Font Resize
Cameron Texter, a senior research analyst on the House Democratic Policy Committee, spent the day traveling to the Elk County Courthouse, where he dug through prothonotary records for campaign fodder that might be used against the opponent of Rep. Dan Surra, D-Elk, according to campaign records.
It was one of at least 25 business days that Texter, who is also York City Council president, traveled for campaign work for House Democrats last year, records show. Six of those days were House session days, when lawmakers vote on bills and often rely on staff assistance.
Texter said he used paid leave days, such as vacation or personal days, for every day he traveled.
"And if I have a leave slip in I can use my own time," Texter said of his campaign efforts.
It is legal for state employees to work on campaigns, as long as it's on their own time and they aren't rewarded with state money.
Texter's travels paint a detailed picture of the Capitol culture at a time when campaign work by state staffers is under scrutiny.
The Capitol has been jolted this year by an investigation
Attorney General Tom Corbett is reportedly probing bonuses awarded by House Democrats and Republicans, but Democrats are reeling the hardest after handing out the most in bonuses.
House Democrats, who won a hard-fought battle for House control last November, gave out more than $1.9 million in bonuses to more than 600 staffers last year, up from $435,000 in 2005. Those bonuses ranged from $65 to $28,137. House Republicans gave $270,000 in bonuses last year.
Texter, whose salary is listed at $67,262 this year, received a bonus of $11,648. His was one of 43 House Democratic bonuses of more than $10,000.
Legislative leaders in both parties have repeatedly said the bonuses were for government work and not for campaign work.
A 'gray area'
The York Daily Record/Sunday News tracked Texter's campaign work by examining receipts he submitted to the House Democratic Campaign Committee for reimbursement for his travel expenses.
Campaign-finance reports from 2006 showed Texter collected 18 reimbursement checks totaling $3,417 for HDCC campaign travel, an unusually high amount of campaign travel and more than any staffer from York County, according to the review of the reports.
Some government watchdogs say the Legislature should prohibit its staffers from doing campaign work to ensure that government employees avoid partisan political conflicts.
"I think that's a real dangerous, gray area that's been abused over the years by both parties," said Eric Epstein, coordinator of RockTheCapital.
After saying he took paid leave days for all his campaign work, Texter referred all other questions about his travels to Tom Andrews, spokesman for House Majority Leader Bill DeWeese, D-Greene.
Andrews, as well as staffers in the House Chief Clerk's Office, said they could not confirm whether Texter used leave days. Andrews cited a 1978 law requiring that certain personnel information be kept private.
While he declined to discuss Texter's personnel information, Andrews said it's possible that a veteran staffer could have at least 25 leave days in one year. Anyone with at least 10 years on staff, such as Texter, gets 20 vacation days plus three personal days, and unused days roll over to the following year.
To spend 25 business days campaigning, Texter would have had to have used a significant number of vacation and personal days he had coming, and perhaps used some unused days carried over from the previous year.
"It's your own personal time, so we can't say you can do this but you can't do that," Andrews said.
As for taking leave on session days, Andrews said that decision should be up to each employee's supervisor.
Attempts to reach Texter's recent supervisors were unsuccessful.
For the first nine months of last year, then-Rep. Stephen Stetler, D-York, was chairman of the policy committee where Texter worked as a research analyst. Stetler left office last September to take a job with the Pennsylvania Economy League and did not return calls.
The latest list of House employees, released in February, shows Texter as a Democratic research specialist and his supervisor as Eric Webb, who was director of the Democratic Office of Member Services. Webb was forced out of his job last week in a purge of seven House Democratic employees, and he could not be reached for comment.
Opposition research
Texter traveled to almost every corner of the state last year for some of the House's hottest races, according to the reimbursement vouchers he submitted to HDCC.
With receipts for most of his travels, Texter listed his mission as opposition research, which is the common political practice of looking for something negative about an opponent.
He even traveled once to Morgantown, W.Va., to look into a Republican House member's criminal background, documents show.
Texter often went to county courthouses and made photocopies at prothonotary offices, where lawsuits are kept on file.
He twice made photocopies of the minutes of school board meetings in Lancaster, where Rep. Michael Sturla, D-Lancaster, had a heated re-election race.
Besides Elk County and Lancaster, Texter traveled regularly to Berks County to do opposition research on the opponent of Rep. Dante Santoni, D-Berks. He also traveled to Schuylkill County to research the opponent of Rep. Neal Goodman, D-Schuylkill, and to Allegheny County to research the opponent of Rep. Joseph Markosek, D-Allegheny.
He traveled twice to Monroe County to conduct research for three different races and twice to Montgomery County for research in a race for an open seat.
Texter traveled on 19 business days before the height of campaign season in October, and then he devoted his travel time to a tight race for a vacant Berks County seat between Democrat David Kessler and Republican Billy Reed. Texter vowed to help Kessler with several campaign functions, including door-to-door stops and mailings.
In mid-October, Texter made plans to be in Berks County on 20 days before the Nov. 6 election. A memo Texter wrote to then-HDCC director Dan Wiedemer reveals details of his plans:
"I plan to spend time in the 130th District on these days: Oct. 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, Nov. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7. The Yellow House Bed and Breakfast will charge HDCC $50 per night, plus $5 for taxes and other fees per night. I stayed there on Friday Oct. 13 and will stay there on these nights: Oct. 16, 23, 25, 26, 27, 31, Nov. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6."
Texter then wrote that Kessler would find him a room for three other nights, and added, "I must return to York for meetings on Oct. 17, 18, 24 and 30. I will work in the district on each of those days and then drive back to York, except on Oct. 18. I return to York each Saturday night and spend Sunday with my family, except on Nov. 4, the Sunday before the election."
Later, Texter cut back his plans to campaign for Kessler an unspecified number of days, citing a family illness, but still ran up a bill of $488.29 at the bed and breakfast.
Kessler won his race, as did all of the Democratic incumbents for whom Texter did opposition research.
None of those lawmakers returned calls for this story.
Travel days
House aide Cameron Texter traveled for campaign work on six House session days in 2006, records show. They were:
· Wednesday, March 15: Texter traveled to the Berks County Courthouse to search prothonotary records on opponents of Rep. Dante Santoni, D-Berks. He made $4.50 worth of photocopies.
· Monday, April 3: Texter traveled to the Elk County Courthouse to search prothonotary records on the opponent of Rep. Dan Surra, D-Elk. He made 21 copies costing $10.50.
· Monday, June 5: Texter traveled to the Lancaster County Courthouse to research the opponent of Rep. Michael Sturla, D-Lancaster. He made no photocopies.
· Wednesday, June 14: Texter traveled to the School District of Lancaster office to research Sturla's opponent. He paid $12.25 for 49 copies of school district minutes.
· Wednesday, June 21, and Thursday, June 22: Texter traveled to Allegheny County to research the background of Rep. Mark Mustio, R-Allegheny, and the opponent of Rep. Joseph Markosek, D-Allegheny. He paid $3 for photocopies.
