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Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Browning Survives Attempted Coup in Lehigh County


Yesterday was a day of surprises - unpleasant in Northampton but pleasant in Lehigh County. After voting to support Don Cunningham's 16.1% tax hike last year, Dean Browning was told his political career was over. But last night, he was re-elected Chairman of Lehigh's Board of Commissioners in a 6 to 3 vote.

The Morning Call's Bill White, a witness at Northampton County's coup d'etat earlier that day, told me he tries to attend a municipal reorganizations. They sound dull, but you never know, even when you do. Damn if he wasn't right, in both Counties. Insider fighting and egos just bubbled to the surface.

On the surface, everything was quite genteel in Lehigh, a far cry from the People's Republic of Northampton County. But if you knocked over a few rocks, a "Dump Dean" battle was raging. GOP Boss Wayne Woodman and Scott Ott, still angry that Dean had dared defy them over the tax hike, were scurrying about just beneath the surface, doing their best to ensure Dean's ouster. Scott Ott has an ulterior motive. He intends to run for Commissioner himself. Deposing Dean as chair would be a great lead in to the primary.

Dr. Percy Dougherty, a geologist, is used to being underneath rocks. But when he crawled out to twist a few arms, he must have gone too far. Commissioner Gloria Hamm blasted all the pressure "going on behind back doors. The fact that this is becoming such a dog-eat-dog fight - I've live in Lehigh County all my life. I've never seen this. This is really an embarrassment."

Dougherty learned late yesterday that, no matter how hard he tried, he was one vote shy. So he pretended to support the guy he was trying his best to dump. In fact, as only a good politician can do, he nominated Browning.

This is where things get truly bizarre. Dean obviously had five votes, but instead of making it unanimous and providing a show of unity, Andy Roman went ahead and nominated Glenn "Commissioner No" Eckhart. One of Roman's arguments is that Browning, as Chairman, would have an unfair advantage over other at-large candidates in this year's election.

Amazingly, Echkhart accepted, even though he probably would not be sitting in his seat except for the money that Browning had raised for him in a tough contest against Hillary Kwiatek's well-financed campaign.

Browning and Eckhart both gave eloquent (and lengthy) speeches, but nobody was paying attention. This was a power play, pure and simple, and the battle had been lost earlier that day. Aside from Roman and Eckhart himself, only Rev. Dave Jones was willing to vote for Commissioner No.

Bill Hansell, the LC Comm'r appointed to replace Bill Leiner last February, was elected VP. Because my tape cut out, I am unable to tell you how Tom Creighton voted. All four Dems voted for Hansell, along with Dean Browning.

Dr. Dougherty waxed poetic about the importance of bipartisanship and a tradition of having a Chair and Vice Chair from both parties, and then inexplicably supported Roman, a fellow Republican.

Roman, who earlier complained that a Chairman would have an unfair advantage in an at-large election, apparently had no problem in running for Vice Chair and seeking re-election to his at large seat.

I asked affable Dan McCarthy, who was Vice Chair, why he decided to step down. Are the rumors true? Does he plan to run for judge? He smiled, and said, "Those rumors just might be true."

Sitting next to me last night was the famous Dr. Bob "the stud" Romancheck, wearing his silk scarf and leather flying jacket. He talked about flying or something, and supported Dean. In a matter of minutes, a woman was swooning over him. What is with this guy? Things got so rowdy at one point that Chairman Browning had to admonish the woman who was throwing herself at Dr. Bob.

Who was this femme fatale? Cheryl Browning, Dean's wife.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

I see a trend: yesterday the extremists lost. Browning withstood a challenge from the hard right of Roman, Eckhart and Creighton and Angle got dumped (I know you love Angle, but he is on the hard hard right of county gov't). Commonsense prevailed as the hard right needs to learn that it actually needs to cooperate with the middle and sometimes the left to get something done. I doubt they really learned a lesson in the process. My guess is that we will see more of the tried and true "we need more righties" mantra.

Anonymous said...

Unpleasant for whom?

Bernie O'Hare said...

" but he is on the hard hard right of county gov't)"

No he's not. Although he likes to portray himself that way, Angle is actually down the middle on most issues.

Anonymous said...

I love these COuncil chambers so much. I can't help it. I have to say it. "Would the mystery guest sign in please?!!!"

Anonymous said...

Anon 700am, your post reads the same if you trade out 'hard right' for 'hard left.' Extremists on both sides are small minorities. It takes an active middle to marginalize them.

National figures like Obama, Reid, Pelosi, Beck, and Palin need to go away.

Anonymous said...

Percy Dougherty the Imposter pretended to support Dean while actually trying to "dump dean" who bought off Creighton and Sweet talked Hamm who then became embarrassed by it all.

The Stand up Truth-Tellers were Roman, Eckhart & Jones.

Anonymous said...

Defy Woodman and Ott? Please. Browning is only out for himself, and he was voted back by democrats. Because he sides with them all the time, instead of the principles of the party he belongs to makes him a loser this year. We'll see how much those same folks support him in the general, should he make it that far.

I guess republicans are considered extremists? Huge tax hikes, disregard for voters, that's extreme.
Gloria Hamm has been on council 3 years, if she can't take this little amount of hear maybe she should get out of the kitchen.

Clem said...

The witch is much more concerned with being embarrassed than holding a traitor accountable. That is the stuff 16% tax hikes are made of. More to come, suckers.

To hell with fiscal sanity, as long as the pols feel good about themselves, right?

I'll take the hit to our collective ego in NorCo, so long as we get the results the happy whores in Lehigh passed on.

Anonymous said...

"Anon 700am, your post reads the same if you trade out 'hard right' for 'hard left.' Extremists on both sides are small minorities. It takes an active middle to marginalize them."

This is 7 AM... I fully agree. Judging by other comments left here this morning, it looks like we will be seeing the Republicans trying to put forward more extremists so they can teach Dean, a man who appears to be more moderate than they would like, a few lessons. Seeing how 4 of the Republicans did nothing to reduce the size of the tax increase, it's not a surprise they would rather bring more "heat" than govern. Even with a majority of Republicans on the commission, we still got a 16% tax increase. Blame the minority D's all you want. There were enough R's to pull it off and they couldn't do it.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"I guess republicans are considered extremists?"

No, extremists are considered extremists.

Anonymous said...

I think its a big stretch to say that but for Dean Browning's support of Glenn Eckhart, Glenn Eckhart would have lost to Hillary Kwiatek. The election results were 59% to 41 % in favor of Eckhart over Kwiatek despite her well financed campaign.

Likewise I think it much to link Scott Ott's opposition to Browning as chairman to a possible primary run given that the primary election for executive won't occur for several years.

But its all good reading, to say the least.

Patrick McHenry said...

Anon 11:19 am said:

"Seeing how 4 of the Republicans did nothing to reduce the size of the tax increase, it's not a surprise they would rather bring more "heat" than govern. Even with a majority of Republicans on the commission, we still got a 16% tax increase. Blame the minority D's all you want. There were enough R's to pull it off and they couldn't do it."

***********************************

Uh, nice try.

4 of the 5 Republican Commissioners voted to send the budget back to the County Executive and demand (as allowed by the County Charter) a no tax hike budget.

The 4 Democrat Commissioners voted against that effort and for the 16% tax increase.

Unfortunately, Browning sided with the Democrats to give taxpayers the 16% tax hike.

The problem isn't the 4 Republicans who tried to stop the tax hike - it's the 4 Democrats and Browning who voted for it.

Republicans will try to solve the problem in May and vote Browning out. What do you think Democrat voters will do?

Patrick McHenry said...

Bernie -

"Attempted coup"? Nothing could be further from the truth.

County Commissioners hold their organizational meeting every two years and are free to elect whoever they want as their Chairman and Vice-Chair.

Characterizing the vote last night as an "attempted coup" implies that the leadership position BELONGS to Browning. I find the sentiment that ANY elected position belongs to a certain person to be offensive.

It is an election among the commissioners, pure and simple. Not a "coup".

Anonymous said...

5 Republican commissioners succeeded in accomplishing one thing: ensuring a 16% tax increase. They were too ineffective to achieve anything else. Taxes went up b/c 5 Republicans couldn't get it together.

That is Andy Roman's record (along with his pension and self-serving salary increases)and that is Dean Browning's record of leadership.

Marc Grammes said...

What makes a good Chair? Qualities include the ability to facilitate, to utilize the strengths of the commissioners when promoting committee assignments,to tear down barriers between the three branches of government and the commissioners themselves rather than promote division, to take the heat for the Board as its recognized leader, and to recognize the hard work of others, to ensure all commissioners are kept up to date on important issues, to make sure the meetings run smoothly, to have the confidence of the Board,to demonstrate the willingness to promote open meetings and encourage public participation,and to HAVE THE TIME to attend and schedule meetings as required. It's not an easy task by any stretch. What went on last night and most certainly a good deal of time beforehand was nothing new. Some years are just more annoying than others. Best to grimace and bear it, and then move away from it and get to the business at hand. Drop the egos and the R and D designator at the front door,they are not required to do the job. Don't worry about the next election, and move forward. After a couple of years no one will remember who was chair or vice chair anyway. They may remember you for your hard work, and for getting results. The Chair is most times only as effective as the Board he or she represents. And when it's your time to go, you can leave feeling satisfied that you gave it your best. What an opportunity you all have to make a difference as a commissioner! That's why you were elected, after all.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"County Commissioners hold their organizational meeting every two years"

It's every year. Usually one person holds the position for a few years. It was an attempted coup.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Likewise I think it much to link Scott Ott's opposition to Browning as chairman to a possible primary run given that the primary election for executive won't occur for several years. "

Except that Ott is running for Comm'r, not Exec, and against Browning..

Anonymous said...

Except that Ott is running for Comm'r, not Exec, and against Browning..

That I did not know. I'll take you at your word.

But it does beg the question whether an ulterior motive is nothing more than stating one's bone fide difference in political issues and desired outcomes. Ulterior motive tends to suggest something more sinister. Outlining political differences in policy between potential candidates is not sinister.

I tend to equate ulterior motive with something bad. I expect my politicians to stake their claim rather than keep their powder dry. I distrust politicians who can not state their ground over the hole they stand in. This is all good.

Anonymous said...

"I distrust politicians who can not state their ground over the hole they stand in."

Republicans should be pissed that Ott is employed by the party and seeking to unseat sitting Republicans. This is machine politics at its worst and it appears the Tea Party movement is trying to turn the county GOP into a party machine with extremists at the healm. Really, not a surprise.

If Ott wants to run for commissioner, he should resign his role with the party, return whatever salary he has been paid and run on his own merits.

Anonymous said...

Well said by someone who is anonymous, but it has nothing to do with the segue cited.

Ott is staking his ground. Should he be elected to anything, I would expect his actions to match his words.

I like Dean. I worked hard in his campaign. But I recall Dean's own candidate announcement whilst then at the helm of the County GOP, though later he resigned, not while first working his own ambition as well. It is a political party. I have little problem with that. The party can hire or fire who they want.

I would not call Ott machine politics. He was a complete unknown but two years ago. He was never a party insider.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"If Ott wants to run for commissioner, he should resign his role with the party, return whatever salary he has been paid and run on his own merits."

From what I hear, he will resign when he announces.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"I tend to equate ulterior motive with something bad."

So do I. And I am offended when Ott or his boss attempt to influence a vote on leadership when Ott intends to run for that very office.

Anonymous said...

Hey Bernie, if McCarthy is running for Lehigh County judge does that mean that Billy Platt Jr is going to be the republican running against him? I think there is only 1 spot up.

Bernie O'Hare said...

I imagine there will be several candidates from each party.

eckville press said...

Tom Creighton's "CONTRACT WITH COUNTY TAXPAYERS"

"I will balance the county budget without increasing property taxes or raiding county reserves. Government must live within its means and only spend what it takes in."

Paid for by Lehigh County Victory PAC


“In order to achieve a balanced budget by 2012 without the use of gimmicks and one-shot deals - like raiding the county surplus - everyone is going to be asked to give up something,” said District 1 Commissioner candidate Tom Creighton. “It’s only right that the Commissioners surrender their pay raises before asking county employees to sacrifice.

"everyone (including taxpayers?) is going to be asked to give up something"

Tom Creighton, a man of of his word!

Paid for by Eckville Press Victory Pac

And the refrigerator? Still a mystery