Morabito responds to criticism of Allegheny Township's Community Days management

Oct. 23—A newly formed nonprofit plans to ensure Community Days remains an annual event in Allegheny Township.

James Morabito, a township supervisor and one of the organizers of the festival, responded to criticism from some residents and fellow supervisors Rennick Steele and Michael Korns, who allege financial wrongdoing concerning the summer festival.

Morabito said earlier this month he wanted to make public all of the financial information from the charitable nonprofit established this year to raise funds for Community Days, a long-idled festival once held every summer.

Morabito and a team of volunteers brought the festival back June 24 on the grounds of Kiski Area High School.

In a letter to the editor published Sept. 13 in the Tribune-Review, seven former and current Allegheny Township supervisors criticized Morabito for not answering questions concerning sponsorship money and donations and how they were handled during meetings held in July and August.

Former Supervisor Kathy Starr spoke during the August supervisors meeting, requesting that Morabito provide all documentation concerning the nonprofit associated with Community Days, the Allegheny Township Community Days Fund, which was formed in January.

"I didn't have the answers ready at that meeting, and an unknown person filed a complaint (days after that meeting) with the Pennsylvania Department of State Bureau of Enforcement and Investigation charities investigative unit," Morabito said.

Investigator Mark Landi was assigned to the claim and emailed Morabito on Aug. 23, writing "as far as the investigation is concerned, I did not discover any issues that would raise any red flags."

Morabito included Landi's email in a slideshow presentation during this month's supervisors meeting.

In the Tribune-Review letter signed by Howard Baybrook, Joseph Ferguson, John Framel, Gerald Frederick, Tom Iseman, Starr and Steele, the authors accused Morabito of hiding thousands of dollars from the township government and citizens.

"Transparency is 100% what I ran my campaign on," Morabito said. "Not only is every dollar accountable, it's balancing out to the penny. Any money not used this year for Community Days was left in the account for start-up money for next year's event."

"It's truly a shame when you have a small group that will use their past and present political backgrounds to defame my name and transparency. This is one of the reasons I disclosed at a public meeting the financials from the nonprofit, not under the umbrella of Allegheny Township," Morabito said.

Morabito provided the sponsor names, the opening statement with S&T Bank and other deposits and balance sheets in a PowerPoint presentation format.

"Some spineless individuals have come after the Community Days, and I call them anti-Allegheny Township when they're trying to ruin an event," Morabito said during the meeting.

The festival raised $17,476, and $9,828 was spent on the event.

A $7,648 balance remains in the bank, which will go toward the 2024 Community Days, Morabito said.

The leading corporate sponsor was Olympus Energy, which donated $10,000 of the $12,500 in sponsorship money raised.

Other sponsors included S&T Bank, Hillcrest VW, State Farm Insurance, Wooden Door Winery, Bonfire Restaurant, McCutcheon Enterprises, Advanced Auto Parts, Meyer's RV Sales of Pittsburgh, Tresco's Up Above Photography and Palermo Plumbing.

"Our accounts balanced to the penny from start to finish," Morabito said.

Starr has publicly criticized Morabito's actions on his handling of the festival.

"The presentation that Supervisor Morabito made at the recent board meeting was an attempt to present an alternate reality to the citizens in attendance," Starr said. "It had nothing to do with the crux of the problem which was that Community Days was to be a township event with money going to the township and not an individual 501(c)(3)."

Starr said she briefly attended Community Days and said she didn't anticipate that the supervisors would pass another resolution pertaining to the festival for its 2024 season.

"The way he (Morabito) set it up was perfectly legal," Starr said of the nonprofit.

Starr said she did not know who reported Morabito to the state charities investigative unit, adding it was a "citizen."

Korns referenced the successful implementation of Penn Township's fall festival, handled through the borough.

Morabito noted a festival-related resolution adopted by supervisors in October 2022 as unneeded.

"I did not need the resolution, but it was still followed to the T," Morabito said. "All the naysayers went behind everyone's back and did what they did."

Morabito said now that there's a blueprint on how to plan and run the Community Days, he is hopeful next year's event will be larger.

"Every vendor asked to come back. This event will be double in size next year," he said.

Morabito explained recently that the Community Days festival was hosted historically by the Lions Club of Allegheny Township.

"It was never, ever done by Allegheny Township," he said.

The resolution was drafted by Korns and former township Manager Greg Primm.

"I followed the resolution. It didn't state anything about me putting money through the township," Morabito said. "The other supervisors just wanted to control the event without doing any work for the event. And the resolution dissolves in October, and there won't be any resolution. Once I got my nonprofit, we're done. There are no ties to Allegheny Township concerning Community Days."

Morabito added he was not required to put festival money into any type of checking account with the township.

"I'm a separate entity, a domestic nonprofit charitable organization," Morabito said.

Allegheny Township Community Days Fund president is Frank Weisert and the vice president is William Ludwig.

Morabito said none of the supervisors attended Community Days and had the "audacity" to try to set the event up for failure.

"But they will sit there and tell you they're all about Allegheny Township and our community," he said.

Cindy Agnor, an Allegheny Township resident, asked Morabito why he formed the nonprofit during the last supervisors meeting.

"What purpose does the nonprofit play in Community Days?" she asked.

Morabito said his nonprofit is no different than what other township-area nonprofits do to host events.

"Nothing should go through the township. There should be nothing in the township funds that are co-mingled," Morabito said. "The nonprofit pays for this event. It has to be a nonprofit. What else would it be? It's not a business."

Morabito said Community Days will return next year and planning will commence in January.

"We're going to bring back all the vendors we had, and we're hoping to increase the vendors by 50% and food trucks by 20% and increase the car show to more than 200 vehicles," Morabito said.

Joyce Hanz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joyce by email at jhanz@triblive.com or via Twitter .