Published: October 24, 2009 12:04 am      

Worker on forced vacation due to charges

NORTHERN CAMBRIA — The borough official charged with forgery and stealing from Northern Cambria and its two water authorities is on a forced vacation, and his job future will be determined next week.

After hiring a Pittsburgh labor lawyer as a consultant and meeting behind closed doors for two hours Friday, Borough Council members passed a motion directing David Suchar to be on vacation immediately and for the next week.

They also ordered him to “turn over to the borough all keys to premises and vehicles of the borough and water authorities.”

Suchar, 49, is Northern Cambria street commissioner and until recently also was supervisor of the borough’s two water authorities.

He accepted the council’s directive on the advice of his attorney, Thomas Dickey of Altoona.

The council will hold a special meeting at 11 a.m. Thursday “to make a final disposition on the employment of David Edward Suchar.”

Suchar was charged Tuesday with seven counts of unlawful taking and three counts of forgery before District Judge Michael Zungali.

Friday’s special meeting began with a public session in which borough Solicitor Dennis Govachini recommended that the borough appoint Bruce Campbell, a Pittsburgh attorney who specializes in labor law, for “personnel matters relative to David Suchar.”

Council unanimously passed the motion.

Members then adjourned for a closed session, which Govachini said was “to discuss the employment of David Suchar.”

Council member Mike Suchar, who is David Suchar’s father, left the building after speaking briefly to Dickey.

For the next 90 minutes, council met behind closed doors, only briefly calling in David Suchar and his attorney.

When the meeting was opened to the public, Campbell announced that Mike Suchar had recused himself from participating in any discussions or decisions involving his son.

Council announced the outcome of the deliberations and the plans for next week’s meeting, but did not take questions from the public or press.

The younger Suchar is accused of taking $4,800 in property from the borough, $11,256 in property from the Spangler water authority and $10,526 in property from the Northern Cambria Municipal Authority.

He denies the charges, saying he merely traded valuable items such as copper pipe and “did not take a dime.”

He told state police investigators he was guilty only of “falsifying, wheeling and dealing, and trading.”

The criminal charges are the result of a months-long state police investigation and were filed less than a week after the borough’s beleaguered municipal authority hired a professional consulting firm to supervise the Northern Cambria water treatment plant, which Suchar had been managing.

At one point, Suchar told state police about what he called a “slush fund” that paid for parties for borough employees and said he made deposits to it.

He told investigators that Borough Council gave him permission to sell scrap and deposit the money in the fund.

In response to a right-to-know request from The Tribune-Democrat, borough Manager Claudine Nagle said: “The borough of Northern Cambria does not have any documentation with regard to the ‘slush fund.’ ”

Suchar’s $36,904 annual salary has been paid by all three government entities – $18,452, or 50 percent, from the borough, and $9,226 each, or 25 percent each, from the Northern Cambria and Spangler water authorities.

Suchar had the week’s vacation time coming to him, Govachini said, so the time off will be paid.