Dormont solicitor Deron Gabriel, who came under fire last month for questioning some political signs in an antique shop in the borough, has been exonerated of any wrongdoing by council following its consultation with the Local Government Academy, an independent nonpartisan group that educates public officials.

The West Liberty Avenue antique shop in question is owned by Mary Pitcher, whose nonprofit foundation wants to build a skate park in Dormont in memory of her two young sons, extreme sports enthusiasts who accidentally drowned last year.

Mr. Gabriel's actions came to council's attention during a Sept. 28 council meeting when Mrs. Pitcher, a former resident now of Scott, accused the solicitor of inappropriately contacting New Sun Rising, the sponsor of her non-profit, to report partisan political signs in the window of her shop.

One of the signs listed council members and how each was expected to vote on the much anticipated skate park measure, while the other sign advocated the write-in of private resident Jeff Fabus for Dormont council over current council member Eugene Barilla.

A picture of council president John Maggio's face superimposed on the body of Burger King's "The King" mascot also was framed and displayed in the shop window.

Mrs. Pitcher has since voluntarily removed the signs and the picture. But she disputes that they had to be; she said her shop is not affiliated with the Pitcher Park foundation. She called Mr. Gabriel's action an underhanded attempt to get her foundation stripped of its nonprofit status and, in effect, stand in the way of the park.

The skate park was rejected in a 5-2 vote on Oct. 5, the following week.

Mr. Gabriel admitted that he had contacted the nonprofit, but said it was to protect Mrs. Pitcher and the foundation by allowing the group a chance to comply with IRS regulations that prohibit partisan political activity. He said some residents -- whom he would not identify -- were planning to file a formal complaint and had brought the issue to his attention.

At the time, Mayor Tom Lloyd questioned Mr. Gabriel's involvement and told him that he had "overstepped his role as solicitor."

He directed that in the future Mr. Gabriel bring all such matters to council before taking personal action. And, Councilwoman Laurie Malka said council was planning further investigation.

The finance and legal committee held a closed meeting on Oct. 15, for which Scott Wolovich of New Sun Rising submitted a statement about his interaction with the solicitor.

At Monday night's agenda meeting, Mrs. Malka said "we had a brief review ... but it turned into more of a discussion of the process that we have as a council as to how we go about acting on certain things.

"The finance and legal department is going to [review our business procedures] so that we're sure that any actions that we are taking are done with the knowledge of all of council."

At its December voting meeting, council hopes to adopt new procedures that will require borough officials to act only on the knowledge of council, rather than independently.

Mr. Gabriel, who has been on the job for the past year, said he will bring all issues to council's attention before taking any action.

Mrs. Pitcher's most recent proposal to build the skate park on Keystone Oaks school property was rejected by the school board on Oct. 12, but she said she is not giving up her fight.

The park, estimated to cost anywhere from $500,000 to $800,000, would be funded by donations and grants.

n See coverage of municipal elections, including victories of candidates who support Pitcher Park, Page S-7.

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