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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Brown Nominates Traci Barnes as New Human Resources Chief

Norco Exec John Brown has nominated Traci Barnes as the County's new Human Resources Director. He is proposing a salary of $80,113. I'll provide more details as they become available.

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

what about replacing the people in civil and other places that need them. maybe council should not allow any new hires of his until he replaces the others

Anonymous said...

Finally! And I don't think she's from Bangor!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a porn star / stripper?

Erv's in A-town or The Mirage in Easton?

Anonymous said...

How about hiring people at the prison? Another person retired yesterday and won't be the last one this year. No contracts, and no hiring for the little people that actually make this county run

Anonymous said...

Hopefully she can professionalize HR. The place is filled with old girlfriends and lackeys.

Anonymous said...

"Sounds like a porn star / stripper?

Erv's in A-town or The Mirage in Easton?"

Very tasteful.

Peter J.Cochran said...

This job has everything to to do with our future. This person MUST HIRE based on a NATURAL SELECTION PROCESS because I feel and so do others that employees of this county like other government entities hire friends and relatives. Well real or persevered it's not right. This only added to to congestive heart failure of why things fail .SO- If they have BALLS they will hire talent,tenant will not compromise integrity because they don't have to . Maybe things would get better. Remember when they hired KUNKLE at the Sheriff's office you had to own rubber gloves? It took 10 years to forget this issue.

Peter J.Cochran said...

TAKE NOTE form me ,You are going to have a void in DOMESTIC RELATIONS .No Sheriff is in there doing dead beat daddies. Constable from Nazareth was the star and your old guy's before brought in nobody .The costs were exorbitant as the result. This is a flare over your bridge!

Anonymous said...

2:39: Are you a 12 year old?

Bernie O'Hare said...

I missed that comment. Oh well, I'll let it stand, but it stops there.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"You are going to have a void in DOMESTIC RELATIONS .No Sheriff is in there doing dead beat daddies. "

Really, Peter? I will check this.

Anonymous said...

never dealt with unions - too funny. the citizens will get screwed again by union greed.

Anonymous said...

I think you'll find that 2 sheriffs are stationed at DOMESTIC RELATIONS Monday through Friday from 8am-5pm, usually without fail. They are professional, hard-working county employees, but there are just 2 of them to cover the entire building.

And the sheriff's department stopped serving DRS bench warrants and orders under the Stoffa administration. They've been contracted out to constables for a few years now, so I don't understand the point Peter is trying to make.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Thank you for filling us in and saving me some time. My concern is that the bench warrants be served.

Anonymous said...

So, council was given 1 day to vet her? Sounds like it'll be up to the media to get the dirt before it comes to vote.

Is there a prior connection to Brown or the rest of his administration (personal, business or other)? How many applicants were there? How many were interviewed/seriously considered? Who is the acting HR Director and was that person considered? How much was her compensation package worth in Georgia and how does it compare to what her compensation would be at Norco? Will she be receiving any in-kind compensation (a county car a la Cathy Allen perhaps)? Why is she leaving her current job? And in related news, when was this decision made and why was't council given more time to vet her?

I have a theory that Brown & Allen have had this woman in the pocket for months, but they waited until people got sufficiently frustrated with the position being vacant that council is pressured to approve the appointment or risk being blamed for further delay. I think council should adopt a resolution that no one is appointed until at least 3 working days have past since the official nomination.

Peter J.Cochran said...

11;21 Anon-- Yes you are indeed correct,they are professional and they are really good folks but they are not tracking daddies yet . Constables from here worked that deal. But fee bill changes will leave void.

Peter J.Cochran said...

AHHHH! had my coffee now .Let me expand for the good of the readers here. Few years back the Domestic Relations Section had employees on their budget to capture and process bench warrants.Presently Domestic Relations pays a fee per return of warrants. Constable fee bill will apparently from all indicators change,incentives to work this detail will go away. Nobody just goes out and bang on doors to find people like this that avoid the courts.. The BIG PICTURE is that too many children are left unsupported and this issue gets to my heart and soul! -To do this detail ,you need to get creative,it's not 8am to 4pm=you live with it !

Bernie O'Hare said...

2:25, I sat through her confirmation hearing yesterday and she seems well qualified. Nevertheless, I think Council should wait two weeks before voting on this matter so more time can be spent checking her out.

Anonymous said...

I agree Bernie. No need to rush to judgment just because Brown has dragged his feet on this appointment. One wonders what her motivations are to leave an HR job involving only 250 employees and NO union contracts to a job involving 2,000 employees and 11 contracts. There must be a thorough vetting of this crucial position.

Bernie O'Hare said...

Though Council members dissuaded him, Geissinger was able to come up with an answer to that question. Barnes has a significant other, and when he or she has had a job change, she has changed her own job to follow that person. While this may be too personal, it answers the question.

Anonymous said...

Is the 80 thousand plus starting salary high? Just wondering since the new Director of Corrections was a controversial six figure starting salary.

Peter J.Cochran said...

She had to know City of Easton was or maybe still is looking for a personnel --haaa HR director also.

Anonymous said...

So when her "significant other" has another job change, she'll be gone?? Northco should feel really comfortable w this one....

Anonymous said...

I question her qualifications because 1) Brown picked her and he has a track record of appointing his unqualified cronies to important positions and 2) She has no experience in dealing with unions or a workforce of this size.

I don't mean to speak ill of Ms. Barnes; she may be a very skilled, very dedicated human resources professional. But I'm not convinced she's demonstrated an ability to successfully manage the myriad of problems that Norco is currently facing. I worry that Brown has again hired someone who will be his "yes-man" rather than act in the best interests of the taxpayers and the employees of Northampton County.

Anonymous said...

Having watched Ms. Barnes questioned by council this evening, Brown has nominated and council has approved yet another unqualified candidate.

She speaks hopefully about being able to handle the new challenges that confront her, which she hasn't faced before. What are the odds she crashes and burns? Pretty good - same as Brown.

She went south to follow the love of her life, which it sounds he or she turned out not to be, so she's moving back north. Great career path.

Anonymous said...

Too many holes in her story. Is she just a hapless puppy who follows "her man" wherever he goes. If she is so loyal and infatuated with him, why haven't they married? What about her references? Why did she leave Woodstock, Ga. municipality last June? Was she fired? There is a phony Pollyhanna quality about her. Might be way off base here and hope she works out. But council should have done a more thorough background check.

Anonymous said...

ANON 5:18

It's unfair to assume that she is not the best candidate for the job just because she may be looking to move because of her inter-personal relationship. People relocate for many reasons, none of which are more valid than the others.

What I want to know is when and why she left her last position, and what were the circumstances surrounding her termination. Is it true that she's been unemployed sine June 2014? People don't usually resign before securing another position. Was she fired, forced out or asked to leave?

Anonymous said...

"There is a phony Pollyhanna quality about her."

She will fit right in at HR. That is their motto.

Peter J.Cochran said...

HR -should have working knowledge of Heath Plans and Retirement issues along with production of personnel into new capacities as they' mature ' Tracking them in progression of merit for promotion.Worker's Compensation -3ed party benefit providers and how to properly discharge the ineffective.WOW-this is a tall order. Just sick day's alone -my buddy that has a business 'TRACKS"on a computer generated advance notice- sick days based on the events like a SUPERBOWL because the same people take off the day or the day after for example.