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Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Five Republicans and Five Democrats Seek Grube's Empty Seat

Ten Northampton County residents have applied to serve the remaining year in Wayne Grube's term as a county council member. In chronological order, the applicants are Mike Fleck (11/13), Dave Haines (11/18), Joe Zarecky (11/19), Chris Hess (11/20), Mark Schwartz (11/20), Bill Wallace (11/21), Bob Birk (11/24), John Breidinger (11/28), Joe Capozzolo (11/28) and Geoff Roche (11/28). Two of them, Schwartz and Wallace, were unsuccessful candidates last November. Fleck's resume and letter of interest were submitted four days before Grube had even been buried.

Wayne Grube's widow, Patti, has also expressed an interest in serving out her husband's term. But she insists all eight council members must ask for her.

The county's home rule charter requires council to fill the vacancy by December 11, or it goes to the judges. Although Wayne Grube was a Democrat, his successor can belong to any policial party. Breidinger, Capozzolo, Birk, Schwartz and Zarecky are Republicans.

One advantage that blogs have over the MSM is that we can provide mind-numbing detail for which newspapers simply lack the space. In the posts below, I will provide details about each of the ten candidates. In some cases, I will include part of their letters of interest or resumes.
Update: The Morning Call reports that Queen of Hearts Ann McHale is already trying to brush Patti Grube out of the way. Grube has made her intentions known, but McHale points to Grube's refusal to send in some goofy resume. "I would think that would eliminate her.'' At a council meeting not too long ago, McHale imperiously declared, "Nice guys finish last." Looks like nice women finish last, too.
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8 comments:

  1. AnonymousDecember 2, 2008 at 3:02 AM

    Unless they give it to Patty, it will go tp Wallace. He is part of team Dert and Long in next years election and this would give him a heads up.

    Sorry to the other conrtestants but it was wired from day one.

    Thanks for playing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bernie O'HareDecember 2, 2008 at 9:21 AM

    I'd agree the best person for this job is Patti Grube. She is a Democrat and I have heard only good things about her.

    If she decides, for some reason, to refuse an appointment, I think trhe vacancy should be filled by a Democrat. Although the Home Rule Chartrer does not require that, the position should be filled by a person belonging to the same party as the person who vacated the job. The people elected a Democrat and council should follow the people's will. Two years ago, council filled a R vacancy with a Dem, and the result was bad government. Council shuld follow the wishes of the electorate.

    As far as Wallace is concerned, he distinguished himself from the machine pols in last year's election. His briefcase has all kinds of Democratic stickers, but he did not run the dirty campaign I saw from Maher and Branco, the people being pushed by Long and Dertinger. He did very well against a popular incumbent. He ran an issues-oriented campaign.

    Because he intends to run for the position next year, though, I would not give it to hom. The position should go to a Dem like Patti Grube, who has no intention of running. Wallace concedes that himself.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousDecember 2, 2008 at 10:15 AM

    "The people elected a Democrat and council should follow the people's will."

    The people elected Wayne Grube. Is he a Dem? Yes, but he's also a man, so using that logic, we should appoint a man.

    Appoint the best qualified, regardless of party. My hope is that the voters voted for Wayne b/c of whom he was, not what he was.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bernie O'HareDecember 2, 2008 at 10:30 AM

    I believe appointments to vacancies should be made from the same party as the person who creates the vacancy. I saw what happened when Dems appointed a Dem to fill an R vacancy. It led to more acrimony and partisanship. I've also seen what happenss when Rs appointed a Dem to fill a Dem vacancyy in LC. That body is far less acrimnious and operates in relative harmony.

    I woulkd agree with your principle only if the legislature did away with partisan elections in local races.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousDecember 2, 2008 at 11:24 PM

    Capozzolo is a Democrat, BOH. Do your homework.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Bernie O'HareDecember 2, 2008 at 11:31 PM

    I just checked the LWV web page and it indicates no political affiliation. My understanding is that he is a Republican. I will gladly correct my post if I am wrong. I will find out tomorrow morning. I like to have my facts right.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousDecember 2, 2008 at 11:53 PM

    What is McHales game anyway. She is really doing some major Party bootlicking lately. Council could easily look at the names discuss it and if their are no five votes for any one person, amember could nominate anybody and then vote.

    SAhe is clueless. I guess this is her way of getting the Party choice in return for help in her Executive race.

    Otherwise, I don't really think she makes a lot of sense.

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousDecember 3, 2008 at 5:56 PM

    Mike Fleck - he always needs a job.

    ReplyDelete

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