Barron's Bullshit

Norco Controller Steve Barron has called a news conference to question bills by Eckert Seamans, the law firm hired by the County to assist in the sale of Gracedale. Apparently, there's something suspicious about a phone call between Ron Angle and the firm in late December. Angle is a member of Northampton County Council and was its President at that time, but I guess he should not be talking to lawyers hired by the County.

Barron also questions a $806 bill from these lawyers at the same time to review initiative petitions for invalid electors. Wouldn't that be related to Gracedale's sale? Why wouldn't they be doing that? Barren apparently thinks Eckert lawyer Mark Stewart was calling Angle to funnel information about the petitions.

Barren's full of shit. But even if that were true, so what?

Let me tell you what was happening. Naturally, the County was concerned about an initiative that would prevent it from selling Gracedale. Copies of the petitions were, in fact, forwarded to the law firm for their review.

My lawsuit, filed on January 25, was the product of my own research. At the time of that late December call, it was still very unclear to me or Angle whether there would be enough signatures. I began looking at petitions in early January and did that on my own, looking at the originals in the elections office for hours at a time. In fact, one local blogger took some shots at me for doing my homework.

After several days of my own review, I decided that the Gracedale initiative was massive election fraud. It was not until then that I actually talked Ron into joining me in this litigation. That was selfish on my part. I think Ron is very quick on his feet and would be invaluable, and he was.

After deciding to sue in January, I did talk to the attorneys at Eckert Seamans once or twice. That firm, like the Voter Registrar, was primarily concerned about individual signatures. My lawsuit was primarily directed at an abuse of the elections process by circulators. Now I realize that Barron is barren, but he was at the hearing, and should have noticed that I was concerned about circulators, not whether someone named John signed as Jack.

Last Friday, I was called as a witness in Larry the Otter's lawsuit for attorney fees. I explained all of this at that time, and under oath. So no, we were not coached. No, we were not acting as spear carriers. It was our own suit based on our own theories.

Barren is not acting as a Controller, but as a union agent for AFSCME.

I'll confront Barren and his bullshit tonight.

Updated 9:30 AM: I have reviewed the County Council resolution approving the contract with Eckert Seamans. The firm was engaged "to facilitate and expedite all issues that will result in the alternate ownership (sale/lease) of Gracedale." The Gracedale Initiative, designed to defeat a sale or lease, is necessarily one of those issues. If Barron spent 40 hours per week in the office instead of 10 or 15, he might have noticed that Eckert's mandate is very clear.