Corbett slow to take action

It's good to see state Attorney General Tom Corbett finally take some action to shut down the nonprofit at the center of the fraud case against former State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo. But Corbett is a little late to the party.

Former U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan indicted Fumo more than two years ago. Also indicted in February 2007 was Ruth Arnao, the former executive director of the nonprofit, Citizens Alliance for Better Neighborhoods.

Meehan's indictment detailed how Fumo and Arnao used funds and employees from Citizens Alliance to their benefit. The indictment alleged the fraud topped $1 million.

Federal prosecutors put on a lengthy trial that began last fall and ended March 16, with the convictions on all counts of Fumo and Arnao.

Days after the convictions were announced, Citizens Alliance announced that is was ending many of its neighborhood services as of April 30. Now along comes Corbett, chugging down from Harrisburg to shoot the proverbial dead and badly wounded. Corbett filed a lawsuit in Commonwealth Court on Tuesday that seeks to revoke Citizens Alliance's franchise.

The suit requests a full accounting of the nonprofit's spending and assets, and seeks repayment of any wasted and mismanaged funds. By the time the suit is resolved, who knows what will be left to recoup from Citizens Alliance.

The nonprofit was funded in large measure with $17 million that Fumo squeezed from Peco Energy as a dubious payment in return for his decision to drop a lawsuit against the utility stemming from a state regulatory matter. Fumo also got the Delaware River Port Authority to give the nonprofit an additional $10 million. (That should make already angry motorists more irate about DRPA's wasteful spending and bridge-toll hikes.)

At the end of 2007 (the last year information is available) Citizens Alliance listed $17.8 million in assets, most of it real estate, and only $1.7 million in cash.

The nonprofit has burned through millions in legal fees, much of it to defend Arnao and others. It spent $506,000 on legal expenses in 2007, and $2 million to that point since the start of the probe. That doesn't include legal fees for the federal trial that began last October.

If Corbett had acted sooner, perhaps there would be a little more left of the Citizens Alliance carcass. Going forward, he should take a look at any other nonprofits that have ties to elected officials. The same goes for the several charter schools connected to elected officials. Such ties, at the very least, create the appearance of a conflict of interest.