Wednesday evening's scheduled meeting of the Lehigh Valley Health Commission was a bust because Northampton County Council was unable to produce a quorum. Prior to the meeting, Council Prez Ann McHale was called by Diane Neiper, who is preparing to move to Cumberland County, and Rev. Dowd, who is recovering from pneumonia. She expected Council's seven remaining members to be there. Ron Angle, John Cusick and Peg Ferraro made the trip. But as Angle noted last night, "we looked like a bunch of jerks." Charles Dertinger, Lamont McClure and Joe Capozzolo were MIA.How good are these excuses?
Excuse No. 1 (Joe Capozzolo): I was Watching My Four Children.
Joe the Mayor's wife is out of town so he's watching his four children. He called Percy Dougherty on Monday, but never called McHale. He admitted he should have called her.
Excuse No. 2 (Charles Dertinger): Didn't You Get my Email?
"I had actually emailed Mr. Flisser [Council Clerk], responding to one of the emails I had about three days ago and unfortunately, I did not think to print that out today. ... I will forward the email that I sent to everyone here on council and then you can apologize at the following meeting."
Council Clerk Frank Flisser acknowledged that since the county's computer system switched, "things have been missed, things have been lost, things have come in triplicate, things have disappeared and we don't have a record of it. None of us has it. He may very well have sent it and none of us have received it."
Excuse No. 3 (Lamont McClure): We Don't Need no Steenkin' Health Commission.
"I had no intention of attending and have no intention of attending any others. Specifically, if I can grind the process to a halt - and five of you who support it can't get there - I now am very pleased to be able to try and do that.
"I support universal health care as a national solution. ... We want to form a bi-county health bureau using real estate tax dollars paid by people who won't be using it so that we can have - and it's an inconvenient truth - poor people treated at the health bureaus and get them out of our not for profit hospitals, who are sitting on enormous cash reserves. I'm just not willing to say to my constituents that you're going to have to pay more in real estate taxes to do that. It's not fair to them.
"We have a couple of very well endowed, not for profit, hospitals who should be treating poor people, quite frankly.
Stoffa: "Do you think it's wrong to make sure kids have inoculations? Do you think that's wrong?"
At this point, Stoffa and Angle began sparring over a favorable report prepared by the University of Pittsburgh. McClure claimed he read the report and his point was made in a footnote.
Stoffa: "Who said tax money was going to be used for it, other than you [Angle]?"
Angle: "You're full of crap if you think state money is going to fund it. ..."
Stoffa: "Read the report."
Angle: "You're full of crap."
Stoffa: "Get a couple of cigars and I'll read it to you."
Ron has agreed to let Stoffa come to his house Saturday night and read the report to him as a bed time story while taking his weekly bubble bath.
31 comments:
Angle is correct this is one of the greatest Hoaxes being sprung on the Counties. The Lehigh Valley Partnership is supporting this and that should tell you a great deal.
There is no way the State reinbursements will pay for all the services envisoned. This is a Godsend for the hospitals and the special interests who will make money off of this.
Angle and McClure make the most sense on this issue. Stoffa is bullshiting O'Hare. He may be your guy, but kids can already get any shots they need regardless of income through the State's child care initiative, look it up. I am offended that Stoffa would play the "poor child" card when it is blatently false. Too bad there are no knowledgable Council memebers to call him on this.
The County will end up putting out at least $2 million a year to start, over and above the State and that is before the anticipated State cuts. The State deficit is $3 billion and growing. In the next three years County Services funded by the State will be hit hard.
A nice idea but then so is free food, paid for by your neighbor. The County cannot afford this luxury and not one child will be hurt by not implementing this new bureauacracy. No more bullshit. If so many have to deceive and twist facts to ram a program through, it is wrong.
As I've said from Day One, the devil is in the details. I generally support the idea of a bi-county health department. It serves many purposes not performed by a hospital emergency room. It would be invaluable in the event of a pandemic.
There are, however, several important questions. You're right about cost. It will cost money, and real estate tax dollars are better spent elsewhere. Stoffa has suggested using gambling proceeds, which may work.
In addition to cost, we have service. At the inception, residents outside of Bethlehem and Easton will not receive the same service as those areas. Bethlehem has an active health dep't and it will take time to catch up.
It could be that this combination of cost and service ends up making the deal worthless, but it's too early to just kill the idea. I'd give them time to come up with a plan first.
Mr. McClure needs to learn about what public health is before making inaccurate statements. A public health department is not a clinic for the poor and uninsured. A public health department looks at the overall health of the community and addresses the factors that make us unhealthy. It's not health care.
Please, Lamont, before you go making inappropriate statements like this, get your facts straight. Statements like the ones reported here only make you look uninformed and antagonistic.
Angle is correct, as usual. And McClure gets credit for being forthright about his views, regardless of what they are. At least we know where these guys stand.
What's Cap's stance? His excuse is duly noted. I understand there are no available babysitters in the Slate Belt. But where does he stand on this issue?
How about Dertinger? And his e-mail story is shaky. He'll have to produce that e-mail as promised. But what's his take?
Dertinger supports the leakth department and said so last night, pointing out this is one area where he and McClure differ.
I do not know Cap's stance as he was no on council when the subject came up. I will ask him when i see him.
McClure spoke pretty forcefully, but he should have tolds McHale he was not going to the meeting. No matter what his view, he should have had enough respect for his fellow council mmebers and for LC Comm'rs to tell McHale he would not be there. It was rude of him to sit on his hands w/o telling anyone.
Heckman states he supports universal healthcare. A Callahan supporter states Callahan does too. Now McClure wants universal healthcare. Criticisms of Ferraro on terrorism, criticism of Grucela on the war. When are these dolts going to focus on what is in their realm of power (local politics) and stop talking about national issues they have no control over. If they want to create universal healthcare, stop the war or stop terrorism, they need to run against Dent and get out of local politics.
How can you be against the Bi-County Health Commission because you're FOR universal healthcare. I don't understad. Does McClure understand what universal healthcare is? What goofy district elected this guy?
Does Dertinger want Council to apologize to him? Does he feel that his is owed an apology?
From reading this, that statement makes no sense.
McClure isn't interested in anything not involving kickbacks.
Maybe salaries should be increased if Council members are too poor to afford babysitters.
"We don't care about children's health, the poor, health insurance, or the disadvantaged. We're LongDems. We only care about unions annual salary raises."
Isn't the professional thing to do to attend a meeting and vote and argue against something you don't agree with? If I don't like what my boss wants me to do, can me and all the employees just stay home? Oh right, a strike. McClure, unions I get it.
The Patnership folks are really spewing the BS. They want this golden goose to fly. There are a lot of folks who stand to make a lot of money off of this thing.
It is not self supporting and is illegal. You cannot ask County taxpayers to pay into a system that gives special services to Allentown and Bethlehem but denies it to people in Bangor or Easton. Show the Law that allows that, link please. Not the usual BS.
I'll agree that there are many unanswered questions and the support of the LV Partnership makes me suspicious, too. But this post is not really about that. This post is about council members who failed to make a quorum. We know no that one of them, McClure, lacked the respect for his colleagues in both counties to tell them he had no intention of attending.
Maybe McClure has a point. I'm interested in his counterpoint, but where must one go to hear it, his house?
This isn't the only meeting that there are no-shows. There are committees that these guys are assigned to as well. No-shows there as well. Remember this during the November election. Do NOT have short memories!
Anon 10:03- I'd be really interested in hearing about the people who are going to be making a lot of money off of this "golden goose". Are you serious?
I wish people who are tempted to make these types of outrageous comments could support them with some ACTUAL facts.
Anon 11:06 am,
Callahan is considering it by all accounts. So maybe you'll get your wish.
I still think McClure and Dirtinger couldn't find their way to Allentown and are just too embarrassed.
I don't think there's any money in this. If there were money to be made off these sick people, Dertinger and McClure would have been there early.
The hospitals want to get it up and running to divert the poor. Once operating it will expand and write contracts to connected non-profits in the field.
It has already been set-up. It is a hoax and Stoffa should apologize to Angle.
Anon 3:06:
Wow. What are you smoking? There are thousands of county health depts over the USA. Please show me one that is making money for hospitals. Stop spewing false statements and try to make a logic argument here.
What is this apology to Dertinger? How about an apology from him to the dumb bunnies that voted for him?
Why are there only a couple County Health Departments in a state with over 60 counties?
They know it is a cash pit, that serves no purpose other than be another way to take money from homeowners and redistribute it to the poor and connected non-profits. By getting the poor out of Hospital Emergency rooms, it saves hospitals money.
Also hospitals that under the Hall-Burton Act must provide care to the poor are now off the hook and move the poor to the County.
Your BS might work with some but there are folks who know the game you are playing.
You poor un-informed, paranoid people like Anon 5:33 think that public health departments are free clinics for the poor. Where hospitals provide health care to sick individuals, public health tries to improve the health of a population (like the Lehigh Valley) by looking at reaons why large amounts of people are getting sick.
The next time you are at the mall, an Iron Pigs game or the grocery store (even Wegmans), take a look around you. Do we look like a healthy group of people? For the most part, we are overweight, have a higher risk of cancer, diabetes, asthma, heart disease and low birth weight. Why is that? Is it just the poor people?
How do we as a community improve the overall health of the region? It isn't going to fix itself.
Look around. If you think we're a healthy looking group, then you are correct...we don't need a health department.
How good are these excuses? Not very good. If this were high school, they'd get detention, which is probably where most of Council spent their high school days, those that graduated at least.
County Health Department=$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Somebody will pay for the poor habits of others. With all the health information out there isn't this a bit redundant? Of course it is, Angle is right and I hopw he doesn't back down. There is big $$$$to be made by those in the group. Taxpayer pays money, connected get checks.
I generally support the idea of a bi-county health department. It is ridiculous to suggest this exists solely so that hositals can turn their back on the poor. I disagree with McClure and Angle on that point.
I can see a lot of uses in the event of a national health crisis. As things stand, we are overdue for a pandemic. A health bureau, especially on a regional basis, has infrastructure that creates efficiencies, thus maximizing resources for vital health care.
I got a small glance at that during the recent flu scare. The reaction will be much better with a functioning regional health department.
But I do not support the use of real estate tax revenue for this idea. I agree with Angle & McClure on that point.
What they are doing is trying to kill this thing before we even know precisely what they would like to do or how much it will cost and how it will be funded. If everyone is acting in good faith, then why not wait?
Anon 5:33 who asks why there are only a few BiCounty health depts? Why are there only a few County Executives? Would you prefer and have County Council have free rein over the County just because the majority of the counties don't have an exec? Why is there not one jail as old as ours? That doesn't seem to bother us that we have the oldest jail in the State? Not a good argument. Find another one.
Deflection. If the State were giving away money for a free County Health Department, counties would line up with hands out and take credit. Fact is most Counties know full well that a County health Department is a bottemless cash pit. A new bureaucracy that once created will grow and grow. It will cost far more than the State reimburses and it will never go away.
You may piss on peoples leg and say it is a gentle warm rain, but some of us know from experience what the con is with this setup.
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