When John Brown first took office in January, it all started innocently enough. He said he was "here to serve." In March, he called the County workforce its most important asset.
But his secretive nature, combined with a distrust for anyone outside of a small circle that includes Cathy Allen and Matt Deibert, has resulted in a year of disaster.
The low point for his administration came in October, when he posted armed guards outside of a news conference to keep Council members at bay. Even Peg Ferraro, who is usually fairly laid back, condemned Brown.
"[T]o have the Sheriff's Deputies stand - armed Sheriff's Deputies - standing guard at the door between a Council Chamber and the County Executive Chamber, to me, is absolutely appalling and sends completely the wrong message to the elected officials that sit up here on this dais with me."
His penchant for government by consultant has even drawn the ire of conservative Elmer Gates, who said Brown should "roll up his sleeves and start doing the job we elected him to do." In February, Brown proposed a $715,200 no-bid contract for a business consultant. Though some of the newbie Republicans on Council were more than ready to give Brown what he wanted, Hayden Phillips was concerned. "I like to shop," was Peg Ferraro's assessment. His initial attempt at government by consultant failed.
His public relations consultant is best known for her "Dear Leader" news letter, in which she said we should all thank John Brown for allowing a Hispanic Center to conduct a food drive at the courthouse when previous administrations said No. In addition to being insulting, this newsletter was also wrong.
But his biggest error has been his treatment of County workers.Instead of treating them like the county's most valuable asset, he has attempted to balance the budget on their backs.He has created staffing shortages that have union officials worried about the safety of corrections officers at the jail. He has allowed a major backlog to develop in both the Civil and Criminal Division, where cases are no longer being indexed promptly. Vital Human Services positions in Children and Youth are going unfilled.
In addition to the shortages, brown has unilaterally decided to reduce healthcare coverage for most workers, while denying raises and proposing other cuts in benefits. This has made morale the worst it has ever been since the inception of home rule, and has led to a mass exodus of the best and brightest County workers.
On Monday morning, there was more than a brief courthouse rally that slammed Brown. There were also 500 signs planted all over the northern end of the County, from Bangor to Easton, and from Nazarerth to Easton.
Though Democrats rarely vote in any great number in off-year elections, John Brown has given them reasons to do so. The County's 2,200-person workforce translates to about 7,000 vote throughout the County. This should help Democrats who are outnumbered in the Nazareth, Easton and Slate Belt races It should definitely help the Controller, And it will hurt Vic Scomillio. He and all Republicans will be tied to every illegal action taken by brown, and there are a few, in his first year in office. They will all be painted as lacking transparency. They will all be painted as promoting a heartless government that sacrifices both services and fair treatment in the name of the Almighty Dollar.
Nobody has announced. No one is circulating petitions. But the County races have started.
34 comments:
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Where do I get a sign?
I'd ask Council member Ken Kraft or Bob Werner or your local union rep
That's BS and you even know it. If a special election were to happen today, Brown would lose in landslide to Mickey Mouse.
Isn't the the D.A. is also on the ballot next year?
Brown has had some missteps and blunders, but nothing as colossally stupid as a swaption or $111 million bond issue. Ultimately benefit costs needed to be brought under control. The Democrats may claim to support the salary increases, benefits, and programs but were unwilling to put their votes up to raise property taxes and pay for them.
We have never seen anything so disastrous as this in Northampton County. No Exec in history was this inexperienced in county government. And no cabinet in the county's history has known so little about government in general. I am embarrasses by them all.
At what point did brown keep his promise? He screwed the employees and somehow managed to get taxes raised anyway. He proposed a budget that was impossible and forced the hand of someone else to raise taxes. He had the chance to veto it but didnt.
He "saved" money by taking away everything that makes working for government worth something and still managed to have taxes raised.
special interest of government insiders
Middle class workers' healthcare benefits are "special interests"? I'm sure you have a "special" interest in your benefits too.
3:12am, beside not having a life, you are dillusional about Brown's popularity. He did not win the CE election as much as Callahan lost it. Johnnie Casino alienated too many voters in his home town, and the rest of the county voted anti-dem, anti-Bethlehem. Brown was an unknown except in Bangor, where he LOST. Now that voters know what mayhem he can cause in county government he would have ZERO chance of being re-elected today. He has made a total mess of things, is widely despised by his employees, and has thrown money at consultants and friends he has hired. Taxes were raised regardless of his illegal financing scheme. He is a poor leader and without a doubt the worst CE in county history.
Brown Sucks Period!!
Stating the obvious..JB's ineptitude as executive of the county.. is still a bold move by the unions and their supporters. More solidarity is needed but this was a good first step. More action events must happen. Public opinion is huge as it will slowly seep into the circle of people he interacts with and is accountable to politically. Keep up the pressure!
As a business owner in downtown Bangor, I saw first-hand how much John Brown really cares about his community. He has lived here his whole life, but never shops in town. The only time we saw him was when there was a camera. That lasted about half his 4 years. Mayor Capozzolo, in contrast, is seen around town daily. He is also rebuilding the police dept. Brown fired the chief, didnt replace him (for 3 years), and cut 1/3 of the officers. You couldnt actually call the dept anymore. Brown alienated the police dept, the fire dept, the sewer authority and the road crew (sound familiar?)
Even past mayors are more involved then Brown ever was. Duane Miller contiually runs his paint store. He has been out of office for 20 years, but stayed involved with the borough and is downtown everyday. Miller also served on county council. Too bad Brown doesn't ask Duane for advise. Carol Couno helps out with several groups in Bangor. She is deeply involved with the history of the community. Carol also served on county council. And Joe Capozzolo also served on county council. John Brown did such an awful job as mayor, that NO ONE wanted to run for office last year.
Bangor Mayors have had a long tradition at the county level. John Brown has stained that. With all that county knowledge in his own town, John Brown listens to Cathy Allen? He couldn't win a campaign for dog-catcher in this town!
The DA is up next year though i doubt very much anyone will challenge John.
As for the swaption or $111 million bond, neither of those meant anything to voters until years later when the bond that was supposed to pay for itself did not and the swaption price started going up.
Brown's mis-steps, as you call them, are much more apparent. When you do things like posting armed guards at a news conference, you look like despot. When you force Council to go for a tax hike because you don't have the guts to do it yourself, you have nio leadership. When you demean the employee while taking care of your cronies, you can't have any interest in food government.
Brown is hands down the worst Exec the County has ever had. I have nothing against him on a personal level, but he really does not belong where he is.
Brown could rehabilitate his administration in the year ahead and have at least a chance at re-election. First move would be to eliminate unnecessary and wasteful contracts with Sahl, C3 and others. Next would be to ask Allen to resign or dismiss her. She is a polarizing influence on Brown and a thorn in his side. Then, he should hire an HR director who is skilled in personnel matters, but is not perceived as simply a hatchet man or woman for the administration. Someone with strong arbitration background. Brown needs to build some trust with the unions. And last, he needs to fill critical positions, particularly in the prison. He thinks that he can balance the budget on the backs of his employees, treating them with distain in the process. He was right to call his employees the "most valuable assets" the county has. He has NO credibility calling them that, then treating them like dirt. He needs to show his employees and the electorate that he is a leader, NOT a despot.
Though you give good advice, Brown has demonstrated he is stubborn during his first year in office. He won't listen to any advice that tells him he is wrong about anything. He will keep ALLEN and wishes he had ten of her. He has a corrections director who will swing the ax at the jail while he is on his stepping stone to his next move up the ladder. His HR Director will be someone who follows his ridiculous stance on labor. He will continue to use consultants for as long as he can get away with it. He will continue to remain aloof from the public.
As Ron Angle says, "This dog don't hunt."
Because the comment at 3:12 comes from Mezzacappa or Henry Schaadt, I will not tolerate it. If someone wants to defend brown, be my guest. But i won't allow those trolls to post here.
"The Democrats may claim to support the salary increases, benefits, and programs but were unwilling to put their votes up to raise property taxes and pay for them."
That is a fair criticism. In my view, 2 1/2 mills are needed. Scott parsons favors an annual 1/2 mill tax hike. I doubt there is the political will for such a move. Kraft states he would have gone for a 2 1/2 mill tax hike. The tax hike adopted segregates the money into a stabilization fund. and can't be used for wage hikes or benefits. perhaps that was a deal killer, too. But as a reality, the four Dems up for re-election next year were not going to vote fora hike. Had Brown vetoed the tax hike, parsons stated publicly he would vot to override.
I will give the GOP majority on Council the credit for doing what really needed to be done.
Rumors on who is running?
Have to imagine candidates are lining up to run?
There has been no great enthusiasm among the Rs. I imagine that will change soon.
To be fair, John Brown is doing EXACTLY what Republicans want him to do. Destroy public sector unions, something this blog was in favor of not too long ago.
I did not believe public sector unions are necessary, but changed my thinking when I saw a Bethlehem cop and Nazareth police officers get railroaded.
"As a business owner in downtown Bangor, I saw first-hand how much John Brown really cares about his community...." 8:56
Yes, I remember him knocking on my door campaigning in Bethlehem/twp area the day Bangor was dealing with the July 2013 flash flooding. I thought it odd back then wondering why he wasn't acting like a Mayor up there that day. That was my first impression, and it didn't change on election day, or since. First impressions can be foretelling.
Boy anon 4:05 what tree did you from at birth? He just published YOUR comments, genius. But Mezzacrappa and Schaadt just want to spew their hatred towards Bernie and he has every right to limit their access to HIS blog.
anon 4:26, Not as simple as it seems, is it? This game is fixed and Republicans know it.
Well said.
BRING THE EX MAYOR OF BETHLEHEM TO THE BALLOT AGAIN!
The county is waiving the American flag upside down. Someone come save us from this idiot.
4:58 You may have survived the tree but Really how could anyone defend John Brown? What has he done that could be defended? Even if you hate Norco wokers, what the hell has this idiot done right?
Answer to the above? Very little progress for the people of the county including support staff. Nowhere to hang his hat. Where's the beef JB? Is this all you got for us? What a disappointing year you gave us.
Leadership by consultant is a fraud and that's how JB rolled in 2014. Not much of anything innovative brought to the people. No bilateral solutions appeared. He envisions himself a king but this is a democracy. Time for a reality check at county.
Jon Brown has kept his promises he made. I think he is doing a good job.
What promise is that? To not raise taxes?
The emperor has no clothes on! 2014 was a complete joke as he thumbed his nose at all of us tax payers and all county services constituents. We have all suffered at his hand. He is a disgrace and deserves no mercy from the residents or employees of this fine county. This evil dragon has a vulnerable spot. It needs to be exposed...soon.
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