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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Friday, October 17, 2014

NorCo Council Goes On Strike! (Updated)

Brown displayed no emotion as people spoke.
Two weeks ago, Northampton County Council President Peg Ferraro asked Executive John Brown to compromise on his health plan cuts for the County workforce. He declined. A majority of Council adopted a Resolution calling on Brown to give a little. He said No.  Union agent Justus James asked Brown to sit down and just talk to him. Brown demurred, according to James. In three crowded Council meetings, workers have alternatively alternatively criticized and begged Brown for help. Last night, he declined to answer their concerns or even provide an Executive Report. So Lamont McClure urged fellow Council members to do something that workers have not - strike. He has proposed refusing to conduct any business beyond what is absolutely necessary until Brown finally agrees to sit down and talk.

Thanks to an absent Republican Seth Vaughn, McCkure got away with it last night.

Earlier that night, before workers even spoke, Council approved some pathology services for Coroner Zach Lysek and some changes to the emergency generator project at Gracedale. Those were both noncontroversial and passed with with little discussion, though Glenn Geissinger strangely recused himself from the pathology services contract.

After listening to the concerns of workers from a crowd that numbered over 100, Council returned to its agenda.

The first real item of business was a Geissinger-inspired ordinance that would give all Council members a $1,000 paycut so they could all feel the pain already being inflicted on the workforce. Almost as soon as the ordinance was introduced, McClure moved to table it. Council President Peg Ferraro, no fan of pay cuts, quickly joined all Democrats to provide the fifth vote..

Then McClure explained what he was doing. Noting that Brown has refused to compromise or even discuss rolling back his health plan cuts, he suggested Council should just stop conducting business. "We ought to table anything that isn't essential to the government of Northampton County," he said.

And that's pretty much exactly what happened. What wasn't tabled, failed. The other three Democrats quickly followed McClure's lead. Republicans, and Council President Peg Ferraro in particular, seemed completely shocked by what had just happened.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm stunned," she said at one point.

What had her up on a lift, blowin' oil, was a noncontroversial $30 million loan arrangement with St. Luke's Hospital in Bethlehem Township, through the County's General Purpose Authority. These kinds of loans, involving hospitals and colleges, are common. It's a form of tax exempt financing in which the County is never on the hook, but is able to use the administration fees to fund other projects of its own in the County

"Motion to table," stated McClure. That failed in a 4-4 vote. As Council Clerk Fran Flisser called out the names, an exasperated Ferraro asked McClure, "Do you realize what you're doing to St. Luke's Hospital?"

Though the motion to table failed, so did the resolution. By a 6 to 2 vote, with only Ferraro and fellow Republican Hayden Phillips voting Yes, Northampton County Council dealt a setback to St. Luke's and any other hospital or college interested in arranging financing through the County.

"You have just rejected hundreds of thousands of dollars to Northampton County," Ferraro said to the No votes.

This is a first. At no time has Northampton Council ever voted to reject his kind of financing arrangement, which involves no risk to the County and results in administration fees.

But McClure had only just begun.

The next item on the agenda was a resolution to approve the reclassification of a position in Human Services. A Budget Analyst would now be called an Accountant, with no extra pay to show for it.

"Motion to table," said McClure again. This time, Glenn Geissinger mysteriously joined the Democrats, and in a 5-3 vote, the reclassification was halted.

After the meeting, Brown accused Democrats of "pandering to the employee base," while McClure told Express Times reporter Tom Shortell that he only wants Brown to sit down and negotiate these health plan cuts.

Mike Romig 

What Did People Say?  


Though the 100-plus crowd was not as large as the previous two, there were more speeches, and they were impassioned.

Justus James - The AFSCME union agent, who speaks for most of the bargaining units in the County, noted that Brown is making financial mistakes. he's closed down an academy to train corrections officers, who will have to be trained at about a $20,000 County expense per worker in Elizabethtown. He pointed out corrections officers are retiring, and inmates could sue. All the unions that can do so are going to arbitration. "How much will all this cost the taxpayer?" he asked. "Maybe we need another consultant to figure it out," he said, in a biting reference to Brown's pencahnt for hiring consultants.

Paul Breaux - In addition to the 16-plus vacancies in Corrections, the Juvenile Detention Center is down ten people. They are being forced to work multiple 16-hour shifts, which could lead to "huge liability" for negligence. "With changes to the healthcare plan," we will lose employees," states the 911 dispatcher.

CYF Caseworker (I missed her name and tried to get it
after the meeting, but she sprayed me with mace) 
Sean Carson. - "We're all on the same team," he told Brown. "We're here to serve the residents of Northampton County."

Mike Romig. - Wearing a "Bite Me!" T-shirt, which is not as cool as a Stickergate T-shirt, Bridge Department worker Mike Romig noted that 1/4 of the County workforce makes under $31,000. "We have incompetent administrators who hire incompetent assistants who hire incompetent contractors." Noting the County's ability to botch repair jobs, he joked that they have a saying - "Maybe they'll get it right the third time."

Donna Joyko - This 37-year department head at Gracedale asked Brown to address the rumors concerning reductions in vacation, sick time, longevity, etc. "Are these facts, fiction?" she asked. She got no answer. (Blogger's Note - Today is her anniversary with the County. Congrats, Donna!!)

Steve Barron - The Controller is waiting for documents from the Executive concerning C3, the consultant who recommended the health plan cuts. (Blogger's Note: Like Barron, I have filed a Right-to-Know concerning these documents and emails, and expect a reply on or before November 16). Barron has also discovered yet another consultant contract, this one for $22,800, with an outfit called Concord Financial Services. An outfit with that name is the one that recommended the County enter into the swaption that cost it over $27 million.  It is also the outfit that recommended the firm involved in Bethlehem Township's streetlight scam.  But after the meeting, Barron told me he thinks this is a different Concord. I hope so.

"Any fiscal conservative who would look at your spending concerning consultants would find it galling," Barron told Brown.

Mary Eckhardt
Mary Eckhardt. - A former union organizer herself, she stated she and her husband now live on a fixed income. "We have helped you keep your jobs. Now help us pay for your jobs,." she stated.

Tom Davis. - The union president for corrections officers, Davis disputes Brown's statement at a recent news conference that Davis had told him he'd address staffing shortages during contract negotiations. "That never happened," stated Davis. He also resented brown's statement that he was not going to just "throw bodies" at the staffing shortage at the jail. "He called us his most valuable asset and then calls us 'bodies,'" complained Davis.

Wendy (last name missed - Gracedale). - "You won't take my pride and won't take these people's pride away from them. ... We're under-appreciated, understaffed, overworked and disgusted, and it's beginning to show at Gracedale."

Michael Stocker - a Lafayette College Junior, he noted the cost of education. "You need to realize there is a real world out there."

Updated 1:25 pm: Though I like to pretend I am just making things up, I am fairly serious about getting my facts right and quoting people accurately. Last night, I know Peg was exasperated by the St. Luke's vote, even to the point of criticizing Lamont McClure in the middle of the roll call. I also recall her saying, "Ladies and gentlemen ..." several times. In the course of writing my account, I saw Tom Shortell's excellent play-by-play for The Express Times. He writes, "Ladies and gentlemen, I am stunned."

I saw his words. Reading them, I believed that is what Peg said. I was sitting there. I believed he was quoting her. Tom was actually writing for himself in the first person.

His words may have confused me.

In a nice way, Shortell called me a plagiarist today. He told me he knows that doesn't mean so much to someone like me, who isn't bound by journalistic ethics.

Actually, it means quite a bit. For that reason, let me qualify the Peg Ferraro quote on my main story by stating I know she made a few "Ladies and gentlemen" remarks and I quoted her accurately to the best of my ability. I believed my quote was accurate when I reported it, but Shortell's play-by-play may have confused me.

I try just as hard as any mainstream reporter to get it right. Just as I don't post anonymously, I'm not going to steal someone's work. I don't think I need a course in ethics on that topic.

60 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bernie, one thing to note about the corrections officer academy. It is not only certified to train officers in Northampton County. It can train officers from any county instead of using the Elizabethtown academy. Seems like the Brown administration is letting a means of providing some revenue for the county sit empty.

Paula said...

Hey Bernie, not sure if you said I sprayed you with mace to get me to comment on who I am or to make a joke. I certainly hope so since I left the meeting well before you with other caseworkers. My name is Paula Kenderski. (Can't be too anonymous with my picture in the blog, can I?) I'm concerned about how all of this affects the Human Services and the rest of the county workers. We are short staffed, and morale is very low. For CYF, we are looking out for the safety of the county's most vulnerable population. We are put in dangerous situations on a daily basis. We are the first going in to confront parents on abusing their children most times without prior notice. I don't think the public understands the dangers we face. Sometimes we have to call the police or sheriffs to come out with us because of volatile situations. We have to remove children from dangerous homes and provide counseling for them. I have had to place children on call in the middle of the night and transport them myself to foster homes in some dangerous neighborhoods of center city Allentown or Bethlehem. How many people would like to do this at 2:00 am after receiving an on call report of a child being hurt or neglected? Who is considering our safety in situations like this? How does the county show what they feel our lives are worth when we are performing these dangerous duties and Mr. Brown wants to take our hard earned benefits away? I love my job. Most of us love our jobs. Most of us are very good at our jobs. We care about the families and children and go above and beyond the realm of our duties on a regular basis. I have gone to school plays for my kids, graduations, baby showers, gotten food for families out of my own pocket when they have none. That it not required of us. We do it because we care. Just like all the workers in the county. We are not here for the fabulous pay. We are here to help people. All we ask in return is a little appreciation. I am happy that council showed us their support tonight and hope they continue to do so until a resolution can be made.

Well played on getting me to write in without being anonymous by the way! lol! I hadn't planned on speaking and wasn't prepared as my shaky voice showed but I couldn't listen again as the "taxpayers" keep asking us to give and compromise when we haven't been given that chance yet. We are all taxpayers. But the other taxpayers aren't being asked to learn to budget a $13,000 pay cut on top of their already fixed income. We are on fixed incomes too and that will devastate almost all of us.

Do you mind clearing me of assaulting you? Ha ha

Anonymous said...

Thank you John Brown. You are keeping your promise not to raise taxes. You are unique in Northampton county politics.

The whiney county employees can find other jobs if they think their great life is so bad. They have healthcare and a "defined benefit" pension.

They are out of touch with the real world.

The taxpayers and voters of the county are with you.

Anonymous said...

@3:11
Don't speak for those who have compassion.

Anonymous said...

"Don't speak for those who have compassion."

Your holier than thou bullshit is getting old. You want some cheese with your whine?

Anonymous said...

You are delusional if you think taxes shouldn't be raised. Most county employees are Northampton county tax payers as well.

Anonymous said...

McClure cut off the county's nose to spite its face. He was probably jonesing for a couple of runs at the nearest all you can eat buffet. He's nearly the size of the inflatable cat. Asbestos is fattening.

Anonymous said...

The St Luke's move was ill-advised. there are other financing agencies St Lukes can run the deal thru (LeCo comes to mind). All that did was cost the county some administrative fees. I suspect Lamont probably didn't know that.

Anonymous said...

it is unacceptable that the council pulled this stunt last night.

If they dont like Brown's budget, then vote against it in a block, but dont shirk their responsibility to govern.

And Ms. Ferraro is correct, Council cost the County and the Taxypayers thousands of no risk dollars with this stunt, which will have to be made up somewhere.

this isnt on Brown, it is directly on council

Anonymous said...

Again, how are the county workers not dealing with the real world? Benefits are just that, benefits. It's something you get for doing a good job which they do. Also, they are dealing with more real world situations than any of you crying about your taxes being raised. When children die, elderly are abused, people with mental health issues ware walking around your community untreated, 911 center can't function or the prison is out of control and you want somebody to blame, blame yourselves not the county workers. As for McClure biting off the county's nose to spite its face...John Brown has already done that by refusing to negotiate with the employees.

Anonymous said...

How can the County Executive constantly have "No Report"? Is that not why we elected him?

Anonymous said...

If he can't write the report himself he has plenty of consultants and high paid directors who could do it.

Anonymous said...

one of the most alarming things are all the vacancies in these offices / prison and juvenile center ! john brown should recognize how necessary it is to fill these vacancy's , yet he doesn't but we are to have confidence in his decisions ? kudos to mclure for standing up for the employees and to john brown! maybe he will realize the seriousness of the situation , one can only hope he comes down off his throne and talks to the people!

Anonymous said...

paula thank you for speaking up ! I second everything you said!

Anonymous said...

Hope the Express-Times gives Council a turkey for the stupid move with St. Luke's Hospital. They are acting like children who hold their breath when they don't get their way.

The Republicans are allowing McClure to turn county government into a circus. As Council President Peg needs to show some leadership.

Anonymous said...

@4:50
I'll take cheese over the bitter BS you keep dishing out with your whine.
"Boohoo. I don't have benefits working at McDonalds, so nobody should."

Anonymous said...

I find it disheartening that Mr. Brown says he doesnt want to throw new correctional hires into the Jail and yet he hires a person to fill the Safetly Administrator position at the jail with someone who has no correctional experience. Can you say political favor? What a joke.

Anonymous said...

Council can always motion for St. Luke's funding again. Brown needs to know it isn't always going to be his way.

Anonymous said...

this whole situation in Northampton County will come back to bite them. The employees are not overpaid. Why didn't the administration do a job survey and compare salaries to other businesses and colleges, etc. etc. You would find that No.Co. employees are at the bottom of the salary ladder.
No. Co. Council states that they are helpless in this matter of Health Benefits. Then what do we need with a County Council.

Anonymous said...

6:22,

I expect there's a whole lot that lamont doesn't know

Anonymous said...

diapers are the required dress for the next meeting

Anonymous said...

Many years ago that is what the Hay study found. However details were never released. I wonder if we can get it with right to know or has it been shredded?

The Central Scrutinizer said...

I love how "the real world" involved happily receiving compensation cuts.

3:11 - Speak for yourself. I am a voter and a taxpayer and I'm completely opposed to John Brown's antics.

"Pandering to the employee base" - did he really say that? My god.

Anonymous said...

I think if the county employees are really that unhappy and morale is that low, they should resign and find another job that compensates them for their experience, skill and knowledge. There are literally 1000's of jobs in the marketplace right now that are just waiting for them. And since they are likely to be paid more handsomely for their newer endeavors, the Union will rake in more dues from their members, making the Unions that much more stable and politically powerful.

Anonymous said...

Your photo of Brown and his minions looks like the Mt. Rushmore of stiffs. Why are they even there if they will sit through an hour and a half of passionate employee outcries without batting an eyelash? Brown no longer gives an executive's report in fear of being booed. Plus, there really isn't anything positive to report. His administration has become like toxic waste.

Anonymous said...

Blowhard Barron lecturing Brown in public. The king of indiscretion, Barron Von Footinmouth aka Little Stevie Blunder has a lot of nerve calling out another elected official. But as usual he is pandering for union votes. He is a partisan hack who is disgracing what should be a non-partisan office.

Anonymous said...

Home Rule form of County government does not work...go back to a 3 Commissioner form and you will have full time Commissioners being held liable for the success/failure of their actions. Norco and Lehigh are a joke because it is always the Executive and Council/Commission butting heads over budgets and trying to force the other into submission. Councilmen/Commissioners are just pass the buck part timers who thrive on instability and pander to the employee and union base. This doesn't happen with regularity in a 3-Commissioner form of government.

Anonymous said...

Are you that blind? As soon as he's done screwing the workers he'll turn around and raise taxes too.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Hey Bernie, not sure if you said I sprayed you with mace to get me to comment on who I am or to make a joke."

Paula, Thanks for the last name. Joe McDonald and I both missed it. It was my job to get it from you and I blew it.

Thank you even more for the comment.

You were quite well spoken last night, as are many county workers. They do a better job for the most part than theur representatives behind the dais, as most Council members themselves will agree.

Peter J.Cochran said...

Dear, Mr. Brown, We,Peg and me are Real estate Bill No.4647143. I don't feel that the proposed cuts as it looks, here is right or fair. Lesser incomes of $45,000 a year,especially. At least look at sliding scale like in our Armed Services that are paid for by service members. Full bird 06's pay more for food and lodging for example than private first class,E-2. I want to go on record as a tax payer and arch conservative that we need a balance and not a 'surprise' on issues of basic working conditions. I don't mind paying a bit more for them ,it's my GD school taxes that drive me up the wall because of incompetence and greed. I want to encourage you to at least assets the many fine folks who have some lower salary ranges. I have no relative or relatives in the system with you. ---Thank you for consideration of my tax payer request.

Anonymous said...

"How can the County Executive constantly have "No Report"? Is that not why we elected him?"

Another misnomer. the county executive is not required to give any report at council meetings.

Anonymous said...

Bernie, Can you please educate Paula, since she seems confused. I would like you to point out that a "co-pay" is not the same as a "dedcutable" and that neither the "co-pay" nor the dedcuctable is $13,200.

The $13, 200 represents the TOTAL out of pocket expense in one year that an employee will be expected to pay.

If you met your deductable for 1 year, then the balance billed from the medical provider is 10%.

IE, if the total bill was $150,000, you would not pay $15,000, but $13,200 for 2 adult plan.

Same scenario, single plan, $150,000 billed, means you have to kick in $6,600.

To think that someone is regularly using $150,000 per year in medical means that they are proably too sick to continue working anyway, unless it was a "fluke" event.

I dont think Paula really needs to budget $13,200 each year unless Paula or her husband is on a list for a heart transplant.

Anonymous said...

I am surprised that none of these gomers didn't complain that they were going to die under Mr. Brown's plan. O'Hare loves to spread that bullshit story.

Maybe they can form a support group of employees dying under John Brown. What a bunch of maroons.

Anonymous said...

God Bless John Brown! After eight years of giving everything away we finally have a real executive who knows what to do.

Anonymous said...

@ 1:36
I fully understand the plan as it stands. I understand a deductible and copy are different from the co-insurance. Since the taxpayers seem to think we pay nothing towards our benefits, I was simply educating them on what we do already pay. We pay a percentage of our salary each paycheck towards the premium. We have a yearly deductible as well. Mr. Brown wants to increase the deductible and copay as well as add a 10% co-insurance with a max of $13,200 for the year. Now, maybe we won't get sick ever and not have a large payout. But I can honestly say that if my family has a year again like this past year, we would be paying that co-insurance over the year. You assume that unless both my husband and I need a heart transplant that the co-insurance won't add up. I have children. maybe you don't have any children who play sports or get sick or ever fall and break a bone. Lucky you! We haven't beem that lucky. Not that it's any of your business anyway. If we know of this co-insurance and don't plan to budget for it at all and have a particularly bad year, then our debt is outrageous and we have issues paying our bills or taxes or what not. Let's also look at the fact that not one county employee has asked to not have any increases to the health care plan. We are simply asking that it be more reasonable especially since we likely won't get an increase in our pay. Also, not one employee has asked the county to increase taxes to keep our benefits low. We don't want to hurt anyone else but we are not the reason the county's finances are an issue. What about the reimbursement from the state that the county receives for all of the Human Services workers? The stae reimburses the county 80-100% of each worker's salary AND benefits. What is the county doing with that money? If they were managing it properly and actually putting it towards our salary and benefits along with the premiums we already pay, the county wouldn't be putting out any money for our benefits. I'm not the one missing the facts. The facts are clear. We are not the problem.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Bernie O'Hare said...

The condescending anonymous comment at 5:10, addressed to a reader who identified herself, has been deleted.

Yes, it's all about what I think... said...

"To think that someone is regularly using $150,000 per year in medical means that they are proably too sick to continue working anyway, unless it was a "fluke" event."

While certainly not the norm, it is plausible that many serious illnesses could reach that threshold faster than you think...or just maybe its for a dependent who needs the care while the provider (employee) works for the County.

Chemo alone could top 6 figures annually quite easily, and one can still remain productive and active in their position at work.

Let's not be so quick to put our employees "out to pasture!"

Yes, it's all about what I think... said...

(in response to 1:36)

Anonymous said...

If you don't like your job or the leadership, quit. Its pretty simple. The taxpayers refuse to be held hostage anymore to public sector unions and unrepresented employees. You can be replaced. Its pretty simple.

Peter J.Cochran said...

Why can't more posters sign their name? Because they are 'weenies' and don't want their opinion to be held to their name .They probably hold umbrellas when it rains,but drive a Lexis like a big shot . WELL the signers of the Declaration of Independents knew the King would have their HEADS ---but the signed their names anyway because they were not cowards. Doesn't anybody have a set of balls anymore?

Bernie O'Hare said...

Peter, I know you're a man of courage and appreciate that you say who you are. The trolls hate brave people, and do everything they can to knock people who say who they are.

Anonymous said...

How about all of the"gomers" take a sick day on the same day.

Peter J.Cochran said...

Bernie ,your forum is THE MEDIA of Northampton County. If your blog was not here ,the employee that works the criminal courts job my not know until it to late whats going on with their own benefits issue.How will Mr.County Executive, replace someone like Wanda at criminal ? Not going to happen!

Peter J.Cochran said...

Screw you trolls !! You are fuck heads. Maybe some lawyer that just gets by , or an employee they slides by and thinks the union will protect him. Who knows? Someone all ways has a comment . SIGH YOUR NAME --if your a big shot -put it in here , BIG BOY!

Anonymous said...

Bernie, I had read Shortell's updates last night and saw that comment. At the time, I didn't know if Shortell was speaking for himself, or reporting what Ferraro said.

I don't believe he would be justified in alleging you committed plagiarism for that. I have heard Ferraro say "Ladies and Gentleman" many times. It's such a small thing - did he really call you out on that?

Ms. Kenderski took your sense of humor quite well. It's great to see her come here and contribute. I love it when you write stuff like "she maced me so I couldn't get her name." Self deprecation is an art.

Anonymous said...

"Thank you John Brown. You are keeping your promise not to raise taxes. You are unique in Northampton county politics."

He's unique? Because he is blind to reality? Guess what, taxes need to be raised. Are we supposed to go down in flames because one person clings to a promise he made?

Bernie O'Hare said...

Tom raised it with me but was not flat out accusing me. He and i get along fairly well. I did not lime it, but would actually want him to discuss it with me. I went back and reviewed everything and decided it required an explanation. His play-by-play was quite good.

Anonymous said...

Just more wasted tax dollars at the hands of Brown and his chronies. He's unable to write a report or talk to people or do his job. If there is waste and money going out the window its due to Brown and his incompetence. He is not able to govern the county.

Anonymous said...

Taxes need to be raised. If the legislature in Harrisburg wasn't totally incompetent school tax would be eliminated on properties. Sales tax and income tax raise would more than cover. Homeowners are feeling the pinch. But it is not the pinch of county tax, rather school tax.

County taxes need to be raised in small increments to cover growing costs. These costs are actual services received to family and friends.

Anonymous said...

County council made a decision last night to show Brown how unreasonable and harmful he is being toward the county's "most valuable assets".

Anonymous said...

1:36...BUT if that unfortunate circumstance would happen, or a high risk pregnancy, or a freak illness or accident or sick child with a 10% co-insurance on our average salaries the majority of county employees would have to pay a third of our salaries in one year to health care. Now I know I work in the apparently "fake world of county government working a fake and seemingly unimportant job" to those in the "real world". BUT, I am very positive in "my real world" one year of paying $13,200.00 + I would absolutely find myself and three young kids homeless because I could not afford 1 year of loosing 1/3rd of my salary. So, to the "real world", please tell me WHAT job to seek that a loss of a third of a salary in a year YOU could loose and still afford to live????? I'll be waiting for that answer. You can address your answer to:"dear living in dream land".
Idiots!!!!

Anonymous said...

Agree

Anonymous said...

2:38...or maybe a nice big class action law suit against the county of Northampton.

Anonymous said...

ok... Time for baby talk...These employees are tax payers as well who spend their money on services and products which in turn helps fund both the private and public sector which in turn gives you your paycheck. It's a big cycle... You idiots are just to dumb to realize that this is going to hurt you "taxpayers" in the end as well.

Anonymous said...

Bernie can`t Judge Baratta write a court order for those vacant positions to be filled in the courts and especially the detention center ?

Bernie O'Hare said...

I am uncertain exactly how far his powers extend. I do know that when the courts get into a power struggle, they generally come out on top.

Anonymous said...

"a freak illness or accident or sick child with a 10% co-insurance on our average salaries the majority of county employees would have to pay a third of our salaries in one year to health care."

This is the situation I am in. I don't make enough income to qualify for the ACA in PA (as odd as this sounds - shouldn't those least able to pay for insurance have access to assistance?) But in my case, it is every year, regardless of my health. Just to pay for insurance right now costs 25% of my income, and that is with 0 visits to the doctor or hospital! Now add in MY
deductible.

A freak accident costing 1/3 of yearly income is less worrisome than a freak illness wiping your assets out, which is where I am at.

Anonymous said...

Express Times editorial today was spot on. Does Brown have any legal advisors who have read the Home Rule Charter and administrative code?

Anonymous said...

Thank GOD some brains entered the Chambers. Thumbs up Council...BRAVO