On Friday, I told you about Northampton County Council's decision to reject the advice of its own lawyer. Their ridiculous conclusion was that listening to their own lawyer's legal advice might set a bad precedent.
Although it's no precedent, The Express Times has strongly condemned council's thought processes, claiming it "makes old-timers pine for the day when the county government was run by three commissioners."
"Stoffa has the power to reject bids, so he didn't have to seek council's blessing. But he did, in keeping with his low-key style of inclusive governing. Now the council -- which in previous years bellyached about being kept out of the loop -- can't bring itself to make a pragmatic, money-saving decision. Probably because it involves admitting that someone else had a better idea."
As councilperson Ann McHale shouted, "Nice guys finish last." That's what she thinks of inclusive governing.
Today's one-liner: "The shortest way to the distinguishing excellence of any writer is through his hostile critics." Richard LeGallienne
Local Government TV
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Monday, July 16, 2007
7 comments:
You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.
usally i agree with ANN MCHALE i don't in this instance however i need to hear her reasoning behind her comments shes a bright woman and one i respect and admire.we are all intitled to a mistake . she may have misspoken i don't know. all the condemnation should stop, we should all learn how to work for the greater good together. maybe then something would get accomplished. it's hard to achieve that with people jumping down your throat. a lot of that seems to go on down at the county really it should stop, john stoffa isn't any help at all. seems ron angle is the only person with any guts at all he sees to it things get done and corrected thankfully we have him.
ReplyDeleteNobody was jumping down Ann's throat, but she sure was jumping down others. We're all entitled to have an off day. I'll agree with that. But frankly, I think a county exec hopeful was afraid of looking like she screwed up. So now, instead of looking like someone who made a mistake, she looks like someone who made a mistake and is mean-spirited to boot.
ReplyDeleteStoffa affords numerous opportunities to question his decisions. This was not one of those times. In the heat of the moment, this Council showed itself. BO, whether you like it or not, the only bright bulb up there is Angle. Ann, Dowd and the rest are all praised as intelligent, but wheres the record to prove it. This County Council is one of the dumbest to come around in years. Amen
ReplyDeleteperhaps Reibman's attempts to minimize council's involvement in the process is more understandable now
ReplyDeleteSALVAGGIO, ANTHONY ALLENTOWN
ReplyDeletePA 18104 03/13/2007 2300.00 COMPUTER AID/OWNER 27930568778
SALVAGGIO, ANTHONY ALLENTOWN
PA 18104 03/13/2007 2300.00 COMPUTER AID/OWNER 27930568777
SALVAGGIO, NORENE ALLENTOWN
PA 18104 03/13/2007 2300.00 HOMEMAKER 27930568777
SALVAGGIO, NORENE ALLENTOWN
PA 18104 03/13/2007 2300.00 HOMEMAKER 27930568777
These are donations to Republican Charles Dent. Is this why Stoffa wants a rebid? To support his Republican cronies in Lehigh County. He is the owner of one of the three companies bidding. Three companies bid for the contract: Computer Aid Inc. of Allentown, $9,151,000; CMC Americas, Baton Rouge, La., $9,287,652; and Affiliated Computer Services of Dallas, $10,002,873.
Republican cronies??
ReplyDeleteROFL.
((snark on)) Anon sure knows John Stoffa well. ((snark off))
Anybody who thinks that Norco's IT contract would be a boondoggle for CAI is nuts. Sure, they would take the contract if they won the bid, but CAI will do just fine without it.
What's at stake here is the current financial rape being whipped on the taxpayers by Council.
Anon 12:53,
ReplyDeleteI actually wrote a blog. blog about all of Salavaggio's contributions to Republicans. He will throw a bone to the dems now and then, but he doesr facor the Rs. I noted it all.
Politics should have nothing to do with the bidding process. In factm, the bidding process is set up to avoid politics. In this case, the hacks on Northampton County Council injected politics where it does not belong. They attempted to pull a "pay to play" in reverse. They wanted to punishe the low bidder merely because he's a big-time R. Stoffa, on the other hand, is interested in "the best interests" of the county. It could be that ACS is in the best interests of the county when all is said and done, but it is only logical to conclude theat the more choices you hacve, the more likely it is that you will get what you want. In this instance, council attempted to deprive the county of that choice.
Incidentally, do yourself a favor, go the courthouse, and see how Stoffa is registered.
Partisan politics is fine so long as it does not interfere with good government. There's very little need for partisan politics on a county level. But there's a big need for good government.