Northampton County Council Prez Ann (64% tax increase) McHale would like to be called Executive Ann McHale at this time next year. She sure could benefit by getting Easton's black vote. So naturally, she has spearheaded a $50 thousand grant in public funds to Shiloh Baptist Church for a halfway house.This may be worth a few thousand votes for McHale, but it's bad government because Shiloh has an abysmal track record with public money, as noted in the post below. John Stoffa, the incumbent County Executive, had warned McHale before she acted that she was making a mistake. She ignored him. After all, it's only your money.
Stoffa would rather lose an election than do the wrong thing. Wasting $50 thousand in public funds is the wrong thing. So yesterday, he decided to warn Council on his own, something that Ann (64% tax increase) McHale never considered for a moment.
"At the last County Council meeting, Council awarded a $50,000 grant to the Greater Shiloh Church for the above subject project. President McHale had contacted me previously about this program and I had sent her the attached information. [DCED memo in post below]. (I am not including the County Controller Office audits of 10/3/06 and 12/1/06.)
"I have been to this church on numerous occasions and they are a wonderful group of people, however if you eventually give them the money, my recommendation would be that you assign it through our Drug & Alcohol Program or the jail, so that it may be monitored and distributed through the per capita cost of individuals entering the program. To my knowledge, they have no intention of becoming licensed or certified, so someone should monitor how this money would be used. Based on their track record with us, they don't do the best job with bricks and mortar projects."
43 comments:
You just don't hand an organization, any organization $50,000 dollars of taxpayer money no questions asked. what the hell is wrong with these people.
The program may be great but Christ who is going to watch how the money is spent. I am very disappointed in Angle. The rest of council are just using Tax money to buy votes.
I'm sure Angle will agree to oversight, and am disappointed McHale never relayed Stoffa's concerns to her fellow council members.
Angle is a sharp dude. He agreed to give $50k, but it had to be the last $50k and they would have to come in again. I don't think he will be in a hugging mood again.
It does look like McHale wants those votes at any cost. The county executive's request for
oversight seems not only fair but
the honest thing to do.
Their all idiots for giving this grant.
Anon 1:57 am -
It may be that, in this particular case, it IS Christ that is expected to watch how the money is spent...
Didn't the new guy, Capozzolo, vote against this?
The new guy is the only one who got it right.
Our beloved Mayor can be found at the Oak and Maple roadhouse in Johnsonville on any given day or night. The guy is a laughing stock in this area and has dirty hands to boot. Don't be in a rush to confer sainthood on this creep!
Look Dave, if you think this guy is so bad, go there and confront him. But I'm tired of your vicious OT rants here. You're like a little baby who lashes out when you don't get your way. And you work with prisoners? God help them.
Why no outcry from Angle? Has he gone soft or maybe the cause is just. Oversight is fine and needed as with any county expenditure. Buying votes? Maybe that is why ALL of council said YES except you know who!
Money spent by Queen McHale has never had oversight, or accountability. Why would we start now?
O_o
"Oversight is fine and needed as with any county expenditure."
Except it was not called for with grants to Shiloh before and is not being called for now. The large vote in favor of this is the result of two things: 1) vote pandering, and 2) ignorance.
Council's ignorance is the direct result of McHale's failure to rely information previously provided by Stoffa. I doubt there would be five votes for a nickel if council had informed itself in advance.
Do you have a job lined up at this halfway house? I know you work with prisoners and are always talking about all the food served at prison advisory board meetings. Now tell us, Dave. What is your interest here? Time for full disclosure, especially since you are so willing to personally slam the one council member who correctly voted no.
Did anyone ask Joe Cap why he voted no? If this was such a momentous event..why no press coverage or follow up in the papers? I was not aware of the previous Shiloh problems but who was and why didn't these facts come out? The project in my opinion is worthwhile and evidently council agrees.
No job or money in it for me. We disagree on this one..plain and simple. I work for a higher power than the county or GSC. The devil in the details maybe but I believe in the ideals behind the project and think their motives are pure concerning the church and their members.
"I was not aware of the previous Shiloh problems but who was and why didn't these facts come out?"
Asked and answered. McHale had the information and failed to pass it along.
"The project in my opinion is worthwhile and evidently council agrees."
A council that failed to inform itself thought this was a good idea.
You want to attack the new council member with all kinds of malicious personal shit that is probably defamatory. Not too smart. The higher power you claim to work for would not be too proud of you.
"I believe in the ideals behind the project and think their motives are pure concerning the church and their members."
The road to hell is paved with good intentions. You might do well to consider that the next time you talk to your higher power.
Maybe..but it is what it is. Did I go too far? Probably and human nature overcomes me at times. I'm working on it and will try harder not to be so brutally honest with my thoughts. A work in progress as they say.
Fine.
If Joes's hands are dirty, its because he actually works for a living. Try it & see if yours stay clean.
If Joes's hands are dirty, its because he actually works for a living. Try it & see if yours stay clean.
Dear Dave . I went to find the "laughing stock " Mayor at the Oak and Maple . The place has been closed for many years. We cant take your opinion seriously considering you have dementia. Maybe you are the one with dirty hands .
Phoebe Winslow
Did you check the 5 Points Inn? Maybe he has switched venues and forgot to tell anyone. Keep looking..you'll find him eventually.
And how does he get to hold two offices at once? Isn't that a conflict of interest? A mayor and a council member....
No it is not. That issue was specifically ruled on when Leonard Zito was solicitor. He ruled that a council member may also serve in a municipal government. I pointed that out when you ranted about Joe's appointment some weeks ago.
You've been warned. Since you seem intent on accusing Joe C of being a drunk with dirty hands, I feel an obligation to reveal your identity to Joe C next time I see him.
Drop it already. The issue here is Shiloh Baptist Church, not your disdain for Joe C. Because of your goofy rants, I had to permit some OT comments that defend him, including one from a person who signed his name.
Additional OT comments will be deleted.
Take it up w/ your Higher Power.
DANtheMAN says:
Dave should get a life. Help out or get out of the way!
did your neighbors dog crap in your yard? Maybe your street wasnt plowed quick enough.you want the Mayor to fix the pothole himself?
Joe Cap has done more to help veterans than anyone in the Slate Belt. And you did?
Complain.
Sorry that I missed your earlier "Church/State" discussion over the weekend.
I have my own spirtuality that is deep. So, on this Ash Wednesday I can say I subscribe to a belief, but I likewise do not check my rational mind at the door.
I am currently reading a book on Jefferson, that can sum it up no more pointedly:
"He (TJ) was convinced that complete religious freedom should be recognized by human law because of the very nature of religion. The care of every man's soul belongs to himself; no one can prescribe the faith of another; God himself cannot save a man against his will; and any form of spiritual compulsion is doomed to inevitable failure. State religion, therefore, was to him a contradiction in terms. The State should neither support nor oppose any particular form of church but should leave all of them strictly alone."
Our tax monies should not be going to Shiloh.
dare I end with an Amen
Shiloh has about 5,000 votes county wide. Get your facts straight Bernie. They have nearly 7,000 members. 2,000 from NJ. Stoffa is earning his support in other ways. You make it sound like Stoffa is not playing favorites for favors. The latest coming in a recent engineering contract.
Well, I guess the next temple, mosque, or new age group who comes along providing a worthy charity to the community would be quite justified in lining up for the next grant of our tax monies, correct? If its good for the Baptist goose, its good for the (fill-in-the-blank) gander. After all a vote is a vote, right?
Is Ms. McHale responsible for getting Council members information on what they are voting for or are the Council members able to do their own due diligence? Funny stuff.
As the President of council and person who placed this matter on the agenda, McHale had the obligation to inform fellow council members. When Stoffa passed along his reservastions to her as President, she had an obligation to share that information.
Funny stuff indeed.
She permitted Shiloh to do an end run around the executive because they knew they would run into a stone wall.
So the other council members have no responsibility to the taxpayers then?
Sure they do, but they have a right to expect their President to be honest with them.
The executive sent this report to the council president but not to the rest of the council? Why?
Prior to each council meeting, the exec and President meet to discuss agenda items. She had an obligation, as President, to pass this information alonmg to fellow council members, but chose not to do so for obvious political reasons. Stoffa has countered by passing along that information to all council members before any money is spent. He has done his job. She has not done her job.
While Anon 9:34, 9:40, 9:47 sounds like a McHale supporter (or apologist), or perhaps Ms. McHale herself (?), this is a serious question on all of Council's heads, Democrat or Republican.
Take out the church issue, and just treat it as any non-profit receiving public tax monies. The problem is the same. The memo circulating, and posted previously on LVR, begs an answer to who is accounting for our tax money. AND, if there were problems in the past, why give them more money? That is a dereliction of Council's fiduciary responsibility.
Too bad, they get the votes, but the average Joe Voter either will not know, understand, or care what just happened.
They claim how tight their budget is. No money for Gracedale; Courthouse; prison; employee contracts....but money to throw at Shiloh....money for what BO labeled earlier as their "slush fund." Just raise our taxes, and keep on doing as they do...
While Anon 9:34, 9:40, 9:47 sounds like a McHale supporter (or apologist), or perhaps Ms. McHale herself (?), this is a serious question on all of Council's heads, Democrat or Republican.
Take out the church issue, and just treat it as any non-profit receiving public tax monies. The problem is the same. The memo circulating, and posted previously on LVR, begs an answer to who is accounting for our tax money. AND, if there were problems in the past, why give them more money? That is a dereliction of Council's fiduciary responsibility.
Too bad, they get the votes, but the average Joe Voter either will not know, understand, or care what just happened.
They claim how tight their budget is. No money for Gracedale; Courthouse; prison; employee contracts....but money to throw at Shiloh....money for what BO labeled earlier as their "slush fund." Just raise our taxes, and keep on doing as they do...
sorry, glich caused previous post to show up twice.
Dave....Maybe you are the "laughing stock" or the "drunk". You seem to know all the bars in the area. Let's go back to the old cliche about the pot calling the kettle black. I think you have too much time on your hands worrying about if the Mayor goes to a bar or not. You are just as bad as the people who criticize Rich Grucela. BTW are bars a bad thing?
Phoebe
Bernie....You are right this is about the Shiloh Baptist Church. I stumbled upon this sight and find humor in some comments. First time "blogging." I will try to keep comments to myself. Unless I can't resist.
Phoebe
Rich G and Joe C are OK in my book.Sorry couldn't help myself.
Phoebe Winslow?
Any relation to Michael Winslow, the actor who can fake all the noises?
I give you credit Bernie, when you make up a sock puppet, at least you are learning to get creative about it.
So who did you retire? I haven't seen hayshaker in a while.
Dave...I went to 5 Points for dinner last night to find the Mayor. No sighting. I will keep searching....Bernie, right on with the Cuckoo...Kudos to you. And who or what is a Hayshaker? Sock Puppet? This guy must watch alot of cartoons...or is he starring in his own? The Baffoon per chance. BTW Bernie you make me laugh.
Pheebs
O'Hare is a racist.
Cuckoo.
Post a Comment