PLCB Chairman Newman resigns in wake of new CEO hire
(Associated Press) Jonathan H. Newman resigned Wednesday as chairman of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, saying its authority has been undermined by the hiring of a chief executive officer to run the state's liquor and wine monopoly.
Newman used the agency's buying power to offer more and better wines at attractive prices and oversaw the introduction of Sunday liquor sales and the expansion of Wine & Spirits shops into supermarkets. He said his last day will be Jan. 12.
"This was a labor of love for me ... because I thought I was making a difference in people's lives," he said in an interview after telling the other two board members of his decision at their regular meeting Wednesday.
Gov. Ed Rendell issued a statement praising Newman's performance as chairman and quickly appointed board member Patrick J. Stapleton III to replace him.
The board approved the creation of the new $150,000-a-year position and the hiring of former state Sen. Joe Conti to fill it - changes that Rendell orchestrated behind the scenes - on Dec. 13 by a 2-1 vote, with Newman opposed.
Newman, who has been chairman since August 2002, on Wednesday renewed his criticism of Rendell for failing to conduct a national search for a CEO.
He said Conti will handle most of the duties that Newman previously performed and that he could not justify accepting his $65,572 salary for the limited regulatory and policy role that is left for the board. He said he hopes the General Assembly will review the process used to hire Conti and "determine if it is appropriate for the commonwealth and the future direction of government."
Rendell's spokeswoman, Kate Philips, said the governor has supported changes to make state stores more friendly to consumers, such as allowing more of them to operate on Sundays and opening liquor stores in supermarkets.
Stapleton, a lawyer from Indiana County, took issue with Newman's comments, saying the idea of hiring a chief executive had been under consideration for at least five years. He also defended the decision to hire Conti, who has management experience from running his family's restaurants in Bucks County and who served on legislative committees that deal with issues involving the liquor board.
Hiring a CEO to oversee the agency "is an absolute necessity," Stapleton said following Wednesday's meeting.
The state liquor stores do about $1.6 billion a year in sales. The board has about 4,500 employees and bills itself as one of the nation's largest purchasers of wine and liquor.
Both Newman and Stapleton were originally appointed to the board in the late '90s by then-Gov. Tom Ridge and reappointed by Rendell.
Newman, 44, a lawyer from the Philadelphia suburb of Bryn Mawr, is the son of former state Supreme Court Justice Sandra Schultz Newman. He said he has not decided what he will do next.
"I want to do something that is enriching, something that's fulfilling and something that's entrepreneurial," he said.