Local Government TV

Monday, March 09, 2009

Will Power & Bill Hall Rage Against Northampton County Dem Machine

In the same scam used to get himself elected, Northampton County Dem Boss Joe Long has a penchant for scheduling endorsement meetings without notifying people he'd rather not see. He did that in 2007, when the party endorsed its favored few over Will Power and Bill Hall for county council seats. He's done it again this year, asking a handful of about thirty committeemen to endorse a slate at what he himself called "petition signing meeting." There was no roll call. Candidates who may not even be committee members were never told they had no vote.

Refusing to go gently into that good night, Power and Hall are again running for county council.

Last time he ran, Power was the victim of a vicious smear campaign orchestrated by Lamont McMud, which even included allegations that Power had assaulted his own disabled brother. Unfortunately, he has passed away a few years ago, and Power was forced to produce a surreal voice from the past on his laptop. "My brother never struck me or did anything to hurt me. I apologize for what I did. I love 'ya, brother." Even State Senator Lisa Boscola, Will's sister, publicly denied the allegations. It was too little, too late.

Bill Hall believes he should represent the people, not some party machine. He advocates thorough and honest reform in our government institutions, arguing that integrity, independence and courage should be the qualifications of a candidate. He has previously condemned Northampton County Democratic machine politics. Last year, Hall considered filing a primary challenge to Sam Bennett, but backed off at the midnight hour.

Isn't it time for Big D Democrats to start acting like little d democrats and let the people decide these things?

Update: Power's In, But Hall is Out. Although Bill Hall assisted in gathering petitions, he himself will not be a candidate in this year's council race. Power filed his nomination petition late this afternoon in an office swamped by paper and candidates.

19 comments:

  1. Don't forget how the Long/Dertinger Democrats screwed over Heckman. They never even gave him the courtesy of a heads up and he was a former Democratic officeholder.
    I think those are the snubs that will one day derail these guys. You may have attacked and be-littled him but Heckman did something most of these clowns have never done and that is win three Countywide races.
    I was disapointed he decided not to run for either Executive or council, Team Dert would have looked pretty silly when he ended up top vote getter.

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  2. Will might finally win this time. He's come a long way. He's married, has a son I believe, and has settled down. He has always had a good heart and is a hard worker. However, he needs to run a serious campaign this time. He needs to raise and spend money. I wish him well.

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  3. "Tom Foolery said...
    Will might finally win this time. He's come a long way. He's married, has a son I believe, and has settled down. He has always had a good heart and is a hard worker. However, he needs to run a serious campaign this time. He needs to raise and spend money. I wish him well.

    7:13 AM"

    Ditto.

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  4. Should Will make it, we'll go from bad to worse...

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  5. Bad to worse. No getting worse.

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  6. Will Power is still the same nutty creep he has always been.

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  7. So deprive the voters of the opportunity to decide that themselves? No group of thirty or less Dems should be deciding these things.

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  8. Was Heckman informed about the meeting? If not that was low. If he jnew but didn't get the endorsement so what.

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  9. Same nutty creep? Is it you Senator Shelby of Alabama?

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  10. O'Hare tried to the game the board for Stoffa but it didn't work. He only got one candidate to not run but McHale will soldier on.

    Stoffa must be thrilled he only has one opponent.

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  11. Wow! My blog convinced Heckman not to run?

    Actually, Heckman could and should have run. He just had to distance himself from hacks like you.

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  12. I see that will power is running for two different positions and it is is not legal to hold both at the same time.

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  13. How serious is he about either position?

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  14. A constable is elected by the people but serves basically as an independent contractor w/one or several magistrates. But is a constable legally proscribed from sitting on county council?

    I believe these are most likely compatible positions, but will do some research next week.

    Interesting.

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  15. The new solicitor has ruled that you can not hold 2 paying elected positions.Therefor since a county council job is paid by county and a constable is paid by fiscal affairs dept of county whenever the defendant does not pay or he does prisoner transport or the plaintiff is indigent I am sure the positions are incompatible. I guess he is not too serious about council since constable pays much better.

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  16. Far be it from me to question the accuracy of the news account, but that's not what Zito ruled. Branco, at the time of his appointment, was being paid by Hellertown. The question is whether the two positions are incompatible under the Pa. Constitution, not whether they are paid. I will look into this, but believe the account is inaccurate. It happens rarely, but happens.

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  17. my info came from mcall article in b section today about ron angle.

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