My NorCo Council Picks

In the Northampton County Council race, ten candidates are seeking five at-large seats. When that many candidates are running, there's a tendency to tie candidates to the political party they represent. Four years ago, Republicans were swept into office by anger over Obamacare. Now the pendulum has swung the other way, and people are angry over the federal government shutdown. Does this mean that Democrats will sweep? It's possible, but I hope the voters pick the person over the party.

Jerry Seyfried, Ron Heckman and Peg Ferraro will lead the pack. They have good name recognition and each is known to have dedicated years of service to the County. I am aware of the Express Times endorsements, but this is both an endorsement and a prediction. Not only do I consider this trio the top three candidates, but they will be the top three finishers.

The fourth person to win will be Deb Hunter. Four years ago, when she first ran for Council, she very nearly prevailed despite swimming against the national tide. She's become a better candidate with a deep commitment to human services. She also has a head on her shoulders, as people quickly learned during last week's debate.

Who will be fifth?

Before I give you my pick, let me tell you who I think will win. It's Hayden Phillips. He worked hard in the primary and general election and will get nothing but bullet votes from the tea party Republicans. I completely disagree with his views. He is an Agenda 21, gun-totin', privatization-lovin' candidate who will vote against every open space project. But he does a good job of hiding his extremism, and his name reminds people of Northampton County's Phillips Feed, even though there's no relation.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. With Phillips on Council, Lamont McClure will have to support John Callahan, something he currently has no intention of doing.  

Who would I like to see as the fifth candidate?

I believe Mat Benol, Glenn Geissinger and Seth Vaughn all are fairly equal. I will vote for Geissinger.

The knock on Mat, at least to some Dems, is that he was Chairman of the Lehigh Valley Tea Party. I got to know him then, and consider him one of the most reasonable people I have ever met..Despite his views, he is a consensus builder.

Glenn Geissinger impresses me every time I meet him. He knows the issues and takes the time to even come to budget hearings. What I did not know well, until the debate, was that his business experience is quite considerable and he may have in fact understated a lot of what he's done in that arena.

His son, Noah, cinched it for me.

Seth Vaughn has run before and come close. He has a great command of County issues, better than Benol or Geissinger. I intended to support him until I learned that he failed to attend any meetings of the LVPC after being appointed to that body. He should have resigned. I hate when people do not have enough respect for their offices to show up, whether it is Lamont McClure or Seth Vaughn.

Tom O'Donnell is unqualified. O'Donnell touts his financial acumen, and then can't file the appropriate expense report, and has yet to form a committee identified on his signs as the source of his funds.

Borso is a big disappointment. She repeatedly promised to fill out a candidate questionnaire, but broke her word to me. On Facebook, she begged people to send her money for her campaign, and then was dropping money for meals at the Blue, Prime and some New Hope restaurant. It seems that she was making daily trips to WaWa and Giant. She dropped $70 one night for an "after Council" meeting at The Blue. She even spent $230 on clothing. She has no original idea, and spent debate night looking at her talking points. She is a Lamont McClure puppet.