POWER POLITICS IN PLUM

Rough and tumble politics has been a way of life in Plum since the days when
late Mayor Tony O'Block was the unchallenged kingpin of the borough.

But nothing in Plum's history rivals the intrigue there since the power on
council shifted last January. That's when Mayor John Schmeck, a brash
second-term Plum mayor, picked up the political support he had been lacking
in his first term.

Since then, the American Civil Liberties Union, the FBI and the state police
have gone into Plum to try to resolve issues of free speech, missing
marijuana and a police sergeant charged by state police with taking a gun
from the Plum police evidence room.

The next act was supposed to begin Tuesday, when suspended Plum police Sgt.
Andrew McNelis was to go on trial before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge
Jeffrey A. Manning on a charge related to a gun that disappeared from the
police evidence room.

But there's a new development.

District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. wrote to state police Jan. 16
asking them to refer the prosecution of McNelis to the U.S. attorney's
office because the case involved a missing firearm that was sent through the
mail.

"It is the policy of this office that when appropriate, firearms violations
are to be prosecuted on the federal level," Zappala said through his
spokesman, Mike Manko.

McNelis' attorney, Mike DeRiso, said he expected prosecutors to dismiss the
receiving stolen property charge. He contends the case against McNelis is
weak.

It is not known whether federal authorities will try to prosecute McNelis on
mail fraud statutes.

The FBI already is investigating marijuana missing from the Plum police
department's evidence room, the same place from which the gun in the McNelis
case, and a second gun, disappeared.

'Reign of terror'

At the center of Plum's controversies is Schmeck, a former school board
member who was elected mayor in 1997.

In his first term as mayor, Schmeck was a minority voice, known for stirring
up controversies and battling with the police, but lacking support on
council to make any real changes. He made some enemies along the way and
sometimes is taunted by KDKA talk show host Fred Honsberger, who calls him
"King Schmeck." Honsberger's late father, Fred, served on Plum council.

Last January, Schmeck's slate -- Democrats Jeffrey Russo, Paul Dern, Steve
Taylor and former council member Richard Hereda -- defeated incumbent
Democratic members and joined Clem Barbarino, Don Knopfel and Dave Vento on
borough council.

One of the new council's first actions was to take on the noisy public in an
attempt to limit the "circus" atmosphere of council meetings. On Jan. 9,
2002, Barbarino, the council president, announced new rules of conduct that
restricted when residents could speak at meetings.

That action so enraged their opponents that they contacted the American
Civil Liberties Union, which sued the borough in federal court. U.S.
District Judge Donetta Ambrose hammered out a compromise agreement that
pleased no one.

On Jan. 24, 2002, the new council fired Plum Police Chief Terry Focareta, a
30-year veteran of the department. Focareta had been an adversary of
Schmeck's since he became mayor.

Focareta had conducted several investigations of Schmeck, including one that
involved wiretapping the mayor. Schmeck, in turn, had initiated some
investigations of police, including one that resulted in the jury trial of a
Plum police officer in April.

Four days after he was fired, Focareta filed a whistle-blower lawsuit in
federal court, alleging he was fired because of the investigations he did of
Schmeck and family members of other council members. The lawsuit, which was
amended in December, is pending.

Last week, Schmeck said there was "no merit" to Focareta's allegations. He
said council fired Focareta because he misrepresented the status of two
police candidates in fall 2001, usurping the authority of the Plum Civil
Service Commission and acting in an unethical fashion.

"I want reinstatement, and I want my name cleared," Focareta said last week.

Once Focareta was removed, Sgt. Matthew Feldmeier, the newly appointed
police supervisor, did an inventory of the evidence room and found that a
sizable amount of marijuana and two guns were missing. In March, he called
in state police, who did an investigation that resulted in the arrest of
McNelis for the disappearance of a .45- caliber revolver.

According to court records, another Plum officer confiscated the gun from a
Plum man after responding to a domestic problem in May 2000 while Focareta
was chief. The gun was tagged and placed in the police evidence locker. When
Feldmeier did the inventory in February, it was missing, so he asked state
police to investigate, Manning wrote in a court opinion.

Shortly after the investigation began, a package that had been mailed to the
gun's owner was returned to the borough building because it had an incorrect
mailing address. The missing gun was in the package.

Postal officials compared film on their surveillance camera with bar code
information on the package and determined that McNelis had mailed the gun
from the Plum post office, but apparently had put the wrong mailing address
on the box.

In the fall, Manning dismissed a theft charge due to lack of evidence. One
count of receiving stolen property remains.

"I don't think their case is strong enough," DeRiso said.

Harry Schlegel, Plum's tax collector and a strong opponent of Schmeck and
the new council members', says the prosecution of McNelis is politically
motivated -- just like the recent prosecution of Plum Patrolman Ryan E.
Schneiderlochner.

A jury acquitted Schneiderlochner in April of placing harassing telephone
calls to Schmeck. The mayor said that between July 21 and Sept. 11, 2000, he
received 50 to 60 such calls at his home.

The jury deliberated less than 30 minutes before finding Schneiderlochner
not guilty. Defense attorney William Cercone argued that Schneiderlochner
was a victim of a reign of terror that Schmeck unleashed on his own police
department.

Last week, Schmeck said it was not over and he was still planning to sue
Schneiderlochner.

"He is guilty. He knows it. I know it. I am going to sue him civilly, and we
will win that," Schmeck said.

Changing managers

Controversies in Plum aren't just limited to its police department. The
borough has had three managers in the past two years.

Denise Herceg-Rumbaugh resigned in 2001 and sued the borough for sex
discrimination, claiming she had been berated by Schmeck and Barbarino.
Herceg-Rumbaugh, now manager of Scott, lost her federal lawsuit but still is
in litigation.

The borough sued her to recoup a pay raise she and two other employees
received that was later vetoed by Schmeck. The other two employees returned
the money. She countersued for breach of contract. The case is on the March
calendar in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court.

In May, council hired James Patrick as borough manager. He brought with him
baggage that included an indictment in Ohio and controversy over his
managerial style.

Patrick stayed two months. By July, he had quit to pursue greener pastures.

By the time Patrick left, Plum's newly organized clerical workers and
dispatchers were out on strike.

As the year continued, Plum council fired a patrolman who was closely
aligned with Focareta and demoted Focareta's son, Mark Focareta, from
detective to patrolman, just hours before his one-year probation ended.

But now it's a new year, and Barbarino says the borough is heading in the
right direction. A new borough manager, Ken Gabler, was hired in November.

Barbarino said Schmeck was "a good leader for the community."

"Mayor Schmeck has inherited 99 percent of the problems people say he has
caused. He has taken a bad rap from a handful of people who don't believe in
his ways," Taylor said.

But how long Schmeck will be able to hold onto his power base is anyone's
guess.

Chuck McMeekin, a former councilman who as a Republican was defeated by
Democrat Schmeck in the 2001 mayoral race, is planning to run for either
mayor or council in the May primary. He said there was a lot of voter apathy
in the 2001 election, but that the Schmeck coalition "got their people out."

The next election will be different, McMeekin predicted, signaling another
era of Plum politics.