SnapGlow.TV: Modern Gems Galore! "If I thought I had done something inappropriate back in 2000, I never would have made the declaration in 2006, to expose myself," he said.
Though Mellow acquired his interest in the building in 2007, he did not report the Brad Inc. acquisition until the spring of 2008. That was the deadline to report financial activity from the previous year.
In his defense of the rental agreement with a company his wife partly owned, Mellow cited a Senate resolution - routinely passed by the chamber dating back to the early 1980s - that appears to contradict the state ethics law.
The resolution says that if a senator rents an office from himself or a family member, the Senate clerk must obtain an appraisal.
The State Ethics Commission has never considered whether the resolution, passed only by the Senate, somehow allows senators to do something banned under a state law.
Bruce Ledewitz, a professor of constitutional law at Duquesne University, said the resolution is irrelevant to the rental question.
"I can't say if this is a violation. I can just tell you that if it is, the resolution has nothing to do with it," he said.
John Contino, executive director of the state Ethics Commission, declined to comment.
The resolution Mellow is leaning on is one he has introduced on at least three occasions and voted to approve five times in the last decade.
Before senators act on measures in which they have a personal stake, they are required to seek approval from the Senate. Mellow said he did not seek a ruling because no conflict existed.
In any event, the Senate failed to follow the prescriptions of the resolution. The measure states that when a senator rents from himself or his family, the Senate clerk must obtain an appraisal to ensure a fair price.
Mellow said it was up to Senate administrators, not him or his wife, to obtain the appraisal.
Russell Faber, chief clerk of the Senate, said he didn't get appraisals because Mellow never informed his staff of Diane Mellow's interest in the building.
"Had I known there was an equity interest, we should have gotten an appraisal," he said.
But the rules do not stipulate that senators must bring these matters to the attention of the clerk, Faber acknowledged.
"The rules are silent on the matter," he said.
Mellow did alert Faber after he took part-ownership of the building. At that point, Faber said, he did not request an appraisal because Mellow told him he was selling the property.
Mellow and Brad Inc. sold the building in September 2008. Since Mellow became half-owner of the company, taxpayers had paid the firm about $48,000 in rent.
The building's buyer was a Scranton company named Ibis Realty, which paid $350,000.
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