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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Tuesday, March 03, 2015

Express Times Continues to Assail Nazareth Police Union

Pig costume was probably a bad idea
Yesterday, I told you about The Express Times' war on public sector unions. On Monday, the newspaper began publishing the salaries of public sector workers again, even down to kids in college. But the real battle line is in Nazareth. Their tiny police union, which consists of just four officers, is being vilified for daring to send out a fundraising letter, a fairly common practice among police unions everywhere.

Nazareth Borough officials, who have lost pretty much every grievance ever filed by this small but well-prepared labor organization, wasted no time last week in complaining about the fundraiser. Mayor Carl Strye ran to the newspaper, which in turn tried to get a few residents to weigh in against the letter. That way the paper could publish a story with a headline that screams, "Residents Slam Union Solicitation." But the residents who were called refused to take the bait and complain. I know this because I spoke to two of the persons called.

Borough officials are also quite upset that the solicitation informs readers that they can check the legitimacy of the union by calling the police department. Now when Strye was the King of the Illegal Poker Machines at the Vig, perhaps he didn't want residents calling the police. But it's a good idea for any organization soliciting funds to tell readers how to determine whether they are legitimate.

Though this complaint is much ado about nothing, it resulted in a turkey, followed by an anti-union editorial the next day about the evil of binding arbitration.

Good stuff.

The war continued today with what I call the "put up". Nazareth officials instigated or put a resident up to complaining about the solicitation. They can pretend they are listening to the people, but only after making sure the people say what they want said.

I know this is a put up because The Express Times knew about it well in advance. Hours before last night's Nazareth Borough Council meeting, The Express Times reporter knew that a resident would be there to complain. Rather than questioning who put this resident up, the reporter instead demanded an explanation from the union she's already vilified.

She never got one.

If someone is intent on shooting you, she should at least load the gun herself.

Sure enough. The Express Times now has a new story about the resident who complained. Apparently, the legitimacy of  an organization soliciting money from Nazareth residents should be verified by some organization other than Nazareth police. Alrighty then. Who? Should they call Bushkill? The FBI? The Spanish Inquisition?

This is all getting a tad silly. If another resident complains tomorrow, The Express Times might want to do yet another story.

What the Express Times has still failed to report is that the police union uses much of the money received for what I call random acts of kindness. They are even sponsoring an essay contest for high school seniors, something they have been planning on since last November.

The police union has thus far only sent its fundraising letter to some residents That's because these guys knew that the newspaper and hypocrites in Nazareth Borough government would complain. But I'm told by Officer Fred Lahovski that the response has been "overwhelming" and "very gratifying". He has promised to share some notes of appreciation, not complaints, from Nazareth residents.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

The ET should definitely focus on more important matters. Will Tom Terrific Shortell cover the hearing at the Magistrate on March 10, where a West Easton candidate for office is scheduled to appear on a criminal charge?

Bernie O'Hare said...

My guess is that the ET will stay away. They are afraid of her, and are allowing that fear to influence their obligation to inform the public.

Anonymous said...

@12:12 Why don't you attend coward? Do poison posse members ever leave their moms basement?

Thomas Trachta has enough work cleaning up Nazareth it's sad some of his officers have gone full retard on behalf of the perpetually bereaved blogger who lives in a micro hovel.

Anonymous said...

Union thugs pretending to serve

Anonymous said...

Yea, they do leave there basement, than they end up being caught behind there desk as a principle public player, on drugs beatin off naked¿ Than there are the ones having drugs mailed via the postal service to some poor uknown partners place of employement¿

redd
patent pending

Anonymous said...

@12:23-No but some people do use their mommy's car because they have to keep their car in hiding....

Anonymous said...

You have to consider the source of alot of most of your Nazareth stories in the E-T. Not only is PS-H borderline incompetent she is lazy to boot, which is a dangerous combination.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"You have to consider the source of alot of most of your Nazareth stories in the E-T. Not only is PS-H borderline incompetent she is lazy to boot, which is a dangerous combination. "

I am not going to get personal with the reporter. let me say the stories bashing the police union for sending out fundraising letters are patently unfair. What disturbs me is that you can't really make a claim to objectivity when you write a pievce that already takes a POV. She has doen that, and last week, was actually trolling for people to complain so she could write about it.

The newspaper had no problem going off the story I broke here to write about the bust at the social clubs. It had no problem taking my story about the firing and re-firing in Plainfield and doing one of their own. And that is fine with me. Glad to be of help.

But when I write a piece about what the police union does with the money, the paper is silent. It does not want the public to know the truth, and will present a on-sided story that appears just a tad full on.

In addition to the reporter's behavior, the editorial board makes pretty clear that it detests public sector unions. Its editorial about arbitration was factually flawed. It gave a four-person police union that hads never lost a grievance a turkey for sending a harmless newsletter. This is quite common, and it is entirely proper to tell citizens that if they doubt their legitimacy, they can call the local PD.

Much ado about nothing from people who have an agenda.

Anonymous said...

What was your agenda when you attacked public unions and employees for Stoffa and Angle? Was it "purer" than the Express agenda. You can hide and delete, that is your way. People do know the truth.

Bernie O'Hare said...

I never attacked county workers. I stood up for them over the dust and illness resulting from construction. i stood up for two workers who were fired over naughty emails. I stood up for a worker whose position was eliminated without due process. I stood against a lynch mob that was out to hammer a county employee and wanted her fired. I also stood against Tom Bachick when he was screaming for double time oor whatever it was he wanted for providing security at football games. I have been consistent over the years. I did at one time think public sector unions were not needed bc employers are obligated to provide due process. My thinking on that point changed when I saw how a City Council railroaded Officer Hoffman.

When I stood up for workers, it was often against the will of Jiohn Stoffa. I also stood against Rin when he would target administration officials he disliked and attempt to defund their positions. So you are pretty much full of shit, as usual. You allow your hatred to govern what you write, and let the truth be damned.

Anonymous said...

Your story about union begging was quite biased. It's no wonder she purloined the idea and cleaned up the story to reflect that many Nazareans disagree with your take. You win some. You lose some.

Bernie O'Hare said...

You operate under the assumption that I make any claim to objectivity. I don't. I believe those who claim objectivity are necessarily dishonest. I do try to be fair and honest. I can't be honest if I pretend I'm objective.

The two stories in The Express Times are not objective. They were written from an obvious anti-union POV. Since they failed to tell the entire story, they are dishonest for that reason, too.

PoisonPosse1 said...

"@12:12 Why don't you attend coward? Do poison posse members ever leave their moms basement?"

Oh my, I've been called a "coward". Why don't you attend a grammar course and learn how to use apostrophes? Or get a spell checker. You're downright ignorant. WE deserves a lot better on council.

Will you be attending on March 10? Bwahahaha