Ott is Actually the Fiscally Irresponsible Candidate in LC

In a microcosm of what is going on nationally, Lehigh County's so-called reform Commissioners have appeared very much like the U.S. House, playing a game of brinksmanship. Leading the charge for them has been Scott Ott. Some of you think he's an intelligent, self-deprecating and thoughtful man. Others, including me, think he's a mean-spirited phony. It is thanks in large part to people like Ott, as well as our tea party driven Congressmen, that Republicans are leaving their party. Locally, I know a former Township Commissioner who recently changed sides. So has Tom Muller, Lehigh County's Director of Administration, and Democratic candidate for Lehigh County Exec. The Express Times has just endorsed Muller.

"We think Muller promises a more balanced, predictable path for the county," say the editors.

D'you think?

I first got to know Scott Ott when he ran for Executive against Don Cunningham, and nearly beat him. At that time, Americans were angry at Democrats for pushing once-in-a-generation legislation, Obamacare, with absolutely no attempt to build a consensus. Cunningham held on, but Democrats were swept out of office in Northampton County Council races.

Now, four years later, the situation is reversed. Americans are still angry, but this time it's at a small core group of tea party Republicans who would rather paralyze government and ruin what's left of our credit rating, than see Obamacare implemented.

In Lehigh County's case, Scott Ott and fellow Commissioners Michael Schware, Tom Creighton, Lida Scheller and Vic Mazziotti are no small rump group. They're the majority.

In 2012, Ott refused to vote for CDBG funding that, in part, would feed needy seniors through the Meals on Wheels program. Ott asked, "Have they no family? Have they no church connections, no neighbors that love them?" He was dismayed that the "Chinese communist government is fronting us money to feed 85 year old women in Lehigh County." He also objected that the "federal government is sending us money to do things that are of no national import."

In his world view, that 85 year old woman would starve before red-blooded Americans took one cent from the Commies.

Last week, he demeaned the president judge of Lehigh County, who explained that, in her opinion as a judge, tipstaffs are needed for reasons of judicial efficiency as well as safety. After sarcastically pretending to be very concerned and troubled by what she said, he voted against her, making a penny wise and pound foolish decision. .

That night, Commissioner Vic Mazziotti explained the dilemma facing Lehigh County next year. It spent $12 million more than it received. So it has had to dip into its rainy day fund to the tune of $10 million. "We are spending money out of our savings account, 40% of it," he noted. "We can't take $10 million out of the budget in 2014 and again in 2015.

He's right. It is, as he called it, an "unsustainable budget." But how did things get that way?

I think the answer is the Lehigh County Commissioners. Last year, they tried to enact a $5 million tax cut, and eventually settled for a $3 million cut. They did this without simultaneously enacting a permanent decrease in spending.

Let's look at Ott and his so-called reform team. When they ran Dean Browning out of office two years ago, they said they were the future of the local Republican party. After seeing the results since they have been in office I think they are resurrecting the past - specifically when Bush was president and Republicans controlled Congress. That's when the GOP lost its way fiscally by cutting taxes while simultaneously increasing spending and blowing up the deficit. Their actions were fiscally irresponsible, and are probably one of the big reasons why we went into recession.

That is exactly what Ott and his team have done in Lehigh County. They cut taxes, but by 2.9% instead of the 16% they promised). They also increased spending. It went from $109.3 million in the year before they took office to $110.9 million with the budget they just amended. In the process, they almost doubled the deficit. It went from $4.3 million the year before they took office to $7.7 million with the amended budget.

So I agree when Vic Mazziotti calls the current proposed budget "unsustainable", but he and team Ott seem to me to be a big part of that mess.

They have they failed to do what what they said they would do, i.e eliminate the 16% increase, cut spending and balance the budget. What they have done instead is make the "future of the party" look an awful lot like its fiscally irresponsible past.

At the same time, their disdain for government grants and other funding will discourage development in Lehigh County. A Scott Ott victory in Lehigh County will be terrible for Lehigh, but great for Northampton County economic development.

Ott is a bad candidate. He was bad when he ran against Cunningham, bad when he ran against Browning and is bad in his race against Muller.

A fically responsible Republican should not vote for Ott. A Democrat should not vote for Ott. And no 85 year old woman should vote for Ott.