"Hey, I enjoyed this! Thank you."That was the closest thing to an outburst at last night's meeting of Northampton County Council. It came at the end, so I'm not even sure it counts. The culprit was council's newest member, Jerry Seyfried, who was astonished at how smoothly things went. Me? I'm pissed.
Usually, I have reams and reams of insults that I gleefully reproduce here so we can all chuckle about the most dysfunctional legislative body in the Lehigh Valley. Comments like "He's staring at me" and "I know you are but what am I." But last night, there was nothing. Nada. Now how the hell am I supposed to write a witty and condescending blog about their goofy antics when everyone is behaving? Throw me a frickin' bone, people!
Everybody showed up. There were no ad hominems (that means personal attacks, for those of you who are LongDems). Democrat Lamont McClure actually went out of his way to compliment Republican John Cusick, who did do a terrific job going through applications for appointment to the county's new gaming authority. Cusick actually started blushing at the praise. Then Council Prez Ann McHale lavished praise on Lamont McClure for all the work he did in drawing up the initial gaming authority ordinance.
I was just about to hurl, but council went into executive session and my stomach was able to settle down.
After the meeting adjourned, they all went ballroom dancing.
So how the hell did a Northampton County Council meeting turn into a love fest? There are two theories. First, Jerry Seyfried's statesmanlike presence made a difference. Dertinger and McClure are a little intimidated by Seyfried, and need to feel him out a little more before throwing their usual grenades. Second, Council did its homework for once. Two of its committees actually met earlier in the week, making last night's job easy.
Whatever the reason, they looked pretty good last night.
It better not happen again.
33 comments:
If we're talking Lamonts, I'll take Cranston over McClure.
Boooooooooring. I could have been reading Bill White's blog on his favorite Eddie Murphy movies instead of this. Your blog is curtains Bernie unless they start misbehaving again.
I had my flipcam all set to record some Dertinger insults. I even put new batteries in the damn thing. But it was bad. They they were unanimous on all but one vote. No deputy sheriffs came in to whine about not getting paid triple time to cover an Easton football game.
I began thinking I was in Bethlehem City Council meeting.
Good government may be nice for taxpayers, but it's a death sentence to a blogger.
Is there a full moon or something?
No one is intimidated by Jerry.
It's the Jerry factor for sure. Dertinger wasn't chewing gum during the meeting for once. I'm sure he was afraid Jerry'd make him take it out of his mouth and wear it on his nose for the rest of the meeting. I heard that the $100,000 conference table that Anna bought where Charles sits has hundreds of pieces of chewed gum stuck to the underside.
Seven months into the year and there was bound to be one of these overdue quirks. Maybe somebody spiked the water bottles?
Dan says: This civility started when they appointed Joe Cap. He has been ignoring the personal crap & trying to do a good job. Add Jerry to the mix, and all of a sudden good government. Presto!
Joe Cap has been classy, too, I agree. He does shy away from the personal stuff.
When is your buddy Dertinger going to collect his faded campaign signs from 191 and Oakland Rd and 33 & Wm Penn Highway?
Irish hertitage today at IPP, O'Hare
"IronPigs' John Ennis In Revolutionary War?"
We know the majority of Americans HATE their country's history!
Still, WILLIAM ALLEN WAS A TORY and LOYALIST OF THE BRITISH CROWN and, as graduates of his high school, we feel the need to make up for that!
1/3 of the American colonies were Loyalists and against independence. It was a lot messier than the documentaries, Williamsburg displays, museums, historical society lectures, and Mel Gibson movies suggest - many separated families, lost fortunes, infighting, chaos, spying, backstabbing, and people taking advantage of others for their own gain with the divide between Americans. Most of the signers of the Declaration of Independence went bankrupt afterward (such as Easton's George Taylor) and most of the Loyalists left our continent penniless or were expelled (like the Allen men). James Allen actually secured special permission to exile in France but died in Philly before he could make the boat ride. The Allen women stayed and married pro-Independence American men and prospered, one built a mansion right where the Post Office is now on Hamilton St.
THe real story of James Allen is that he was a fence sitter that suffered a Loyalist's fate. If you read his diary, he didn't like George III or the British govt. but didn't want to go to war and separate. He decided to abandon his mansions and property in Philly when the British took possession of Philly and hide out at Trout Hall where he was visited by people like John Adams and other big wigs on the Independence side. Allen also never did any harm to the Independence movement either. He wrote in his diary every day except if something happened that could hurt the colonists. For instance, the day the LIberty Bell was hidden in Zion's Church, he didn't write anything in his diary in case it was confiscated and it was found out what the Americans were doing. The problem was that Allentown at the time had only 20 homes and they were all PA Dutchies who were working class bakers and blacksmiths, etc... the only people of the Allens' socio economic level, educated in England like the Allens, and who they knew, were captured British officers being held in Lehigh County and Norco COunty. ALlen would get permission to entertain these officers at Trout Hall so as to not die of boredom in this dirtwater town that you had to arrive at my boat on the Lehigh River. The "Americans" hated him for entertaining the British. They would rip his fences down and use them for firewood and make him pay 5 times the price of goods and not allow him to collect rent, et...One day Mrs. Allen and her little girls' carriage was attacked in the driveway of Trout Hall by American Revolutionary soldiers. It was overturned, the leather canopy ripped with bayonets while the little girls screamed bloody murder and the slave driving it had his face smashed in with a rifle butt. A colonel stopped them "Are you here to fight the King or to terrorize innocent women and children???" he said.. But that's when James ALlen was like, "OK, get the passports . We're outta here" and he applied to exile in France. Exiling in England would have made him seem too suspiciously Tory. (The Allens would have spoken many languages including French) In philly while waiting for the boat, he fell sick and died. All James' other brothers were diehard anti-Independence loyalists though. The ones that didn't die during the war had to return to England. They sued for their money and property in Philly and Allentown but lost. Allens' wife remarried here and his daugthers married a Governore of New York and a Tilghman I believe, another a Turner (basically all the streets downtown represent the men the Allen girls married). It's very interesting. I encourage people to visit Trout Hall and hear their story.
Correction on the above: THere was no Lehigh County back then. It was all Northampton County. Lehigh County broke away in the 1800s as its own county. Back then Easton was the big city, Bethlehem was a small, closed religious community where only Moravians were allowed to live, Allentown was a struggling PA Dutch village basically.
jerry = sense and sensiblity
FOR ALL THOSE WHO WEEP FOR THE ALLEN FAMILY:
British atrocities at the BATTLE OF PAOLI (Sept 21, 1777)
"British atroicites violated acceptable war-time norms when they gave no quarter (mercy) and used 'cold steel' (bayonnets) on the wounded and captured. The British units were forever marked by this DISGRACE"
This is a DIRECT QUOTE from:
USHISTORY.ORG/PAOLI/INFO/FAQ.HTM
Harry History:
It is true 1/3 were Patriots, 1/3 were Loyalists (Tories), 1/3 were fence-sitters waiting to see who would win
Tell us about BANASTRE "Butcher" TARLTON
Tell us about PRISON SHIPS used by the British
Hey Stoffa your faded old signs are still up all over your benefactor Atiyahs uncut properties in the County.
How about cleaning up your crap.
HEADLING: THe REvolution is over and we won.
Now build a school and learn how to read and write.
Dan says: WTF?
The subject here is a Northampton County Council meeting, not the revolutionary war or the Irish. I have already deleted a few. IPP, please knock it off.
God Bless County Council. Look at the Administration they must contend with. They need to legislate what needs to get done. Then it is Stoffa's job to implement it. Otherwise nothing will happen.
No County Council Policy then the Administration is breaking the law.
Can someone translate the above comment into English?
I liked it better when Norco Council resembled a Village Idiots COnvention.
Between the Administration and Council, the inmates are truely running the asylum.
McHale and Long need to clean up Stoffa signs too . When Long and McHale paid the Union guys to steal Stoffa signs and put hers up the same night, they changed their minds after everyone called them on it, the lazy Union guys were told to put some back, they put Stoffa signs back out near their houses and didn't bother to put them back where they stole them. That's why you still see Stoffa signs in weird places like on Hamilton St. in downtown Allentown. They'll be there forever cause Stoffa's people didn't put them out, McHale's did .
Anon 3:52, you were a writer for the Bush White House right? With that crazy a conspiracy theory to expalin Stoffaites being to lazy to clean up their signs is indeed incredible. Bravo
You are perfect for the O'Hare propaganda machine, comrade!
The day after my post about the stolen Stoffasigns published, a number was planted back in the ground. I know this as one of the persons who saw what happened. So Anon 3:52 speaks the truth while the LongDems troop before a statewide grand jury. Have fun.
Iy's a Stoffa operative saying so. I didn't know that so it must be true.
Where is ken mohr?
It's true. A few days after the missing Stoffa signs disappeared and people started talking about it, they started reappearing in strange places like cemeteries and in Lehigh COunty and downtown Allentown, all backwards and turned the wrong way and bunched close together. It looked sloppy enough to be a Union job. You can still see some of them. Stoffa picked up all his the day after his victory. Those Stoffa signs that are still out there are McHale's and Long's stolen ones.
I saw Stoffa goons put out signs the way they would think longdems would do it. See that way you would naturally assume it was long dem union thugs, the scheme worked perfectly.
You can believe me, cause I was there. LOL
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