Peg Ferraro: A Voice of Decency on Norco Council:

At-large Council members: Five of Northampton County council's nine members are at-large, elected by residents throughout the entire county.

Express Times: "The at-large race for a two-year seat pits Democratic incumbent Tony Branco against Republican Peg Ferraro. Ferraro's experience in local government, including 12 years on council, and her nonconfrontational approach to problem solving make her the choice. She supports a bi-county health department and a new prison for nonviolent offenders."

Morning Call: "Return Republican Peg Ferraro to get rid of Democrat Tony Branco. Her experience gives her the advantage, and we don't know what positive thing Mr. Branco has done since party cronies placed him on council -- after the voters wanted no part of him."

Both newspapers are right.

I tried hard to like Tony Branco, but he's just a lousy council member. In addition to going dark against Ferraro, he has one of council's worst attendance records. His county council gig takes second place to his day job. Liaison reports for the gambling impact study committee must be provided by a member of the public because Branco, who is council's liaison, attends no meetings. He collects campaign money from "pay to play" developers, who just happen to be pressuring the county to buy one of their sites for the prisoner treatment program. And Branco is part of a council cabal that incredibly tried to force a bloated IT contract down taxpayer throats, nearly costing them $1.8 million. He has so little regard for the voter he failed to complete the questionnaire for the Voters' Guide prepared by the Lehigh Valley Valley LWV.

Over the years, Peg Ferraro has driven me nutz. I've disagreed, and very intensely, with some of her prior votes on council. But like other prior council members like Joe Brennan or Ron Heckman, I respected her decisions because they were her own.

And in the interest of full disclosure, I better make something clear. I've known Peg for many years. She and her late husband, Dominic, were very close to my mom and dad. My father used to torture her poor husband on sailing trips. He'd post poor Dominic at the bow as a lookout for shallow water. When we'd run aground, we'd know because Dominic would catapult into the drink. Fortunately, alcohol kept him afloat until we'd fish him out.

My dad: "You know what I like about you?"

Dominic: "What?"

My dad: "Nothing."

And so on.

When my dad, and later my mom, became ill and passed away, Peg was there for both of them. She'd even bring us covered dishes. During times like that, you learn who really does care. Peg is just a good person. That's why her voice belongs on county council. We could always use a few decent people.