ScrappleFace is No Joke!

He calls himself a member of the "new media." I like that. I think I'm in that club, too.

I'm talking about Scott Ott, who is running against Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham this Fall. If you know anything about Scott at all, you most likely know him as "ScrappleFace," where he takes a satirical look at national news. He also blogs, a little more seriously, at Townhall and even has a column with The Washington Examiner.

I met Scott and Bob Romancheck for lunch at Stahleys, a great sportsbar built with no public money or tax breaks. I love their cheesesteaks, but my grandson is partial to the clams. At age 8, he's already wolfed down 8 dozen in one sitting. Once Bob uttered the magic word "Stahleys," everything else became a jumble in my aging mind. He did mention Scott, but I thought he was talking about Allentown pundit Scott Armstrong, bane of liberals everywhere. Armstrong is actually quite the refined guy in person, no doubt the result of a liberal and refined French wife. He listens to classical music and everything! So I figured we would get together and discuss Plato.

Instead of seeing Scott Armstrong, Romancheck introduced me to the very well-dressed Scott Ott, who was sitting at a table looking very much like a patient about to undergo root canal. He knows I'm a big Cunningham cheerleader.

What struck me right away were the similarities between Ott and Cunningham. Both are charming in person, obviously good-hearted people who actually listen to you. Both have a background in journalism and public relations. Both have great radio voices. But that's where the similarities end. For one thing, Cunningham's warchest is in the vicinity of $700 thousand, while the ScrappleFace web page reveals just $671 as of last night.

"You know you can't win," I told him, perhaps a bit too cavalierly. For a moment, just a heartbeat, he took on a steely look, then relaxed. It dawned on me then that Ott, despite his humor and satire, is in this race to win. He's never held elected office, has no money, is challenging the Lehigh Valley's most formidable politician, and is nevertheless convinced he can win. Or perhaps he believes that the issues matter more than the final victor.

I think the main difference between these candidates is that, while Cunningham believes government exists to help people unable to fend for themselves, Ott believes government's primary role is to "protect people from being oppressed by other people." He refused to classify himself, noting that if he told me was a Republican, I would know nothing more about him than I did before.

Doesn't that sound just like a Republican?

If elected, he told me he would focus on balancing the budget and reducing Lehigh County government, which he claims has grown from $345 million in 2006 to $405 million in 2009. Most of this, he acknowledges, is state pass through money, but he questions this reliance on state funding. "We are essentially helpless to do so many things because we are so dependent on the state."

As far as balancing the budget is concerned, he and I had some disagreements. He notes that Lehigh County spends more money than it takes in annually, and that's certainly true. But he fails to consider that Lehigh County has a tax relief fund established by Republicans for the specific purpose of balancing the budget. Why shouldn't Cunningham use that fund when revenues become meager? Ott disputes that, but it's called a tax relief fund for a reason. There's also a tax stabilization fund, a $20 million rainy day fund that Cunningham has left untouched.

Although the budget has grown, largely as a result of state pass through grants, Cunningham has actually reduced the size. He has fewer people working for the county now than at any time since 1995.

Ott stated he would support the elimination of offices that serve no vital roles, anything to be a "good fiscal steward."

Community policing grants? No.

State tree grants? No. "The whole thing is a shell game."

Noting that Cunningham will soon be proposing a new budget, Ott claims at the current rate, a major tax increase is only a matter of time. He worries how this will impact seniors on fixed incomes. "They can't rip a piece of siding off and roll it into the county when taxes go up. We owe it to these people to treat every single penny as though it was precious."

As our lunch went by and Ott's hamburger began to kick in, he grew more passionate. I admire his willingness to give voters an alternative, a debate that I'm sure Cunningham himself will enjoy. As Ott put it himself, and this is no joke, "I really hope people start paying attention to county government. Four hundred and five million dollars will blow through the county this year and most people don't even know we have a county executive."

Did he make the sale? No. I still prefer Don's less ideological approach to local government, and have never seen a county executive make a difficult job look so easy. But if you advocate limited government, Scott is the man for you. He promises a few surprises as his campaign progresses. I hope none of them involves farm animals.