Cunningham Argues For Regional Approach to Economic Development

Don Cunningham's LVEDC to roll out economic development strategy

He's been a news reporter, City Council member, Mayor, County Executive and even a member of former Governor Ed Rendell's cabinet. These days, Don Cunningham is President and CEO of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LEDC). He dropped in on Northampton County Council's economic development committee on March 6 to update members on a recent report card delivered by Garner Economics, LLC, the same firm hired by major corporations to do site selection. It's a $35,000 report card, too, paid for through a HUD grant. Though the lengthy report can be read at LVEDC's website, Cunningham summed it up in one sentence. "Economic development is a game of competition," he explained, noting that the Lehigh Valley is at play against other areas in the state, 49 other states and the world.

Recruiting big business into the area will create headlines, but Cunningham cautioned that another very important aspect of economic development is keeping what you already have. He stated that 75-80% of job expansion comes from business that is already here.

"We undersell ourselves," Cunningham told Council. "We tend to be more critical of ourselves than the outside world is."

The Lehigh Valley is the 68th largest metropolitan region in the United States, generating $33 billion every year in GDP. It includes 15,000 companies. "That is a significant region," observed Cunningham. "We do not have to define ourselves merely by, 'Oh, we're close to Philadelphia, we're close to new York.' We are the Lehigh Valley."

According to Cunningham, the economic development strategy in any area has to play to its own strengths. Chief of these would be the area's infrastucture and access to markets. "We got good bones," Cunningham said of our road and rail systems.

Another "huge factor", said Cunningham is a low crime rate. "You never want to have any level of crime, but when you compare it per capita against other regions, we have a very low crime rate, even in our cities."

One of our negatives is the relative high cost of labor, compared to non-union parts of the country. "That's obviously not a negative if you're the person earning the money and trying to live a middle class lifestyle," Cunningham observed. In addition, the cost of electricity, taxes and air pollution are considered areas of weakness.

Target industries that would be good fits for this area include high performance manufacturing (e.g. Victaulic), high value business services (e.g. D&B), life sciences research (e.g. B. Braun), and food and beverage processing (e.g. Samuel Adams).

To achieve these goals, Garner has made a number of recommendations, and Cunningham told Council that LVEDC would roll out its own action plan in May. But he added that the area's economic development growth is already winning, referring to a recent "Site Selection"  story listing the Lehigh Valley as the second fastest business market in areas of under 1 million people. Finishing second to Omaha, the Lehigh Valley had forty-six $1-million projects involving 50 or more employees. Omaha had forty-eight.

Garner had recommendations of its own, including a 1% sales tax and municipal consolidations of 63 municipal governments fragmenting the Lehigh Valley. Cunningham cautioned these are not recommendations of LVEDC. Council member Bob Werner complained, not only about the 1% sales tax, but said it would go back to LVEDC.

But Cunningham told Werner, "The study does not recommend anywhere that the money go to LVEDC. Wherever that came from is a fallacy. It doesn't say that." In addition, Cunningham said it is unlikely that a sales tax would happen and that decision would be made on a state level.

In response to Council President Peg Ferraro, Cunningham stated there is no large vacancy rate in office buildings, despite the building going on inside Allentown's Neighborhood Improvement Zone. But he stated the New Jersey migration into "bargain basement farmland" is over.

Werner continued his criticism of Cunningham and LVEDC. He complained that a similar report was done in 2010, to which Cunningham responded that these studies only have a shelf life of about three years. "That's how fast markets are changing, that's how fast you need to react," answered the CEO.

Werner then asked, "The bottom line is, what does this do for Northampton County?" He complained about the move of Bimbo Bakery from Northampton to Lehigh County.

"While you are living in the world of  'Are we getting as much as Lehigh County?', I will tell you that the outside world doesn't play that game," answered Cunningham. "You're competing with the world."

Cunningham went on to say there are 11 large, real prospects in Northampton County. "Let's celebrate that this region is on the United States map, and not get back to this parochial whining about where did this go, where did that go?" he argued. "The way we're going to win, is to win as a region. Northampton County, if it does its job, will get its fair share."

Cunningham also pointed out that while Northampton County lost 200 jobs to Lehigh with Bimbo Bakery, it picked up over 200 manufacturing jobs with the location of "Fresh Pets" to Hanover Township in Northampton County.

Cunningham told Werner he is trying to get votes while Cunningham is developing a regional strategy to get jobs.

Donches Down But Not Out at Steel Museum

Bethlehem's National Museum of Industrial History, known to most as the Steel Museum, announced late Friday that it has "reluctantly" accepted the resignation of its beleaguered Executive Director, Steve Donches. But he will remain on staff and still be paid about half the $200,000 in salary and benefits that was going to the former Bethlehem Steel public relations VP.

Donches salary is still higher than the $70,000 compensation package paid to Charlene Donchez Mowers, who administers Historic Bethlehem Partnership. It is approximately the same as paid to Executive Director Mike Stershic at Discover Lehigh Valley, whose annual revenue tops $3 million.

Donches is being replaced by L. Charles Marcon, who will serve as Interim President and CEO as the Board of Directors ponders the Museum's future.

In late January, a Northampton County Grand Jury recommended big changes at the Steel Museum, including the replacement of Donches. At the time, they noted that Donches' compensation was approximately twice what is paid to the executive directors of similarly situated nonprofits. In a scathing criticism, they called the Museum a "resting home" for "soon to be unemployed officials of the [Bethlehem Steel]Corporation who continued to benefit from high paying salaries, retirement benefits, and other benefits at the expense of the organization."

The Grand Jury also called for changes on the on the Museum Board. They questioned the conflicts of interest policy, especially since board member Lee Butz managed to get nearly $1 million in business from the Museum after being named a director. Marcon came under fire, too, for bidding on construction work at the Museum while serving as a director.

The state Attorney General's Charitable Trusts Section has also been asked to investigate whether to dissolve the museum.

Over the years, this Museum has received public funding, including a $1.4 million state RCAP grant, as well as the donation of artifacts from the Smithsonian. Ironically, there are no Bethlehem Steel exhibits.

Initially, the Steel Museum denied any wrongdoing at all, choosing to blame everything on a "Monday morning quarterbacking" District Attorney.

But Directors belatedly recognize that Morganelli's passing game might be pretty good. In addition to cutting Donches' pay in half, the Board intends to seek partnerships with other groups. Possibilities for this could include Northampton Community College and the Historic Bethlehem Partnership.

The quarterback, John Morganelli, is encouraged.

"I believe that the demotion of Mr. Donches is recognition and validation of the recommendations and findings made by the Grand Jury. It is recognition that this organization has been mismanaged, wasting millions of dollars of donated money and public funds. I believe that but for the work of the Grand Jury, Mr. Donches and this board would have continued on their failed path and the museum project would have ultimately crashed and never brought to completion. Thanks to the bright spotlight that the grand jury cast on them, they have now been jump started to get realistic about the scope of the project and their wasteful spending. Hopefully, after the Attorney General weighs in in whatever manner they so choose if any, this project will be brought to a successful conclusion."

Werner Instructs Phillips to Stay Off WAEB

Bob Werner tells Hayden Phillips to Stay Off Radio

After being the sole No vote for $698,000 in open space projects that included improvements to a miniature golf course in Pen Argyl's Weona Park, Northampton County Council member Hayden Phillips recently took his case to conservative talk radio. Appearing on Bobby Gunther Walsh's show on WAEB, the lone dissenter explained that the money went for a miniature golf course, walking trails, playground equipment and preserving open land. He was irate that the County would spend this money right after Executive John Brown had announced a $13 million structural deficit in 2013.

"Do we really need the government building a miniature golf course?" asked Walsh. In all of their comments, which are available online, Walsh and Phillips both made clear that this was a miniature golf course.

Yet at the March 6 meeting of County Council, an indignant Bob Werner complained that Phillips had misled the public. "I want it changed. I want it corrected," he demanded. He accused Phillips of falsely stating "that our County is building a golf course."

"I take a great deal of offense when things are misrepresented in public," Werner huffed.

Werner took it one step further. "I don't believe you should go on radio," he lectured Phillips, "and I don't believe you should allow people to say things that are not correct."

Phillips stood by his radio remarks.

The taped radio transcript reveals that, at all times, this golf course was described as a miniature golf course. So in reality, it is Bob Werner who misled the public.

Perhaps what really upset him is that Phillips actually told the truth in public. In the course of instructing Phillips about misrepresentations, Werner made several of his own.

(Updated 11:12 am to included how Phillips reacted to Werner. A reader asked me to include his reaction.)

Gracedale in Hot Water ... Literally

Millard "Dee" Freeman is Gracedale's Administrator

In the midst of an annual state safety inspection last week, Gracedale nursing home administrator Millard "Dee" Herman discovered he was in hot water ... literally. For reasons that were initially unclear, the hot water in resident sinks was scalding hot. State officials placed the home in immediate jeopardy status, but in 2 1/2 hours, the problem was under control, though the solution is still a few days away.

Why would hot water worry administrators? "Hot water can be a serious issue when you have dementia patients," explained Herman, who noted some residents could scald themselves without even realizing it.

A boiler reaching temperatures of up to 190 degrees was initially thought to be the culprit. But the real source was eventually identified to be defective pneumatic steam valves that are over 50 years old. Replacements must be specially manufactured and will be unavailable until next week.

Over 400 residents located in the Tower are unaffected, noted Herman, who thanked Northampton County Executive John Brown and Public Works Director Steve DeSalva for their efforts in identifying the problem. They both spent a good portion of the weekend at the Nazareth facility. Brown said he's no engineer, but his goal at Gracedale is "zero tolerance" for maintenance issues.

"Gracedale's a good name for us," said Freeman. "We seem to get by with grace every night."

No-Bid Contract Repeal Tabled by NorCo GOP

Executive John Brown's no-bid contracts under review

If the four Democrats and five Republicans on Northampton County Council agree on anything, it's that the Administrative Code is due for a serious overhaul. But both sides disagreed sharply, at their March 6 meeting, over whether Executive John Brown had the authority to award a $84,000 no-bid, public relations contract to Bethlehem's Sahl Communications. Lamont McClure introduced a resolution to repeal it. But in a vote that went strictly along party lines, it was tabled.

In addition to being a battle between Democrats and Republicans, this dispute also pitted two County Attorneys against each other.

Phil Lauer, who represents Council, advised that the no-bid contract was unlawful. He noted that the Administrative Code requires that contracts for professional services be competitively bid. He added that, even when a no-bid contract is permitted, an Executive Order must be issued before it is awarded, explaining why competitive bidding would be impractical. That never occurred.

Vic Scomillio, who represents the Executive, argued just as effectively that the no-bid contract is not only legal, but is just one of many similar contracts awarded throughout the years by previous administrations. He disputed that media firm Sahl Communications provides "professional services", which he called a "term of art" used in the Administrative Code to refer to services that require specialized skill or an "extended course of specialized study." He acknowledged that the Executive Order issued in conjunction with this contract failed to explain why bidding would be impractical, but assured Council that the Order had been "updated".

No member of Council had seen the updated Order, so Scomillio provided his own copy to Lauer, stating that a memo had gone out to Council. "Why they weren't received, I'm not sure," said Scomillio.

"They went out at 4:48 pm", said Controller Steve Barron from his seat in the audience, which is after the 4:30 pm closing time in Northampton County.

After making a cursory review, Lauer concluded the language may be inadequate. "I don't believe the Executive orders that you've given me state a reason, although they do by implication." He also noted the order must be issued before the contract is awarded.

McClure scoffed at the argument that Sahl Communications is not providing "professional services."

"In order to award this $84,000 one year contract to Sahl Communications for public relations, which the Administration wants to argue isn't a professional service, you have to also explain why Sahl Communications is the only one who can offer this nonprofessional service as a sole provider. And I would suggest to you it can't be done in the context of twisting yourself into that particular pretzel."

McClure argued that whether Council sues is immaterial because a citizen could file suit as well.

Mat Benol moved to table the matter until the next meeting, which passed along party lines. Because the motion to table is only until the next meeting, Council will visit the Executive's authority to award no-bid contracts again in two weeks.

After the meeting, a disgusted Ken Kraft stated, "The Republican Party voted tonight to allow the County Executive to spend $84,000 on a public relations firm that's not professional." But one of those Republicans, Glenn Geissinger, had a different take. "[W]e voted to table a resolution that called into question the legal rights of the Executive under the Administrative Code to execute a certain classification of contract."

(Blogger's Note: Updated 11:10 am.)

Dent on Putin's Aggression

From LV Congressman Charlie Dent:

I was proud to be part of the bipartisan House effort today aiding the people of the Ukraine who are yearning for freedom. The House passed H.R. 4152 by a vote of 385 to 23.

President Vladimir Putin must be checked. His unlawful incursion and impending annexation of Crimea to satisfy Russian territorial ambitions represent an unacceptable escalation of tensions in Europe and undermine many years of peaceful European cooperation.

Today’s effort is an important first step. Until such time as Putin de-escalates his efforts, America should take the following actions:

1.) Freeze Russian assets currently held in the United States and work with like-minded nations around the globe to do the same;

2.) Restrict the foreign travel of Russian leaders and oligarchs;

3.) Impose staunch economic sanctions on Russia;

4.) License the export of Liquefied National Gas which will relieve European and Ukrainian dependence on Russian energy sources;

5.) Provide economic assistance to the Ukrainian people;

6.) Expel Russian from the G-8 and cancel participation in G-8 summit in Sochi.

President Obama and Congress must continue work together to contain Putin’s aggression.

Donchez Transparency In Action

In stark contrast to the reclusive style demonstrated by Northampton County Executive John Brown, Bethlehem Mayor Bob Donchez will hold his second open-door meeting on March 10, 2014, so residents of the city can meet with him one-on-one.

“It is my belief that government should be accessible, open and responsive to the concerns of its constituents.  My open door policy gives Bethlehem residents the opportunity to come in, sit down, and discuss concerns or offer suggestions about the City directly with their Mayor,” Mayor Donchez said.  “I truly believe that there are a lot of great ideas held by our residents and I want to hear them.”

The Mayor will open his door to the public on the second Monday of each month, beginning from 9:00 a.m. to 11 a.m. and from 1-3 p.m. The discussions will be 15 minutes in length and will be on a first-come, first-serve basis. Doors will open up at 9:00 a.m. and interested individuals will be asked to sign in and wait in the 2^nd Floor Lobby until their allotted time. Residents may only sign-in once per month, and are invited to return each month if they wish. 

The Mayor’s Office is located at 10 East Church Street, Bethlehem, PA 18018 on the 2^nd Floor of Building B.

Democracy dies behind closed doors. Executive John Brown, after two months in office, has yet to define his transparency policy and regularly avoids the press.

Zoners OK New Nitschmann Middle School

Engineer Terry DeGroot, explains design to West Bethlehem's Bill Scheirer

Flanked by two engineers and an architect, Attorney Terry Faul appeared before Bethlehem's Zoning Hearing Board on March 5 to seek variances for a new, $54 million, Nitschmann Middle School, built at the site of the existing school. But the strongest testimony presented came from the peanut gallery.

Steve Mayer, who lives right next to the school, referred to his home as "ground zero" for Nitschmann. But instead of complaining about noisy kids, Mayer was complimentary. "You cannot find a better neighbor than the Nitschmann School," he told zoners. "Since the inception of this project, the Bethlehem School District has kept neighbors informed of everything that's going on. That's very nice of them to do."

Zoning Hearing Board Chair Gus Loupos, who incessantly urges parties in zoning disputes to talk to each other, beamed as Mayer spoke. "I think that's important," he observed. "That's what makes projects be successful."

One of four middle schools in Bethlehem, Nitschmann is home to about 800 6th to 8th grade students. It is located in a mostly residential area at the intersection of Eighth Avenue and West Union Boulevard.

D'Huy Engineering's Mohammed Arif Fazil told zoners that the school district is focused on maintaining neighborhood schools. He said the new design for an environmentally responsible, LEED-certified building will maintain the "West Bethlehem character."

The Dean of West Bethlehem, Bill Scheirer, agreed with Fazil, calling the new design an improvement over the present school.

Although there were some questions about the proposed 8' high fence, proposed mostly as a result of safety concerns, zoners unanimously approved setback and sign variances for the new school.

In other business, zoners unanimously approved the conversion of an old butcher shop at 1413 Luther Street, currently used for storage, into a residential unit for owner Warren Share.

Realtor Lucy Lennon presented plans showing that, instead of gutting the building, Share plans to make an adaptive reuse of features in the butcher shop, including the old cooler doors and even the old meat hanger.

"We'd really like to reuse the property and do something cool," she testified.

Once again, West Bethlehem's Bill Scheirer chimed in. "Anything Lucy Lennon is associated with is going to be a good project," he assured the board.

Gus Loupos, noting that he and Vice Chair Bill Fitzpatrick, have recently been re-appointed for another five-year term, thanked the Mayor and City Council. "I'll probably becoming here after five years in a wheelchair or a walker," he joked, saying that he and Bill hope to make a "big difference" for the Christmas City.

Is Bangor Boro Council Prez Coming to NorCo?

I've heard several rumors that Bangor Borough Council President Cathy Allen is coming to Northampton County. She served with Executive John Brown when he was Mayor. Some say she will be his "chief of staff," a position that does not exist and is usually performed by the Director of Administration. I have tried confirming this with Brown's public relations consultant, Kim Plyler, but she is apparently in Deutscheland.

According to her Facebook page, Allen attended Bangor and Belvidere High School, and sells ling term care insurance.

Allen is one of the Council members who voted to appoint Stephanie Merlo to a vacancy on Borough Council. Brown, who was then Bangor's mayor, voted for Merlo as well.

Soon after her appointment, Merlo was charged with inappropriate sexual contact with a Pius X student, where merlo was volunteering as some sort of coach. She resigned. A hearing on the criminal charges against Merlo is scheduled for Monday.

The Apathy of NorCo Exec John Brown

In a news conference last month, Northampton County Executive John Brown blasted the leadership of his two most immediate predecessors. "The challenges we face today are a direct result of the failure of leadership over the last eight years - and certainly the eight before that," he pontificated. But a review of his voting record, obtained yesterday, reveals that Brown is a failed citizen. Though people have fought wars over the right to vote, Brown himself had no interest in local government and was only rarely at the polls.

He was a member of the Apathy Party.

According to County records, Brown registered to vote in Northampton County on March 25, 1997. But he did not vote in the '97 municipal primary or general election. He cast no vote at all until the 1999 municipal primary, after which he skipped voting in the general election.

After that, Brown voted in the 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2008 general election. He did not vote in the primaries those years. He failed to vote at all in the municipal races that took place in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007. He also kipped out on a hot 2006 election that pitted Charlie Dent against Charles Dertinger for Congress and Bob Casey against Rick Santorum for the US Senate.

He did not bother voting at all in the race in which John Stoffa was chosen to lead Northampton County.

Brown did not start voting regularly until 2009, when he decided to run for Bangor Mayor.

I asked his public relations consultant, Kim Plyler, to explain how he can claim any sort of leadership skills when it's pretty clear he had no interest in his own government. I'm still waiting for an explanation on the legality of the no-bid contracts. If I hear anything, I will pass it along.

Bethlehem City Council Votes to Fire Cop

It was called an "adjudication", but whatever happened certainly appeared to be a foregone conclusion. At the beginning of last night's City Council meeting, Council member Michael Rechiutti moved to terminate Richard Hoffman, a 10-year veteran of the Bethlehem Police Department. At a hearing the previous week, Council heard testimony from 11 witnesses who described an off-duty DUI that resulted in an accident without injuries. They also detailed other instances of misconduct.

Recchiutti's motion was quickly seconded by Karen Dolan, and all seven members of City Council voted to terminate the officer. They will vote again in two weeks on a resolution to make it official.

Except it isn't.

Hoffman, through Attorney Quintes Taglioli, decided against taking his chances before a City Council subject to public pressure. He has opted instead to present Officer Hoffman's defense in an arbitration hearing.He presented no evidence in the matter heard by City Council.

The time frame for that is unclear. FOP President Wade Haubert was absent from last night's meeting, and I neglected to discuss the matter with Chief mark DiLuzio or Solicitor Bill Leeson.

Something Stinks in Forks Township

Unlike Upper Mount Bethel, home of the never-ending shit wars, the only thing people fight about in Forks Township these days is a McDonald's proposed along Sullivan Trail. NIMBYs complain it will look and taste like shit. But most folks say, "We're loving it." Well, these folks have no idea what's going on.

Yesterday afternoon, I was up in the northern fringes of Forks Township, and am sure I saw a sludge farm, with little pieces of shit planted in the now. I stopped and went to look at it. It looked like shit. I picked it up.It felt like shit.I smelled it. it smelled like shit. I tasted it. It tasted like shit.

I'm glad I didn't step in it.

It's a sludge farm. I have no idea whether it comes from Class A or Class B assholes, but will find out before I write more. I saw another farm treated the same way.

Skeet Shooting At Angle's Farm

I dropped by Ron Angle's farm recently, only to discover that he and Jim Hickey were skeet shooting. ... In a tank. It's a step up from the last time, when they had me strip and gave me a 15-minute head start in their own version of hunger games.

While I was there, I asked Angle about a DEP appeal that some Irish terrorist filed, challenging his God-given right to spread shit on his lands.

Ron was nonplussed.

""Pull!"

"That only applies to Grade B shit," he told me, explaining a permit is only required for Class B sludge.

He then went on to tell me he now plans to spread Class A shit, which requires no permit at all. He's planning a 3" coating as soon as weather permits.

"What's the difference between Class A and Class B shit?" I asked.

"Better assholes," was Angle's answer. "You see, Hickey and I are Class A assholes. You're only a Class B asshole, Bernie. But keep trying."

"Pull!"

Ukraine: Time Correspondent Pisses Off More People Than Me!

Time Correspondent Michael Crowley tweeted the above pic with this comment: "not a character judgment, but this does kind of capture the moment". He's on his way to Kiev right now with Secretary of State John Kerry.

He's received responses like these:

"I keep telling y'all White folks are all fucked up in the head because there's a Black man in the WH taking care of business."

"Dear @assholeofday: I have a nominee for you."

"Congrats, @TIME. Your Moron of the Day"

"@CrowleyTIME You're trying my patience.Putin is a power hungry bigot and he can't touch our President's shine.You value the wrong shit."

"Big ass, pasty, balding white man with boobs and a beer gut, riding an old ass horse gives dudebros like @CrowleyTIME a hard dick. Lmao"

Incidentally, Russia and China are in complete agreement about Ukraine. So there you have it.

No-Bid Contracts: No Comment in Stereo

Do media consultants get paid $84,000 a year to say, No Comment? That certainly appears to be the case here in the People's Republic of Northampton County. Let me fill you in.

Yesterday, I told you that three legal experts have concluded that Executive John Brown's no-bid consultant contracts are illegal. The Express Times.adds that County Council members Ken Kraft and Lamont McClure share that view as well.

In his account, Tom Shortell reports, "Neither Brown nor Kim Plyler, Brown's media contact with Sahl Communications, immediately returned requests for comment."

So are we now getting "No Comment" in stereo?

Not really. Plyler, a military veteran by the way, tells me she was never contacted, so there must be a mix-up somewhere. According to Plyler, "John Brown is reviewing the information with the county solicitor and will be releasing a statement as soon as he is done with the review."

Little Hawks Win League 'Ship

Little Hawks 8th grade boys' team has done it! They completed an UNDEFEATED season Sunday night winning both the regular season and playoffs in the LV Knee-Hi Basketball League. The boys were coached by Judge Emil Giordano and Michael Gehringer.

Beth Tp Repeals Controversial Birdfeeder Ordinance

Bethlehem Township's controversial birdfeeder ordinance, which actually banned any attempt to feed birds that could result in seeds hitting the ground, is dead. It was repealed unanimously after a brief hearing on March 3.

Commissioners were reacting to concerns raised by Diane and Bill Ganssle, whose birdfeeders have attracted 75 different bird species over the past 25 years. That nearly came to an end when an anonymous neighbor complained to Township officials that they needed to be enclosed and covered. The Ganssles attempted to use one that complied with the Township ordinance, but the only animals attracted were squirrels. Ironically, the ordinance was designed to keep rodents away.

In other business, Commissioners approved purchase orders for items included in this year's budget. Hendershot Door Systems will receive $10,390 for new garage doors on the police side of the municipal building; General Supply Co. will be paid $7,670 for locker room doors at the community center. An additional $58,000 will pay for new equipment for public Works.

Commissioners will meet again on Monday, March 17, 7 pm at the Township municipal building, located at 4225 Easton Avenue. The public is always invited to attend, and has the right to comment during a "courtesy of the floor" at the beginning of every meeting.

Freemansburg Chief Brings Dr. Suess to Local School

Freemansburg Police Chief Todd Pantuso, with Things One and Two

The sun did not shine.
It was too wet to play.
so they sat in the school
all that cold, cold, wet day.

Savannah Quezada (mask) and Serra Enisla have lots of questions

But students at Freemansburg Elementary School recently had a treat. Police Chief Todd Pantuso and Officer Ray Mead paid a visit to read Dr. Suess as part of "Read Across America." And they brought Thing One and Thing Two, too, who said, "How do you do?"

Things One and Two were actually teachers Lindsey Artim and Kelsey Kalamar.

After reading Dr. Suess, curious second graders peppered Freemansburg's finest with questions.

"Did you ever catch any bad guys?" .

Chief Pantuso reading to second grade class

"My brother wants to be a cop."

"If you get three tickets, do you go to jail?"

"Have you ever gone onto the highway when there's a crash?"

Chied Pantuso, who plans to have students visit the station this Spring, called his visit a "positive interaction" with children. According to Principal Kathy Quigney, 400 students attend Freemansburg Elementary.

Dressed in PJs, Freemansburg second grade class says bye. 

President Jello

While President Obama skips out on a National Security Team meeting on the Ukraine, and tells fellow Democrats it's "Happy Hour," at the very moment that Russians are invading Crimea, can anyone really doubt he's the Neville Chamberlain of the United States? Yes, the very man who ridiculed Mitt Romney for calling Russia our greatest geopolitical foe, has allowed a former KGB to make a fool out of us time and again. Putin's Crimean gambit is just the latest example.  

Whether it is Afghanistan, Iran, Syria or Israel, Obama has forged a new image of the United States as a weak and undependable ally.

We all should have known. After all, before his re-election, he was overheard telling a Russian President that, after the election, he'd have "more flexibility" to discuss Europe' missile defense.Then he went to cancel every part of the deal that bothered Russia. So basically, he's already thrown Eastern Europe under the bus. What's one more state? Given Obama's weakness, the only question I'd ask the Kremlin spy is, what took you so long?

At least Obama is not talking about crossing a red line again.

No-Bid Consultant Contracts Appears to Be Illegal

According to Valley 610, Northampton County Council member Ken Kraft has challenged the legality of two consultant contracts recently awarded by Executive John Brown. He points to two, but there's actually three of them: an $84,000 public relations consultancy with Kim Plyler; a $24,000 personnel consultant (Integrity Personnel) and a $20,000 capital projects review from Donna Taggart. Pursuant to a Right-to-Know request, I obtained and posted copies of all three contracts.

Before I get into the Administrative Code, let me give you some background on these consultants.

Integrity Personnel's owner, Kevin Flemming, is a friend, business associate and perhaps even a client of Attorney Scott "I love the NIZ" Allinson. Funny thing. I heard that Allinson represents Deana Zosky, too. This is something I can't confirm.

Attorney-client privilege, you know.

Donna Taggart seems to have connections everywhere. She did a lot of work, still may, for the Greater Easton Development Partnership. Dick McAteer has his fingers in that piece of pie. We know his connection to Brown and the Lehigh Valley Partnership.

Taggart also threatened me with libel many years ago, over something that another blogger had written.

Kim Plyler was actually a communications specialist with the ill-fated Callahan for Congress run. How did she get connected to Brown? Real political irony there. She and Donna Taggart share the same office on East Third Street.

Though I'm letting Kraft use my law degree, I'm mostly interested in what lawyers familiar with municipal law think about these contracts. I've spoken to three of them, and it appears that my law degree is in good hands. Kraft is right.

1. Brown lacks authority to spend money for these contracts. - Without a budget amendment, Brown has no authority to spend money for contracts that were never funded by Council. He does not have the power, under the Home Rule Charter, to transfer money appropriated for other purposes. They control the purse strings.

2. Brown skipped the procurement office. - The Administrative Code, in order to prevent awarding political favors, centralizes contract awards through the procurement office (Sec. 13.04). With some enumerated exceptions that have no application here, these contracts must be awarded through the procurement office, not the Executive.

3. Professional service contracts require competitive negotiation. -  The Administrative Code requires competitive bidding, even for professional services contracts (Sec.13.09). According to one legal expert, this means there must be public notice (advertising); a Request for Proposals (RFPs); opening of the proposals by the Procurement Officer; and an award to the person whose proposal is determined in writing to be the most advantageous to the County, taking into consideration price and the evaluation factors set forth in the Request for Proposals. "The procedure must be followed to avoid the awarding of contracts at the whim of the Executive, which appears to be what happened here."

4. Brown awarded no-bid contracts without explaining why competitive bidding is impractical. -The consultant contracts that Brown executed appear to be professional services contracts that should have gone the competitive bidding route. But let's assume they're not. The Administrative Code does allow no-bid contracts in some circumstances, but the Executive must issue an Executive Order before he executes the contract, stating why he was unable to use competitive negotiation. He also must clear it with Council. (Sec. 13.07(b)).  There is no evidence that happened.

Solicitor Vic Scomillio seems to think that this provision of the Administrative Code only applies to the acquisition of County property, as he explained to a Council Committee not long ago. He seems to be thinking real estate. But if he reads the Code a little more closely, he'll see that "services" like a consultant contract are included in the term "County property.:"  For example, Section 13.04 (a), which centralizes these contracts in the procurement office, provides they apply to "services, printing and purchasing of other County property." (Emphasis is mine).

5. The Administrative Code has Teeth. - Section 13.21 provides that if Brown intentionally or knowing violates the purchasing provisions of the Administration Code, he can be personally surcharged for any damages caused to the County. In other words, he can be forced to pay the cost of those contracts himself. In addition, he would be guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a year in prison and a $1,000 fine.

I believe these contracts are illegal. I have no doubt that Brown, when executing these political favors, had no idea that he was breaking the law. But now that he has been put on notice, he needs to suspend these contracts.

8th Grade Hoops: Notre Dame, St. Jane's Going to Diocesan 'Ship

Notre Dame 8th grade basketball team

St. Jane's (Easton)  and Notre Dame (Bethlehem) will compete in the Diocesan championships next Saturday after two weeks of play-off games. These teams edged out St. Anne's and Our Lady of Perpetual Help (both Bethlehem) in very close contests.

My grandson plays for Notre Dame. But instead of my usual bragging about him, I want to mention some of the others. Grant Hershman, grandson of Team Accountant Lou, was vicious on defense all season. His long reach made it impossible for players to get around him. But the biggest surprise is Caden Giordano, a 7th grader who is playing up. he gets his athletic ability from his mother, a track star whose records still stand. He gets his good looks from ... his mother, too.

In high school, it's no big deal to play up. But in grade school, it's tough to think you might be as good or better than another person who is a whole year older.

We were lucky to have him under the boards, especially on Saturday. He made the difference in  a very close game against OLPH.

In Sunday's game, St. Jane's nipped Notre Dame by one point, scoring with just 2.6 seconds left on the clock. It was a thrilling game, one in which Notre Dame was behind, sometimes by as much as nine points. The boys, including Matt Horvath, Danny Rojas, Danny Long, Jordan and "Who Dat" Lambert, simultaneously exploded in the 4th, wiping out the deficit and slowly climbing into the lead with 2:00 left in the game. One point was not enough, and the lead went back and forth until the game was tied. With no time to come back, St Jane's pulled it off.

I don't know their boys, but they have every right to be proud of their accomplishment. The boys who played were good athletes. More importantly, they're a nice group of kids. One of them even held the door open for an old fart on his way into the building.

From the picture above, you might get the impression that Notre Dame was unhappy about their loss. And they were. But they're going on to the Diocesan championship anyway, and I reasoned this loss will teach them not to take anyone lightly. .

St. Jane's won the game because they were the better team, and they behaved like winners.

You Cannot Recall a Local Elected Official

Someone suggested yesterday  that Northampton County Executive John Brown be impeached or recalled. When John Stoffa was executive, they wanted to do it to him, too. I thought I'd post a blog explaining that it's illegal, at least on the local level.

Lehigh County's Home Rule Charter contains no recall provisions. Of course, that small technicality has never been an obstacle to numerous citizens demanding the ouster of every County Executive I remember. They were loudest when Jane Ervin's 70% tax hike was adopted.

Northampton County, unlike Lehigh, does have recall provisions in its Home Rule Charter. Thirty per cent of the voters registered in the most recent election must sign a petition that would place the matter on the ballot. People would have to be pretty angry for that to happen.But if they were that mad, and got all the signatures needed, it would fail. It is unconstitutional.

This is explained in The Pennsylvania Legislator's Municipal Handbook. The exclusive methods for removing elected officials, including locally elected officials are Art. II, Sec. 7 (conviction of infamous crime); Art. VI, Sec. 7 (conviction of infamous crime, misbehavior in office or reasonable cause); and Art. VI, Sec. 6 (misbehavior in office). In the case of criminal convictions for infamous crimes, the courts make the call. In all other cases, it's up to the legislature to start impeachment proceedings, or the Governor, with the concurrence of 2/3 of the Senate.

Tom Muller's SOTC: Where Do I Cut?

I usually photograph the back of Muller's head. 

The moment he called me a member of the pseudo press, I liked Tom Muller. That was several years ago> He's got a good sense of humor, including the ability to laugh at himself. He is also very blunt.

Both of these characteristics were manifest in his inaugural State of the County address. Commissioners want him to eliminate the deficit and increase reserves without a tax hike, which would require $14 million in spending cuts when there is only $111 million in real estate tax dollars as a starting point. His response is to ask Commissioners what County services they want to cut.

Here's his speech:

I think I’ll start with what many of you would like to think of as the conclusion and disappoint you. As in my campaign, I am not going to make any promises or conjectures about the County’s tax rate moving forward. To do so would be both premature and disingenuous. The average Lehigh County residential tax bill for 2014 is $676, which is lower than it was ten years ago. The challenge is to get to a consensus with our citizens on the proper balance of taxes and services.

Certainly, my first few weeks in this position have had more than their fair share of discord with our Board of Commissioners, some of whom are only focused on tax rates and the political safety in promises, whether they can be kept or not. So far, we’ve disagreed on everything from a critical Cabinet appointment to a town meeting.

So, you might ask, what are the County’s prospects and how will we make progress?

Fortunately, our Lehigh County is recovering steadily from the recession, our County government is financially sound and all we need to come to grips with collectively is determining the balance our citizens want between taxes and services.

Let’s take a look at some of the basic economic indicators:

•      By all measures, the housing market is recovering, with both sales and prices up except for the past few weeks where the weather has played a heavy hand.
•      Employment is improved, although there is still substantial progress to be made.
•      Companies are back to giving pay increases.
•      Even during the recession, companies such as Ocean Spray chose to commit to the area and Fedex seems poised to deliver a major distribution hub.
*      Downtown Allentown’s transformation due to the NIZ has been a boon to the construction market and will soon be adding significantly to the tax rolls.

Meanwhile, at the same time the federal government was being downgraded by S&P, Lehigh County’s bond ratings were increased to Aa1. That enabled us to realize a debt service reduction of $5 million, which was returned to the taxpayers via a one-time tax credit. Bond rating improvements are not accomplished easily and you may be surprised to know that the Administration’s willingness to raise taxes that year contributed significantly to the deliberations of both Moody’s and S and P.

The best news in borrowing is that I don’t foresee the need to seek new financing in the next four years, although we will continue to look for re-financing opportunities. In fact, we just took a $500K opportunity for 2014 to the Board of Commissioners last night.

Our infrastructure is sound, probably more so than any other county in the State, and our only pending needs are to address the Old Courthouse and replace our legacy IT system, which will be unsupported by 2020.

We have been ahead of the curve on efforts to keep our 44 bridges fully functional and recent legislation enabling counties to add $5 to auto registration fees for such efforts could ensure that no real estate tax dollars will ever be needed again for County bridges or roads.

The financial issue that seems to keep some folks up at night is our continuing budget gap. The 2014 Adopted Budget was balanced by just over $8 million in reserves; when the Cunningham Administration, took office in 2006, we were handed both a tax cut and a budget gap of $6.6 million.

You see, politicians find it much easier to run for office committing to cut taxes. That was the case in 2005 and in 2009 and it was the case again in 2013 when a proposed one-time tax credit was converted to a permanent tax cut, instantly adding to the 2014 budget gap. The tax cut was political nonsense akin to asking your boss for a permanent cut in pay when you’re having difficulty making ends meet.

Fortunately, as part of the welcome to me in my new role, our Board of Commissioners has offered me “guidance” for the 2015 budget by setting out three simple desires: No tax increase, eliminate the deficit and build the reserves. Someone must be running for re-election in 2015!

The fact is that their “guidance” equates to coming up with roughly $14 million in spending cuts from tax spending of $111 million and they are unwilling to identify what they would cut because citizen support could be lacking and there could be repercussions at the polls next year.

Another way to look at the “guidance” I’ve gotten is to recognize that the $14 million spending cut would be 12.6 cents of every tax dollar spent. Consider the fact that almost 72 cents of every tax dollar goes to our public safety areas (Courts, Corrections, District Attorney, Crime Center, Sheriff, Public Defender, 911 Center and so on) and another 14 cents is debt service. That leaves only 14 cents for everything else the County does and they are suggesting a 12.6 cent reduction.

Also consider the fact that, while the County’s population has grown approximately 1% per year since 1990, the County’s workforce is now 8% below where it was in 1990 and County government is a people-intensive service business; we can’t easily automate or ship our jobs overseas.

Let’s just leave that budget “guidance” as direction that must be countered with a simple statement: “Tell me what you no longer want the County to do.”

Our nursing homes got a fair share of negative press late last year due to the increase in the required County support to over $6 million. The driver for that bad news was the combination of Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements not keeping pace with healthcare costs and an increase in empty beds as more seniors choose to stay at home. That latter trend is expected to shift in the medium term but we have some experts in nursing home operations evaluating all that we do at the two Cedarbrook homes and look forward to some good ideas we can implement now to cut costs or increase revenues.

On a parallel path, we are in conversations with other healthcare providers to determine if collaboration on services can help the situation or if there is a demand from the private sector for some complementary use of available space. I have made it clear that my position is that the County should retain Cedarbrook, but I also believe we need to tweak the business model to some degree to recognize today’s issues.

Now, I’d like to talk a little bit about how I plan to move forward in this somewhat hostile environment and with financial challenges. Broadly, the answer is simple; I plan to connect with the citizens as no other County Executive has done to determine what is important to them and use that knowledge to develop plans and budgets. During my campaign I said I planned to get to every municipality’s council meeting at least once per year; although the weather got in the way in February, I’ve managed to attend 7 of the 25 and one school district meeting so far, had some great conversations and learned a lot.

Next month I will hold my first “town hall” meeting at the Government Center and we are working on a system to engage citizens online to weigh in on issues and priorities. I also held a “town meeting” on the controversial Hamilton Crossings TIF because I heard from many citizens that they were interested and there was a lot of confusion on the subject. I happen to support that project personally because it generates over $20 million in wages every year and only requires the taxing bodies to forego taxes they don’t even collect now. Even if I didn’t support it, the citizens have a right to get answers to their questions. That’s true transparency and that’s how I plan to operate.

I also want to try to identify both public-private partnerships as we did with the combined Coroner’s Center and Cetronia Ambulance headquarters, which saved each partner millions and should open in late July. And I want to pursue regional partnerships which would provide the coveted “win-win” end result. I’m optimistic that John Brown and I will find ways to collaborate for the good of our counties and look forward to the day we aren’t making process-related headlines and can put our heads together for the good of our counties.

I also plan to continue working to take costs out of our systems, sharpen the focus on outcomes or results and eliminate any function that isn’t needed. Along that line, we have just notified our employees that we are closing our juvenile detention center and have agreements with Northampton County and others to meet our housing needs. There has been a significant reduction in incarcerated juveniles in the wake of the Luzerne County scandal and with the adoption of more sophisticated methods of evaluating troubled juveniles. Some experts suggest the pendulum may swing back a few years from now so we will simply mothball our excellent center and reduce our overall costs by an estimated $750K annually. What has been terrific about this effort is that there has been collaboration among all involved parties to ensure that the savings are realized without an impact on services.

I remain a firm believer that, first and foremost, our citizens want to be safe and public safety efforts such as our regional crime center will remain as top priorities. In fact, I hope we’ll be able to count Northampton County as a full partner in the crime center in the near future. Criminals don’t recognize county borders so we have to effectively work across those borders.

I’ve also gotten strong reinforcement from our business leaders and citizens that what makes Lehigh County a great place to live and work is the broad range of quality of life options available to everyone. While County investments in such destinations could be among the first on the chopping block for ultra conservatives, I plan to continue those commitments and “double down” with the Planning Commission in determining how we can best bring the inventory of athletic playing fields in line with the boom we’ve seen in youth sports as the County’s population has soared. I am a firm believer that sports involvement helps bind families and keep kids on the right track.

Will all of these plans sync with the $676 average residential tax bill? Time will tell, but my commitment is to have citizen inputs weigh heavily on budget issues. I’ve observed that, as politicians move up the ladder and get further away from those who elected them, they rely more on the inputs from major campaign contributors and their own political agenda and less on those who put them in office. I am extremely humbled at having been chosen to run this outstanding county of ours and pledge not to lose focus on those who are most important—the citizens of Lehigh County. Thank you.

Tom Muller's Wife Addicted To Blogger!!!

As is often the case this time of year, I was unable to get up in time to hear Tom Muller's State of the County address yesterday. Free breakfast, Coca Cola Park and political intrigue were unable to rouse me. We bottom feeders do our best work at night. We come out with the rats, zombies and vampires. So when the alarm went off this morning, I slept right through it. I missed the speech.

But I wish I had been there. Muller started out by mentioning his wife MJ's addiction "to a certain blogger." Tom even mentioned one of my readers, Clem, and his "perverted interest in my mustache and my car."

I was thrilled. Somebody actually likes to read me! I called MJ right away.

"MJ, it's me. Can we get together and discuss your addiction?"

- Who the hell is this?

"It's me, Bernie. You know, the blogger. maybe I can read a few posts to you."

- That's Michael Molovinsky. I love his railroad stories. Do you have his number?

I gave her Ron Angle's number.