Northampton Country Executive John Brown has notified County Council of his nomination of Emmaus lawyer Ryan Durkin as the County's new Solicitor. Vic Scomillio, Northampton County's previous Solicitor, resigned to run for judge. To be confirmed, Durkin needs five votes from Council for a part-time job that pays $58,060.
Durkin, who resides in Emmaus, maintains a law practice there. He also practices in Scranton, where he is "of Counsel" with Tressler Law. A lawyer since 1997, he has no experience representing municipalities, although he claims to have "extensive municipal contracting" experience.
His sole interaction in County government has been to sue to set aside tax sales as well as propose collection services.
Given the number of highly qualified lawyers who do live in Northampton County and who do have direct municipal experience, and given the concern expressed by Council that Executive Brown should attempt to bring in local talent when possible, this seems to be a poor choice.
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Friday, February 13, 2015
28 comments:
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Maybe nobody local wants the job.
ReplyDeleteBrown probably asked every lawyer in Northampton County and they were all smart enough to stay away from that sinking ship.
ReplyDelete"he has no experience representing municipalities, although he claims to have "extensive municipal contracting" experience":
ReplyDeleteIn other words, typical lying lawyer who will say anything simply to hear himself talk!
it's to councils advantage to vote yes on this guy. Then their solicitor will have the upper hand.
ReplyDeleteI know you stopped covering it, but LC is a bigger farce than NorCo, currently. There's likely lots of talent in LC looking to get out of that dysfunction.
ReplyDeleteAs recently as this morning, I posted a story about the LC Comm'r race.
ReplyDeleteBrown has become toxic to anyone's career. Smart, quality lawyers in Norco have seen what happened to Scomillio and will not get anywhere near the Brownstain train wreck.
ReplyDeleteBrown is hiring whoever his Republican handlers are telling him to hire. He is following in the tradition of John Stoffa.
ReplyDeleteI see the pretty boy picture on LVL and it makes sense now: Brownie wants to get in his pants!
ReplyDeleteHe needs to hire someone and this guy sounds just like him "extensive municipal contracting experience". John Brown needs a consultant to hire his consultants!
ReplyDeletehe has a law degree, sp that makes him qualified. I believe the Exec is entitled to great deference in his cabinet picks, but it is a bad pick. He is sending in a JV guy when plenty of varsity players are hugging the bench.
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is I am glad I'm a blogger and not a council member. This is going to be a tough call.
Its a smart pick from the republican side. No one else wants the job because brown has been a royal (from his perspective) fuckup. Durbin is relatively young, 42ish, but old enough to seem a legitimate pick.
ReplyDelete6 years from now Brown will be out of office and being begun to be forgotten about and Durkin, 48, will have a decent resume to run for some office the R's are seeking.
I actually expect this guy to have balls than Scomilio and to not blindly let Brown do what Brown wants.
Not one Northampton County Bar member would touch this County Administration with a ten foot pole. Prior to this, attorneys would line up, for this was usually a stepping stone to recognition to higher public service, such as the bench. Now, with this crew, I hear crickets. This isn't going to be a tough call, but more of a foolish call, because they are going to be damned if they do and damned if they don't approve.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, how none of the Assistant County Solicitors are stepping up to the plate. Hmmm, I wonder why?
ReplyDelete@10:53 I would bet that the assistants actually have stepped up out of a call of duty and Brown turned them down because he wanted his outside man. Just like all of his other appointments.
ReplyDeleteIts Brown v. all
Still beating the dead horse in NC. Meanwhile in Muller's magical kingdom, everything is soft puppies and unicorn farts.
ReplyDeleteSheez... Bernie your late to the party. Every news outlet in the LV has a story posted about Muller's closed door administrative antics.
Move along folks nothing to see here.
Dave Backenstoe, the most knowledgeable of them all, can't do it bc he is the solicitor to several municipalities. Same for Dave Ceraul. Stan Margle, Snover and O'Donnell, all good lawyers, are way too busy.
ReplyDelete11:02, Don't try to play the bait and switch game or you will be deleted.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThose who know him, know that Durkin will perform well. Brown may be in for a few surprises with Ryan's no-nonsense approach. He's an outstanding pick. I wonder if he'll stay for long.
ReplyDelete"Move along folks nothing to see here."
ReplyDeletePlease, by all means - move on. Troll. What are you contributing? Nada.
I don't think the courts know him bc he practices little in NC. Given the number of times NC ends uop in court, I consider that important. Durkin seems to divide his time between Emmaus and Scranton. I am not impressed at all with this choice. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I hope he brings a number of Northampton County attorneys who know him to explain why this is a good choice. It's not like NC has any shortage of highly qualified R attorneys like Brian Monahan, I believe this appointment is a mistake. But since Brown is the Exec and this guy has a law degree, should he be given deference? I don't know.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteMezzacappa, stop impersonating people to post anonymous comments here. Turn over your car or you will soon be in jail.
ReplyDelete"Mezzacappa, stop impersonating people to post anonymous comments here"
ReplyDeleteThis woman is so predictable it isn't funny. She maintains a website to batter readers with the truth, but allegedly because someone is visiting it to see what is posted there (which is merely supposed to be the truth), she locks it down and jumps ship to a site that is by invitation only. Suddenly nobody can SEE the truth, let alone HANDLE it. And her first site doesn't let anyone post comments anyway, so there never was a conversation.
Since her twisted version of the truth is no longer getting any visibility, she naturally has to try to get her message out some way. Why not Bernie's blog? It's wide open. It was to be expected she'd be crapping all over the place here. She tried that over at mcall on the libel story, posting under her own name as if to say "look what happened to poor me," and had her ass handed to her faster than you can say "hijacker".
Suck it up, cupcake. You made your own claustrophobic coffin.
If I were on Council, I would insist that this person be "highly qualified" and a resident practicing law in our County. I am aware that this should not be a requirement but on this appointment I would stand my ground. A solicitor who is not qualified can get you into a lot of trouble. Look at the mess we got into and Scomillio is well qualified.
ReplyDeleteNeeding 5 votes for a County Council position seems like a low requirement. It sounds like the bigger issue is about Mr. Durkin not being a local nominee. Would it make more sense to have someone who is more involved in the local community to be nominated for a County Council position? lawyer
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely.
ReplyDelete