Who's Guilty? The county's million dollar (?) water damage costs

In a follow-up to his intermittent serial saga of stories on the malfunctioning water filter at the Erie Courthouse back in November of last year, Erie Times-News Reporter(?) Kevin Flowers reported today that the bill for the repairs has reached $600,000 and is still climbing.

Flowers further reported today that: "The Nov. 21 incident was caused by a malfunctioning water filter in an equipment room on the courthouse's sixth floor. (Luigi)Pasqual (procurement and maintenance supervisor) said county officials and insurance adjusters are still trying to determine why the water filter malfunctioned."

It's not credible that county officials have not yet determined who or what caused the malfunction. Their failure or reticence to do so suggests that certain county "leaders" from Executive Mark DiVecchio on down are avoiding accountability to cover up wrongdoing on someone's (s') part, with Flowers's witting or unwitting concurrence.

Nor has Flowers, as a presumed "investigative journalist" (see Managing Editor Pat Howards self-serving column recently on press awards), made any apparent attempt to get to the bottom of the mystery, which has cost the county far,far more than the mere repair costs cited above in terms of lost county work hours and other residual expenses.

Neither Flowers nor any responsible county official has even acknowledged additional collateral costs, much less ventured a guesstimate of them, which almost certainly will approach or exceed $1 million.

By injecting the role of "insurance adjusters" into his story, Flowers implies that whatever or whoever caused the malfunction (factory defect, incompetent installation, operator/human error, etc.),county taxpayers are protected. But even if the insurer or insurers pay the repair bill cited above (though not the collateral costs), there is still the hefty $25,000 upfront insurance deductible county taxpayers will have to pay, if they haven't already.

This isn't the first time I've blogged on his matter. Back in November of last year, I wrote:

According to an article in the Erie Times-News today written by Reporter Kevin Flowers, around 3 am. Thursday, a stainless steel water filter on the sixth floor of the Erie County Court House failed during extensive renovations there.

"The breakdown sent as many as 900 gallons of water cascading downward through the courthouse’s east wing, soaking ceiling tiles, saturating carpets and splashing computers, telephones and other office equipment", Flowers wrote. " It also set off a chain of events that postponed scheduled hearings and shut down business at the courthouse, 140 W. Sixth St., for the entire day.

"Among the areas damaged was the fifth floor, where a $3.9 million renovation project is nearing completion. Although courthouse rumors Thursday put the damage at as much as $1 million, DiVecchio and other county officials said it could take a day or two to determine that," according to Flowers.

Flowers said "Luigi Pasquale, the courthouse’s manager of procurement and the supervisor of county facilities, said insurance is expected to cover most of the loss.

'I think it’s under control now,'’ said DiVecchio, who consulted with President Judge Elizabeth K. Kelly, Sheriff Bob Merski and other county officials before deciding around 8 a.m. Thursday to shut the building down and send roughly 600 courthouse employees home for the day.

According to Flowers,Pasquale said the water filter was installed about four months ago. The county has a $25,000 deductible for such damage, Pasquale said, which means that county dollars would cover the first $25,000 of repair and insurance would cover of the rest."


The above is yet another example of poor, partial and superficial reporting by the Erie Times News.

The article answers the fundamental questions of what, where and when, but neglects the crucial question of "why." Why did the filter fail? Was it factory defective, or was there human error in installing it?

In either case, taxpayers should not have to pay for the damages and repairs, or for the costs of sending home 600 county employees while repairs are effected..
Basic investigation could and should determine where the blame for the failure lies, and the accountable party or parties should be assessed accordingly.

Do your job, Kevin and quit glossing over and covering up the failures of your buddies at the courthouse.

Tody's article demonstrates that neither County Executive DiVecchio nor Flowers has stepped up to do his job. Maybe it's time for feisty County Controller Sue Weber to step into the breach.