A Baldwin-Whitehall school director orchestrated his appointment to a $120,000-a-year administrative job in the district, violating ethics laws and lobbying other board members to support creating the position, said a 32-page report issued Friday by the state Ethics Commission.

The commission found that Martin Schmotzer of Whitehall met privately at a local tavern with several other board members in the months leading up to a special board meeting on Nov. 19, 2013, organized by Mr. Schmotzer.

At the meeting, he was appointed to a new position called “supervisor of projects for the school board and special assistant to the superintendent.”

After an investigation sparked by public outrage, the commission found the position was not discussed in public and that the $120,000 annual salary was devised by Mr. Schmotzer and a supporter on the board.

When he ran into resistance from some fellow board members over his self-crafted position, Mr. Schmotzer arranged for them to be replaced by his allies who supported the idea.

Residents were infuriated over the appointment, forcing Mr. Schmotzer to resign within a month.

He still holds the school board seat he won in November 2013.

A consent agreement between the parties gives Mr. Schmotzer 30 days to repay the $4,568 he received while he was on the job.

District solicitor Bruce Dice was asked to draft an employment contract for Mr. Schmotzer without the board’s knowledge, the report said, and billed the district $2,937 for 26.7 hours of legal work.

The commission also found that Mr. Schmotzer hadn’t complied with mandatory background checks when he began work.

Mr. Schmotzer was fired in April 1997 for stealing $50,000 from the Allegheny County Clerk of Courts office when he served as a deputy in the office. He pleaded guilty and returned the money, though the charges were eventually dropped due to a legal technicality.

Mr. Dice, Mr. Schmotzer and district superintendent Randal Lutz could not be reached for comment.

The report can be viewed at ​www.ethicsrulings.state.pa.us/​weblink8/​0/​doc/​227946/​Page1.aspx

First Published: June 12, 2015, 5:30 p.m.
Updated: June 13, 2015, 3:07 a.m.