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WILKES-BARRE — Leo is out.
But the city’s justification for finally dropping the embattled towing contractor seems to be flawed.
Wilkes-Barre Mayor Thomas M. Leighton on Tuesday announced formal termination of a towing contract between the city and LAG Transport, after a sentence against owner Leo A. Glodzik was affirmed by state Superior Court last week.
In that statement, Leighton cited an arbitrator’s ruling justifying the move following criminal conviction, adding that Glodzik had “exhausted his options for appeal.”
Not true, Glodzik’s lawyer says, adding that his client isn’t done fighting his sentence in a 2014 theft conviction.
Glodzik, 44, of Wilkes-Barre, had the exclusive towing contract with Wilkes-Barre until his services were suspended in May 2013, when he was charged by Luzerne County detectives with stealing $2,100 from a car he towed.
Glodzik was convicted by a county jury in May 2014. His sentence of three to 12 months in the county correctional facility has been delayed due to an appeal, which the court struck down last week.
According to a statement released by the mayor’s office on Tuesday, the decision to terminate hinged on language in a previous arbitrator’s ruling.
Last January, the mayor’s office said, arbitrator Lewis W. Wetzel determined that “clearly sloppy record keeping and hydrocarbon spill absorbent management” did not constitute just cause for suspension or termination.
Wetzel further determined that criminal charges against Glodzik “provided good cause” for suspending the contract, and that “in the event any disposition other than an innocent verdict results from said criminal charges, the mayor will have good cause” to terminate, the statement indicated.
“Based on the arbitrator’s ruling last year, we would not have had just cause to terminate the contract with LAG Transport Inc.,” Leighton said. “Once Mr. Glodzik exhausted his options for appeal, I took immediate action to terminate LAG Transport’s agreement with the city.”
Joseph Sklarosky Sr., Glodzik’s lawyer, said his client plans to petition state Supreme Court to hear an appeal — the final avenue, he conceded.
The mayor added: “There were a few individuals that criticized the delay in terminating the contract, however, I did so in the best interest of the taxpayers to avoid costly legal proceedings had he won his appeal.”
Effective immediately, the city has entered into an agreement with Falzone Towing Service, Inc., which had been the city’s temporary towing contractor.
In an unrelated case, Glodzik faces trial next month in a federal bank fraud case.
Calls to a city spokeswoman with questions about the appeal and the terms of the new towing contract were not immediately returned Tuesday afternoon.
Check back for updates, and see Wednesday’s Times Leader for more on this story.