An at-large member of Northampton County Council, Diane Neiper has allied herself most often with Charles Dertinger and Lamont McClure. As a result, many of her votes and actions have been inexplicably bizarre.Examples? She joined Dertinger, McHale and McClure when they very nearly forced the county to spend $1.8 million more for an IT contract than the one that Exec John Stoffa finally signed. She is one of the hangmen who played to the union, demanding that the county's Human Resources Director resign. She is part of a cabal that refused to follow their own lawyer's advice. She was also among those who tried to replace a capable council solicitor with a "pay to play" lawyer who would tell them exactly what they want to hear.
To her credit, she has also been one of council's workhorses, working tirelessly with the county's human services. But she was noticeably upset this January when Democrats chose Republican John Cusick over her as council VP. They really had no choice because it was the only way that Ann McHale could become President, but Neiper was still unhappy.
Neiper's term expires this year. A email being circulated by local Democratic committeemen indicates Neiper has had enough. She will not seek reelection to that dysfunctional body.
Some say she may run for County Exec, others say she is retiring from teaching and going to be in the next administration?? rumore, rumors. One is that she will run against Harhart???
ReplyDeletepolitical issues aside, i genuinely like diane.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I think she is pretty good one on one and she has great potential. I would even vote for her if she exhibited some independence.
ReplyDeleteIt would be the county's loss if diane does not run but I believe she will...I'd be surprised otherwise..
ReplyDeleteDiane is a good person. I may not always agree on every political position, but I do respect her integrity and work ethic.
ReplyDeleteI suppose, the larger disappointment is how the perception of Council's pettiness, partisanship, and I suppose fair description, dysfunction, actually have all been cause for some folks not to run for Council. Why would anyone actually want to "serve" on that body unless they are sucked into the pure partisanship?
Tom and Diane are definitely no strangers to local politics, so if there is even some truth to your assertion then it furthers the perception many have of Council.
If there is a disfuncional council it must include Angle and his antics. He's calmed a bit since Stoffa has been in but he has to be included in this discussion if we are speaking of disfunction causing Diane to consider leaving. Especially since Diane is on the opposite side of him on many issues.
ReplyDeleteI dunno - seems to me the problem is not just one member.
ReplyDeleteWhay aren't more folks announcing a run for Council? I can't believe everybody is happy with what is going on.
I suspect that the low salary, the poor reputation, the partisanship have all combined to make this unattractive.
ReplyDeleteI have watched many councils. I have even sued a few of them. But even the council that adopted the 2001 bond was one I respected. I denuinely admired the council members who voted to support the bond.
I have no respect for the current council. It has deteriorated into a group of partisans who have exalted silly party politics over good government. A Democratic council refused to support a Democratic exec bc he appointed a few Rs here and there. That is ridiculous.
It has really spiralled downward since McHale assumed the presidency. She allows council members to engage in playground arguments. Even in the last meeting, Dertinger and Angle went at it and McHale was powerless.
And she wants to be exec? If I were to blame one person, it would be the council President. It is her obligations to keep control. If she can't do that, she should step aside for someone who can run a meeting.
Did Rong Angle locked Mr. Snyder in his apartment from the outside ? Did Rong Angle feed Mr. Snyder tastykakes and allow him to wallow in his own wasts ? Did Rong Angle have to pay the Estate of Mr. Snyder ten thousand dollars ? Was the DA considering criminal charges against Rong Angle at the time ?
ReplyDeleteThis is what I mean. Council has a real problem and the response is distorted crap like what is posted above. It has already been the subject of mailers and robocalls.
ReplyDeleteWhay not address your own shortcomings, Mr. Dertinger? This includes your inability to keep your temper in check.
Neiper as a County Executive?? You have to be kidding me. A school teacher with absolutely no REAL WORLD experience running a multi million dollar business or government with 100's of employees. On another issue, Neiper is a teacher's union member. No wonder she pushed to trash Faulk Sutton. The County has much better talent than Neiper.
ReplyDelete"Angle charged with wiretap violation." Mcall 11/1/90
ReplyDeleteGeez, Maybe you should go out and shoot some more of his sheep.
ReplyDelete"Upper Mount Bethel Residents Query Angle's Expenses, Mileage Fees, Pay Criticized." Mcall 6/4/86And shooting defenseless farm animals is disgusting.
ReplyDeleteThe headline to a 23 year-old story is very damaging.No wonder Angel was defeated ... wait, he won.
ReplyDeleteBut that's OK. You satisfied your obvious Angle hatred by shooting his sheep and defacing his farm buildings with swastikas.
I must agree this is the worst County Council I have ever seen and I am a County insider. Even when the 911 debate was raging, I thought the debates were measured. The papers made it out to be partisan but it seemed more like a real back and forth on the issues of service, cost, etc.
ReplyDeleteI only mention that because for all the fighting and yelling and name calling this group has accomplished absolutely nothing. They really seem to be the worst government in the Valley.
Maybe some oldtime Council members should come out of retirement and run and bring back some sorely lacking class to this place.
I had a lot of respect for almost every one of them, even those with whom I might disagree on the merits of some proposal. They did not personalize everything, as members of this council are wont to do.
ReplyDeleteLet's not forget the part that the County Executive played in creating the disfunctional Council his first week in office.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very valid criticism and in hindsight, his biggest blunder. Two members of council were appointed to Stoffa's cabinet, resulting in two council members who had been rejected by the voters. I love John Stoffa, but I think even he would agree with your observation.
ReplyDelete"Judge: Angle must repay $6014" mcall 11/1/90
ReplyDelete"Let's not forget the part that the County Executive played in creating the disfunctional Council his first week in office."
ReplyDeleteIf you mentioned Branco, most would have to automaticly agree. Details? :D
The worst decision Stoffa made was to partner with Angle. It was a recipe for failure. At every turn, Stoffa chose to alienate Grube in favor of Angle. It was a fatal mistake.
ReplyDeleteJohn likes to talk about Charles and McClure, but no one knows who they are. What John doesn't like to talk about is how he used to stiff Wayne Grube on meetings all the time. Wayne loved meetings and Wayne insisted on being respected. John Stoffa would rountinely blow Wayne Grube off. He'd stand him up in fact. When Wayne Grube and Ron Angle disagreed, more often than not Stoffa would side with Ron Angle both privately and publicly.
ReplyDelete"Wayne loved meetings and Wayne insisted on being respected. John Stoffa would rountinely blow Wayne Grube off."
ReplyDeleteValid criticism, and one acknowledged by Stoffa. John would forget and would never deliberately slight Wayne. It was a mistake.
"When Wayne Grube and Ron Angle disagreed, more often than not Stoffa would side with Ron Angle both privately and publicly."
Stoffa rarely speaks during council meetings and I saw no evidence during opnme council meetings where John and Angle would double team Wayne. It may have happened privately.
"The worst decision Stoffa made was to partner with Angle."
Bullshit. They disagree about many things. Their biggest disagreement centers on the bicounty health department. Stoffa believes government exists to help people while Angle believes government exists to hurt people. It's a basic ideological difference. They both seek common ground when they can. It's called good government. You should try it instead of the partisan bullshit.
Actually, Stoffa and Angle disagree on precious little. They do diverge on the human services issues, but only because that's where Stoffa came from and is coming from. I will say this about Stoffa, he turned quickly on Grube and even quicker on Boss Long, but he has never turned on Ron. Even after Ron turned on him. Stoffa's friendship with Angle means something to him.
ReplyDeleteAngle helped get Stoffa elected. He has also been kind to Stoffa and his goofy cabinet. When Reibman was in Office Angle made an ass out himself yelling and screaming at Reibman and everyone who worked for him.
ReplyDeleteStoffa agreed to the goofy fund balance money deal with Angle up front and that is why Stoffa gets a pretty big pass from Angle.
Angle has never been against Human Services, in fact in some ways he is better with it than Stoffa. Stoffa was a disaster as a Director in Lehigh County and is really just a career bureaucrat. That is one reason he is so incompetent as an Executive.
The Health Department will hurt Human Services not help it. Badly needed resources will be drained from HS to this new mega-bureaucracy.
Ron admires John bc he believes in open and transparent government. You should try it.
ReplyDeleteThe truth is Stoffa is the worst County Exec. in Norco history. Guys who have been around for 30 years say he is even worse than Brackbill.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment, Mr. Dertinger.
ReplyDeleteWorst County Executive ever ? Worse than Seyfried ?
ReplyDeleteThank you, former Deputy Kunkel. You got Jerry in the end.
ReplyDeleteEver notice when Boonie doesn't like a true comment rather than defending ron or john in his usual manlove manner he just attributes it to his political enemies.
ReplyDeleteAll this talk of transparency and yet Boonie continues to lie and distort as he sees fit behind the guise of blogging. Boonie speaks of respecting past council members but trashes Lieberman when she applied for the open seat.
In Boonie land facts change when no-one is paying attention.
I have attended a number of these meeting when I knew issues close to my heart were on the agenda and all I can say is Boonie is full of Crap, the disfunction he speaks of from where I was sitting comes from his pal ron when thing don't go his way.
David
Oooh, One of Dertinger's goons actually signs a first name to a post! I know for a fact that Dertinger has asked a few people to come on here periodically and just trash this blog. I could prove it, too, but doing so would get a few others in trouble. I'll instead give you some more rope. I want you to continue. The vile, ridiculously absurd and mean-spirited comments make Dertinger look even more idiotic than he does on council, and that's not easy.
ReplyDeleteSo who could David, if he really is David, be? How about Davey Gawlick, the Reibman hallwalker whose sole claim to distinction is his harassment of women? Looking for a return to the good ol' days, Davey? It must be a bitch having a county exec who doesn;'t reward political hacks.
Incidentrally, if anyone takes the time to read my post concerning ther council applicants, I at no time trashed Marilyn Lieberman. I reported what happened during the meeting, and fairly accurately, but I have always respected Marilyn. And she understands the difference between criticism and personal attacks.