Citizens ask "Who is paying for Anderson's job? Is she actually working?"
(ERIE, PA)--Residents of the 49th Senatorial District have been seeking answers concerning Janet Anderson's employment since the Erie County Redevelopment Authority refused to comply with a Right to Know Law request seeking that information.
In her campaign materials, Anderson claims to be a consultant for the Corry Industrial Benefit Association (CIBA), an organization under the auspices of the Erie County Redevelopment Authority.
However, CIBA's filings with the IRS show that in the last 8 publicly available filings (Years 2002-2010), they have not had any employees or consultants. In fact, contributions to CIBA in the last 3 years have totaled only $17,330 (2010), $1,098 (2009) and $60,791 (2008), not enough to sustain a fulltime consultant or employee.
"Why did the Corry Industrial Benefit Association hire a consultant in an election year?" asked Keystone Progress executive director Michael Morrill. "This doesn't look quite right, especially when they have never done so before."
Anderson is seen daily on the campaign trail during working hours. This raised a question for Erie County residents, "Is she working for CIBA during this time, or has she taken a leave of absence from CIBA and is no longer being paid?"
This, and other questions could be answered if the Erie County Redevelopment Authority would release the information to the public as required by Pennsylvania's Right to Know Law.
Keystone Progress will be filing an appeal to its RTKL request today to seek answers to the questions about Anderson's employment.
Questions that need to be answered:
Ø Why won't the Erie County Redevelopment Authority release information regarding Janet Anderson that was legally requested on October 10?
Ø When did Janet Anderson's contract begin?
Ø When does it end?
Ø What was she hired to do?
Ø Is there a record of the product of her work?
Ø CIBA has not had a consultant or an employee in the years 2002-2010. Why now?
Ø Why would a nonprofit organization hire someone as a fulltime consultant when they know she is going to be running for office fulltime?
Ø How much is she being paid?
Ø Does Anderson have to work during the week?
Ø Is she currently working, or is she being paid to work while she campaigns?
Ø Who is funding this project?
Ø Why is Anderson trying to hide her relationship with Roger W. Richards? In a recent Erie Times-News article (10/17/12) she claimed she didn't know who was behind a recent mailing from Richards' Northwest Good Government PAC, but Richards is her biggest funder and held a fundraiser for Anderson at his home.
