Easton Patch details some serious problems - from passing bad checks to credit card judgments - with Bruce Gilbert's appointment as Northampton County's new Director of Finance. If he is unable to manage his own finances, can he be trusted with a $300 million County budget?I sat on this story for over a week, hoping that Gilbert would realize that he's just not right for this job. Instead, he used the time to solidify his support among Council Republicans.
It's certainly true that Gilbert's Republican colleagues owe him some loyalty. It hurt me to write that Patch column because I know Bruce is a good man and consider him a friend. But primary loyalty should always be to the taxpayer. This is a bad appointment in an area where no mistakes can be tolerated.
I knew when you responded that you would "...be watching Gilbert closely" that it was already on your radar.
ReplyDeleteAgain, MSM = Epic FAIL.
You are wrong about Charlie Dent, wrong about bipartisanship being the solution, etc. However, when it comes to good old fashioned investigative reporting, you fucking rule.
No he doesn't rule!
ReplyDeleteBernie knew about this but sat on it. Why? Because Gilbert is in his mancrush zone. Gilbert an ally of Angle and Stoffa is to be protected. If this were McClure or McHale, O'Hare would have been writing the story before he confirmed it and even throw in shots of their privates, Wiener style. This also betrays the poor judgement of Stoffa and company once again. I wonder who ordered Stoffa to pick this guy. Probably the same heavy monied donor who made Stoffa pick the other clowns.
This is the problem with you folks who come to this blog for "News". You are better off getting your "news" from Glenn Beck, it is far more reliable.
Once again O'Hare demonstrates why he has so ably earned and justifiably deserves his Royal designation as, Sir Hypocrite!!!
The Truth!
GILBERT IS A CRIMINAL.PLAIN AND SIMPLE. If i was convicted of a DUI, I wouldnt be able to be a UPS driver! But Gilbert has been convicted of tax evasion and he wants to in charge of 300 million!?
ReplyDeletehe should not recieve the appointment ,plain and simple ...he needs his own house in order....no way should he get the job of fiscal director .
ReplyDeleteI liked the guy until I read this. He shouldn't get the position and should resign from council. If he can't bring his wife's spending under control, he'll not be able to bring the county's spending under control. These cases are rather recent history. He's unqualified to be a financial steward for taxpayers.
ReplyDeletenot a good track record .....we can and should do better!!!
ReplyDeleteProbabaly the worst person on council to fill this position,my opinion he shouldnt even be on council.Cant handle his own finances how the hell is he going to handle northampton countys???
ReplyDeletejustice and mercy might be on the county seal ...what about truth and honesty ? he definitely shouldn't be in charge of the county budject. this news coming to light is all anyone should need to not appoint him .
ReplyDeleteCan anyone give someone a chance these days?
ReplyDeleteIf anyone who posted here can say that they never had a problem with a credit card or any other financial problem, then you are all lying.
What ever happened to measuring someone on their actual work experience and their education? Does everything have to be so personal?
Lets see what happens when people dig into your past fianances...our entire financial system is loaded with ways to screw people. Have you ever disputed a bill?
And to the dick weed who said he was convicted of tax evasion....a tax lien is not tax evasion ....
This man is not a criminal. Your anon coward comments are worthless.
Hear they want him over in bethlum. he'd fit right in on the second floor.
ReplyDeleteIt's not like he tweeted photos of his schlong and photos of his creepy shaved body and talked dirty to girls half his age and denigrated Jewish women and lied repeatedly in thirty interviews over eight days.
ReplyDeleteHe is perfectly qualified to be Obama's Treasury Sec'y.
ReplyDeleteyou protest too much Brenda. One or two problems - yes I agree with you but there are several problems and whether or not he is qualified is tainted by his actions. His judgements will be suspect from day one.
ReplyDeleteLet's see just how foolish council is or if they have integity.
anon3:51,
ReplyDeleteyou hit the nail on the head
If you people want a squeaky clean candidate with no dirt or scars then take a newborn out of the labor and delivery room.
ReplyDeleteHey brenda/Tricia, not everyone is held up as the "perfect" candidate for Director of Fiscal Affairs. Also where was O'Hare on this story, MIA?
ReplyDeleteGilbert wants the job of looking after the county's finances, this is relevant.
It also shows how protected the entire Stoffa regime has been. Gilbert is but one of other dubious choices, the only difference is someone caught this one.
Remember this is the guy who didn't know how much money the county takes in in Real Estate tax.
You want to suck at finance, fine, its your life. Just don't suck at finance on my dime looking after my dime's. Dig it!!
if it was a a one time thing maybe ....but there appears to be pattern... writing bad checks etc...i don't find he is qualied for director of fiscal affairs. it's not personal ...
ReplyDeletebernie, i think i understand why you kept this quiet ... but really it should of been discussed sooner...when did stoffa know ? prior or after he annoucement ? i hope after otherwise it shows poor judgement on his part.
ReplyDeleteStoffa did not know anything until I told him about it. I do not know if it was right to sit on this story a week. I would not extend that courtesy to many other members of local government. I did it for Bruce bc he is such a good person, has five children and I was hoping he would withdraw his nomination before I had to go public.
ReplyDelete"Also where was O'Hare on this story, MIA?"
ReplyDeleteI happen to be the person who broke this story.
i hope he withdraws his nomination ...it would be the right thing to do and in the best interest of the county ,for all concerned.
ReplyDeleteWhat is this, bizarro world? Where a 300 lb. couch potato is hired to be the Eagles conditioning coach? Or Wiener is given a cover on GQ in his BVD's? How in the world is someone who cannot even manage his own family finances effectively be the county's CFO? He is a vey nice guy, but should have gracefully withdrawn his candidacy for the position as soon as his financial woes became known. Instead he is trying to justify years of poor judgement and embarrassing Stoffa in the process. What a mess!!
ReplyDelete"If anyone who posted here can say that they never had a problem with a credit card or any other financial problem, then you are all lying."
ReplyDeleteI've had many financial problems in my lifetime, many of them the result of my own irresponsibility. That's why I'd never propose me as a Director of Fiscal Affairs.
" But Gilbert has been convicted of tax evasion"
ReplyDeleteThis has already been pointed out, but let me repeat that Gilbert has never been accused or convicted of tax evasion. A federal tax lien was filed against him in 2002 for unpaid taxes resulting from the sale of a business. The taxes were paid and the lien was satisfied in 2005.
Stoffa though he could slip another one past the taxpayers. he is a disgraced to his office.
ReplyDelete"Bernie knew about this but sat on it. Why? Because Gilbert is in his mancrush zone. Gilbert an ally of Angle and Stoffa is to be protected. If this were McClure or McHale, O'Hare would have been writing the story before he confirmed it and even throw in shots of their privates, Wiener style."
ReplyDeleteThis is a fair criticism of me. I had this story nailed down a week ago, but sat on it. I doubt I would have extended that courtesy to many others, and that may be very well be a shortcoming on my part. I sat on the story to give Bruce, a very good man, time to withdraw. Also, I had no desire to embarrass his five children.
But I am the person who did break this story and I did cast a public spotlight on this precisely because I will not sit idly by as Rs run a power play. Bad government is bad government.
"Stoffa though he could slip another one past the taxpayers."
ReplyDeleteStoffa never tried to slip anything past anybody. He did not know about this until last week. He made no attempt to stop me from writing about it.
What is it with all these anonymous postings? One should have the guts to own what they say. THIS applies to all comments on ALL blogs, boards, etc. Grow a set!
ReplyDelete"If anyone who posted here can say that they never had a problem with a credit card or any other financial problem, then you are all lying."
ReplyDeleteBrenda,
I know I, and many of my friends, can honestly say we have had a credit card or financial problem. We may not always not had as much as we would like but never did we overspend or create a legal problem.
And none of us expect to be put in charge of this much money although, frankly, we could handle it better than this guy. He can't lease a car without problems. We buy ours....for cash.
Obviously that should have read never had a credit car problem...
ReplyDeletePersonally Bernie, I think you did right to give Gilbert a chance to withdraw "for personal reasons...prefer to stay on Council" (I assume by your comments that he knew that you had the story). Likewise, I think you did right to come out with the story before the vote was taken.
ReplyDeleteThat said, Stoffa should also do the right thing, and withdraw the appointment since Mr. Gilbert did not remove himself from consideration. He is still on Council, and should stay on Council (most if not all that I read on your Patch story was prior to his election). Whether it would be a campaign issue if he chose to run again is a bridge to cross on another day. What is before the County now really is in Mr. Stoffa's court as to whether to keep the nomination before Council. He nominated Gilbert, he can withdraw the nomination. If he should fail in that leadership role, then it would be up to Council to do the right thing.
I will defend Bruce one last time.
ReplyDeleteA person needs to be a US attorney to figure out the US tax code. We missed the boat by not listening to Tim Forbes and enacting his flat tax theory. Federal taxes are too complex.
The county does not pay federal taxes,( minus payroll) so Bruce gets a free pass on that one. If I had 5 kids, I may have more judgements than most people.
Its a shame that people wish to commingle ones personal household business with their abilities as a Director of Fiscal Affairs. And with Barron on the loose, I doubt there would be any mistakes happening from this office.
Lighthouse, Bruce knew I had the story and I discussed the details with him. Stoffa had the story as well. I held off to give Bruce a chance to consider withdrawing.
ReplyDeleteI personally think he needs to withdraw, but Bruce also does have people like Brenda in his corner.
I am more troubled by his explanations than the indiscretions. I'll tell you about that tomorrow.
Some of the best financial advisers I ever knew had the worst track record with their own money; some of the best relationship advice I ever got were from people who had disastrous personal lives; some of the best lawyers I knew got in trouble with the law. I don't know why that is, but it is. Whenever i think of a politician with a squeaky clean record, I think of George W. Bush and look where that got us. Sometimes I think it's best to judge a public official on his or her public performance record and not private...If he has a lousy financial performance professionally and in govt..I think he should be judged on that. He can screw up his personal life and finances all he wants as far as I care if he can do good for the public.
ReplyDeleteFair enough. But in Bruce's case, he has less than 2 years of experience as a Council member. This is his first public office, so there really is no public record to judge.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame. Bruce Gilbert is the chairman of the County Council Finance Committee. Who appointed him. He should also be on the carpet here. Bruce is a decent human being. No one can argue that. He lost his job with the Bank. WHY? Did they know of his financial problems? Of course they can't tolerate a person with poor financial habits being in their employe. The County can't allow this either. This is an $80,000.00 position for an individual with extremely high managerial and financial skills. He will be investing millions of dollars of taxpayers money and managing millions more. Stoffa must do the right thing and withdraw his name. No member of Council should support this person for this job. Now that his record is known, he would never be re-elected nor will anyone who votes for him. The Republicans will face an angry group of voters over the Gracedale issue, and now they will have another issue of appointing a man who is incompetent in managing his household yet alone the County Finances.
ReplyDeleteBernie
ReplyDeleteDoes this go back to your analysis of who would get the appointment if Bruce Gilbert was Finance Director? Didn't you mention rewarding someone from the Tea Party? Do these Republicans have the Gall to go through with this? They keep giving the democrats more and more ammunition. I voted for some of these people in the past. I won't be doing that in the future.
Brenda:
ReplyDeleteThis topic has nothing to do with Barron, it's about the qualifications of an individual for a high level financial position in the County.
I was first upset that Bernie waited a week, but I respect his position on it. At least Bernie isn't making excuses for him. Give me a break about the tax codes. Many people successfully complete Federal tax returns.
He should remove his name from consideration. If he doesn't, shame on Stoffa.
I did not mention rewarding anyone. I mentioned that Mat Benol, former Chair of the LV Tea Party, is interested. So is Seth Vaughn, a candidate running in Bethlehem. I understand Cusick and Dietrich did not want Benol bc they would not be able to control this independent thinker. I think this might be a moot discussion.
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, just as every MoveOn member is not necessarily a wacko, there are very many reasonable members of the tea party.
"What a shame. Bruce Gilbert is the chairman of the County Council Finance Committee. Who appointed him."
ReplyDeleteThat would be Cusick.
"He lost his job with the Bank."
ReplyDeleteI am almost 100% certain this is untrue. I have spoken to several people, and it is a myth, as far as I can tell, spread by anons with no facts.
Since Gilbert does not have the decency to withdraw his name from consideration then Stoffa should withdraw his appointment. Even if Gilbert dodges these bullets and squeaks past council approval his every move as finance director will be scrutinized. This is a lose-lose situation. Stoffa should just state that he has re-considered Gilbert's qualifications, which include integrity by the way, and is withdrawing his appointment. Gilbert should have revealed his financial troubles before he was nominated. He was ambitious and inconsiderate of the man who must now trust him without reservation as a member of his cabinet. Stoffa got burned big time with the CSF appointment. He doesn't need to defend another questionable appointee for the balance of his term in office. Doran Hamann is more than capable of holding down the fort until a more extensive search can be made for a more suitable candidate for finance director.
ReplyDeleteI think it is quite funny that the majority of those who sling mud here are "Anonymous" contributors. Why?? Why won't people sling mud and stand behind their comments? Maybe because they are in the enemy camp! Maybe someone should do some investigative reporting into who is behind O'Hare throwing his so-called "friend" under the bus. Hint: You don't need to look very far to know the ONE reason for this type of mud slinging. Afterall, most of Northampton County isn't nearly as diverse as Gilbert's hometown, Easton.
ReplyDeleteOooh, the race card from an Anon incredibly attacking other Anons for ... being anonymous. How moronic.
ReplyDeleteRemember the old adage, "the shoemaker's kids have no shoes" or "the mechanic's car doesn't work"...there a reason for all these types of sayings.
ReplyDeleteIf these blemishes were as dire as you thought they were he could not have Federal clearances. He is a FEDERALLY REGISTERED REPRESENTAIVE IN THE SECURITIES INDUSTRY, and the most beloved representative in Easton. I don't even like to go to the bank anymore since he left. He is excellent at handling people's money, I know from experience!
I've heard those adages. Bruce Gilbert is a wonderful person and you could very well be right. But I am even more unhappy with his explanations of these small judgments than I am with the judgments themselves. That's where I am coming from on this one. But you might be right.
ReplyDeleteThis is very unfortunate and likely the death knell for his political career and very difficult to explain away. It'd be best for all concerned if he withdrew. I have a funny feeling that will happen.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, we do have people in office who've been convicted to drunk driving, so perhaps this is recoverable at some point down the road.
I'm of two minds on this sort of thing. The public has a right to know on the one hand, but there's also a right to privacy. The latter is given up I suppose when one runs for office and knowing that, there are many who will stay far away from politics. I sometimes wonder how much talent we quietly lose because of that.
for e-mail followup.
ReplyDeleteIt is on John Stoffa to stop hiding behind others and lead for a change. he nominated Mr. Gilbert, he can withdraw his nomination. Or he can just sit on his hands and do nothing.
ReplyDeleteWe know his track record on leadership, lets watch!
Greg, Everything used here is a matter of public record. But there's no question the Internet makes it easier to look at magistrate records. I believe this revelation means Bruce is unfit for this job at this time. He has less than 2 years experience as a Council member. He may have proved himself as a banker, but he is still unproven as a public official. If he continues to perform with the same dedication he's shown so far, I'd support him But this is a big jump. Bruce should wait.
ReplyDeleteTypical Lehigh Valley prejudice
ReplyDeleteJust say no to Gilbert.Will no one apply for the job ? 'Hope and Change'
ReplyDeleteI nominate Steve Barron!
ReplyDeleteBrenda,
ReplyDeleteYour defense is simply defenseless.
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ReplyDelete>>I believe this revelation means Bruce is unfit for this job at this time. He has less than 2 years experience as a Council member. He may have proved himself as a banker, but he is still unproven as a public official.<<
ReplyDeleteI'm inclined to agree with this assessment Bernie, not to mention that most people nowadays are deeply suspicious of government, so someone with such a short tenure and issues like these that were previously undisclosed doesn't necessarily shore up confidence. I'm surprised this didn't come up earlier during the vetting process when he ran for council to begin with. From a standpoint of managing the situation, perhaps he could have just headed a lot of this off by merely making these disclosures himself earlier, but I suppose that the natural tendency of most is to avoid embarrassing disclosures.
Also, I'm in agreement with the first poster that your reporting on this is again evidence of the absolute failure of our local mainstream media to report stuff.
Greg, I do a records check on anybody running for County office, and did see these judgments against Bruce Gilbert at that time. But I did not pay much attention to them bc they were small and did not seem to be something that would interfere with Gilbert's ability to be one of 9 Council members.
ReplyDeleteWhen he was named for this job, those matters took on a new significance, at least to me.
Most candidates have very boring records. Some of them may have one foreclosure or bankruptcy or DUI, but who doesn't? In a way, I like it when somebody who has felt the pain is running.
Brenda
ReplyDeleteIt is one thing to have a "problem with a credit card" it is something else to have Mr. Gilbert's record. Nice guy but find someone else for the position.