Ex-councilman sues Monessen, 4 city officials
By KRISTIE LINDEN
klinden@yourmvi.com
The City of Monessen, its mayor, two councilmen and city administrator have been sued for defamation of character and for the alleged targeting of a whistleblower.
Ed Lea, former recreation board chairman and former councilman, filed suit Monday in Westmoreland County Court against the City of Monessen, Mayor Matt Shorraw, councilmen Gil Coles and Don Gregor and city Administrator John Harhai.
Lea claims his work as a councilman from 2016-18 led him to question what he felt were some financial issues and request an audit. He now alleges those questions have led to retaliation.
There were several sparring matches when issues cropped up between Shorraw and the Recreation Board earlier this year, but several times the mayor seemed to indicate he didn’t trust the way finances were handled by Lea, who was chairman at the time.
Lea said the statements, coupled with Harhai’s commentary about Lea’s application for the role of controller last year, were false and defamatory.
According to the suit, in 2011 or 2012, Monessen wanted to revitalize its library and fire station and took out a $2.5 million bond. The city solicited bids, awarded work to Franjo Construction of Pittsburgh and agreed to pay for any cost overruns.
The suit states that Monessen had to increase the amount of its bond to $10 million to comply with the terms of the contract, and to pay the bonds back the city makes annual payments of $500,000. Those payments, the suit states, will continue until 2034.
In June 2016, then-Mayor Lou Mavrakis said the city would not be able to make payroll within a month. Soon, the council’s finance director, former Councilwoman Lucille D’Alfonso, resigned. Lea was appointed to council to fill D’Alfonso’s term.
In August 2016, in a meeting with Mavrakis and the late Councilman Ron Chiaravalle, Lea claims he learned the history of the 2011-12 bonds and the contract to pay the overruns.
The lawsuit states that Lea was concerned about potential mismanagement of Monessen’s funds as he had previously worked in the financial sector and could “uncover and discover mismanagement of Monessen’s money, and potentially the identities and motivations of the people who got Monessen into such a massive financial hole.”
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