But there's another John Brown. Not so colorful, but his neck is intact so far.
Bangor Mayor John Brown, who commands an annual $1,000 salary, is reportedly considering a run for Northampton County Exec next year, when his term as Mayor is set to expire. I have asked Mayor Brown to confirm or disavow hos interest, and will let you know.
The only other Republican name I've heard so far is Council President John Cusick.
On the Democratic side of the aisle, it is increasingly likely that there will be just one candidate - Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan.
True, County Council member Lamont McClure has publicly expressed interest. But he has a difficult enough time keeping his own seat against candidates with no money or name recognition. It is likely that McClure threw his name out there because he wants something.
Easton Mayor Sal Panto, who would have been a formidable candidate, really does like being Mayor of Easton. His constituents have repeatedly asked him to stay where he is.
Ron Heckman, a former Council member and Human Services Director, is another name being touted. He is being urged by Callahan supporters to run for Council instead.
67 comments:
Don't forget the rumors that Ron Angle will make a run for it.
Calaghan is the heir apparent. Not sure a Slate Belter would even have a blink of a chance to win.
Callahan is already planning to borrow money to meet NorCo payroll. The guy could bankrupt a lemonade stand.
Find John Brown in no way qualified for county executive. People are only impressed because the string of mayors who predated him were mediocre at best. His understanding of the issue is superficial and sees the public sector as nothing more than a way to bolster his consulting business. Run, John, run so that we avoid a costly win for the democrats.
Wow Bernie. That's quite a news scoop. Mayor Brown would be an excellent choice for either party! An extremely intelligent man who understands government and how to do it efficiently and fairly. His work on bringing together the various towns and townships in preparation of a regional police effort are above and beyond what Bangor is paying him in salary. He has been a great asset to the entire region. As a conservative Dem. I would vote for him no matter what party banner he is holding. Why not John Brown?
From the Mayor of bangor to County exec..Wow, with all the county issues we face that would be interesting..Even if he touts some kind of background , he'd have no chance against Callahan.Well, maybe a one in a million chance.Callahan could get run over by a truck, lol.
Johnny Casino is a tainted, former rock star and JB is all business and all ideas. Bangor is now a healthy ,in the black ,up and coming community due to his leadership and vision. Nobody owns him either..
When JB lead a reigonal Slate Belt visioning seminar a few months back..who was in the audience taking pages full of notes and glad handing after? One Johnny Casino. Sizing up the competition?
John Brown is not well liked in Bangor. he probably would Not win re election to mayor. he has little experience and can't work well with others (police, fire dept, sewer authority, etc.). Its worth a shot to get rid of him. Run Johnny Run away!
Calahan cannot balance a checkbook with $9 mil in casino monies, god help Norco!!!!
I find it hard to believe a Borough mayor has that much control over the budget and day-to-day operations that he could make a difference. By definition in the Borough Code, the Borough Mayor has little power. I am sure the Borough Council is doing a good job, and Brown is the front man.
Mayors of PA Boroughs have few responsibilities. They don't manage budgets. They don't make difficult decisions on priorities. They are largely ceremonial and oversee the police department... and in almost all cases, they cede oversight of the police department to the police chief.
I'm sure John Brown is doing more than people realize in his work as mayor of Bangor, but let's be realistic: the mayor of Bethlehem and Easton are far more prepared for this kind of responsibility. I think the standard for selecting a candidate for this kind of office should be very simple: have they ever had to bear responsibility for the preparation of a financial audit valued over $50 million dollars. If they haven't, not sure how they can be prepared to manage a $350 million budget.
Yes..council has final say on the budget and our manager does that leg work. JB has revamped the boro police dept. and spearheads the drive for a regional police force here in the Slate Belt. He has a financial/business background and knows where the dollars go and come from. The regionalization effort is akin to herding cats. Voted Mayor of the Year by his LV peers. He is well respected and Bangor has gotten their monies worth and so much more as the mayor.
9:08, Don't know how well Brown is liked. I do know that in 2009, he beat his opponent, in a Democratic Borough, by 362 to 198. That's pretty good for someone who is not well-liked.
8:47, I agree it would be very difficult for Brown. He is in the wrong party and is practically unknown outside of Bangor. I also don't know if he will run. I have not spoken to him, although I do have an email out to him.
"John Brown is not well liked in Bangor."
He's apparently well liked enough to have been elected mayor by a wide margin. I don't believe he's ever mismanaged borough funds, had to borrow to meet payroll, or covered up a family member's crashing of a police car.
"Wow Bernie. That's quite a news scoop."
If it is true. I have not confirmed this with brown.
"ees the public sector as nothing more than a way to bolster his consulting business."
Interesting. Can you please expound on what you mean? Can you provide any examples?
"Don't forget the rumors that Ron Angle will make a run for it."
I doubt very much that Ron will seek county office again. He might run for school board down the road. he loves that stuff for some reason, perhaps even more than county politics.
When the at-large races come up, Rs will be lucky to re-elect Peg Ferraro. I suspect all Rs, except for Ferraro, to be swept out of office.
How the presidential race affects that remains to be seen.
Don't hold your breath waiting for Brown to respond. he has made it a habit to not comment.look it up, never replies to the media. he doesn't think well on his feet. Ask him why he conspired with an officer to get the chief fired.
He should be properly vetted. Didn't he have a little Indian? What other skeletons are in his closet?
The reader is making a reference to the Septimus Winner 1870 minstrel hit, which of course involves all kinds of disparaging comments that were common in that day.
Bernie 9:56 am,
Its true brown won in 2009 362-198.
He won with the support of the fire dept. The dept voted en masse for Brown over another fireman. Brown even had a victory party at one of the halls. Borwn has spent the last 3 years tearing down the fire dept. The 100+ votes he recieved from us would now go against him.
Bottom line: he was elected in 2009 but has alienated a large block of voters in Bangor. One term and done
Please, anyone but Callahan. The guy doesn't care one bit about the county. He just wants a platform to advance his congressional career.
We went through this with Reibman but at least Reibman knew what the county does.
It was one of the Callahan klan that nailed Heckman on the Hatch Act a few years back. It would be funny if he ran now. Karma is a bitch!
I wouldn't call an insistence on complying with the Hatch Act as "nailing" Heckman. I sure hope Heckman would agree that he has to comply with a law aimed at preventing public corruption, and would not consider a transgression any less a transgression bc nobody "nailed" him.
JC will be elected in a landslide.
Kelly will take over as chief of admin, senior axe person county spokes person, county solicitor as well as community and econ development.
DeSalvo will be canned as he couldn't hack it as a Callahan flunky.
Alkaid and Carp will come along for the ride as they would fall flat on their butts without JC telling them what to do..
Richard will be put in charge of the Bethlehem old folks home AKA the golf course.
Barron will retain his position because everyone know that dems can't hack it without wacko union ass kissers.
Dolan will beat her head against the glass ceiling again and then beat up on catholicers.
Donchez will become mayor only because Cunningham sold out for bigger bucks. Donchez will have a fence installed in the mayor's office so he can sit on it forever.
wee willie will continue to misinterpret the world and his hot girlfriend will dump him as he has no future except to be a PT teacher.
DG will continue to tell the truth while no one else listens.
And that folks is how it was...........
DeSalva needs to stick around for four more years to finish repairs on the parking deck.
Dolan will run for county council. As should john brown to gain some experience.
Interestng point about Dolan. Hadn't heard her name mentioned.
that's because only dolan is mentioning dolan's name (snicker, snicker)
No one "Hatched" Stoffa on either of the two occasions he "broke" the "Hatch Act" law but I guess that is OK. Lets not forget Mazziotti, who wasn't "Hatched" as well. It is a completely arbitrary and chicken shit thing to do.
We have learned that the only way you get "Hatched", is if someone "reports" you. So I guess you are OK with breaking the law as long as no one reports it.
It is nice to be an O'Hare mancrush. Good for Callahan.
If you felt Stoffa or Mazziotti violated the Hatch Act, you could have filed a complaint and the matter would have been investigated. The feds take that act seriously. But you filed no complaint bc you know, as the rest of us know, that you are full of shit. You are driven by hatred.
Well there you have it. The law only counts if you are called on it.
Now we know O'Hare is supporting Callahan. Good luck with that.
By the way O'Hare, we were told both Stoffa and his buddy and chief campaign funder Jack Bradt ran for county office while they were running Human Services. That is exactly what Ron did. I guess he didn't know it was illegal as both Stoffa and Bradt did it without incident. That is a fact!
So much for "your" bullshit!
dolan runs for county council.
willie and the boys secretly hopes she gets elected just to get rid of her but all die laughing at her before the results.
callahan doesn't have enough friends left to fill council seats
donchez picks 7 ex school teachers for council...... let the snoring begin
Who cares about the Hatch Act. If Callahan used it it is no surprise, he is the King of Sleaze. Do you forgot the Congressional race?
I will vote for John Brown, Joe Brown or Bro Brown. Hell, I would even vote for old Ron Angle before bestowing Callahan and his shifty crew on the county.
Ask around city hall. This is something you don't want.
callahan becomes northampton exec, 8 years later elected governor. appoints kelly attorney general.
8 years later kelly becomes governor, appoints callahan attorney general
8 years later callahan re-elected governor appoints kelly...........
and the beat goes on, and the beat goes on...........
what the f ????
It is a farce but if the Democrats are dumb enough to dance to the beat, more power to them. This is a bad bunch. I feel sorry for the county.
"Well there you have it. The law only counts if you are called on it."
That's my point. Had you seriously believed that either Stoffa or Mazziotti was in violation of the Hatch Act, you could have complained to the feds. You failed to do that, and are content with posting a snarky anonymous comment on a blog. That's proof that you know your argument is baseless. You are driven by hatred of all things Stoffa, not by the facts or the law.
ANON 6;29 YOU A BLITHERING IDIOT. Stoffa was retired for four years before he ran for county executive. Catch up !
Don't confuse him with facts. Vic Mazziotti also was careful to avoid all political activity and resigned before announcing his bid for Comm'r. But haters gotta' hate.
Mayors are part of the problem with pa. governments...Antiquated system!
Brown spoke at Bangor graduation for about 20 minutes. I lost interest after he cried in the first breath. I fell asleep after 5 minutes. The groans from the crowd grew and woke me up. Mr Brown needs MUCH training to move up in politics. 2 and 1/2 years as Bangor Mayor, with NO accomplishments, does not a county exec make.
Fist Bangor, then Norco, then GLOBAL DOMINATION.
Yes, but you must get past the Borough of Chapman.
To the name calling "BLITHERING IDIOT" guy, isn't it amazing that O'Hare wont delete your off topic attack on another poster. It is also how he interprets the law.
Read this slowly so you learn something. In 2001 John Stoffa, Lehigh County Human Services Director and Jack Bradt, Northampton County Human Services Director, both ran for Northampton County Council.
Both were in violation of the Hatch Act. So yes, they both violated the Act but no one called them on it, so it was OK.
I hope that was not to complicated for you. I don't want the facts to mess up your visions.
PS: Mazziotti announced his plans to run and started collecting signatures before his resignation date, that is also a no-no according to the Act.
I find it interesting that O'Hare works so hard to distort the truth for some, yet makes a big deal about it for others.
Read this very slowly. In 200, when Stoffa and Bradt supposedly violated the Hatch Act, you did nothing. You'd rather make anonymous attacks, 11 years after the fact. You must think people are as stupid as you.
I think in 200 Stoffa and Bradt were just little kids. Of course I could be wrong.
for the record, no one from Callahan's first mayorial campaign "hatched" heckman. having heckman in the race pulled votes from delgrasso- that helped callahan.
whoever went after ron, it was not a callahan insider.
MAYORS should be APPOINTED!
"MAYORS should be APPOINTED!"
I'll do it.
I'm smarter than you anyway.
JB is a conservative thinker but not a tea party adherent. He could be the nominee for either party and be viable. I have not spoken to him since you broke this county executive run possibility but I will try to get to him today and report back what I find out. My guess is he is considering it but it may be a bit early in that process. He probably has a better chance of winning than Joe Cap does of beating Emrick.
I personally would hate to lose JB as our mayor but I also see the need for a strong independent county exec with no strings attached to him. It's a win for the county and we will have to find another civic leader to keep the ball rolling here. I wish the people of Bangor could all see what he has done for the town in three short years..it's amazing..really. We chose wisely.
Dave Said, you sound like an expert. Tell us how John Brown will win in either party. How he will win in the primary. How he will win in the general election. And how will Joe Emrick beat Joe Cap?
When did I claim I was an expert? It is my opinion and as a person who knows JB..I stand by my statement. At least I identify myself as a Bangor councilman. You sir..are a coward.
Dave is a nasty Dick
and you are a dastardly coward.
Hey 6:31, one of the guys involved spilled the beans. When you get "drinking reporters" involved, people learn things. No one really believes much of what the Callahan crew says. They are known by their crew. For the record. I am just glad the guy learned the truth about you folks.
anon 10:10 sure sounds like a Callahan crewman and he knows what hap pend. Wow! Some endorsement for not being involved.
People from back then know the story. And they passed it along.
you don't know squat, so shut up.
Hey 5:48, you are a big talker. Why not enlighten everyone, if you are so knowledgeable? Or are you doing the usual, "You're wrong I'm right but I'm not telling" nonsense.
You boys got caught, plain and simple. No big deal. All is fair in politics, even dirty tricks and the Callahan klan is known for them.
The problem is Dent pointed out the real Callahan record and the people of Northampton County will be remined.
Quite a few people have commented on how arrogant the Callahan folks are. In their minds the election is a formality. I don't think they realize how weak he is in the county.
2:30, You accuse someone from Callahan's team as reporting Heckman's violation of the Hatch Act.
1. He was in violation of this federal law. Are you saying that someone should wink at a federal transgression bc the perpetrator is a fellow Dem? Isn't that good 'ol boy politics? Would Heckman ignore federal violations by his pals? This is what you are saying, and it is no endorsement of Ron Heckman.
2. You claim Heckman was turned in by a member of Callahan's campaign, but don't identify this whisteleblower. Why not? If you did, I could contact his person and get a confirmation or a denial. Could it be you'd rather just blow smoke?
3. In addition to failing to ID the whistleblower, you refuse to identify yourself. If you did that, you might have some crediility, but are afraid. Why?
4. So far as i know, Heckman has a few vocal suporters, like Glenn Reibman, Jim Gregory and Bob Daday (not the Republican). I believe Reibman is too much of a gentleman to do this. That leaves Gregory and Daday both of whom are crazy enough to make wild allegations they won't back up. So who are you, Daday or Gregory?
Wow, O'Hare we get it Callahan is tr he new Stoffa. Alright already. You are worse than the other guy, blathering on about ancient history.
From the folks I have talked to the people you mentioned all have more than a few vocal supporters. In some cases the supporters are real people.
Whats a matter, Panto tell you to take a hike.
well I am sorry but I will never vote for a republican again. they have destroy our country with their greed and hatred. they cost us about 24 billion dollars this last shut down and cost us lots of jobs and they said they will do it again. Middle class wake up. Don't know about you but I could think of a lot of good things to do with 24 billion dollars.
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