Editorial: Rules made to be broken

Another great thing about being a Pennsylvania legislator is that you can invalidate a law if it's hurting your ability to earn some extra cash.

Consider the case of Senate minority leader Robert J. Mellow (D., Lackawanna). He's the longest-serving senator in Harrisburg, so you know he excels at looking out for Number One.

As The Inquirer reported yesterday, Mellow charged taxpayers $200,000 over seven years for rent on his district office near Scranton in a building co-owned by his then-wife and later by himself.

The 1978 state ethics law says it is a conflict for a public official to use his office "for the private pecuniary benefit of himself, a member of his immediate family or a business with which he or a member of his immediate family is associated."

But the 1978 law is not a problem if you lack a conscience and possess abundant gall. Fortunately for Mellow (and unfortunately for taxpayers), he's got both qualities.

The Senate Democratic leader simply got around this inconvenient law by introducing a resolution that he says trumped it. The resolution stated that when a senator rents from himself or his family, the Senate clerk must obtain an appraisal to make sure it's a fair price.

Mellow introduced this resolution at least three times in the past decade, and has voted to approve it five times.

Another beautiful thing for Mellow - the actual appraisal was never done. The chief clerk of the Senate said he never got appraisals on the building because Mellow never informed him of his family's ownership.

Mellow says the rules - gotta love those rules - don't require him to disclose his family's ownership stake. Memo to Senate: Close this loophole.

Senators are supposed to seek approval from the Senate before they vote on matters in which they have a personal stake. Mellow didn't seek such a ruling because, in his view, no conflict existed.

Mellow said he didn't reveal the rental arrangement on his state financial-disclosure report until, after his divorce, he took a direct interest in the company, as required. He disclosed it in 2008.

His former wife said she did not have an active role in the company that owned the building, saying she "just signed what he [Mellow] put in front of me."

If Mellow's name sounds familiar, perhaps it's because he's been in the news over the years. For example, he refused to refund the backdoor legislative pay raise in 2005, and told a citizen who complained to "get a life."

Did we mention that Mellow is also among those seeking to raise Pennsylvanians' personal income tax by 16 percent?

After Mellow sold the building, the rent on his district office went from $2,400 per month to $4,600 a month. Whether or not the rent paid to Mellow was fair, it appears that he enriched his family at taxpayer expense.

That's the bottom line.

Violations of the state ethics act carry civil and criminal penalties, including a felony charge with up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. At the very least, the state Ethics Commission should look into whether Mellow's arrangement broke the law - ginned up, self-serving Senate resolutions notwithstanding.