Last night, Northampton County Council commended two corrections officers, adopted four ordinances following public hearings, reviewed an inspection report regarding fire safety at the prison, and introduced a new ordinance amending the administrative code. Sounds like a full night's work, right?
The meeting lasted twenty-three minutes.
Council had a quickie for one reason - Northampton County Councilman Ron Angle was absent. I heard he was planting some new land mines he picked up cheap at a yard sale, and one of them went off. He was actually delayed by a funeral service in the slate belt, and council rushed through its agenda at warp speed.
Angle asks hard and sometimes embarrassing questions. Council doesn't like that. He forces people to defend their positions. That's something no one did last night, although newcomer John Cusick did voice the occasional mild objection.
One ordinance proposed an open space purchase of swamp land in Upper Mount Bethel Township for $721,000. This is how it was justified by proponent Charles Dertinger: "It's a nice piece to a puzzle we already have going." Doesn't that puzzle you?
And when prison officials whitewashed an Easton City report about fire hazards, not a single question was asked.
Perfunctory meetings like this deprive us of valuable information and mock our republican form of government. Council members should provide oversight, but last night they looked like bobbleheads.
No sooner had the meeting adjourned than Angle stormed in, demanding to know what was going on. Too late for Angle. And too bad for the rest of us. In a county that has just proposed a tax increase for its new budget, someone on council needs to take an interest.
Update: The Express Times and Morning Call accounts of last night's very brief meeting portray an alternately petulant and swaggering Angle, furious he didn't get the appropriate credit for one of the four adopted ordinances. Hey, the facts are the facts, and I'll be hearing all day that my friend is an knucklehead.
As fair as this criticism may be, council members engaged in more interchange after last night's meeting than during the meeting itself. When we have a disinterested council, we all lose.
Angle is a turd.
ReplyDeleteSo I've heard, on several occasions and from several sources. But prefer a turd who asks questions and provides some oversight to a group of bobbleheads that does not.
ReplyDeleteAs a good chunk of my younger adult life was lived in a very sheltered environment, could someone explain something to me. It's really two questions. One, as far as I know, Charlie Dent has never been convicted of child molestation. Two, how do Congressmen have sex on the internet? Do they do "bad things" with some part of the hard drive or the software? As a local "columnist" Dale Schneck might say, "Just asking."
ReplyDeleteDear Anon 8:40, If it were possible to have sex on the Internet, I'd be on it a lot more often.
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone has blamed Charlie Dent for what has happened to Mark Foley. I certainly don't. I blame Mark Foley for what happened to Mark Foley. It is possible that some House leaders may have had an inkling about Foley's pedophilic tendencies, but I'm not convinced by what I've seen in the media.
One Republican congressman engaged in inappropriate and possibly illegal behavior with underage teens. I'm unaware of any logical principle under whjich I can therefore conclude that ALL republican congressman are necessarily evil pederasts.
Some folks will try to make political hay out of this, just as some Rs tried to make political hay out of Bill Clinton's lie about what was really a personal matter bewtween two consulting adults.
And you and I both know that sexual predators regularly use the internet. Let's not try to be cute about that.
I've only read one or two of Schneck's columns.
Thanks for your comments.
The short length of County Counil meetings has alwasy amazed and dismayed me. It seems that Council President Gube is the biggest problem, he doesn't like meaningful discussion, he likes to rubber stamp things. I have to ask, is he afraid he won't be home in time for his bedtime?
ReplyDeleteI am Angle is asks the tough questions.
Apologies if my previous comment re sex and the internet sounded like I was trying to be "cute" about a serious matter, but I still can't quite fathom what all the distraction is about. To me, sex (licit or otherwise) has a different connotation than some one old enough to be a page in the Halls of Congress pecking away on a keyboard when no one is holding a gun to their head. Isn't that what the "Delete" button is for?
ReplyDeleteTo Anon, If you had a 16 yr old son or daughter, your view might be a little different. And regardless how you feel, sex w/ a 16 yr old would lead to criminal charges in this state. But this type of problem is not limited to Republicans. We're all susceptible.
ReplyDelete