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Executive John Brown, when he first took office, said he was "here to serve." He tried cozying up to employees, even attending a few union meetings. But he has attempted to balance the County books on their collective backs. Not only has he reduced health care benefits, but he wants to reduce other benefits like vacation and sick time as well. There were no raises for anyone. He has reduced staffing to dangerous levels, especially at the jail. Employees have left in drove, and morale is at an all-time low.
While reducing services to the public, Brown has tried to engage in government by consultant. He tried hiring a $700k business consultant, and did get away with hiring a cost control consultant without bothering to follow the Administrative Code. He is also forcing taxpayers to pay for his spinmeister. She prepared "All Hail Dear Leader" newsletters while he ignored the press and Council. Distant and nontransparent, he even posted armed guards outside his office before a news conference.
He is indisputably the worst Executive Northampton County has ever seen. Instread of standing up to him, Republicans on Council have more or less been the third wheel on the bicycle he is riding over a cliff.
For these and several other reasons, the one and only Santa Claus will be there. Brown, who has apparently been designated a naughty boy, is getting a bag of coal. I hope he drops off a piece of that coal with Easton Mayor Sal Panto, who like Brown, is balancing his budget on the backs of those who can't afford it, whole embracing developers like Mark Mulligan. .
Members of AFSCME will also make a contribution to five different non-profits who provide food and basic needs to the residents of Easton and Northampton County.
56 comments:
Mr. Brown has cut off your privileges you received under Stoffa. You hate him for it. What, no more free baths in the men's room sinks?
Three years ago you called county employees scum and thugs and disparaged them at the direction of Stoffa. You got your thirty pieces of silver. Now you have been tossed aside and you hate it so Mr. Brown is your enemy. Mr. James and the Gracedale employees know you for what you are.
You are fooling no one.
As anyone who actually works at the courthouse will attest. I had no privileges under Stoffa. The only right I had was the same rights afforded to other members of the public during regular business hours. When employees have been wrong, I have said so. When they have been right, I have stood by them. I stood by them when health concerns arose over courthouse construction. I stood by them when a bully cabinet official tried to fire two workers over naughty emails. I stood by them when a Longenbach crony was made Register of Wills over a 16 year veteran. I stood against them when they tried to get a cabinet official fired.
I stand with them far more often than against, and that is because they are usually right. They make the courthouse wheels turn, not John Brown.
And cRaZy Tricia, even you must see that I have far more to write about now than I ever did under John Stoffa.
Produce your car, Tricia, or face the consequences
There are no consequences O'Hare.....you've worn out your welcome, period. You paid thousands of dollars to an attorney to get a one time headline in the newspapers, and 10 minutes of crying rivers to a judge.
Its over.
Get used to it.
Mezzacappa, you're about to find out the hard way just how wrong you are.
keep up the empty threats and see what awaits you
Thank YOU BERNIE! The NC employees DO appreciate you and this blog!
What, is that looney-tune Mezzacrappa still around this holiday season? She should be at the north pole where Santa could give her a present of 90 days in padded cell. Under Stoffa not just Bernie, but the press and usually the public who stopped by had nearly instant access to the CE if he was not in a meeting. Stoffa understood that he was a civil servant and as such owed both taxpayers and the media the simple courtesy of listening to them. Brown distains the public, which is why he hides under the skirt of his media nanny Kim. You are correct in designating Brown as the WORST county executive in the history of Northampton County. He makes Scrooge look like a choir boy.
"keep up the empty threats and see what awaits you"
This is not a threat, but a promise. I am going to take every dime you owe, and since your mother has aided you in hiding assets, we are going after her, too. I believe you are also getting help in hiding things from a West Easton resident, and if that is true, he is in hot water, too. Finally, though you have thumbed your nose at judicial process and arrogantly think you can get away with it, you are about as wrong as you can be. When charges are filed, I will inform prosecutors that they need to seek bail and you should be arrested, bc you will otherwise not appear and will destroy things.
a judgement is not worth the paper its printed on when you sue people who have nothing.
This is not a police dept or a school.
You won the battle and lost the war
you cant get blood from a stone
crawl back into you 10 x 10 hovel and keep driving that POS that belongs to your brother.
you'll never see a nickel of your "judgement"
You wasted the courts time for a day of jolly good cheer. NEXT
"Thank YOU BERNIE! The NC employees DO appreciate you and this blog"
You are the folks who help so many people, and for next to nothing. Brown still doesn't understand county government, and by the time he does, his time in office will be over. Look at all the good people who have left. How sad to have lost such talent because of some political hack who practices government by consultant. He even threw his Republican council members under the bus.
Crazy Mezzacappa. You have assets. You have a car and a home owned free and clear. You have a computer, guns, bank accounts, and an interest in your mother's estate. I will take every dime you ow. Your mother's willingness to help you has just opened her up to liability. Your own removal of a levied car is criminal and you are going to be charged if you do not produce that asset.
Now this post is not about you or your contempt for the judicial system. Any more comments from you will be deleted.
Good call Bernie. That psycho should not have the pleasure of ranting on your blog.
as a 25 yr county employee, this has been the worst year since i started. brown is either incompetent or heartless and i don't know which. most county employees are modestly paid and just trying to survive in this economy. his cabinet's salaries are over the top compared to the rank and file. maybe he will see the error of his ways but i doubt it.
Poor little Trashia must be foaming at the mouth for you removing her insane rants.
Brown is a Grinch without the promise of growing a heart. He is a jolly Santa with his cabinet and henchwoman Allen showering them with excessive salaries and other perks, while shoveling lumps of coal on all other county employees. He is on the naughty list and a poor excuse for a leader.
Hopefully Santa will bring NorCo ex Brown a book entitled, "County Government for Dummies."
Mezzacappa, I have told you that your comments are unwelcome here. Post your lies on your own blog.
I am a Republican and a taxpayer. I appreciate Mr. Brown keeping my taxes low. You are a phony by claiming everyone who disagrees with you is some crazy woman. Shame on you. You must be a fraud.
Most Republicans I know detest Brown. The only support he gets is from a cRaZy woman who is an adjudicated liar and petty criminal.
"They make the courthouse wheels turn..."
Many of us do not believe we will perish if those wheels don't move.
Suck it up, cupcakes. I believe that was the bumper sticker around here a while ago.
Here's the skinny for the crybaby feeders: All businesses are balanced on the backs of their employees, to the extent that labor is normally the single biggest expense and where the greatest impact can be made, when our customers simply don't find enough value in our goods and services to pay another dime. Didn't know that? Of course you didn't. You play in the sandbox where money grows on...
Tax increases, er, uh, just taking it.
As your lower lips quiver, and you find out you have to live like the rest of us, forgive us if we don't lose any sleep because your feelings are hurt and your precious morale is crushed.
Still, Brown is a butthole who used the small government movement for his, and his puppetmasters', purposes. His bull-in-a-china-shop approach exposes his incompetence and lack of management savvy, despite the puffed up resume. This fakir will have set back, if not single-handedly destroyed, any chance for a sustained reduction in gubmint at the local level.
Heckuva job, Brownie.
-Clem
This "rally" is a joke. You've already lost. This is just another chance for the remarkably dense unions to make fools of themselves once again. The tax payers thank you. Now get back to work.
You Are finally realising what I've said, on this blog, many times. John Brown is the WORST county executive, and the WORST mayor in Bangor history. The stain he made in Bangor will take several years to clean up!
Recall, Recall, Recall!
3:34 am. If only JB was cutting wasteful spending you would be correct. The problem is instead of finding the waste he simply attacks the employees. Why would you waste money on PR firms, benifit consultants, bring staff in at unheard of salaries, give a select few unheard of raises. He is too stupid to tackle real waste. He hides from the workers, and send garbage info with his newsletter. He lies to the public when he fails to mention the money paid to Norco from the state to pay for wages and benefits. Your taxes went up and will again unless you cut service. The State mandates certain services so not much you can do about them. JB and uninformed morons like you should check the facts before you open your mouth.
best gift I could get for Christmas this year would be for john brown and company get exactly what hey gave all the employee's. I hope it lands at their doors Christmas morning ... tied in a pretty bow!
let's see... brown ran on a platform of putting other executives down for using the reserve fund. He comes into office, basically depletes it by pulling 20 mil out and stands by with his thumb in his mouth when council raises taxes... a real leader.
Research the tenets of Capitalism, the basis of which business operates. It clearly states that Capitalism will only succeed if labor is taken care of. Without labor then it would fail. Some how these corporate fat cats decided that they could get richer if they shrink the workforce, make more work for less, and answer to the stockholders. So labor suffers, the rich get richer, and the middle class erodes to poverty status. John Brown runs Norco like a business and in three years the voters will kick him to the curb. He truly is an embarrassment to the county and his party. He has no future in politics and I for one will be laughing him out the door.
There are no consequences O'Hare.....you've worn out your welcome, period. You paid thousands of dollars to an attorney to get a one time headline in the newspapers, and 10 minutes of crying rivers to a judge.
Its over.
Get used to it.
Wow, she has some giant hairy balls. Balls in your court, BOH.
Seems Clem is taking a break from selling Christmas trees to post his views on free market capitalism. Everyone should be a simpering fool for the man like Clem - the stooge driving around town with a McCain/Palin sticker on his 1997 Dodge Stratus. Someday, somehow, he will climb that ladder and be in the 1%. Someday.
Looks like about 10 people showed up. That includes the out of town union bosses and the fiscally irresponsible Democratic members of Council unwilling to raise taxes to pay for the employee benefits and programs they claim to support.
Yes, kind of a sad showing for Grinch and pals. Why didn't they hold their rally in front of the courthouse rather than down the street? And 8:30 after when most employees are at work? Just a photo-op and not much of that. Where was Barron? In the Santa suit?
of course our dear leader has no comment. that's a surprise!
Please refer to him as "Fearless Leader." Otherwise Boris Badenov will show up at your doorstep with a bomb.
While I think Brown is an idiot, someone planted anti-Brown signs on a local roadway one of which urged voters to "Recall" John Brown. I guess they are too stupid to realize recall isn't an option. But their signs look pretty and professionally printed.
Signage in Plainfield and East Lawn..power to the people!
I urge county employees to launch a cyber war on this current administration. Make your voices heard on this blog as well as lehighvalleylive.com as well as mcall.com. NorCo isn't milking the taxpayers when this is the FIRST tax increase in nearly a decade.
Even though recall is not an option, it still has a nice ring to it. It just reminds voters of what a poor choice they made in electing this tool to office.
Mr. Brown had to deal with the mess he inherited from the pervious administration. Employees should realize that if an administration just gives out big raises year after year it will all add up.
Mr. Brown is trying to fix the mess. You and Bernie don't want to hear this but the truth is sometimes painful.
Brown has made WAY more of a mess than he could ever "clean up." His administration has been a disaster.
In response to 3:38.....county employees haven't seen big raises year after year but they have seen wage freezes, insurance hikes and vacation/sick time give backs year after year after year. Educate yourself before spewing out your nonsense propaganda!
Dont know who organized this but most workers were at work! The problem is too many factions. If the unions could get together with the nonunion workers and plan something the workers would be on the same page.
5:58. You mistake what Stoffa wanted as what workers wanted. The problem with this whole mess is the folks who actually do the work have to deal with what those who are elected want. They have no clue come in with crazy ideas and we workers have to deal with their mess. Happens at the State and County. So far this idiot has been the worst.
Agree..one voice is needed. One voice for all the workers regardless of job classification. Get it together people or get run over!
Walk out..stay home..call in sick..make it hurt!
In response to 1145 us county workers are working short staffed or more would have been there i just worked a 13 hour day
I agree. More would have been there if we weren't stuck working 16 hour shifts every other day. How about hire more people to save on overtime? Oh yeah there is a new class starting in January......Just kidding....Brown cancelled that already because it's not "financially responsible". Can't wait for more mandated overtime. Only had 4 this last week.
Well, he certainly allowed YOU to comment chuckle-head. Brown has few defenders because whatever support he had to elect him is evaporating daily. He has been a discrace.
Mr. Brown had to deal with the mess he inherited from the pervious administration. Employees should realize that if an administration just gives out big raises year after year it will all add up.
Mr. Brown is trying to fix the mess. You and Bernie don't want to hear this but the truth is sometimes painful. I AM SORRY BUT MOST OF US HAVE BEEN WORKING WITHOUT A CONTRACT FOR AT LEAST A YEAR NOW !!! US COUNTY WORKERS ARE ALSO PAYING TAXES TO THIS COUNTY !! I can't believe that non-county workers actually think we make good MONEY.....the only thing that was good about this job was our benefits...and now those were taken away and we have GAP INSURANCE that is supposed to help ease our pain ! MERRY CHRISTMAS to all of US !!! HO HO HO
Most of us who saw this rally were happy it happened... we just wish we were told about it to partake. We are supposed to be standing together... but it's still every man for himself. We can't fight this administration and what they're doing to us fighting eachother and stabbing one another in the back.
I am afraid for what is to come... sadly, I know we haven't hit our bottom yet... the Titanic is still sinking... and the band is still playing...
I appreciate BOH. Merry Christmas Bernie! -JG
Same to you. I think employees should ask for an "off the record" bitch session with Brown. No press. No public. No repercussions. He has a serious problem on his hands. I believe that, unless he starts listening to the workers, he is going to see job actions that will hurt the County.
Here is a job action. If you don't like where you work there is the door.
That job action has already happened. A record number of county employees have retired. Northampton County has lost its best and brightest, thanks to John Brown.
Bernie those who decided to stay know we have to leave by Dec 2015 so next year you will see the next wave go. Some of those who decided to stay still care about the county even though they could give a #hit about us. But from what I hear if things dont change we will have no choice but to leave next year
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