Conservative or Liberal, Deist or Pagan, Jersey transplant or Lehigh Valley native, we're all in this mess together. Let's talk. Let us do no harm. Today's one-liner: "Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There's no crying! THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!" Jimmy Dugan
I'll be making a road trip to Harrisburg today. Somewhere in the bowels of Dauphin County's Courthouse, there will be a preliminary hearing for deceptive campaign practices filed against political consultant Tom "Scissorhands" Severson.
A grand jury continues to investigate sleaze campaigns in Northampton County, having met last week. It appears this investigation includes more than Severson. An interesting array of witnesses is under subpoena today. They include Northampton County Controller Steve Barron, Northampton County Dem party boss Joe Long and Northampton County Council member Lamont McClure.
Highlights include over the fence bombs from David Bertolotti and Alex "Goliath" Laudenslager, which temporarily activated Coplay's missile defense systems. David and Goliath were also the team's ace pitchers, fending off eager hitters in five games all weekend against Orefield, Boyertown, Bath-East Allen, Lehigh LL Reds and Schadt Avenue (Whitehall). There were also key hits and defensive plays from Harry "the heater" Faindel, Dat "the bat"Lambert, Kyle Picht, Justin Schmoyer, Jacob Unangst, Jacob Wagner, Jake Anthony, Patrick and Caleb.
Coplay's recreation department, a group of great volunteers, kill themselves doing this every year. Kids get a chance to play under the lights while I eat the best homemade pierogies in the universe, washing them down with root beer floats. It's a wonderful public service.
The top four finishers this year are (1) Bethlehem Canes, (2) Shadt Avenue, (3) Lehigh LL Reds and (4) Northampton. Earlier this year, the Canes won ECTB's Memorial Day Tournament in Leesport, PA, upsetting the Gainesville Cannons.
Who the hell can be opposed to monkey bars? Blogger Michael Molovinsky, that's who. He's condemned a "destination playground" planned for Allentown's Cedar Beach even though it is designed to include children with disabilities. Now the Lehigh Valley's favorite conservative - Scott Armstrong - is taking a swipe at it, too. This is what he sings from his perch atop the Allentown Commentator.
"Changing Allentown's Cedar Beach into a vast playground will have the unfortunate effect of moving the city's problem of neglected and unsupervised children into the heart of the so far peaceful West End. Of course this obvious outcome is unforeseen to the clueless Director of Parks and Recreation Greg Weitzel. He, like almost everyone else in Pawlowski's city hall, is an out of towner, a young college grad from York I believe, here to build a resume before he moves on to another assignment in another town. He will, however, leave behind a huge problem which the city lacks the resources to deal with. Does it take much imagination to understand what the result of this mega playground in this location will be?
"A better solution would be to raze a blighted block in the downtown and build the playground there. The kids there need a place to play and with proper oversight could be a real plus for everyone. This approach however is just basic common sense, but that has been in short supply here in the city since the Democrats took full control eight years ago."
If you've ever watch 8 and 9 year olds play baseball, you're going to see lots of mistakes. They're still kids. That's got to be very frustrating to any coach. He may drill something into his young sluggers until it seems like second nature, but at game time, he'll be lucky if they listen to him half the time. The surest way to get a batter to swing away, for example, is to tell him to take a pitch. If you want a runner to slide, be sure to shout "up, up."
Now don't get the idea these young ballplayers are purposely ignoring their coaches. They really want to listen, and they even want to win. But to them, this is still just a game.
And this brings me to a game during this weekend's 9U tournament in beautiful Coplay. A runner on third stepped off the bag before being told. He fortunately got back, but dug himself a deeper hole by waiting a second before running home after being sent. He still slid in safely and scored.
The thrill of sliding into home was quickly erased by the third base coach, who ran down the baseline to tower over this prostrate 9 year-old. The boy was reamed out, in front of both teams, for admittedly poor base running. Naturally, the kid returned to his bench in tears.
I was later told this is just "coaching fundamentals." If this kid was crying, that's his problem.
Frankly, I'm unaware of any coaching fundamentals that call for negative reinforcement that includes reducing a 9 year old kid to tears. That's why adults just ruin the game for the kids. The grown ups tend to get too focused on winning.
Now let me tell you this coach is a great guy who really does love the kids. He sacrifices a lot of his own time for them and has taught them a lot. But if he thinks he can teach kids by screaming at them until they start crying, he has a few things to learn himself.
That's how Jerry reacted last night to the news that he was appointed, 5-3, to Northampton County Council, filling the vacancy created by the recent resignation of Diane Neiper. He's a class act whose sole desire is to "give something back" to the county. We could really use him.
Of course, the Long Dems - Charles Dertinger, Anna McHale & Lamont McClure - all voted for Ron Heckman. Realizing Seyfried had five votes, these slicksters tried an end run, but fumbled. They called individual Council members, telling them they already knew Jerry had five votes, but asking that they cast their first vote for Ron so he would not be embarrassed. Word of their goofy plan leaked out and they ended up outfoxing themselves, as usual. And Heckman ended up being embarrassed.
Way to go, LongDems. Now Jerry gets tp go after some of the wild boars on Northampton County Council.
McClure's attempt to pander some votes by rolling back recent salary increases to elected official, also blew up in his face. Only Dertinger went along with his proposed ordinance. Ron Angle told them that if they don't want payraises, don't take them.
Webcasting inched forward as well. This was supposed to be part of the council renovations that were completed 1 1/2 years ago. IT maven Al Jordan told Council it can be done for $15 thousand in upfront costs.
Blogger's Note:I did not attend last night's council meeting and am relying on information supplied by two people who were there and survived. The Express Times' Sarah Cassi has her usual excellent report.
Cunningham's Five year Plan to Focus on Bridges, Open Space & Farmland Preservation
Repairing bridges, open space and farmland preservation are the cornerstones of Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham's latest five year plan, announced yesterday.
Cunningham proposes fixing ten bridges in 2010, including the Pine Street Bridge over Lehigh River, Rex’s Covered Bridge over Jordan Creek and the Basin Street Bridge. This is in addition to 22 bridges repaired or replaced over the last four years.
“When I took office four years ago, nearly two-thirds of the county’s 47 bridges had a deficiency rating or were closed,” Cunningham said. “Maintaining and improving public infrastructure is a core responsibility of government. I’m pleased to report that by the end of this year all of those closed bridges will be reopened and dozens of other bridges have been repaired.”
Of the $16.5 million in projects scheduled for 2010, two-thirds goes for bridges or open space preservation and parks projects. No new building projects are planned, but the county continues retrofit work in county buildings to reduce energy consumption and utility costs. The goal is to reduce energy consumpton 20%, which will translate to $1 million in annual savings.
“Although this plan is significantly less than previous years, we continue to fix what’s broken and use our money wisely to enhance the quality of life for Lehigh County residents and not push problems back for future leaders and taxpayers,” Cunningham said.
I played hooky from last night's Northampton County Council meeting for a game in Coplay's 24th Annual 9 and Under Baseball Tournament. Sixteen teams from all over the Lehigh Valley will gnaw at each other over the next several days. On Sunday, one will walk away as winner.
My prediction? The Bethlehem Canes will walk away with the honors. That's my grandson's team, of course. Earlier this year, they won ECTB's Memorial Day Tournament in Leesport, PA, upsetting the Gainesville Cannons.
The kids love this tournament because they get to use big barrel bats, which is prohibited in Little League play. And in Coplay's lower field, a good swing can send the ball right out of the park and through LC Comm'r Bill Leiner's window.
I love the tournament because of the homemade pierogies, the best in the world, and the strawberry shortcake served up on Saturday.
DeSales Students Design First Ever Digital Murals for U.S. Women's Open
Athleticism can come from women golfers, too!
That's the focus of 11 Digital Art murals designed by two DeSales students for the U.S. Women’s Open, currently in progress at the Saucon Valley Country Club, July 6 July 12.
Juniors Chris Morganelli (of Bethlehem, Pa.) and Amanda Ziegler (Aston, Pa.) created eleven murals showcasing the passion of women golfer, and they're on display at the merchandise tent.
They are the first such work to ever be created for any U.S. Open.
Morganelli and Ziegler used photos and text provided by the USGA (United States Golf Association) that features a wide range of emotion and passion from women golfers. Morganelli and Ziegler agree that it was an all-consuming project, but are very grateful for the experience.
“Working on the project was a great learning experience,” said Morganelli. “We didn’t realize the magnitude of the event until after we started working on the project. We realized athletes come from all over the world to participate in the event and thousands of people watch it. Ultimately, we knew the murals would get a lot of exposure.”
As part of the project, Morganelli and Ziegler attended over a dozen meetings during the spring 2009 semester, beginning at the end of April until mid-June, well after the academic year was over. The final stage of the project was completed approximately three weeks before the start of the event.
“There were challenges, especially coming up with ideas both designers agreed upon. Plus, it required a lot of hours both on- and off-campus, including weekdays and weekends, but well worth it,” said Morganelli, whose future career plans are in the area of architectural visualization.
Northampton County DA John Morganelli tells me he's very proud of his son, and should be.
Lehigh County Comm'rs: We Don't Need No Steenkin' Webcasts
Had Lehigh County Commissioners voted last night on Dean Browning's proposal to webcast public commissioner meetings, the whole idea would have gone down in flames. Its $39 thousand pricetag is the supposed stumbling block, but the truth is that most Lehigh County legislators would rather see you spend your evenings watching American Idol.
After claiming to have stayed up all night, agonizing like Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, Cosponsor Bill Leiner withdrew his support. In fact, each Democratic commissioner voiced reservations. Could this be payback to Republican Commissioner candidates who pledged to refuse a payhike? If so, that's pretty stupid. Voters tend to distrust elected officials who exclude them.
In addition to the Democrats, Chairman Percy Dougherty is dead set against the idea. He proudly handed out copies of an email he sent out earlier that day. It's on asbestos, and I've appended it at the end of my post. Sterling Raber is with Dougherty on this one. So is Glenn Echkart, but only because of the high cost.
That leaves Dean Browning and Andy Roman as the sole proponents of transparent government in Lehigh County.
True, the $39 thousand pricetag for this proposal - presented by local firm Communications Systems, Inc. (CSI) - is well over twice the $15 thousand originally discussed with another vendor, but that vendor also had an annual $15 thousand maintenance fee. CSI, on the other hand, proposes a $1 to $2 thousand yearly operating fee. So CSI is actually the least expensive proposal. This cost objection is a thinly veiled smokescreen. Frankly, it appears that Lehigh Commissioners worry you might get just a little too interested.
Comm'r David Jones, in his sermon from the mount, makes that pretty clear.
In his remarks, Jones claims that it's important to have data, and then supplies none. He implies there is very little interest in Lehigh County's web page. That's complete baloney. Want some data, Reverend Jones? Go to Alexa, the site used by advertisers for web traffic metrics. The Lehigh County web page is already the fifth most popular Lehigh Valley web page, and that's without webcasts.
"We're talking about something that's not a core function of county government. There's not a huge demand, beating on the door, for this. ... I'll be frank here. My biggest concern is what that camera will do, in terms of the integrity of our proceedings. And I don't have the confidence that we will conduct ourselves in a way that's unbiased."
So let me get this straight. Jones believes open and transparent government is not a "core function." Moreover, instead of believing sunshine is a great disinfectant, a public spotlight will ruin the "integrity" of public meetings. I see.
In stark contrast to Jones, Commissioner Andy Roman argues that webcasting is an important step in the right direction.
"One of the things that I think is really important is making every effort to make government more accessible to the public and not less accessible. Just a few weeks back, we made online campaign reporting available. I think that was a definite move in the right direction in terms of modernizing the way we do business and having full disclosure where people are receiving campaign contributions. When it comes now to putting your names on the Internet, if you will, I think it's a step in the right direction because I think in a modern society people are busy, people have families, and although they may want to come out to a meeting, they just may not be able to because of a very busy schedule."
Roman notes that webcasts can become important sources of information should newspapers decline and falter. They are also educational tools.
"Anytime we can bring more people into the government process - the democratic process - the better. ... If we want government to be viewed as an old crony arena, let's just disconnect the Internet from government proceedings and that's what we'll get."
Dean Browning, who sponsors this initiative, urges commissioners to "take advantage of the technology that we have to expand the reach of county government. We sit here night after night and look at basically the same crowd of folks that come to county government."
While claiming the current proposal is too costly, Eckhart distinguishes himself from Jones. "There is demand for open and transparent government. ... I disagree with the grandstanding part. I don't need a camera to grandstand."
Commissioners will vote on webcasting in two weeks. Allentown and Northampton County are pondering webcasts as well.
Appendix: The Epistle of Percy to the Commissioners
Commissioners,
When the price of broadcasting our meetings on the internet was $15,000, I voted no because I thought it was not necessary. I am even more vociferous in my opposition now that the price of the system has more than doubled to $39,000. This new price is a stripped down version with the new microphones deleted, and other bells and whistles to be added at a later date.
At a time of financial distress such as we are experiencing today, I cannot vote to spend more money on a system that I do not believe is a necessity. In last year’s budget, we were encouraged by fellow commissioners to make major cuts, including freezing wages and personnel cuts. This year’s budget will be even tighter because of the potential State cuts that may be passed on to us as unfunded mandates. It is unconscionable to spend $39,000 on an internet recording of our meetings if some commissioners are going to ask employees to forego pay increases and ask us to get rid of employee positions.
In my opinion, our meetings are open and transparent. The minutes of the meetings are available in a very detailed format. It is not necessary to record the meetings and rebroadcast them on the internet. The recordings will not be live and may have a long lag period before they are posted. Posting the meetings will take away from staff time that is needed for more important work.
Internet broadcasts in my opinion are vanity exhibitions that are best suited for those who are seeking higher office. It is not our responsibility to pay for that. I am also unconvinced of the number of people who will tune in to the “Commissioners Show,” especially since it is a delayed broadcast and they will not see us live. My guess is maybe one or two people, unless it is election year and your opponent wants to collect information on you.
The final nail in the coffin for me is taking money out of the Commissioners Office “Other Specialized Services” line item. That is money we have set aside in case of an emergency such as a law suit against one or more of us, to hire outside legal council in case of conflict with the Solicitors Office, or to pay for other professional help. It is true that we have not had to hire a lawyer since Commissioner Skinner was sued by the Administration, but it is good to have the money available.
In addition, at the end of the year, the unspent money reverts back to the general fund. If we spend $24,000 out of this line item, it will mean that our non-payroll budget expenditures for the year will increase by 20.7%. The Administration is asking departments to hold the line of spending and bring in budgets that are flat. How can we complain those departments, and even suggest cuts, if we increase spending by 20.7% in our own office?
I WILL VOTE NO ON THE INTERNET BROADCASTING SYSTEM, and I encourage you to do the same.
After three years of blogging, I've managed to pick up one hell of a fan club. Just about daily, someone anonymously points out that I'm a drunk who lost his license to practice law ... in 1985. I'm threatened with libel litigation weekly and have a nice collection of "lawyer letters" on beautiful stationary. Last summer, I was depicted as the grisly murder victim in a fantasy blog novel. I've been a victim of criminal harassment. I've been impersonated so often on The Morning Call's reader forum that my name is filtered, along with words like shit. I've even received a death threat.
So why do I do it?
Jim Hickey told me blogging would help me pick up the babes. Yeah, he's the guy encouraging me to blog from Tehran, too. In another year, he says I'll be as sexy as Ron Angle. We'll see.
In the meantime, my fan club is now calling me a murderer. Someone was arrested yesterday for Nazareth's first homicide over the last thirty years. It's apparently me.
1) "I heard it's Nazareth blogger **** . He enjoys beating off attackers, and anyone else for that matter."
2) "Be r nie O' Ha re. Who knew his name was that which can never be spoken?"
3) "Ha! Yeah, he must really rank."
4) "Yea, O'hater has a reputation as a certified nut. He feeds the press his whacky rumors and they protect him. The clown is a drunk disbarred attorney for Naz. Very sad case really, except he is a mean drunk so all is fair."
Could be worse. I could have been called a Long Dem.
LV Congressman Charlie Dent: How Will We Pay For Healthcare Reform?
During Monday's town hall in Nazareth with LV Congressman Charlie Dent, our health care crisis was a topic of animatd discussion. Congressman Dent's basic point is that none of the "reforms" currently under consideration account for the costs. He also lists some minor reforms that might make those costs more manageable.
"Well, I think everybody acknowledges that our health care system is in very serious [inaudible]. The question is, what type of reform do you want for this country? And I would say to you - we have to deal with the issue of health care costs. Simply creating a new health care entitlement does not address the cost issue. I want to be clear about that. ...
"There was a very interesting article recently about healthcare costs in McAllen, Texas - down at the border - versus El Paso. Two demographically similar communities. Why McAllen's costs were so much higher than El Paso's gets into the issue of [inaudible] and the culture of the healthcare community and how that has contributed to cost. ...
"We need to find ways to control costs. One thing I can do that can help costs is by dealing with a lot of lawsuits. We need medical liability reform in this country. We need it because it is broad enough to affect the costs of medicine because of the defensive medicine practiced. That is one thing I can specifically point to and say, 'We can help you get more money out of the courtroom and into the operating room.' That would be a big help.
"Two, we want to protect the doctor-patient relationship. That, I think, has to be the centerpiece of any reform. People want to protect that relationship.
"We need a strong prevention and wellness piece. I read an interesting piece - an article - by the guy that runs the Safeway Company. His health care costs for that company are flat while everybody else is going up double digits. Everybody should read that guy's piece. How he's able to manage this? He had series of prevention/wellness issues, everybody had skin in the game, he really worked with the employees and educated them and they became very good healthcare consumers. Bottom line is he has 83% satisfaction from employees. He's managed their costs far more effectively. We should be listening to people like this who definitely tried with thousands of employees.
"Third thing, you talked about the 45 to 50 million uninsured. I mentioned 10 million are not citizens; 10 million are eligible for current programs - Medicaid or SChip; half are under the age of 35. Why don't we use the tax code to help the under 35 population? They are the most insurable population in America, the younger population. They are the least expensive to insure. Let's give them favorable tax treatment just like we give to any company. They [corporations] get all kinds of deductions and exclusions and that's good - we should protect that. 165 million people have their healthcare through their employers. We should protect it. But for the guy who doesn't have health care through an employer, give him or her the same favorable tax treatment. I bet you would be able to get a lot of these folks into a catastrophic program, a healthcare coverage program. If your age is 22, that's what you need - catastrophic coverage. That's what you need more than anything else. This is over half the uninsured in America. ... Let's incentivize this.
"Comprehensive health care reform is a difficult task because it is so complicated. To get into issues of individual mandates versus employer mandates, or both, we just have to go up to Massachusetts to look at their little experiment to get some perspective as to what reform can look like if we're not careful.
"I support reform, but I want to make sure that whatever we do, we do it properly. Look at what's happening in Massachusetts. They created an individual mandate. basically, you have to have insurance. But they failed to deal with cost issues. So what happened is they also have a state plan up there, too, so a lot of people are on the state plan. The costs of the state plan are going up. They're hundreds of millions of dollars into the red. (I think this is their first year of operation if I'm not mistaken - it's the second). And they're running hundreds of millions of dollars into the red. So what happens when the costs of the program go up? Costs go up and taxpayers meet that cost in the middle so what does the state do? Well, it rations care. That's what happens. So,i am concerned that the debate in Washington has been centered around a public plan or a government plan. I have concerns about that. I'll be very honest. The pundits will say you have a government plan to keep the private plans honest ad there are thousands of private plans competing for business. The reality is that public plan or government plan will probably be heavily subsidized. We have some independent analysis ... that says if you use that government plan or public plan - call it whatever you want to call it - you will see about 120 million people transfer from private insurance into the government plan. That will happen. ... Costs will still go up and it kinda' leads to a back door single payer system that i think has some people concerned because Massachusetts - you don't have to go far - will not have the revenue to deal with the rising costs.
"So you have to deal with the costs issue. And that's real the conundrum. That's the issue. If we don't deal with the costs issue, we're not going to fix the problem."
Cunningham to Detail Lehigh County's Five Year Plan
Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham will present the details of his administration’s five year capital plan—covering the years 2010 through 2014—on Thursday, July 9, at 2 p.m. in the Public Hearing Room of Government Center, 17 South 7th Street, Allentown, Pennsylvania.
Should School Districts Be Told About New Residential Development?
Pennsylvania's state house yesterday unanimously passed legislation that will give school districts more time to plan for impending residential development. It requires municipalities to notify them within a month after approving a residential development. The Bill's primary sponsor is Northampton County's very own State Rep. Rich Grucela, himself a retired teacher.
Grucela's education bill now moves on to the state senate.
"The Lehigh Valley has expanded dramatically over the past decade, yet school districts were not able to plan for that substantial growth," Grucela said. "School districts should have advance notice of construction and development that could add significantly to student enrollment, so officials can effectively budget for additional facilities, staff and instructional materials. I believe it will ultimately help schools become more cost-efficient and save taxpayer dollars."
Northampton County has seen its population soar from 267,000 residents in 2000 to a projected 294,787 in 2008.
Grucela has also proposed education impact fees on new residential development, designed to enable schools to develop programs and facilities necessary to accommodate increased student enrollment due to new development in the district.
Congressman Charlie Dent: "Sunshine is a Great Disenfectant"
At yesterday's crowded town hall in Nazareth Borough Council chambers, LV Congressman Charlie Dent explained his opposition to the 1,200 page cap and trade bill recently adopted by the House, which will target heavy carbon footprints with energy taxes. "We will lose 66,000 jobs in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is the third largest coal consumer and the fourth largest coal producer. We will be disproportionately impacted."
Dent's concerns are shared by the Pennsylvania Utility Commission, which warned Congress that "if the Waxman-Markey bill were to pass, Pennsylvania is looking at a bleak scenario by 2020: a net loss of as many as 60,000 jobs, a sizeable hike in the electric bills of residential customers, an increase in natural gas prices, and a significant downward pressure on our gross state product. ... The cost estimates are staggering."
But what really seemed to bother people, Democrats and Republicans alike, was the way the legislation was just jammed down everyone's throats. A 300 page amendment added at 3 AM on the day of passage was obviously designed to buy off special interest groups, but makes the legislation a confusing mess.
Congressman Dent:"Sunshine is a great disenfectant. ... You get these massive bills like the stimulus package ... What I find that is difficult is you need time to digest this stuff. You absilutely need time to digest this stuff. When people say there's an artificial deadline on health care by whatever the date is - it was supposed to be the 10th of July and now it's October 1st or whatever - these are artificial deadlines that are driven by political calendars and not necessarily driven by the substance of the issue.
"I'm not sure what one can do other than demand we takea bit more time to deliberate on some of these issues. Again, you get a 300 page amendment thrown in in the middle of the night. And that was the stuff that dealt with the agricultural mitigation attempts - to get some votes from members that represent large agricultural areas and districts - that's what was done. Again, I don't know that anyone understands the impacts. I wish I had a better answer for you than that.
"But sunshine, sunshine is a disinfectant. When people get a chance - part of the reason why these bills get moved through as quickly as they do is to avoid that. Cynically, that's what the purpose was because once you leave this out there for a week or two and let people look at it, all of a sudden they look at page 82, line 6 and say 'What deoes this mean?' All of a sudden, questions are raised and that slows the train down."
Blogger's Note: A youtube video from the town hall will be posted later today.
Why Good People Steer Clear of Northampton County Council
Last week, I told you about three applicants for Diane Neiper's now vacant seat on Northampton County Council. One of them, Jerry Seyfried, is a twelve-year former County Council member who served as both President and VP. He also was elected County Executive between 1990 and 1993. Of the three candidates, Jerry is certainly the most qualified. Unwilling to ally himself with Stoffa, LongDems or Republicans, Jerry is also the most independent.
So it's no surprise to see him victimized today by anonymous smears. A person with no designs on elected office is called "very ambitious." His encyclopedic knowledge of Northampton County - far greater than any person I know - is ridiculed. His Pennsylvania Dutch roots are derided. Angle and I are accused of making heavy handed threats to council members.
"Jerry Seyfried is not the most learned person in Northampton County government. Very ambitious, cut-throat but not that bright. Come on O'Hare. This guy barely got out of High School. He is like Angle, a mean-spirited hothead who along with Angle will provide countless hours of entertainment on Council.
"I hope he gets it, it will be a hoot. He and angle will fight for the last word on everything. If the County wants another dumb dutch, Jerry is your man."
"O'Hare and Dimlight must be proud of the threats and heavy handed ways some Council members are being coereced to vote for Seyfried.
"That should tell all just how O'Hater/Angle and company play. If Cusick doesn't play ball Angle will run an ad on him like he threatened too.
"This is just plain wrong, don't be bullied vote Birk."
If you wonder why good people stay miles away from Northampton County government, this is why. Obviously, the very people who have made Northampton County Council dysfunctional are scared to death of Seyfried, who will call things as he sees them. So a good man is being muddied up, a typical LongDem tactic. Trying to imply that Bob Birk is behind the dirty politics is a nice touch.
In addition to slamming Jerry here, LongDems have also enlisted Patti Grube to call council members on Heckman's behalf.
Ironically, the Pennsylvania Dutch candidate they espouse really is ambitious, as evidenced by Ron Heckman's previous runs for Bethlehem Mayor and City Council and near runs for Northampton County Council and Northampton County Executive. In fact, in the most recent election cycle, Heckman gave Glenn Reibman a $5,000 check, and Reibman wrote out $500 checks to each of the five anointed Democratic council candidates as well as County Executive candidate Ann McHale.
So I guess McHale and Dertinger owe Heckman. But Cusick and Ferraro would be nutz to support someone trying to engineer their ouster.
I called Seyfried, who has no comment about the anonymous smears. "We should try to take the high road," he said.
Lou Hershman Will Refuse Allentown City Council Salary
Allentown City Council candidate Lou Hershman will accept no salary if elected to Allentown City Council. Here's a statement he released today.
"In light of the city's current budget deficit and bleak financial picture, I pledge to the taxpayers of Allentown that if I am elected as your city councilman, I will take no salary for the duration of my term in office.
"Tough times take leadership and sacrifice, even by elected officials. Elected officials cannot ask city employees to make sacrifices and taxpayers to pay more taxes, if they themselves will not make sacrifices."
Northampton County judicial candidate Craig Dally dropped in on Congressman Charlie Dent's Nazareth town hall today. When Craig walked in, about an hour into the program, Charlie suddenly stopped and said, "All rise."
Nazareth Produces "Bumper Crop" For Service Academies
LV Congressman Charlie Dent yesterday hosted a Nazareth Town Hall in borough council chambers. Scheduled to last just an hour, I expected to see only a few die-hard Republicans, especially in July. I expected to hear questions like, "How great are you?"
But Nazareth is a strange town. People kept coming and coming. What started as a crowd of 26 grew to well over 50 people of diverse backgrounds. They just kept coming. The place was packed. This was no crowd of sycophants, either. Libertarian Jake Towne, who actually intends to challenge Congressman Dent next year, came at him from the right. There was also a well-spoken liberal in the crowd, who challenged Dent's votes from the left. It was a diverse and informed crowd. Charlie fielded thoughtful questions for well over two hours and seemed to love it.
Cap and trade legislation dominated the first hour of this town hall, followed by some interesting exchanges on health care reform. I plan on telling you about both, but first I really have to highlight some nice news about Nazareth. An elderly gentleman named Mr. Altemose walked in the room, holding something wrapped in a plastic bag. When he saw Congressman Dent, he proudly removed a carefully framed picture of his son, Justin Altmose. You see, Justin was recently nominated by Congressman Dent to West Point.
Dent has a committee of local people interview prospective applicants and write up a report for each student. Wendell Phillips, who serves on that committee, has told Congressman Dent that "the process has reinvigorated my faith in our youth."
Dent then told us "Nazareth had a bumper crop this year." He nominated four high school seniors from Nazareth to the service academies.
I probably inspired those kids. After all, they see my Jeep and military haircut all the time.
While nearly everyone else wasted their weekend at cookouts and setting off fireworks, I did something far more productive. I watched baseball. I had a blast at Friday night's IronPigs game. But on Saturday afternoon, things were even better. You see, the Lehigh Valley Catz, our other baseball team, were dueling the Jersey Pilots in a nooner at Easton's beautiful Hackett Park. My shaded seat, almost directly behind the catcher, cost nothing. My fireworks were the resounding crack of a wooden bat and the snap of a catcher's mitt stopping a screaming fast ball.
The Catz game, as beautiful as it was, was eclipsed by Sunday's Little League show down between Bethlehem's Northwest and City Line Farm Division All Stars. In Little League, it's helpful to have several law degrees for the disputes that always arise, from loaded bats to pitch counts. There's even more intrigue than you'll ever find in Northampton County politics. Naturally, I love it.
My grandson is ineligible for Northwest's All Stars this year because he lives in Allentown. He needs a waiver and must jump through about forty hoops and go to District Commissioners and all kinds of other bullshit. To hell with it. But we came to Sunday's game to support our team.
They did not let us down. At the end of three innings, the score was a lopsided 24 to 4. The scoreboard stopped counting at 19. But this game, like most Little League games, was a game of interruptions. The first occurred when one of our fans, a young boy, fell off some nearby 90' high monkey bars and broke his wrist. Compound fracture. That was nothing. Parents packed the tot's wrist in ice, called an ambulance, and play resumed very quickly. A second injury time-out happened when one of our batters was hit right smack on the elbow by a 45 mph heater. He had been hit in his first at-bat, too.
Now this boy is one tough kid. I've watched him run right through other tough kids during football games. But he was doubled over in agony. It had to hurt.
The solution? Rub his frickin' elbow. No pinch runner.
"Shake it off, Mikey!"
"That's why you have two arms!"
The real interruption came after two outs in the top of the fourth, when the "ten run" mercy rule was about to be invoked. Our manager had sent Jacob to left field that inning. But he has two Jacobs, and the wrong one went out. After two outs, City Line realized we had somehow screwed up.
It was apparently some sort of illegal substitution. I'm unable to describe exactly what happened because I don't understand it myself. But it sounded pretty serious. Coaches and umps discussed things for nearly forty minutes, with rule books, Purdons statutes, judicial opinions and line up cards. During the delay, I was able to eat two hot dogs with fries and could even have set the fracture for monkey bars boy, if I knew what I was doing. The ambulance and cops had finally arrived, about forty minutes after being called. Half of the lawyers chasing EMTs instead flocked to the field, passing out business cards and interjecting legal advice. Fortunately, nobody recognized me from my perch in center field, where I telling lies to Lower Nazareth coaches who will face Northwest on Tuesday.
Managers often looked up at the scorebox behind home plate to make their case. Were judges up there? The baseball gods? The only remedy for this serious transgression, apparently, is to award a victory to the victimized team, even when it's down by twenty runs. Forfeit. Just when I thought there would be an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, City Line managers relented. I don't know why.
Once kids were allowed to resume play, it was over in about five minutes. The lawyers and ambulance left around the same time as the players.
Bathed in sunshine, a crowd of about two hundred people attended today's Independence Day celebration at Nazareth's Memorial Square. As kids played kickball, adults pulled up lawnchairs to listen to more than kazoos. Nazareth's Community Band, among the best I've ever heard, put on one hell of a show. A few interesting historical tidbits were added by ministers and former Northampton County Exec Bill Brackbill.
Above is the Band's musical tribute to our men and women in uniform.
Among those in the audience was LV Congressman Charlie Dent, who told me he loves what Nazareth does every year on Independence Day. I'd have more, but Nazareth Councilman Larry Stoudt arrested me for not shaving.
Today and tomorrow, a gazillion blogs and newspapers will re-publish the Declaration of Independence. Great men will give speeches to reassure us we are still Number One, baby. They hope we can forget our dying planet, lousy economy, even lousier health care and that little war in Iraq and Afghanistan, funded with tax cuts by insaniacs.
We'll bow our heads with religious reverence at the mention of America's name. We'll recite our modern loyalty oath, the pledge of allegiance, our modern loyalty oath. Not many will mention that William Allen, after whom Allentown is named, remained one of King George's biggest cheerleaders. None will tell you that Northampton County courts actually classified the Amish as Tories because they had religious scruples against taking loyalty oaths. This enabled "patriots" to take everything the Mennonites had, right down to the shoofly pie.
After all the speeches, we'll get drunk and blow things up. Real good.
I'll have no essay today. I'm too busy preparing for Nazareth's kazoo concert, which starts Saturday at 10 AM in Memorial Square.
Who says Nazareth people don't have a sense of humor? I'll be bringing my flipcam.
I'll be making a road trip to Harrisburg today. Somewhere in the bowels of Dauphin County's Courthouse, there will be a preliminary hearing for deceptive campaign practices filed against political consultant Tom "Scissorhands" Severson. 
