There could scarce be a more damning example of the danger of nepotism than Jeff Piazza, the former Wilkes-Barre Area Career and Technology Center employee accused of using that position to bilk taxpayers out of tens of thousands of dollars.

Follow the trail, smell the stench.

Piazza is the son of August Piazza, a lifelong educator at Wyoming Valley West who rose to the top as superintendent while keeping active elsewhere: Pittston Area School Board member, Luzerne County Community College Board of Trustees, and most significantly in this case, Pittston Area representative on the Joint Operating Committee that runs the Career Center, which serves five districts.

Jeff Piazza graduated from Pittston Area in 1996. In August 1999, he was hired at the center as a computer network specialist at $38,000, a new position that had not been advertised. His dad was on the JOC, but was conveniently absent when his son was hired.

Not only had the younger Piazza mastered computer networking three years out of high school, he had also become master chef and business wiz, partnering with Nick Gelso in 2002 to open a new restaurant called Gelpia’z. He was so good at it, the county later loaned him $125,000 to expand.

That would be the same county that had appointed August Piazza to the LCCC board of trustees.

Gelpia’z got a few headlines over the years: praise from a local “artist of the month,” host of charity events, one-time diner for actor Paul Sorvino.

Hungry for success

But nepotism crept into the kitchen in October 2004, when WVW used federal grant money to pay for a $15 per person luncheon at Gelpia’z for participants in the district’s family-strengthening PROSPER program. This is no reflection on the program, which seems a worthy effort. But August Piazza was district superintendent at the time. The younger Piazza insisted he had nothing to do with the decision, and promised to donate $5 of each lunch bill back to PROSPER.

That was the same year Jeff Piazza was appointed coordinator of recruitment and attendance at the Career Center, boosting his salary by $9,500. August Piazza, still a JOC member, again conveniently missed the meeting. Then-Administrative Director Tom O’Donnell said Jeff Piazza was the only candidate considered, and that solicitor Anthony Lupas had determined the position did not have to be posted.

In January 2007, Gelpia’z stopped paying on that county loan, still owing $117,870. The restaurant closed, and a bank backing the loan had to cough up the shortfall for the county.

Piazza continued his quest for success in the restaurant business while working full-time at the Career Center. He worked part-time at Portofino Restaurant, owned by Anthony Trombetta, who also owns Intellacom, a tech company the FBI has scrutinized in several school districts and LCCC. The Career Center did more than $1 million in business with Intellacom since 2003.

Jeff Piazza opened La Piazza restaurant in 2008. He abruptly resigned at the Career Center Nov. 10, nine days before he signed a plea agreement admitting he received kickbacks from a tech company he helped get work at the center. The feds didn’t name the company, and I stress Intellacom has not been accused of wrongdoing.

Hiring relatives – even truly qualified ones – for public jobs is always bad PR. But Jeff Piazza is becoming the poster child for any anti-nepotism champion.

If he’s convicted, here’s a suggestion.

The next time you hear a public official insist a relative was “the most qualified,” remind them of Jeff Piazza.

About the Author

Mark Guydish covers education for the Times Leader. Reach him at (570) 970-7161 or mguydish@timesleader.com.

A West Hazleton native, I worked as a service technician repairing electronic mailing and shipping systems, a bike shop owner and an Emergency Medical Technician (among other jobs) before landing a reporter job at the Times Leader Hazleton Bureau in 1995. I started by covering primarily politics in Hazleton City and outlying municipalities, eventually became "social issues" team leader in the Wilkes-Barre office with the accent on education, and headed the Hazleton Bureau for a spell before returning to full-time reporting, my preferred position. I'm an avid cyclist and rode across the country in 1990, a trip of more than 5,000 miles from New Jersey to Seattle and down the coast to San Francisco. Years in the Boy Scouts made me a life long backpacker and camper, and I've yet to find a better way to enjoy the quiet lure of winter snow than cross country skiing.

Mark also writes a regular blog for timesleader.com.

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