Did Stoffa Just Punk Ron Angle?

When Northampton County Council last met, I thought they were going to have to cart Bulldog Ron Angle away on a stretcher. He was blowin' oil over Exec John Stoffa's unusual "budget of choices." Of course, he up getting an Express Times Turkey and the usual Bill White condemnation for his histrionics. Stoffa was nailed, too, for a lack of leadership.

Since that time, Radiator Ralph has thrown Angle on a lift and patched him up, but Ron still insisted on attending Stoffa's budget presentation to business leaders last week where, once again, he complained bitterly. But it just hit me that Angle, nobody's fool, is doing exactly what Stoffa had hoped he'd do. In fact, Stoffa lent Angle his own Director of Fiscal Affairs (Vic Mazziotti) and Budget Administrator (Doran Hamann) to come up with a budget that will very likely sail through Council with little controversy.

I'm beginning to think Angle was punked. It did not hit me until I reviewed the videos today, and noticed that Stoffa had a difficult time keeping a straight face at times. You can see it, too.

When it comes to budgets, Stoffa is pretty much a master at getting what he wants. Years ago, when he oversaw Human Services, he once appeared at a budget hearing wearing a bulletproof vest. That evoked enough laughter to enable Stoffa to get what he wanted. In 2006, he was able to get a half mill tax incease for his pay-as-you-go open space program despite the opposition of a Democratic majority, who wanted to invade the rainy day fund. Now, he has conned Angle into coming up with a budget that delivers on the Exec's key priorities - the sale of Gacedale and a DUI center in West Easton.

Here are some excerpts from Stoffa and Angle at Northampton Community College, along with my own question, followed by Angle's promise to present a budget, exactly as Stoffa has asked.

Angle: "So now the dilemma you have given us is a smart politician, frankly, would vote for your budget because it has no tax increase and has no cuts. It gives everybody in the world what they want. It's typical government.

"But you do know that's not the right answer. You do understand that spending the budgetary reserve - you not only want to eat the seed corn, but you now want to burn up the corn crib in the wood stove."

Stoffa: "Mr. Angle ..."

Angle: "So you want s to now sit down and do the budget for you. That's basically what you're saying. ...:

Stoffa: "Mr. Angle, is it so hard for you to cut something out of the budget?"

Angle: "I could cut that budget all day long. I'll show you that in the next couple of days."

Stoffa: "Then what's the problem? I don't understand what the problem is."

Angle: "The problem is you are a leader. You are the chosen leader. It is your job to lead. As Bernie said, you should have presented a budget like Cunningham done - I'm not a big Cunningham fan, but it said, 'Here is my plan. Here is where I want to lead you. Will you follow me or show me how you want me to go?'

"You said, 'Boof! Here it goes. You come up with it, you be the leader, I'm not going to deal with it.' That's what happened. It's not complicated. I don't feel that's leadership."

I later asked Stoffa about his leadership. "Mr. Stoffa, I was at a meeting in Hanover Township last night, where Township Manager Jay Finnigan talked about the Northampton County budget and said it was multiple choice."

Stoffa: (smiling) "I'm happy he did."

O'Hare: "Bill White, as you are aware, and even I have said that it exhibits a lack of leadership on your part. Can you explain to me and explain to my readers what it is about your budget, why it is leadership?"

Stoffa: "Well, everybody has a different opinion about everything, but I think basically this budget presented a lot of options. I've heard from open space people, I've heard from people who want to keep Gracedale open, and the budget allows all that to happen if you want to do one of two things: if you want to raise taxes by two mills; or if you want to take the money out of fud balance. I don't think anybody is going to raise taxes by two mills. I don't think that's possible. With the sale of Gracedale, as I've called for, would give us $25 to $31 million.

"I disagree that that budget does not represent leadership."

Angle: "There's many, many things that could be cut in that budget. As I said yesterday, I intend to, seeing how you haven't done it, sit down and draw up a real budget."