Thursday night was a long night for both Northampton and Lehigh County governments. Northampton County Hangmen demonstrated their pettiness with name-calling and votes cast against the judicial nomination of a person the judges themselves have requested. Lehigh County Commissioners did their job.According to Darryl Isherwood's well-written account, Lehigh County legislators spent 3 1/2 hours going over Don Cunningham's budget with a fine-tooth comb. Motion after motion scrutinized different funding requests, from Paul Marin's rail study to Cunningham's policing proposal.
From what I'm, even "Pip the Mouse" was called in to explain all those dinners with Minnie.
When all the dust had settled, a Republican-controlled Board of Commissioners ruled that Democrat Don Cunningham's budget was fiscally responsible. There's just not much room to make cuts. In fact, they even added $100,000 for the zoo.
It's weird. In Northampton County, one party controls all three branches of government. Yet it's a dysfunctional mess. In Lehigh County, where power is split, things run smoothly. The legislature and executive work together. No commissioner calls another commissioner names. Unions do not march in to demand the heads of county workers on their hit lists.
Last year, I attended about six Lehigh meetings and always left impressed by the class acts in control at that county, from Cunningham to its commisssioners. They may have different philosophies, but work well together.
What a difference!
12 comments:
Understanding the dysfunction of NC politics is truly like the old Kremlinology. Lots of intrigue; no real political debate. Although dissenters aren't sent to the gulag, they may have their farm animals shot or property defaced by party loyalists encouraging "unity."
Where are those proposals in the LC Budget. I see only the account buckets in the actual budget. Were the Commishs working from a different sheet?
NLV
Things will begin to improve dramaticaly in 2010 when Stoffa is gone.
NLV wrote:
"Where are those proposals in the LC Budget. I see only the account buckets in the actual budget. Were the Commishs working from a different sheet?"
The online version of the proposed 2009 budget for Lehigh County presents a summary of the budget and a condensed version of the transactions for each fund balance. A detailed version of the budget which lists each individual line item (such as the rail study) is well over 500 pages and is on file in the Commissioner's office. If anyone is interested, I'd be happy to meet and take them through it.
Dean Browning
However, even if you do review the detailed budget for 2009 you won't find a line item for "Pip the Mouse"
Pip is too clever for that and has his funding buried within a line item called "Quality of Life Grants". The total funding for this is approved as part of the budget process while the actual allocation is made by a separate ordinance. The 2009 budget for Quality of Life is a bit more than $200,000 allocated as follows:
1. Allentown Art Museum $48,563.00 Arts education designed to enrich lives by engaging, informing and inspiring people through collecting, preserving, studying, exhibiting and interpreting works of visual art.
2. Allentown Symphony Association $9,744.00 Provide funding to allow local & Non Profits to use Symphony Hall at a reduced rate.
3. America on Wheels $5,000.00 To provide funding to lower the student educational programs and to preserve the historical, social and cultural impact of over-the-road transportation systems.
4. American Federtion of Musicians Local 45 $6,218.00 To provide funding for approx. 80 concerts to be performed by 6 Lehigh County Concert Bands.
5. ArtsQuest (Musikfest) $6,196.00 Musikfest- Funding for Banana Island, which focuses on a myriad of art and entertainment for children.
6. Bach Choir of Bethlehem $5,513.00 Promote and encourage appreciation of the aesthetic and spiritual value of Bach's music through education and performance. Financial support for the 102 annual Bach Festival May 1-2 & 7-9,2009.
7. Baum School of Art $9,207.00 Support of the Baum School's Scholoarship and Financial Assistance Programs.
8. Burnside Plantation $3,564.00 Support the Educational Programs and Activities at Burnside Plantation.
9. Civic Theatre of Allentown $6,395.00 Operational support to Civic Theatre, an organization providing quality, affordable live theatre/music/films through arts education.
10. Community Bike Works $1,369.00 Sponsorship of 4 children for the 3 month Earn a Bike Program.
11. Community Music School of the Lehigh Valley $4,223.00 Financial Scholarship Assistance and Outreach Programs, to introduce youngsters to music and instruction to reorganize sr. population and music.
12. DaVinci Discovery Center of Science & Tech. $5,250.00 Support part of the salary and expenses of a new staff position dedicated to expanding public programs on energy conservation, sustainability & the environment.
13. Lehigh County Agricultural Society $6,197.00 Promotion of the Allentown Fair's Agricultural Educational Program. Improvement & advancement of Agriculture, Horticulture, Livestock, domestic/mechanical arts and entertainment to the county.
14. Lehigh County Historical Society $5,000.00 Funding for Historical Programs. Allentown Band Concert, Coplay Days, Ghosts of the Museum & History Expo.
15. Lehigh Valley Arts Council $3,682.00 Funding for publications and cooperative arts marketing initiatives.
16. Liberty Bell Shrine Museum $5,000.00 Annual support of Pip the Mouse program.
17. Mayfair $20,000.00 Sponsorship of MayFair 2009, which is scheduled for May 21-25, 2009.
18. Minsi Trails Council/Boy Scouts of America $5,513.00 Operational support of the Learning for Life Program supporting Elementary Students in urban areas.
19. Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre $7,323.00 Sponsorship of Muhlenberg's Summer Music Theatre.
20. PA Shakespeare Festival at DeSales University $10,100.00 Sponsorship of the Pennsylvania's Shakespeare Festival at DeSales.
21. Pennsylvania Sinfonia Orchestra $6,496.00 General programs and operational budget of 4 summer concerts and 5 subscription series.
22. Police Athletic League $2,000.00 Funding for Camp Blue Line, a week summer program for 4th &5th grade students in Allentown.
23. Repertory Dance Theatre $5,000.00 "Programming cost associated with educational outreach
programming
"
24. Volunteer Center of Lehigh Valley $1,847.00 Program support of the Youth Program and the Youth Volunteer Connections desigend to mobilize the community to care for one another through volunteer networking.
25. WDIY (Lehigh Valley Community Broadcasters) $4,917.00 Operations support for the 2009 year for WDIY 8811 listeners support radio.
26. Whitehall Historical Preservation Society $2,000.00 Funding for restoration of the Peter Grim House. Provide planning, funding, management and general oversight for advancement & preservation of historical heritage in Whitehall
27. Wildlife Information Ctr (approx.) $5,110.00 Funding for public programming and interpretive signs, brochures and support for Environmental Educational Center.
What? Three branches of government in Northampton County??? Bernie, the way you talk I thought that Stoffa was the dictator of Northampton County. Silly me.
Anon 12:39,
Stoffa, and not AFSCME or Dertinger or McClure or McHale, is the elected county executive. You have the mistaken impression that the taxpayers of this county exist to cater to AFSCME whims. You are about to find out otherwise.
Dean, Thanks for listing all these programs.
Where did Pip hide those weekend retreats with Minnie?
Dean, thank you for looking at the DCED spending in Lehigh County. I was impressed at first. We definitly saw a different attiude out here in the sticks. The County people came out and worked well with us.
I wonder now though if anything has changed. The attitude is very different.
Tax dollars are important.
What Dean Browning fails to mention is the comments offered in defense of his attacks on Pip the Mouse, a historical treasure of Allentown's proud commercial past. Pip the Mouse is part of the Holiday programming at the Liberty Bell Shrine and draws people to the Shrine to learn about and appreciate the Declaration of Independance and the Constitution. $5k to help kids and families learn to love and appreciate the Declaration of Independance and the Constitution. What a horrible, horrible agenda. Must be those damned liberals at work.
In Coplay we are without any mouse mascot. We do have the Coplay Town Watch "Crime Chicken" who shows up at our annual "National Night Out Against crime" celebration. His/her slogan is "don't be chicken to call the Coplay police." I just got an email from a disgruntled guy who believes that government is a "business". He wants me to vote "no" on the LC budget. I asked him to explain why, but his response email was to insult me. I suspect he is getting his view point from the "clear channel network". Vote for change on 11/4 !!
Many of these are "good" programs. The problem is, there are many "good" programs. Should the county fund all of them? If not, which ones? Is it right to tax folks for the purpose of making contributions to a select group of such programs? I don't think so. Let the taxpayers make those decisions with their own money.
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