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| Lamont McClure |
The Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley(CACLV), led by Alan Jennings, has its genesis in LBJ's 1964 War on Poverty. It is a community action program designed to empower the poor in low-income communities. Jennings will be the first to admit he's losing the war. He keeps on fighting, but he now has an unlikely enemy - Northampton County Council.
His problem with Northampton County Council started when he decided to hire Ross Marcus last September. At that time, Marcus was County Director of Human Services. This hire was a technical breach of contractual language preventing Jennings from hiring a County employee for a year after he leaves government.
Northampton County has what is called a "revolving door ordinance." It's designed to prevent County employees from negotiating big contracts with a major vendor, and then going to work for it. It has happened. Many years ago, a fiscal officer convinced the County to switch pension advisers, after which he went to work for the selected firm. Similarly, a former public works director resigned for a job with an engineering firm that he recommended repeatedly for County work. The danger here is that the public employee will subordinate the best interests of the County to his own pecuniary interest.
But in the case of CACLV, the area's major poverty fighting organization, contracts for County services existed long before Marcus worked there.So Executive John Stoffa characterized the breach as "technical". He reasoned that the evil at which the ordinance is aimed, did not exist. To be safe, he and CACLV's Alan Jennings executed amendments to county contracts under which CACLV agreed that Marcus, its new hire, would perform no role in the negotiation or execution of any county contracts for a period of one year.
That wasn't enough to satisfy County Council. They enacted changes to the Administrative Code that would prohibit any County employee from serving on boards of any organization that does business with the County. This directly impacted CACLV, whose board included two County employees. Council member Lamont McClure told Jennings, "[Y]ou understood what the law in Northampton County was, but due to your leverage, you chose to hire Mr. Marcus anyway."
Jennings just received a new proposal to provide food assistance to the needy in Northampton County. He is asking that the service be bid., and made his intentions known in a January 2 email to Executive John Stoffa.
"In light of Council’s vociferous objections to CACLV hiring former human services director Ross Marcus, including vocal, public criticism of the agency that questioned my integrity and that of the agency, I would respectfully decline to execute the contract without a formal bidding process."
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ReplyDeleteUse your real name.
ReplyDeleteEveryone knows what a smart ass Jennings is. He create this mess then gets all uppity and prissy with county council.
ReplyDeleteHe defines Ass!
Anonymous posts attacking others are cowardly. Have the guts to use your name or shut up.
ReplyDeleteAll Lamont and Ken have done is hurt poor people who rely on CACLV for food supplies. Werner and Parsons were in on it, too. Probably in the top 3 of dumb council moves in the last four years.
ReplyDeleteWarning to all those Brown appointees: you won't be able to do anything for a year after you leave Northampton County. Best of luck.
poor people are over rated
ReplyDeleteI want everything for free.
ReplyDeleteLOYAL DEMOCRAT VOTER
"all those Brown appointees"
ReplyDeleteWhat Brown appointees? He will be sworn in on Monday, Council meets Thursday and we have yet to hear about any of them publicly but for a Solicitor and Public Defender. Even if he keeps Stoffa people in place there will still be leadership vacancies in several departments.
How's the war on poverty going? Should we still fund it?
ReplyDeletePoor people are obese and have iPhones. Political types have revolving door security. The working poor have to pay for it.
ReplyDeleteLets see....
ReplyDeleteI get a free cell phone and 900 minutes....
I don't have to work cause I have my unemployment..then go on assistance.... screw the idea of looking for work for 99 weeks... lol
Umm free rent assistance.. 450.00 per month in "helpin me out" there...
oh the oil bill? I get my heat assistance at 145.00 per month to cover that...
FOOD? and my free eats at the food pantry...
Oh? you ask about my car? I have a newer ford explorer...2010.. its nicer then the one you werkin folks drive.. don't worry about me not being able to get around.... the state of PA gives me 900.00 years as I am on assistance.... to keep my ride rollin!...
Health care? you folks are going to pay more.. I get mine free now and will continue to do so.... Thank you America and OH" Bama
The comment from a hater at 1:50 AM has been deleted again bc he/she refuses to sign his/her real name.
ReplyDeleteJennings breaks the law, Marcus breaks the law and Stoffa justifies it and defends it.
ReplyDeleteYet county council and McClure are wrong??
Yeah, and it is a noble thing for Jennings to use the poor as a poker chip in his insider job dealing game.
Nice touch.
I am glad Stoffa and his gang are leaving and the new council sends Jennings crying to his Board who should know better.
Jennings is merely insisting that his contract, which he expects to win, be publicly bid. He is forced into this position by snakes McClure and Kraft, neither of whom give a shot about the area's disadvantaged .
ReplyDeleteJennings using the disadvantaged as a shield to give a job to an old pal illegally, should cause the Board to fire him.
ReplyDeleteTo bad you deleted a well written summation that is available on saving private Gracedale.
One side of the story O'Hare.
Like I said, McClure and Kraft weasels, who also think nothing about firing a county worker without even hearing from her, don't give a rat's ass about our disadvantaged. They made it more difficult for CACLV to do its job. And no, Jennings has never used the poor as a shield. He uses them as a sword against phonies, be they big banks or hack politicians. The fact that you can't identify yourself confirms what you are.
ReplyDeleteSo everyone is clear, Jennings, Stoffa and Marcus who broke the law are good ad broke the law with good intentions.
ReplyDeleteYet the county council who enforces the law is bad, and follows the law with evil intentions.
You sure were a lawyer O'Hare!
Actually, you don 't even have your facts right. Neither Stoffa nor Marcus broke any law. What happened is that CACLV violated county contracts. Stoffa notified Council, something he did not have to do. And declared it a "technical" breach. After stating no punitive measures would be taken, that is exactly what this mean-spirited Council did.
ReplyDeleteYou exalt form ver substance and are no better than the goofy priests and money changers whom Jesus derided for turning his father's house into a den of thieves while insisting that all proprieties be observed while ignoring the weak and the hungry.
Blah..blah..blah...
ReplyDeleteJennings broke the law used the poor as a shield to do a favor for an unemployable friend. Stoffa agreed with the conspiracy along with his two county officials sitting on the CACLV Board. Those are the facts and you know it.
Twist and turn al you like. County Council got this one right!!
You betray an intellectual indifference by merely repeating assertions after they have been refuted. This in turn leads to the conclusion that you are not motivated by facts, but an enmity for the players involved. Remaining anonymous makes that even more clear.
ReplyDeleteI have often disagreed with and have been critical of Alan Jennings. At the same time, I recognize that he has devoted his career to improving the lives of the poor. He has NEVER used the less fortunate, except as a sword in a battle against big banks and political hacks.
His integrity has been challenged by McClure and a majority of Council. He has been told that he breached a contract. So he is saying to put it out to bid. Let Council reject it if they dare.
It is their legal obligation to enforce county law. It is the actions of Mr. Jennings that has created this unfortunate situation.
ReplyDeleteIf the CACLV Board actually cares more for the poor and needy than Mr. Jennings huge ego, it will act!
Once again, you display your ignorance. It is not Council's obligation to enforce county law. It is their job to legislate. And it is their poor job of doing that which led to this mess in the first place. They remedied the problem with yet another bad law.
ReplyDeleteEnforcement os for the exec, and in some cases, the DA. The only way he could enforce this law would be by suspending the CACLV contract to provide food assistance to the needy. That's just idiotic, as all your mindless complaints have been.
I have been saying for years that the law committee needs to meet and work out links in the Admin Code and Charter. But Lamont McClure's committee has not met in four years. That's the real problem. My hope is that Ferraro assigns someone else to that committee. He has proven he does not belong there.
Stoffa and Jennings can call a whore an escort, that doesn't change the facts.
ReplyDeleteThey wanted to take care of someone with donor clout so they broke county law. Very simple.
Both Stoffa and Jennings are cut from the same cloth. They are "entitled" to twist and turn the law any way they want since they "know" better than mortals as to what is right. It has been a flaw in both of them their entire careers.
Our county council is holding their feet to the fire regarding this flagrant disregard for conty law. Jennings should be ashamed of himself, instead in true Jennings style he is being pompous and holier than thou.
The poor need someone with a bit more humility, who will fight for them and not jeopardize them by taking care of a political lackey.
The exec is required to enforce the law, however stupid it is. There's no excuse for law breaking. Rules are rules. Change them before breaking them on your own. We are a country of laws, not men.
ReplyDelete"So Executive John Stoffa characterized the breach as "technical". He reasoned that the evil at which the ordinance is aimed, did not exist. To be safe, he and CACLV's Alan Jennings executed amendments to county contracts under which CACLV agreed that Marcus, its new hire, would perform no role in the negotiation or execution of any county contracts for a period of one year."
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about this situation, but it seems to me that a "breach" occurred that was "technically" against the law. Then, both parties "amended" existing contracts to make it all better.
It doesn't matter, really, what the specifics here are. The law was, indeed, broken. I really don't see how you can get around that.
And now it seems Jennings is suddenly interested in following formal procedures.
Seems shady to me.
The real story is after council and the controller explained in public they wanted the contract bid Stoffa tried to give it to CACLV anyway. Kudos to Jennings who did the right thing, but shame on Stoffa. Thank God he's gone!
ReplyDeleteActually, that is the exact opposite of what Council said. They went along with the breach and pointed out that they had no desire or power to declare a breach. But that didn't stop them from being vindictive and petty a few weeks later.
ReplyDeleteMonkey Momma, if you really are her and not someone impersonating her, when Jennings demands that his contracts be bid, that makes him shady? And exactly what would you propose for the breach that occurred? Tell me. The remedy is to suspend the contract. Would you deprive needy people of food assistance bc Jennings hired Marcus? That would be insanity. Would you order Marcus or Jennings to change their minds? You have no power to do that. Insistence on following the law her is nothing short of anal. It serves no purpose.
ReplyDeleteAs I have said before, his and many other laws need tpo be reworked and changed. Some are unconstitutional. Some make no sense. But McClure's legal committee has not met in 5 years.
My hope is that the new Council puts someone else in charge of that committee.
"They wanted to take care of someone with donor clout so they broke county law. Very simple."
ReplyDeleteThis is just insane. At 4:44 Am, no less, and anonymous.
You are aware Stoffa is on his way out, aren't you? You are aware that he funded his own campaign, aren't you? He accepted nothing from anyone.
"The poor need someone with a bit more humility,"
Jesus is not available right now.
Pure Stoffa bullshit as usual. He helped his goofy tool Marcus get a job. McDonalds has standards.
ReplyDeleteWhat's your remedy? Let's assume you're right and this was just about Stoffa taking care of a mythical donor. What is your remedy? You can't legally force Jennings to fire Marcus, so what do you do?
ReplyDeleteThe reality is that this has always been much ado about nothing. If McClure and Kraft were interested in good government, instead of playing politics, that legal committee would have met several times last year.
While I supported most Dems in the Council races, I believe the people coming on board are not going to let Kraft and McClure get away with their games.
Stoffa never respected county council. He would pretend to want their imput, then does what he pleased with some goofy reason of law that didn't exist.
ReplyDeleteGood riddance. The Brown Admisntration should look for another vendor. After you take off the top heavy pay of Jennings , Marcus and the other bigwigs, someone else can do it cheaper.
Someone form the
CACLV Board once said Jennings himself said the assistant job was uneeded.
You sound like the same ignorant person who thinks it's Council's job to enforce the law. I've got news for you. As someone who attended more meetings than most Council members, I can tell you that Stoffa was actually too respectful to those prima donnas. In fact, he weakened the power of his office by being so deferential to a body that is filled mostly with hacks. They don 'to give a shit about the law. They recently violated the US Constitution by effectively firing an employee without letting her defend herself. These are phonies. Stoffa was too nice to these hacks, but he did what he thought was required by good government.
ReplyDeleteThat changes starting next week. I suspect McClure and Kraft and their bullying days are over.
God Bless Lamont McClure!!!
ReplyDeleteFor the real story check out Saving Private Gracewdalew.com!
Hey knucklehead, if you are going to bless your savior Lamutt McClueless at least know how to spell the SPG website.
ReplyDeleteHi Bernie, thanks for the reply. Yes, it was me who wrote that, not an impersonator.
ReplyDelete"Insistence on following the law her is nothing short of anal. It serves no purpose."
Sometimes I'm anal. You got me.
I actually think Jennings is in the right to insist on following the letter of the law now. Better late than never. Like I said, I don't know much about this situation. It just seems to me that the law, as it's written, was broken. Feeding hungry people is noble, but that doesn't give anyone a pass for dodging the law. In my opinion.
Do you think anyone else will bid on the job?? Is there any other organization in the Valley that can handle the load that CACLV carries?
The law, as written, was broken by CACLV. Actually, they breached the contract. The purpose served by that law, i.e., preventing a county employee from enriching himself at the expense of the taxpayers, did not exist. In fact, the breach allowed the new hire to continue doing what he did at the county.
ReplyDeleteYou don't blindly insist on following a law when it is stupid just for the sake of saying you follow the law. That is anal, with all due respect.
Council was notified of the breach very publicly.
In my opinion, this mess existed bc of Council. Their law committee, chaired by McClure, has not met in five years. This s just one of numerous provisions of the Admin Code that need to be fixed and clarified. Bidding procedures, the elections office, the elections commission, participation in pensions are just a few examples where the Admin Code and the Charter are at odds with the state law. But rather than convene hearings, McClure and Kraft were playing politics here.
Lots of unthinking haters in the comments today. Bernie is right. It is a misapplied law.
ReplyDeleteThese comments are really full of people who think they know everything today.
"These comments are really full of people who think they know everything today."
ReplyDeleteAs opposed to someone who knows everything? Notifying someone you are breaking the law and claiming that as a sufficient excuse to break the law, is asinine. Try it with a judge someday.
The notification is not the excuse for breaking the law. The excuse for breaching the contract is that the evil sought to be eradicated does not exist.
ReplyDeleteTry explaining it to a judge? No problem. Last time I checked, anonymous trolls and Council would have no standing to sue, but let's say you could. What would be the remedy?
You caould not obtain damages because there are none. You could seek to b=nullify the contract, but I doubt that would be granted because it is not a material breach of contract.
The Court would most likely rule that this is what is called a de minimis infraction, meaning don't waste our time with bullshit.
But assuming a Court ruled that it was a material breach and nullified the contract, all you will have achieved in doing is depriving needy people of food assistance.
Congratulations.
"all you will have achieved in doing is depriving needy people of food assistance."
ReplyDeleteThat would actually be Alan Jennings' dong. He illegally hired an old political friend as a favor. So Jennings and ultimately his Board are responsible for any harm to the poor.
No, sorry, but Jennings would not be suing to invalidate his own contract. That would be you, the anonymous troll. I also have heard no evidence that Marcus is an old political friend or that he was doing him a favor. As I understand it, Marcus is making much less at CACLV for more work. That's a strange favor.
ReplyDeleteYour whole point, all along is complete nonsense.
Bernie, I agree with you this is a dead issue. In regards to Marcus, the guy needed a job and was having no luck finding one. Jennings helped him out. No harm no foul.
ReplyDeletePhil
Well, "Phil" you don't know that and neither do I. That is pure speculation. What I do know is that Jennings needed someone at CACLV, and that Marcus fit the bill. I know it was voted on by the board. I know that Alicia Karner, contrary to the anonymous speculation here, did not vote for Marcus. But it was a board decision.
ReplyDeleteIf Jennings was looking for a home for a political pal, as someone suggested with absolutely no evidence, board members like Chris Reid or Jeffry Byrne would have cried foul.
So just as you made up a name, so you made up this story. Ross Marcus could probably be hired in LC or even NC as Director of Human Services. You just don't know what you are talking about, "Phil," and this should be a dead issue.
Real or fake(and you know about fake posters), Phil has hit the nail on the had when it comes to the conspiracy between Jennings, Stoffa and Marcus.
ReplyDeleteYou can't sign your name and provide not one scintilla of evidence.
ReplyDeleteMarcus has been voted the worst director in county history. The guy just sucked big time.
ReplyDeleteFind out how he let a three figure a year division head spend more time out of the office than in the office. The guy was just a wuss.
This comment comes from either Ron Shegda or one of his sycophants. Shegda's real problem with Marcus is that Human Services took his sister from him bc of evidence he was abusing her. He fought in court, but lost. Shegda's problem is not Ross marcus, John Stoffa or the people in that department. His problem is himself and the craZies who enable him, i.e. the Fake Rev and Tricia Mezzacappa.
ReplyDelete