Wednesday, October 08, 2014
NorCo Exec John Brown To Meet Press Thursday, 10:30 am
NorCo Exec John Brown will take questions from the press tomorrow at 10:30 am. I am posting this early so that you can post you can post your own interrogatories now as a comment. I will check these at 10 am, and pose as many good questions as time permits. I have a number of questions myself, but collectively, yours are probably better. If he sees them here, as he might, it will give him an opportunity to prepare a more complete answer.
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54 comments:
How big a hit did corrections take in the budget and what if anything was cut from their piece of the pie?
That question can be answered by looking at the budget. You can do better.
What legal authority is he using to impose health care changes on employees covered by collective bargaining agreements?
After so much opposition to your proposed budget, do you now feel it may be time for a tax increase in Northampton County.
I'll ask this, but think the answer is that, with the exception of the corrections officers, the collective bargaining agreements had provisions that would allow this.
My cpmment is for the question at 7:51.
The comment at 7:53 is good.
I never heard of a collective bargaining agreement that would allow such an extreme step, but none of the media coverage spoke to this.
Yes, I believe that's what happened. I think the unions caved on that point bc of the uncertainties attendant on Obamacare. I seem to recall that being mentioned once at a meeting. Unfortunately, I have no specific recollection.
Will the County continue to submit the Commuter Tax to Easton's city government? Are there any plans not to submit the tax? And if the County chooses not to submit the tax, and the law gets upheld, how will the County rectify the shortfall?
All but one of the unions had language allowing chnages to their healthcare due to the effects of the ACA. The corrections officers union noticed a typo in the proposal from the county that did not allow changes. When the county finally picked up on it they tried to renegotiate the wording. The corrections officers union refused due at the time of not knowing what the true effects of the ACA would have. That provision along with the rest of that contract expire at the end of the year.
You could agree to a reopener on health care to incorporate changes under the ACA through negotiations, but you should never agree to allowing unilateral changes with out negotiations.
Health care is a major issue you don't just through in the towel. I never heard of any thing like it.
How can you as the Executive of Northampton County say the workers are the backbone of the county yet you have made changes that will negatively impact those you claim to hold in such high regard? Why is it that you say no raises however high level staff are receiving pay raises such as certain fiscal employees? Have you ever sat down with your non-union management staff to discuss your plans? Do you understand the impact the mass retirements will have on the services being provided to the county taxpayers who did and didn't vote for you?
My name is Tom Davis and I am President of AFSCME 2549, representing the corrections officers. I read with interest regarding the corrections portion of the budget. It states..." personnel costs reflect a consistent staffing pattern and include salaries and fringe benefits. Operating expenditures will support levels of service consistent with prior years. " This is laughable. Consistently understaffed? When I spoke at the meeting I mentioned we were short by roughly 30 officers, 16 of whom were "off the books." This means we are 16 short of a full complement of 206. The rest are out injured, long term sick leave, etc. Well now it's 17 with no end in sight. We are budgeted for 206 so assuming those positions go unfilled the balance of the money goes, I'm told, into the general fund. We are breaking down, especially the night shift, and it's just a matter of time before someone gets hurt. Mr. Brown is steadfast in his refusal to hire more staff. As for the health care protection in our CBA, we rejected an article during our last negotiations that gave the county the ability to reopen the contract to reflect any changes. It is irresponsible to break any language of a CBA and we held firm. We did give concessions in holiday time, sick time, and the stipend for perfect attendance. While the membership wasn't generally pleased at the time it was imperative to take the concessions in order to protect the health care. Raises were minimal, and we felt we were keeping the taxpayers in mind when the package was ratified. That was almost two years ago and now we are almost certainly headed to arbitration based on "offers" other unions received, which reflect multi year wage freezes and of course, the health care issue. In other words, a huge pay cut for a dangerous and unappreciated line of work. I feel sorry for the young officers who work hard and receive wages that lag far behind other facilities. I cannot blame them for looking elsewhere. We are not looking to cripple the taxpayers. We just want to maintain a level of fairness but we don't know what is in store because they have not sat down with us yet. I am tired of being anonymous so screw it, I am out there. Blogger will throw darts at me but I do not care because anybody who is honest with themselves would do the same thing. Besides, it would not compare to what gets thrown at us inside the prison if you catch my drift. Got my next speech ready BO!
Tom, thanks very much for your comment and for having the cajoles to say who you are.
When Jim Gregory is released in a few days what position will he be given in your administration? When was the last time you put money on his books?
That will be my first question.
How do you plan on controlling or limiting the seemingly out of control expenses of Gracedale? And what provisions or measures are you going to take to make to ensure that county facilities do not wind up needing costly repairs like Gracedale does?
What businesses did you really work for, did you ever receive any raises, did you ever supervise anyone and do you understand the meaning of a balanced budget does not include a LOC for routine expenses?
How do you plan on retaining experienced employees and how do you plan on attracting qualified replacements if any?
Would it be cost effective to shut down the old section of the prison and pay other counties to house some prisoners?
What steps are being taken to reduce the county contribution to Gracedale?
How do you plan to justify the reduction of the Open Space budget that the proposed 2015 budget reflects? NorCo taxpayers pay 0.5 mill in property tax towards Open Space, and we expect it to used for that. It appears you are rolling over the $3.7m from 2014 (even though 17 farms were approved to be preserved but they haven't been purchased yet) and decreasing funding drastically. How is this legal? What will you tell residents of communities that do not have an EIT, and therefore do not have their own open space funds, yet pay 0.5 mill to the county, that you did with that money?
When Jim Gregory is released in a few days, will anyone except a pig and a bitter old unemployed hag take note?
What exactly do you have against people who work in the field of human services? You took out your anger in Bangor on police and firefighters and here you are doing it again to the employees of Northampton county. Is it connected to your past issues in Doylestown? Do you understand that you are the executive of HUMAN services? Lastly, can you please stop railroading people you have never even tried to reach out to?
Please explain the past issues in Doylestown. You lost me there. If ot is personal, never mind.
Ask if his nanny Kim would leave the room. See if you can ditch the "spin doctors" from Sahl.
What happens if Council rejects the proposed $20 million "line of credit?" Do you anticipate that the fund balance at the end of 2014 will be sufficient to cover that amount in order to balance the budget?
If you don't think the $20 million will be needed, why did you put it in the budget?
How much of the 3 million in slush fund money in your proposed budget do you plan to use to line your and your buddies pockets with?
Very well put Mr Davis... not only is staffing at northampton county prison at an all time low so is the moral...why do we need to be reactive instead of proactive?...It's very sad that it's going to take an officer getting seriously injured for normal staffing numbers..Day in and day out officers are working enormous amounts of overtime just to make ends meet and to sit back and listen to Mr brown dig even deeper into hard working county employees pockets truly hurts...If Mr brown only saw what officers have to deal with on a daily basis maybe he would have a change of heart...Mr Brown do you truly have any care or concern for your county employees?
"How is this legal?"
The .5 mill was never a dedicated tax
"What will you tell residents of communities that do not have an EIT?"
Enact one.
"did with that money?" Gracedale $7.7 million county contribution.
Bernie please clarify. What was the exact wording of the ballot question regarding open space?
The ballot question was voted on on November 2002, and approved by a 37,729 to 20,521 vote.
I do not have quick access to the exact question. But here it is, as described in a Morning Call account.
"The question's language has been changed to make it clear that the issue is not binding. Voters are being asked whether County Council should "be authorized to" incur the $37 million debt. Council Open Space Committee Chairman Tim Merwarth says voters don't have to worry about council following their will: "If the voters vote affirmatively for the open space referendum, council will follow through."
********************
"County Council has said it would divide the money three ways: $14 million to preserve environmentally sensitive land like watersheds and wetlands; $12 million to preserve farmland, and $11 million for public parks."
Council never did follow through until 2006, when John Stoffa proposed a 1/2 mill tax to fund the open space program. He made it part of his campaign. He argued a pay-as-you go approach would be cheaper than floating a $37 million bond.
The County has thus far (since 1989) spent at least $16 million for farmland preservation.
http://www.northamptoncounty.org/northampton/lib/northampton/northamptonvote/nov2002.htm
http://articles.mcall.com/2002-10-21/opinion/3442293_1_open-space-space-preservation-voters
John Stoffa can ride double team on Santa Claus and Jesus Christ but it doesn't change facts. There is no dedicate open space tax in Northampton County. It would be illegal. You can call it or any portion of your taxes what you want but it all goes into the same bucket.
Dear Mr. Brown how much worse was the state of the county you inherited than you expected.
12;05 ever hear of a pledge ? commitment ? promise?
12:54, ever hear of the law? What some former county executive pledged carries as much weight as a flea on an elephant. There is no dedicated tax in the county, period!!
Neither John Brown nor county council are bound by a former county executives wishes. this isn't some kingdom.
What are you using the state reimbursement money that the county receives for the Human Services workers benefits and salary for? Since the county gets a reimbursement of 80-100% for each Human Services employee and they already pay a percentage of their premiums up front as well as deductible and co-pays, why are you trying to change their healthcare plan as well? Do you have any understanding of what these workers do on a daily basis? Going into homes to confront parents on abusing or neglecting their children, having to request police assistance to remove a child on a court order because the family is threatening them, working with addicts, helping those with mental health issues, addressing reports of elderly abuse, do you really have any clue as to how difficult and emotionally draining these situations are?
I hope you get some real answers Bernie!
Mr. Brown, why can't all county employees be placed in Obamacare exchanges? It provides better coverage at an average savings of $2,500 per family.
Mr Brown,
Can you tell us all the services and divisions the County provides?
What are the core services you speak about? Can u please list them?
Mr Brown,
You have repeadetly stated that the County has a deficit and need to control costs. However, don't you feel hypocritical to that when you hire new administrators at 25 to 35 percent higher than out going administers who worked at the county for 8 years?
Mr Brown,
Are you aware that a fiscal officer in human services recently received a 20,000 dollar raise?
Are you also aware than the county has a rule that has affected employees who take management jobs that they only receive a few hundred dollars as they are matched up on the non union pay scale.
Do you plan to address this issue with past and future employees and make the rule fair so you can keep and hire talented staff for these positions?
why do you allow a clown like ohare even be in your presence?
Mr Brown.......I would like to congradulate You on going above and beyond in being the worst County Executive I have seen in My last 40 years...You have made a believer out of Me that Mayor John Callahan as much as I disbise Him and disagree with Him would have been the MUCH better choice than You!!! I know this means nothing to You in Your ivory tower but...enjoy Your ONE and ONLY run at politics for You have failed miserably.......BJR
How much was the payoff to the police chief in Bangor? Chief Kerrigan was illegally fired by Brown and received a buyout of apprx $350,000.00. Brown commiteed fraud and conspiracy during that episode. When will the DA finally review this? Will Brown repay this money to Bangor? How can he sleep at night? (sleeping pills paid for by his own cadilac plan?
When will he be impeached?
Again, what was the ballot question that resulted in the electorate approving a half-mil tax increase that has funded open space initiatives? If is was for open space then it should be used for that an nothing else. To do otherwise would be an affront to those who voted for it.
what if any other changes to you plan on affecting the workforce ?
Ask him why his employees dispise him.
Ask him if, for Halloween, he will be wearing a Darth Vader costume. A perfect fit!
How does it feel to be so hated? It's one thing to be hated by a couple thousand people in bangor. Its another to be hated by the entire county!
11:37 She may think she screwed callahan. Meanwhile John "not ready for prime time" Brown is going up in flames and destroying the County and callahan is making Bank! I will take that screwing any day of the week
Lennon, Cunningham, Boscola and Donchez screwed over not only Callahan but al the Democrats running countywide in 2013. You can thank them next time you see them.
Mr Brown are you aware that the NEW Position WAS ALREADY A POSITION!
"Ask him if, for Halloween, he will be wearing a Darth Vader costume. A perfect fit!"
Hey now. That's insulting.
Sincerely,
Darth Vader
It will all come out in the wash.
7:40...Was he charged? Who buried it? Wouldn't it be interesting more information started coming out about who this person is who is "leading" the county of nortampton? As a tax payer I would like to know.
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