What started out as a simple question from a citizen regarding a bid sought by the Mercer County Behavioral Health Commission, Inc. for a Bonneville SE has transformed itself into a full-blown travel audit by the office of the Mercer County Controller.

Dana Frankenburg, chief executive officer of the private, non-profit agency located at 8406 Sharon-Mercer Road, East Lackawannock Township, confirmed Behavioral Health had been notified Thursday that the controller would audit its travel records for the 2002-03 fiscal year. He said the audit was scheduled to begin Tuesday.

"We have sent a response back that we will fully cooperate, that we will fully participate and have nothing whatsoever to hide," Frankenburg said. "And that anything we have done related to those transactions related to travel fully complies with all fiscal regulations as outlined by the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare."

Controller Tom Amundsen verified his office had sent letters this week not only to Frankenburg, but also to Commissioners Kenneth A. Seamans, Olivia M. Lazor and Cloyd E. "Gene" Brenneman.

"We are doing the audit," Amundsen said before quickly adding that it wouldn't be appropriate or fair to comment any further on the impending audit until it was completed.

"I think it's a process that should be done," Seamans said. "It's done with every other county agency and even though this is a 501(c)(3), the county controller has every right to do it."

Seamans also said he preferred to limit his comments until the audit was completed, but added, "It's been needed."

It's been needed, at least in the eyes of many publicly, since citizen James Campbell of Transfer first broached the subject at a commissioners' meeting last month of a legal notice seeking bids for the Bonneville SE that appeared in The Herald.

Campbell's eye was caught by the notice because it sought bids specifically for a Bonneville SE "and it's got to have alloy wheels, it's got to have a CD player, and it's got to have adjustable electric seats and electric mirrors," he told commissioners.

All three commissioners, as well as Amundsen, expressed concern at the time and promised to look into the bid.

Frankenburg answered those concerns in a Herald Forum last week when he wrote: "The specifications listed for the Bonneville SE are all standard for that model, which is a basic class and were no different than the other standard features of the other models compared including Impala, Concorde, Intrepid or Taurus to name a few."

He went on to write that the price of the car was $23,000, not the $28,000 to $34,000 noted by Campbell at that meeting. The car was purchased from Grove City-based Snyder Oldsmobile-Pontiac-Cadillac, Inc., which was the only dealership to submit a bid, according to Sheila Yatsko, Behavioral Health's chief financial officer.

In the wake of what has become a public controversy, Seamans noted that commissioners need to readjust their collective philosophies on how much attention they should pay to the agency that will receive about $420,000 from the county this fiscal year.

"The commissioners should be far more involved in the agency than they have been in the past because it serves the people of Mercer County with taxpayer money," Seamans said. "Whether it's federal, state or county, it's still taxpayers' money."

Frankenburg also noted in his forum last week that Behavioral Health was projecting $20 million in revenues for 2003-04. And "with 94 percent of these overall dollars going specifically for direct consumer-related services, it is concerning what some choose to focus on; not the accomplishment of an agency and their real issues, but the year, make and model of its vehicles."

Frankenburg also said Thursday he was not happy county officials have made this a public issue at all.

"It is unfortunate that prior to this engagement it appears the county, through their contact to The Herald, chooses to engage this matter in a public forum at this time," he said.

You can e-mail Herald Political Writer Jeff Greenburg at jgreenburg@sharonherald.com.

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