turn it in within 48 hours of the fundraiser and the final report within a week.

“Apparently Larry thinks he is an agent with the IRS questioning money being raised to set up a program with various nonprofits.”

He claims both organizations were “totally blindsided” and that neither woman is affiliated with them, adding that the beneficiary, the Charleroi Spay/Neuter Project is also not its own nonprofit entity and doesn’t have any of the proper accreditations to designate it as a nonprofit from the state.

Celaschi said neither Fix Ur Cat nor the Humane Society had promoted the Kitty&Pupper Palooza on its social media and had nothing to do with organizing it.

Pivovarnik said while he would support rescinding the letter, as it mentioned the fundraiser which is not a borough sanctioned event, that if Celaschi believes something is being mishandled by the event itself, it’s not on the borough to bring it up or handle it.

“If there is a problem with the fundraiser, the parent companies it is representing should be the ones to handle that,” Pivovarnik said. “It’s not a borough issue.”

Bjalobok said that is correct because the project is not promoting itself as an organization, and it was never advertised that the humane society or Fix Ur Cat were directly involved with planning, they were simply beneficiaries.

“The money was going to be split between those organizations so Charleroi residents could go to either of those places to receive the services they offer for their pets,” she said.

With not enough council members present to vote, Doerfler recommended adding it to the agenda for next month and letting things be for the time being.

Pivovarnik recommended the borough come up with a draft letter for such requests to make it uniform.

“There should be a standard letter, signed by the president or member of council,” he said. “It should never be signed by the borough secretary and should be a standard letter of support for these types of things.”

The borough’s solicitor said while he understands Celaschi’s concern, the borough does not need to take any action other than rescinding the motion in question.

“He’s right, if we pull the letter we did our part and that is all we can do,” Doerfler said. “There is no one here to vote, so there is nothing we can do about it.”

Councilmen Jerry Jericho and Frank Paterra both said Monday in phone calls with the Mon Valley Independent that they had no plans of attending because of the nature of the meeting.

Paterra said he didn’t attend because he wasn’t properly informed. “Why would I?” Paterra asked. “I was informed of the meeting by Nancy, and I think that’s an insult to the president of council. I don’t agree with the sneaky things he does, and I think it’s a witch hunt.” Jericho said if anything, he should have attended to stand with the protesters and Ellis outside.

“This is what he does,” Jericho said. “I wasn’t going to waste my time at that meeting.”

Ellis stood outside with a handful of residents who all held signs with silhouettes of black cats that read, “Save us from Larry.”

Celaschi chuckled and Smith and Mayor Greg Doerfler shook their heads at the posters as they went inside.

The men all claimed during an informal discussion that the meeting and rescinding of the motion has nothing to do with the borough not wanting to help animals or to assist residents in spaying or neutering their animals.

“I’m an animal lover,” Celaschi said. “I have two dogs and a cat.” “A rabbit, too,” Pivovarnik said. Bjalobok said a fund was set up officially with Fix Ur Cat prior to the special meeting Monday, and a new fundraiser is being planned that is legal and will benefit the community as she has always done. “We never have claimed to be our own group or organization, we were not soliciting anything on behalf of them, we were hosting a fundraiser for them,” Bjalobok said. “There was and is nothing illegal happening. I go out of my way to volunteer my time, my money, trying to help and we have to put up with these lies. For what? I have better things to do with my time than deal with the childish antics you see happening here, all to help animals and their owners in a community that needs all the help it can get.”

Ellis said she left Monday’s protest just as confused as before she arrived.

“I don’t know what the problem is,” Ellis said. “It’s Mr. Celaschi’s problem, apparently. It’s absurd and I think whatever problem he has is beyond my understanding. It’s an imaginary problem.”

Ellis said money has already been added to the fund.

“There are people who have said turn it in, don’t give it back,” Ellis said. “When you reschedule, you reschedule. If Larry had questions, he should have asked me. In my opinion, he was hoping something was not on the up and up.”

Jericho said he plans to request that Celaschi pay for the cost of advertising Monday’s meeting.

“It should come out of his pocket,” Jericho said. “It’s ridiculous.” Ellis echoed that sentiment.

“Did he pay for that meeting?” she asked. “There was no quorum. What about the lights in the borough building? That costs money. What about the restrooms? Were they used? How much taxpayer money was used for this nonsense that has done nothing but make the borough look bad and accomplish nothing.”