01072006 - News Article - Mrvan severs ties with counseling agency - Cut contract is one of four that will save $131,000 - ROBERT CANTRELL

Mrvan severs ties with counseling agency
Cut contract is one of four that will save $131,000
NWI Times
Jan 7, 2006
nwitimes.com/news/local/mrvan-severs-ties-with-counseling-agency/article_8d6759e4-bc36-561a-84de-a50a9e6cb5a4.html
NORTH TOWNSHIP | North Township Trustee Frank Mrvan and Nancy Fromm, the politically connected owner of a Hammond counseling service, have parted ways.

Fromm's services had been contracted by Mrvan's predecessor, longtime trustee Greg Cvitkovich, who resigned last October in pleading guilty to tax fraud charges.

As a newly elected member of the township's advisory board, Mrvan had taken issue with the stress management training ordered by Cvitkovich, arguing it was a waste of money, should not be mandatory or include massages.

Fromm is owner of Addiction and Family Care, a Hessville counseling business whose lucrative government contracts came under scrutiny two years ago during the course of a federal vote fraud investigation into the elections of East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick and Schererville Judge Deborah Riga.

The probe revealed Fromm paid another political operative, Robert Cantrell, a former East Chicago Republican Party chairman turned Democrat, referral fees for clients steered toward the agency. Cantrell is the township's East Chicago office manager.

Ultimately, neither Fromm nor Cantrell were charged with any criminal wrongdoing. Fromm is cooperating with the government's case against Riga, who was later indicted, in part, for allegedly extorting money from Fromm so Fromm could keep her contract with the Schererville court.

Cvitkovich refused to rescind Fromm's contract at the time of the controversy and later renewed a $32,400 contract, which would have expired this coming August.

Mrvan said he and Fromm instead agreed to separate amicably with the last monthly payment made last November.

Mrvan said though he had not favored certain aspects of the program, the overall quality of Fromm's services were not a factor in the contract's termination.

Mrvan said he did not discuss the termination with Cantrell, who in November told The Times he is no longer associated with Addiction and Family Care.

Neither Fromm nor Cantrell returned telephone calls from The Times.

The Fromm contract is one of four that Mrvan has eliminated since taking office in December. Together the contracts will save the township nearly $131,000 a year.

Workfare and Wicker Park employees will take over the maintenance of the township's cemetery, saving $31,200 annually.

With his administration's eye on cutting taxes and operating efficiently, Mrvan said poor relief clients will have to work off the aid they receive.

"Along with Wicker Park employees, we can maintain that cemetery on our own," he said.

Mrvan also cut an annual $30,000 contract for janitorial services in the East Chicago office and did not renew an annual $37,000 contract for information technology.

"The elimination of the contracts frees up money for the administration to focus on getting people jobs, to make sure individuals work off the aid they receive and to put an emphasis on education," Mrvan said.