Politics, Northampton County Council Style

Just when you think Northampton County Council could never get any worse, they do. But at least they now have an excuse for their dysfunctional behavior. It's election time, baby. County Council Prez Ann (64% taxhike) McHale is running for county executive. Council members John Cusick, Peg Ferraro and Charles Dertinger are in reelection contests. But McHale is going to have to dip into the contingency fund and buy a whip or stun guns to keep council in order.

At first, everything was fine. They were all very cordial as they discussed the pros and cons of a gaming authority and how it should be constituted. Ron Angle, the Northampton County Bullgdog, was even wearing a nice brown suit. But this was the calm before the storm.

That changed when Council reached a $4.35 million county contract for pharmacy services at Gracedale. Let me explain how this works. All county contracts over $100 thousand must be approved by county council. The idea is to keep an administration from playing footsie with campaign contributors or cronies. When a contract goes out to bid or Requests For Proposals (RFP), County Council is always notified and any member has a right to participate in the process.

Four weeks ago, the administration proposed awarding this pharmacy contract to an outfit called Continuing Care RX. Although no council member had participated in the selection committee in any way, McHale suddenly expressed doubts about the company, claiming she had been told their services had been terminated at a few other nursing homes. Asked where she got her information, McHale refused to divulge her source. The matter was tabled.

It soon became very apparent where McHale got her information. One of the unsuccessful bidders just happens to be Homestar Pharmacy, an arm of St. Luke's Hospital. That's a source of many votes and lots of campaign dough. Were they whispering in Ann's ear?

That's what I suspect because two weeks ago, when this contract was up before council again, Homestar was there in force. They spent much of their time warning that Continuing Care might be sold and that they are more local. In other words, they were asking council to reverse the work previously done by the selection committee. McHale and Dertinger jumped on the Homestar bandwagon, complaining the county has some unwritten obligation to award contracts to local vendors. Instead of considering the best interests of the county, they appear to have been considering the best interests of their campaign warchests.

Once again, the matter was tabled with a suggestion from Angle that the administration allow Homestar to make a presentation. Stoffa refused. As he explained to Express Times Reporter Sarah Cassi, "All we've done is open ourselves up to a lawsuit from the people who were awarded the bid. I think what we have here is county council messing with the executive branch of county government. They should either approve it or deny it."

Last night, County Council considered this contract for a third time. This time, Homestar representative Rusty Kuchta arrogantly insisted that Stoffa had screwed up by signing the contract (even though it has not been implemented without council approval) and if he had made such a horrible mistake, he would be fired. This was music to McHale's ears.

But Human Services Director Ross Marcus told Council they need to act. A recent Department of Health evaluation revealed that 10 of 31 Gracedale residents currently lack the medications prescribed by physicians. They are not arriving in a timely manner.

This time, Council finally approved the contract. But McHale, McClure and Dertinger amazingly acted as though the administration just springs these contracts on them at the last minute. McClure actually insisted these matters must first be reviewed by a council committee, which would be a good idea except that this was already the third time this particular contract was being considered.

Perplexed at McClure's sudden interest in committees, Angle started the slugfest be telling Lamont, "Your own record at committee meetings is dismal."

McClure: "You abdicated your responsibility, which is what you do. You abdicate your responsibility. ...

Angle (to McHale): "He's out of order."

McClure: "You abdicate your responsibility. You're a failure as a public official. You're an utter failure...

Angle: "He's out of order."

McHale: "Do you want to put a muzzle on him?"

Angle: "I know what's happening. They all yanked the executive's chain."

McHale: "You're both out of order."

Angle: "OK, Honey Girl." (Angle tells me "Honey Girl" was McHale's nickname when she was twenty, about three years ago).

McHale: "I'd like the record to reflect Ron Angle being out of order."

Later in the evening, Angle told council member Diane Neiper she's been a "loyal puppet" and she responded, "Well, you have a few on here." Dertinger, at the very end, made a sarcastic motion that Angle reveal his record on every vote he's ever cast. Angle started, too, but everyone ran out of there.

Ron's was still there, an hour later. I think he's talking about the swaption. I grabbed him and we went to Tic Toc.

Update: Morning Call reporter Michael Duck, over at Two Rivers Daily, has his own take on the childish behavior last night. He notes that Angle at one point asked Dertinger to "kiss my ass," and that's one clever retort I failed to include here. That's why Mike gets the big bucks. Throughout the meeting, Duck and fellow reporter Matt Assad were talking and giggling. I'm surprised they escaped detention.