What Brown kept from Council, at least until last night, is that he gave Allen a consolation prize.
On June 27, he gave Allen, a Deputy Director of Administration, a hefty, $8,143 pay raise from $57,460 to $65,603. Brown justified the increase because Allen had assumed "significant responsibilities" for insurance programs, workman's compensation and labor negotiations.
She has since received another "temporary" increase. She is now being paid $68,554.93 because she assumed some of the functions of recently retired HR Director Pat Siemiontkowski. Though the County now has a new HR Director, Tracie Barnes, Allen and two other HR employees are still getting paid at a higher rate of pay.
So Allen is getting about 19% more than she was at this time last year.
The County's Career Service Regulations require Council's assent to any pay reclassification that bumps anyone up more than one "step" in the pay scale. That prevents a boss from playing favorites and at least minimizes the resentment that inevitably arises when one person is rewarded and others are not.
Brown moved Allen up three steps in her paygrade. He Council last night that he had no obligation to seek their approval. Lamont McClure asked him to provide the authority under which he acted. A lawyer, he's been unable to find a legal basis for Brown's action. "[H]e did tell me last night that he would provide for me the cite for the source of his authority to do this. "noted McClure. He "will give him that opportunity before characterizing his action."
And this comes as a surprise? Again I say..Brown will do anything and everything he can to further his agenda as long as no one..council..pushes back! Wake up and file suit against him now. He and Allen will run us all over as they are hell bent on destroying the counties financial structure thru critical service reductions and merely symbolic cost cutting measures. Did Barron find this discrepancy in Allen's pay? If he didn't..who did? fight back!
ReplyDeleteI believe Barron uncovered this, although I received this information from another source.
ReplyDeleteAllen is the brains of this operation. If she can be marginalized..Brown will be totally lost and then he might turn to some people who actually care about this county and it's future. She must be removed from the equation of power. It is hard to believe that one person can cause so much destruction but she has done just that.
ReplyDelete19% raise and a new car to CA. I never thought corruption could be so blatant, but JAB proves me wrong every week.
ReplyDeleteShe gets 3 pay steps in a year yet the rest of us lowly employees are just another way to save money. It's a shame the one person who questions this atrocity of a county executive is stepping down.
ReplyDeleteThe person who questioned JB on this is running for reelection, his name is Scott Parsons. LM just questions further.
ReplyDeleteParsons did raise this and another matter.
ReplyDeletewow just wow the nerve of this administration ... meanwhile no one whose worked there for years can get even a dime raise and cathy allen and 2 others in hr do? those are the merit raises they talked about only people they feel deserve them will get them...unreal!
ReplyDeleteSo Allen gets a raise while other employees wages are frozen and have a lesser net due to the lovely commuter tax increase, can't afford needed medical expenses, getting underpaid for current jobs,etc... Is there an office in Harrisburg that tax payers can report an alleged abuse of power to?
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ReplyDeleteWhe will Cathey (the crook) Allen use some of her ill-gotten gain to finally fix her damn porch? It looks like shit! The roof fell off a year ago and she refuses to fix it. Isn't this a zoning violation? She doesn't care about her own neighborhood, so why would she care about the county?
ReplyDeleteShe is driving the property values down.
I only got 3 steps in the 7 years I have been with the county. I hope the arbitrators working on our contacts hear about this. I would love to get my steps that I have earned.
ReplyDeleteBangor no longer has a full time codes enforcement officer. His services were not needed by the new manager. It will take a few years to catch up on the terrible property issues in the boro with a part time private service hire. Cathy is safe from condemnation proceedings.
ReplyDeleteI believe Allentown's Mayor also jacked up salaries for certain high end employees in His administration.
ReplyDeleteI've been with the county for 25 years. How many raises have I gotten since brown's been in office? NONE. Brown and allen are walking pieces of fecal matter. You can't believe one word out of his mouth. I thought he said all the employees had to suffer? I guess that wasn't true either. I guess allen can endure the massive health care increases better than the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteno wonder most of the employees can't stand to come to work anymore! LET'S HEAR FROM YOU EMPLOYEES! did you get nice raises? A county car? mileage and eating reimbursements? Only been with the county a little over a year? like your new healthcare costs? THIS EXECUTIVE HAS SHOWN THE MOST CONTEMPT FOR THE EMPLOYEES I HAVE EVER SEEN.
ReplyDeleteBrown and his minion turds are going to stuff their pockets as full as they can while they are there..... that's his "great vision"!
ReplyDeleteAllen is a disgusting opportunist who will take advantage of every perk she can grab in her slimy hands before her sugar daddy Brown is tossed out of office in 3 years. She is not even qualified for the deputy position she has, yet an HR job. This appalling cronyism has to stop. How can the so-called fiscally conservative R's on council ignore this abuse of power?
ReplyDeleteyou employees- you think that's rain falling on your head? It's brown's piss. wake up before it's too late...
ReplyDeletecounty council is no better- either too inexperienced or too stupid to know better. most are no friend to the employees. the county has a lot of that right now- one year wonders that are "experts".
ReplyDeletebrown the great visionary- yeah right. when you boil him down all you get is a bucket of goo.
ReplyDeletesomeone PLEASE help the employees this is another slap in there faces makes me sick!
ReplyDeletehow does this guy sleep at night
ReplyDeletehow can anyone have any trust or confidence in anything john brown say's or does when he treats the employees like this ? he has his no conscience or soul he his clearly dancing with the devil, shame on him
ReplyDeleteAdministrative Code - Section 17.10 Penalty
ReplyDeleteAny officer of employee who knowingly and willfully violates any of the provisions of this Code shall, in accordance with due process of law, be dismissed from his office or employment.
It's finally time to enforce this against Brown and/or Allen.
Thats Bull^#**(@, There are many employees for the county that do other work outside there job description yet they don't get raises. This is another slap in the face to the counties workforce. If this isnt a clear example of favoritism that I don't know what it.
ReplyDelete"Brown justified the increase because Allen had assumed "significant responsibilities" for insurance programs, workman's compensation and labor negotiations."
ReplyDeleteThis is bullshit, because those are the responsibilities of the Department of Administration. It isn't anything new or additional work.
"She is now being paid $68,554.93 because she assumed some of the functions of recently retired HR Director Pat Siemiontkowski."
This is also bullshit, because all of the employees of the County have assumed additional functions because of the mandatory 10% workforce reduction. By Brown's reasoning, we should all get a 10% raise because of the additional work displaced by the cuts.
Any way you look at it, Brown cannot justify the increase. He got caught (yet again), but this time, it's against the Administrative Code.
From LVR Sept 10, 2013:
ReplyDelete..."making his total request $7,650. According to the Minutes, "Brown stated the program will allow him to learn and refine additional skills relating to leadership and receive feedback and coaching on improving leadership capabilities in the areas of negotiation, collaboration, and communication allowing him to continue to provide pro-active leadership as Mayor." "
Notre Dame must have done a bang up job thanks to the taxpayers of Bangor.
Anyway, I always find it interesting when you have stories about Brown cutting into labor, there are always comments bashing labor "get real," "welcome to the REAL world," and "my salary hasn't gone up in -- years, why should theirs" etc, etc. Yet, when Brown's buddies get theirs, those tea party elements are strangely silent, and give him a pass.
Lower her salary to $6,000 annually, then hire 10 more Cathy Allens at the same pay rate. Think of what could be accomplished by that brain trust.
ReplyDeletethe jealousy of the union pukes is amazing. just because they lack the intelligence, excellent HR skills and foresight of CA they attack her and the eloquent Mr. Brown.
ReplyDeleteIf they worked as hard as they bitch we might get somewhere in this county.
12:32- you mean the union "pukes" who aren't getting raises? you can't have that argument both ways sweetie. btw, get a job yourself.
ReplyDeleteI thought your man brown was going to lower county expenses. doesn't sound like it does it? Oh yeah- the idiots at the top always win out- when they only care about themselves schmuck.
ReplyDeletebtw, asshole- nobody elected allen. she was hand selected with no competitive hiring process either. aka patronage. NOBODY deserves 3 pay increases in one year, let alone this sock puppet insurance office expert.
ReplyDeletethe only thing brown has done right is not hiring mezzacrappa. go john!
ReplyDeletejohn, I thought nothing was sacred. unless you worship at the allen altar.
ReplyDelete12:37,
ReplyDeleteobviously these union pukes are not working hard enough to deserve a pay raise. try setting your sights higher
Brown must have run all this by his crack former Solicitor who no doubt said - gee you got me, I will have to read the Home Rule Charter and Administrative Code to figure out if its ok but I am too busying planning my judicial campaign so that I can dispense justice for future litigants.
ReplyDeleteOf course Brown's actions are improper.
He is a cancer on the body politic. Why doesn't someone ask for an opinion from the Council Solicitor or the latest occupant of the Solicitor position.
1:05, I am collecting my retirement so so I don't have to work harder. haha. brown made my decision easy. can't touch this witch.
ReplyDeletethat just isn't fair! how could john brown justify those raises and leave all the other employees with nothing and expect morale be anything but bad
ReplyDeleteJB could care less about the rules or ethics. He is morally bankrupt. No empathy or sympathy for anyone. He does not know the meaning of public service. His public record now speaks to this truth. He is an elitist snob and he runs with others of the same ilk. The Grinch has nothing on this guy.
ReplyDeleteBrown is Santa Claus to Allen and his cabinet, but the Grinch to all other county employees.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteBrowns efficiencies: 2014-- $46,000 increase over 2013 cabinet salaries; 2014--$150,000.00 (approx.) increase in personnel positions added/eliminated. Proof in the resolutions.
Scomillio in his rabid campaign to advance his own interests told NorCo the law was anything Brown wanted. Honeymoon is over though: Scomillio is whining about how his association with Brown has destroyed his bid for judge. (Actually, it was what Scomillio did that destroyed his bid, Brown just made it more obvious)
Cathy Allen is only one more ugly instance of bad legal advice and absence of leadership which they started before they were on the payroll.
Brown and Scomillio should go back to the private sector where their inferior performance will cost them and not unsuspecting taxpayers.
Brown and his minions are a plague on the county. Worst CE ever. Voters were bamboozled.
ReplyDeleteCathy Allen room mate is a carpenter, Allen ran off the fire chief and assistant chief to move bangor boro in to the fire house. Her and Brown wanted the fireman to join the other fire companys, and return to get their eguipment for a fire. Why RESCUE has the newest building,they wanted to sell the beehive but the fire station and the bea hive are on the same deed.
ReplyDeleteThis is no worse than the deal Stoffa pulled when he hired Conklin as his Dir. of Administration. He was hired at one rate and in a year Stoffa bumped him up multiple steps.
ReplyDeleteThe total appeared to be at least 19%.
See these are the things O'Hare stops you all from hearing. Why?
Why, does he only let some things go out? Why does he only smear some while covering up for others, why?
Things to think about before he makes all this disappear, as is his game.
Conklin knew what he was doing. Allen is just an ass-clown!
ReplyDelete4:20 even if your basic facts are correct there are several major differences. Conklin was Director of Administration, not a deputy. He was far more qualified for his position than Allen is for hers. And finally, Conklin was not a personal friend of Stoffa's. He was a former associate who Stoffa admired for his qualifications and proven track record as an administrator. He was NOT a personal crony of Stoffa like Allen is of Brown.
ReplyDeletefunny, if you watch the video on the meeting, brown never knows anything when questioned. It's always "he has to check".
ReplyDeletewhen you don't vote, this is what you get.
ReplyDelete4:20 is a bitter and inaccurate troll troll who I usually delete. 8:49 provided the truth. I usually delete the crap before it reaches that point.
ReplyDeleteThat's great the people at the prison that are at the top step got a whopping 3% over the last two years,along with increased medical percentages.Way to go JB this must be the only employee that is THE BACKBONE OF THE COUNTY.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Allen miss an important union arbitration in January and it had to be rescheduled for April because the arbitrator from Philly couldn't come back up until then? Didn't she forget about it and was up in Bangor when she was called? Sounds like she is really earning that salary.
ReplyDeleteWould not surprise me. She doesn't take her job seriously. Her only agenda is to line her pockets and to make other employees miserable in the process. Browns judgment is hopelessly impaired by defending this imposter.
ReplyDeleteYou made your bed, Repubs, sleep in it.
ReplyDeleteNotre Dame just got downgraded as an elite learning institution.
ReplyDeleteIf the County Executive is a graduate of that institution, he must have slipped through the cracks, or was on the fast tract no student left behind program.
He obviously has no regard let alone respect for any of the County employees. Why would 126 of them retire when he proposed to change their healthcare program, when everyone knows the employees(mosetly women) don't even make a desent wage.Most know that when they seek employment with the county, it's the benefits that use to attract them.
But, he fine with giving his homeboy friends increases when the reat of the employees have not had a contract for over three years.
What a leader, I think he skipped that class.
Silence do good.
it's time for the employees to take action that can be felt by brown. maybe like calling off sick for a week? too many complainers who won't come together to put real pressure on brown. if we organized and stuck together we could force some change.
ReplyDeleteWell sign me up! I am ready.
ReplyDelete