The Fall of Mayor Flatley

In 1954, Erie’s Mayor, Thomas Flatley, was arrested — alongside several people in his administration, top brass at the police station, and members of the city’s crime syndicate — on charges of corruption, abuse of power, and illegal gambling, to which he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and violating his oath of office, leaving him to resign facing jail time and fines.

Thomas W. Flatley, born September 5, 1890, in San Francisco, California, was the Democrat Mayor of Erie from 1952 to 1954. Arrested in October of 1954 and charged with taking part in a gambling racket, Flatley admitted to receiving payments and pleaded guilty; sentenced, on December 15, to one to two years in jail, and fined $1,000.

Mayor Flatley’s downfall followed a Republican-inspired investigation of gambling in the city, involving the bribery of officials and employees of the City of Erie connected with gambling or the operation of the numbers racket in the city. The inquiry resulted in indictments against about forty persons, twelve of whom were tried and convicted, while eighteen pleaded guilty.

The local Chairman of the Democratic Party, Stanley M. Schwartz, gave $500 to Mayor Flatley to influence him. Jack Martin, a police inspector for the city, later indicted for bribery, who pleaded guilty, attended a meeting in Mayor Flatley's office on or about April 10, 1954, at which he and the mayor were present. It was there agreed that Martin should see certain gamblers or numbers men and collect money from them. These collections had formerly been made by one Henry Soscia, who had been dropped as collector because of difficulties with the police.

Schwartz, Martin and Flatley met once a month, often in the mayor's office. They equally divided the money collected, after paying $250 a month to Soscia to keep him quiet. About $1,500 was collected each month by Martin. Later, Martin would testified in court to his efforts to arrest certain gamblers who had been making protection payments, and that he was thereupon called by Mayor Flatley and directed to go to the mayor’s home, where the mayor warned Martin not to make any more such arrests if he wanted to retain his job.

Following their arrests, Schwartz and Mayor Flatley made written statements or confessions which were read into evidence at their trial. In his signed statement Schwartz gave detailed accounts of meetings with the mayor, Martin, and Soscia at which it was agreed that money should be collected from men in the numbers business or lottery, including the amounts to be collected by Schwartz, Martin, and Soscia from the various numbers men named. Schwartz therein said that the period when the collections were made by them covered approximately a year and four months, ending with September, 1954; and that the money was divided, usually in the mayor's office, being put into three envelopes, averaging $500 each. In his confession Mayor Flatley admitted receiving about $500 a month from Schwartz and Martin; and that the division sometimes took place in the mayor's office. Flatley stated he suspected the moneys came from persons in the numbers game, though he denied receiving any money directly from gamblers. Flatley confession was taken in the presence of Schwartz who made suggestions as to what it should be.

At the trial of Schwartz, Martin and Mayor Flatley, an operator of a cigar store and a numbers man in the city testified in court that he paid Stanley Schwartz $250 a month from May through October, 1954, for no reason other than Schwartz asked him for political funds.

Assistant District Attorney Johnson testified that just prior to the time Flatley made his written confession Schwartz entered the room, and, in the presence of prosecuting officials said to Mayor Flatley: "Tom, they know all about it. You might as well tell them."

Schwartz took the stand in his own behalf. He testified that he was a close friend of Mayor Flatley; that he was active in Flatley's political campaigns; and that, while admitting receipt of moneys from business men and payments to the mayor, these funds were collected and distributed solely as political contributions without any intent to bribe this city official.

Erie’s Mayor, Thomas Flatley at his office.

Mayor Louis J. Tullio

Louis J. Tullio, Born May 17, 1916, a Democrat, was the Mayor of Erie for eight terms from 1966 until 1989. He was the first Italian-American elected to this position.

Tullio had a childhood goal of becoming Mayor of Erie. He graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, on a football scholarship, and received a master's degree in education from Boston University. After serving in the Navy in the South Pacific during World War II, he opened a restaurant in Erie and became a high school teacher and football coach. He lost the 1965 Democratic primary for mayor to Mike Cannavino, who died 11 days before the general election. This allowed Tullio to replace Cannavino on the ballot and defeat Republican incumbent Charles Williamson. Although his victory was partly by chance he went on to become an Erie legend.

As mayor, Tullio was credited with helping slowing, but not stopping, Erie's decline as a manufacturing town and preserving it as a port city and commercial center. Being a politically persuasive and popular politician, especially with the business community, he had master the art of securing State and Federal funds for the city —nearly $300 million dollars. He easily won re-election five times, and unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1976. During his long administration, the city of Erie drastically lost population and was plagued by terrible urban planning decisions, which resulted the demolition of numerous downtown blocks of buildings. Among them, many of the city's most historically-significant and architecturally-notable buildings, and the entire six-block stretch of the western side of State Street, between 8th and 14th streets. While revered by some locals, Tullio is known in public policy and urban planning circles as one of the worst US mayors in terms of failed urban redevelopment programs. Tullio's redevelopment programs succeeded mainly in paving over large portions of downtown Erie for parking lots —a legacy that still is readily apparent today, and the cause of Erie being a poster child in urban planning textbooks for failed urban redevelopment schemes.

Only the retrospective eye-of-history will reveal in time if Tullio’s efforts in preserving a declining industrial-based economy, the redevelopment of downtown and the pumping of State and Federal funds into the city helped or hindered the growth of the local economy. Perhaps a fair assessment will be that he made the best of a bad situation, with little to work with, in an economy that was making a dramatic shift away from manufacturing.

In October 1987, Tullio was diagnosed with amyloidosis, a rare disease that also struck then-Pittsburgh mayor Richard Caliguiri and then-Pennsylvania governor Robert P. Casey. Despite his illness, which forced him to cut back on his workload and schedule, Tullio stayed in office and did not appoint an Acting Mayor until November 12, 1989, shortly before the end of his term. He eventually succumbed to his illness in his home on April 17, 1990. He was 73 years old. Regardless how history may write and rewrite his legacy he will remain one of the most important and influential politician in the history of Erie.

Ralph Battaglia shown here as the sponsor of young Louis Tullio, whom one day will be the Mayor of Erie, on his confirmation day.

Mayor Louis Tullio campaigning during his first run for mayor (1965)

Mayor Louis Tullio in his office.

Mayor Tullio, along with the Police Chief, meeting with local Civil Rights (July 1967)

The photo above: Erie's Rag Processing Plant, M.P. Radov Corporation, located at 1925 Holland Street, was gutted by arson on July 18, 1967. Six African-American men were arrested on suspicion of arson and inciting a riot. The following day Mayor Tullio, along with the Police Chief, met with local Civil Rights Leaders who assured the Mayor and the Police Chief that demonstrations regarding the incident of the following day would be peaceful, orderly and lawful.

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