Local Government TV

Friday, September 04, 2009

Seyfried's Gotta' Go

You think I like writing about Allentown?

Listen, I live in Nazareth, and it takes me at least an hour to get to Hamilton Street. I have to feed my aging Jeep oil every two miles. But the way things are going in Northampton County, I may soon have to relocate there. Yes, I may soon be blogging from one of King Edwin's KOZ condos in Peanutville. Maybe I'll join the Life Church and apply for one of those Queen City grants, too. I'll ride LANTA and go to art shows. Reason? Northampton County Council. Commonly recognized as the most dysfunctional legislative body in the Lehigh Valley, they are really letting me down. Yeah, I'm a big advocate of good government, but I never expected to see it here. It's really boring. For the third meeting in a row, Northampton County Council is far too damn civil.

It's all Jerry Seyfried's fault.

Every time they get ready to start blowing oil, Jerry Seyfried pulls his tie tight around his neck, kinda' like Rodney Dangerfield, and then starts making sense. He even pulls out his tattered copy of the Home Rule Charter and starts reading the damn law.

Isn't that cheating?

Let me give you an example. Two weeks ago, council members were all set to appoint members to one of the county's many board for terms of a gazillion years. But Jerry ruined everything. He quietly pulled out his worn Charter and told them it prohibits appointments that exceed two years. Instead of ignoring him or just telling him to go &^%$ himself, like they usually do, they actually modified the terms of appointment.

It happened again last night. Council member John Cusick wants to see a new Sheriff soon, and they all started talking about the goofy procedure for appointing a new Sheriff. Apparently the Exec submits three names to the President Judge, the President Judge can add another two, and Council has the last word. Or maybe Council submits seven names and the judges have the final say. No one is sure.

But that bastard Jerry Seyfried cheated and brought up our County Constitution again, declaring that only the Exec has sole power to appoint the next Sheriff, subject to confirmation by County Council. As he explained things, a previous County Council thumbed its nose at the Charter and adopted an ordinance giving the President Judge some say in the selection of a member of Stoffa's cabinet.

According to Jerry, that's wrong. "When that happened, I was one of the first guys who said, 'Are you nutz? Do you think the courts are going to come to you and ask you to approve the Court Administrator?' If this Sheriff messes up, and he gets in trouble, do you think the President Judge is going to answer for that? Of course not. I think you ought to repeal that ordinance. If he[Stoffa] is responsible for him, he ought to have the right to appoint him."

So now, Angle and Stoffa will introduce a new ordinance that removes the bench from the Sheriff selection process. It appears to have nearly unanimous support, too. Lamont McClure, believe it or not, thinks this is a good idea. Cusick would prefer to stick to the old process for the current replacement, but agrees that the ordinance must be repealed.

Rancor, name-calling and petty squabbles have been replaced by ... bipartisanship. It's very sad.

After the meeting was over, Seyfried approached Angle in the parking lot and thanked him for his input, telling him Council can get a lot more done when it works together. Ron loves it. Personally, I think Jerry is slipping ludes in Ron's "spring water." They do sit next to each other. Whatever the explanation, it's killing me. Who the hell wants to read about a government that is actually working?

At this rate, I'll be in Allentown before they have a new Sheriff. I hope I can find those pics of Jerry in bed with three underage nuns, but for now, all I have is this picture of a harmless giraffe that Jerry senselessly murdered. I'll be forewarding it to PETA.

As everyone left the meeting room, the weirdness continued. Charles Dertinger walked up to me. I assumed my tae kwon do stance, but he actually smiled. "I hear you've been saying nice things about me," he said, referring to a post praising Dertinger's integrity for refusing to allow a disgruntled bidder to sway him over the casino assessment contract. I denied writing it.

"Please stop saying nice things about me. It hurts my fundraising efforts."

Then he actually patted me on the back.

It can't last.

20 comments:

  1. This is horrible news for fans of LV Ramblings. They'd better start acting up again because I can't take one more post about that gdamn playground on steroids.

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  2. Stoffa will cave to the courts.

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  3. Gerry has ALWAYS demonstrated pretty good instincts and the ability to build consensus. Reibman should have taken his advice more often.

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  4. Last time these knuckleheads all got along, taxpayers took the high hard one. Get ready to pay, NorCo contributing class. Gerry likes taxing and spending as much as the next D.

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  5. If he brings a sense of order to that place and rehabs his reputation at the same time - good for him. Though I am still waiting for the other hunting boot to drop.

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  6. Great picture of "Bessie the Cow"

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  7. DantheMan says,
    This civility started in January with the appointment of Joe Capozzolo. It continued with Gerry.
    I dont think Joe gets enough credit for his "calming" effect. Maybe he should move to Lehigh

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  8. What a turnaround for county council in one year! Queen Ann was de-clawed by her primary election drubbing.Jerry S. was added to bring civility to the mob. And Mayor Joe has done his part to strike an air of bipartisan cooperation with the group. This seems to have de-railed rancor caused by the M-D-M triad. One can only hope that it continues, despite robbing BO of juicy blog material!

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  9. Isn't that a gazelle?

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  10. I think it's a bear.

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  11. It's one of those cardboard cutouts at a photo booth at the fair.

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  12. Jerry is Joe Long with out the wig.

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  13. Not so casual observerSeptember 4, 2009 at 11:01 PM

    Don't you worry Bernie ,McClure and Dertinger will be back to their usual stunts right after the elections

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  14. I wish Seyfreid would run so he could stay on after the five months. He's needed. He's like a babysitter.

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  15. Seyfried is running in 13. The funny thing is the Republicans backed him thinking he wasn't going to run and be a threat.

    Haha, I love it.

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  16. Bernie,

    Jerry is the best. I worked with him at Beth Steel .. he always demonstrated leadership. When we had "coffee club" problems in our break room, Jerry was instrumental in solving the crisis and ensured the guyz who wanted de caf got it, and the others continued to have fresh caffeinated coffee..

    PS - In the pix ??? It looks like one of our unaccounted for Feral Cats in Coplay ???

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  17. Browning tells me it's Pip the Mouse.

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  18. I hear Seyfried has secretly slipped a sedative in Angles drink at council meetings. Mission accomplished.

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  19. Stoffa is not the only tool of the Court, so was Jerry because he believed they were smarter.sheeezus chriiiistmas!

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