Whenever I eat macaroni, and that's nearly every day, I think of Ken Kraft. Instead of letting a seriously deranged person like me continue to write about him, he's decided to make it official and announced his candidacy for the County Council seat being vacated by the imperious Ann McHale in a news release yesterday. That's a District seat, covering Bethlehem, Hellertown and Hanover. "Ken Kraft has dedicated his life to public service. After graduating from Freedom High School, he enlisted in the Unites States Marines, where he served his country faithfully and attained the rank of Sergeant E-5 in Cryptology and Information Technology. Ken has served as Chairman of the Northampton County Elections Commission for two terms as well as various boards and commissions in our community including the Bethlehem Zoning Hearing Board and the Monocacy Creek Watershed Association.
“'As a person who believes in community and public service, I look forward to serving the residents of Bethlehem, Hellertown and Hanover as their voice on County Council. I will be a strong advocate for the needs of our region and will always be available to listen to their concerns' Kraft said.
"Ken has a strong history of working in the private sector as well in both the Computer and the Construction Industries. Since 2001, Ken has represented District Council 21 International Union of Painters and Allied Trades and is currently the President. As President of IUPAT DC21, he is proud to fight for the working families he represents and looks forward to fighting for the families of District 1as a member of Northampton County Council.
“'As a Council member, I will work tirelessly to attract quality, family sustaining jobs, keep taxes stable and deliver high quality services to the residents. I love Northampton County and I want to help keep it a great place to live, work and raise a family,' Kraft said.
Ken lives in Bethlehem with his wife, Lisa, and two children, Ken and Max."
Ken's opponent in the Democratic primary will be Ladd Siftar. I have not heard if any Republicans are running.
does he have ties to callahan and his cronies on council?
ReplyDeleteyes
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteLadd isn't running .. Ken Kraft will replace Ann McHale..No Republican will ever win that District.
ReplyDeletecallahan cronie = no vote.
ReplyDeleteI have known Ken for the past 7 years serving him on the Bethlehem Zoning Hearing Board. I can tell you that I have never met a more independent and responsible person. We need more people like Ken involved in government.
ReplyDeleteWow, another union representative in local government. That should really help Bethlehem taxpayers.
ReplyDeleteWake up, people!
"Ladd isn't running "
ReplyDeleteHe announced. Did he change his mind?
Somebody just impersonated Ken Kraft. I deleted the comment attributed to him bc Ken did not make it.
ReplyDeleteWell I do have an election ballot in my house , but I only picked up 2, and I need 250 signatures for the county seat...
ReplyDeleteI dont know Kraft. But I think his union affiliations may hurt him. Way back , when I negotiated with unions, it was the 7%-10% hayday. We are paying miserably for that now.
Organized labor is hitting a wall everywhere. Thats why the police in NJ will not stop handing out tickets to PA drivers! Does anyone else notice this problem?
Brenda,
ReplyDeleteDo you even know the difference between a public union and private unions like the building trades?
Do you even know what kind of Uion Ken Kraft works for and what they do?
Maybe you should look into it before you make broad acusations about someone and how they would represent the public if elected just because they are in a Union.
And just maybe you should call Ken Kraft and talk to him a little...
Yes, I do know the difference between the public vs. the private union. One jams the negotiated rate down the tax payer's throat, and the other jacks up the cost of labor and products, which is why everything is made in China.
ReplyDeleteHowever, to the credit of the private union, they do fund some of their own medical costs at least.
Call Ken? ANd say what? Hello, this is Brenda from the bottom feeding Blog of BO? I am thinking about running against you?
Anon 12:25 -
ReplyDeleteI know that the private unions are all out manning the polls for Democrat candidates in Allentown. The monetary contributions from private unions are all over the campaign reports of Democrat elected officials.
The support (both monetary and manpower) of private unions will be held over the heads of those democrat elected officials when the city negotiates with the public sector unions.
The private unions are repaid by legislation that restricts government construction jobs to union shops, which drives up the cost of government projects. Who pays for that? Why the taxpayers of course.
The Democrat elected officials are more than willing to trade taxpayer dollars for the political support of unions.
If you want to see what pro-union elected officials will do to your city, pay a visit to Allentown.
Whats wrong with allentown, aren't they getting a hockey team, didn't they get a baseball stadium, haven't they revitalized many buildings down town? What exactly are you talking about?
ReplyDeleteWhat's wrong with Allentown?
ReplyDeleteHow about a shortage of police, bridges and roads that go unrepaired for years; and an earned income tax hike to try to cover the overspending.
The "revitalized" buildings are all heavily subsidized and Hamilton Street (Allentown's main street) is like a ghost town after dark.
All the while the unions are there to keep the incompetent in power while they line their own pockets at the taxpayers' expense.
If that's what you want in Bethlehem, good luck.
Sure sounds like u are drinking the cool-aide patrick.
ReplyDeleteDidn't they just replace a bridge and are they not putting a new bridge over the LEHIGH to extend that stupid American parkway?
And Hamilton ST has been empty after dark for years due to the shootings that were happening all the time.
Oh yeah and last I checked the cops ARE union...
ReplyDeleteMy cousin Comrade Patrick gets very angry at Democrats. We try to console him but it is just a phobia of his. We believe it has to do with Glenn Beck poisoning. Hopefully he will outgrow it.
ReplyDeleteHenry McPatrick
Anonymous 10:35 said...
ReplyDeleteSure sounds like u are drinking the cool-aide patrick.
Didn't they just replace a bridge and are they not putting a new bridge over the LEHIGH to extend that stupid American parkway?
And Hamilton ST has been empty after dark for years due to the shootings that were happening all the time.
*********************************
So I guess you are agreeing with me that the "revitalization" is political spin.
As to the bridges, yes the COUNTY recently paid to replace the Linden Street bridge (after it had been CLOSED for years). The new bridge over the Lehigh will happen if the STATE comes through with the money.
If you want to go begging other levels of government to get needed projects done - and if you think things can't get any worse in Bethlehem - by all means pack City government with pro-union elected officials.