Frick Transfer makes moves like this all the time, and has done it well for Northampton County. But using County employees is a terrible idea. It is entirely possible that several machines will be delivered to the wrong location, or with the seals broken, or both. In addition, the County lacks the personnel for this kind of specialized work. Several will undoubtedly get injured performing tasks for which they are unprepared. I'm told that Brown is having a hard time finding people willing to volunteer, and could resort to outside help. That brings in a new set of dangers. In addition to being a gazillion years old, these day workers are unbonded and I doubt very seriously that they will be taking any oath, unless it is to brown or Cathy Allen..
Brown is also stepping all over the Elections Commission. They are a nonpartisan body established under The Home Rule Charter and Elections Code. It is their job to administer elections, not his. Instead of a relatively neutral body setting the stage, a partisan elected official is doing so, and one who has every incentive to suppress the vote. So far as I know, he has not asked The Elections Commission for permission to make this change.
Brown has already ruined the morale of the County workforce. His latest trick might actually deprive you of your right to vote.
I spoke with Elections Registrar Dee Rumsey, who directed me to call Director of Administration Luis Campos. He has yet to return my call.
Brown should have nothing to do with the conduct of elections.
A foolish idea for sure, but not at all surprising. I'm sure the women in the prothonotary will sign up for this work.
ReplyDeleteWhat would be fun would be to see Campos, Brown and Allen moving the machines around.
Even better.... Machines are late, damages, and some seals are broken.
ReplyDeleteBernie, who has standing to file a suit over this. It sure looks like an attempted end run around the HRC.
How can you justify this political hatchet job. You know full well this is not unique. Your friend, former county executive John Stoffa formed a panel of his pals to go after the Chief Judge of Elections in the county. He didn't like her and had his cronies condemn her work. You defended and praised his actions then.
ReplyDeleteSo this is total hypocritical bullshit.
Instead of smearing the man, why not discuss the state of the county address.
ReplyDeleteHe always has work release inmates looking for community service hours, (wonder what a voting machine gets at a pawn shop). I can see nothing going wrong there.
ReplyDeleteWhat is there to discuss the state of the county is SAD.
ReplyDelete@1:24, State of the County Address scheduled today is very funny. Notice how Brown said it is for the residents and employees of Northampton County. Yet, it is being held during a time when us tax paying voters are on our way to work and the employees can't go because they are either at work or on their way to work. Should have been scheduled in the evening when people could attend. It wasn't because he didn't want us tax paying voters there. It is even off of county grounds. Isn't the group of wealthy business men putting on the breakfast at NCACC? That's convenient. We'll have to read the paper tomorrow about the breakfast. We know though it all won't be reported.
ReplyDelete1:10, Nobody went after Debbie DePaul. They actually tried to improve the elections and succeeded.
ReplyDelete12:33, I think the Elections Commission and Council need to put their foot down on this attempted end run. John Brown should have no say in this matter. Given the history of his forst year, he is only going to screw up what isn't broken.
ReplyDeleteMore Tea Party BS. A symbolic gesture that could go terribly wrong to save a few pennies on the dollar. It is totally self serving on the part of Brown to deflect criticism away from the real problems of this county. It is deception at it's best. Look over here..don't look over there.
ReplyDeleteAnother brilliant idea by Brownie and his administration a.k.a. the "Blundering Herd." Frick has been professionally moving the 200+ machines to polling places for years. Their system is fool-proof and has resulted in virtually no incidents of machine damage or delivery errors. That kind of massive move needs to be done by bonded professionals. Brownie wants a mishmash of county employees to undergo this massive operation using U-Haul trucks. Unbelievable! Let's see the savings when a county worker gets injured moving the machines and files a Workers Comp claim. The professional moving cost was in the Elections Division budget. If Brownpants wanted to change this procedure he should have built it into the budget. That way at least it could have been debated by council.Bernie is right- the Elections Commission should object to this change. It will jeopardize the smooth conduct of elections, which is critical to voting rights. Brown and his henchwoman Allen should be the first ones to volunteer to lug those machines around. If they go on on Workers Comp for the next three years the county would be a better place.
ReplyDelete"massive move"?
ReplyDeleteThe new voting machines no longer weigh a ton like the old lever machines and can be easily transported by able bodied employees. Sounds like Frick is unhappy about losing a sweetheart government contract. Bravo Mr. Brown for exploring ways to save our tax dollars.
8:35 do you know how much the new machines weigh? What do you think they are, laptops? "Able bodied employees"? Who are they? Brown and Allen would qualify as well as his entire cabinet. This is the stupidest idea Brownstain has come up with.
ReplyDeleteAs Thomas Jefferson once said, "Most BAD government has grown out of TOO MUCH government". The system works like it is......why change it?
ReplyDeleteShould Brown decide to fire his consultant he would have enough money to pay for the delivery of voting machines for two elections. If an employee drops a machine and it needs repairs, the County is on the hook. If Frick drops a machine and it needs repairs, Frick is on the hook. This is a no brainer.
ReplyDeleteYes, Brown could be saving thousands more by not paying his entire cabinet inflated salaries, not hiring useless consultants, and financing a bloated DCED department that has not created ONE JOB since he took office. Instead, mess with a system that works and is critical for the integrity of county elections. Another DUH moment for the Clown administration!
ReplyDeleteBernie,
ReplyDeleteThank you for bringing this to the public's attention. The real problem here is chain of custody. The sealed machines should be accounted for AT ALL TIMES, from the time they leave storage, to the time they arrive at the precincts, are used on election day, and then returned to storage.
Any break in this chain sets up the potential to challenge the outcome of any election result throughout the county. Can you even imagine the time and money wasted on this exercise, not to mention loss of trust in what is supposed to be a secure, transparent and completely neutral system?
Who is verifying that these machines -- which are very easy to manipulate -- haven't been tampered with?
What system is there in place to ensure consistency and documentation of treatment?
How can the citizens of Northampton County be certain a county executive who has acted in a completely partisan way since he came into office will be neutral and fair NOW?
This is an outrage, and County Council should do everything they can to stop it before we have a fiasco on our hands.
The system works like it is......why change it?
ReplyDeleteAre you still using a typewriter? sending telegrams? Horse and buggy in the barn? Things change. Deal with it.
I completely agree.
ReplyDeleteYeah 11:04 real progress using county employees and u-hauls to lug around voting machines.
ReplyDeleteThe only constant in life is change. Too bad the change isn't John Brownstain leaving office.
ReplyDeleteDOH!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is an example of a tea partier completely underestimating what government does and thinking, foolishly, they can do it better and cheaper. These clowns have no idea what it takes to govern people or that most expenses are incurred for a reason. They believe Democrats get off on raising taxes while what they really get off on is trying to govern.
ReplyDeleteIf County employees are out delivering voting machines, who's doing the County employees' jobs?
ReplyDelete"If County employees are out delivering voting machines, who's doing the County employees' jobs?"
ReplyDeletethey'll be hiring Frick Transport for that
Bonehead move. Voting is the most important service the county offers to its citizens. fORTY THOUSAND BUCKS OUT OF A 330,000,000 DOLLAR BUDGET? Goofy.
ReplyDeleteThis was probably Rumsey's idea to score some Brownie points with the boss. I am sure she did not care how it affected other departments stuck with the move. If it was her idea, she must own it and take responsibility for any foul-ups. If an employee is injured, it probably won't be her employee. Bad idea no matter who came up with it.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteIf County employees are out delivering voting machines, who's doing the County employees' jobs?
1:43 PM
The will be using prisoners for that.
04:38 AM is spot on.
ReplyDeleteAdult Probation has officers who supervise ARD clients who pay monthly fees to the County for the privilege of being in this program and must complete community service. Not violent criminals or they never would have been approved for the program.
Now, get these officers to coordinate with Brown what needs to be done and move the machines.
The officers must be intelligent as to be hand picked by the court for the position and should be able to undertake the task.
Only problem would be lack of motivation on the part of the officers who may prefer to sit on their ass behind their desk for $60,000 plus a year. Plenty of able bodied people who could replace these officers if needed.
Are you out of your frickin' mind?? There is no way that jail inmates should have a thing to do with elections or moving machines into schools. What planet are you on?
ReplyDeleteAnd neither should an elected politician have anything to do with the voting machines or moving of them. Brown is out of his mind and out of his league. The ACLU and State need to become involved if Council and the elections entity in the county do not squash this. Any vote can be considered tampered and invalid.
ReplyDeleteBTW did anyone heil to him before or after his speech?
If this is not history repeating itself then I guess we should all be on a different planet
Why would Rumsey have anything to do with this. The budget was passed with Frick as the mover, Kathy Allen is the problem here. Again Brown could use 100 of her
ReplyDelete100 of her would be the ultimate argument for birth control.
ReplyDeleteThe county taxpayer will pay above the $40k when it's all said and done.
ReplyDeleteDee had nothing to do with this. She is not stupid ; stop implicating innocent people.
ReplyDeleteSo there are 152 polling precincts in the county, with a minimum 2 machine count (some have more) so we're looking at over 300 machines. Divide that by the 40,000 and a high estimate is $133.33 per machine to have a bonded, certified mover deliver, unpack, setup, tear down and move back each machine, with travel as far as Walnutport (a 57.4 mile round trip). That sure is a sweetheart deal for the county, and I'd bet that Brown screwed the pooch on this one and the contract triples if he tries to renew.
ReplyDelete"Dee had nothing to do with this. She is not stupid ; stop implicating innocent people."
ReplyDeleteFrom what I know, this is another Cathy Allen special.
Matt further divide that by two elections per year and it ends up costing the county around $66 per machine per election for this service.
ReplyDeleteWhat you should be counting is the potential cost to the county if someone decides to contest the results of an election that was not carried out with even base-line security standards, and which left the multiple machines open to tampering.
ReplyDeleteRemember Florida 2000?
Remember how the state's government came to halt while millions of taxpayer dollars were wasted?
If someone contest the results of this election, Brown can't simply deny that candidate the option.