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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Thursday, June 04, 2015

Pat Breslin, Mr. Transparency?

Township officials usually aren't heard on talk radio, especially wingnut radio like WAEB. But Pat Breslin shared a cup of tea with fellow conservative Bobby Gunther Walsh recently. He was on the air to complain that Commissioners meet secretly behind closed doors. He claims to be all about transparency, but that's nonsense. He's raising his visibility because he wants to take on Matt Cartwright in the next Congressional race.

Breslin started by  claiming he had won his election for Township Commissioner with a 70% mandate. The truth? He received 365 votes of 907 cast in that race. The others went to Democrat Ray Russin (203) and write-in Paul Weiss (339). That gave Breslin a plurality of just 40.24%, far from the 70% he falsely asserted.

After falsely taking credit for a 70% mandate he never had, Breslin went on to claim that Bethlehem Township is the largest government in the County. This will be news to Northampton County and Bethlehem.

Although his real reason for being on Gunther is to start the kindling on a Congressional candidacy, the hot button issue he chose was transparency. "If you can't have transparency at the lowest form of government, you've got problems," he told Gunther. He complained that Bethlehem Township had 12 executive session in 2014, compared to an average of  five at twelve municipalities he surveyed.

For those of you who don't know, Pennsylvania's Sunshine Act requires that all meetings be held publicly, with limited exceptions for "executive sessions" on these specific matters: personnel, labor contracts, the purchase or lease of real estate; litigation or the possibility of litigation based on a readily identifiable complaint; and to discuss agency business that would lead to disclosure of confidential information including investigations of possible violations of law and quasi-judicial deliberation.

Breslin went on to claim that in Bethlehem Township's last three executive sessions, the Sunshine Act was skirted when Commissioners sought quotes from architects for work at the Community Center.

"People are really furious and upset," he told Gunther. "Any time a government entity gets behind closed doors, it's not a good thing."

I sue no hue and outcry on Monday night. But Jack Glagola brought it up. Breslin never said a word. He sat there, stone-faced, as Solicitor Jim Broughal explained Commissioners can meet in executive session with prospective architects. This is because doing so publicly would lead to the disclosure of confidential information and give others a leg up when it is their turn for an interview. Though I would prefer to see something like this done by the Request for Proposal Route (RFP) route, Broughal's legal reasoning seems sound.

As for Breslin's other point about there being too many executive sessions in Bethlehem Township compared to other municipalities, he's way off. I know this because I did my own survey last October, when the number in Bethlehem Township stood at eight. That compared pretty favorably to the 14 sessions in Palmer Township. Nazareth has at least 14 executive sessions in one meeting. Hanover only had five closed door sessions at that time last year. The one township that really surprised me was Lower Nazareth, which only had one meeting at that time last year.

Basically, there is nothing unusual about the number of executive sessions conducted in Bethlehem Township. This only becomes noticeable when Commissioners start their regular meeting late because they are delayed in the back room. If nothing else, this is extremely rude to the members of the public who are there.

But the Township stopped that practice late last year. It now manages to finish executive sessions promptly.

In fact, at Monday night's meeting, resident Karen Berry publicly thanked Manager Melissa Shafer for getting all the resolutions and ordinances to be considered at a meeting and posting them online for public inspection before the meeting.

So the Township is a bit like Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in those Pink Panther movies. "Every day and in every way, I am getting better, and better."

But like Dreyfus, the Township had a setback when it voted on officially recognizing the Bulldogs as one of their sports organization without letting Barry Roth tell them, for the gazillionth time, that they're full of shit. Roth should have been allowed to speak, and may have had something to say that could have impacted the vote.

Breslin, who was all too willing to complain about transparency on talk radio, also condemned those executive sessions in a letter to the editor, although he changed his facts. But when Roth was muzzled and Glagola asked questions, Mr. Transparency just sat there.

If Breslin really believes in transparency, he could start by telling us all where he really lives and what he really does. Does he really live in the place he rents?

13 comments:

Lighthouse said...

Your last paragraph is a question long asked but sadly no one seems to care about about in the township. It seems to be something hard to prove. I have never ever seen him him do yard work or shovel snow or any of the other mundane comings and goings at the address on a well travelled road that he claimed on his campaign finance reports when he ran. But he must live there, right? If he is seriuosly, if laughably, thinking of challenging Cartwright, that however is a whole new level of scrutiny than winning a few hundred votes in a township race.

Bernie O'Hare said...

I can assure you that people do care, but as you say, it is hard to prove. If he runs for Congress, I do not think he has to establish residency. I do know he has lived all over. He was living in Hellertown and in Bucks County. I am going to start looking at him much more closely.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Walsh is a Godsend. He provides information that other sources like yours doesn't cover. He has on people that give the inside information. You hate Gunther because he had Ron Angle kicked off the radio station, right?

Anonymous said...

Breslin is right they have way too many executive sessions and discuss regular agenda items. Those meetings are suppose to be a rarity, but are used almost every meeting for the wrong purposes. Bernie a number of months ago you were questioning the number of executive sessions in Bethlehem Township, but now defending them. This carrying water for Marty surely will get old by November.

Lighthouse said...

To explain my last sentence as to why I think it would be hard to take seriously a run for Congress. The 17th district was redrawn as it is to help Barletta in the 11th by getting rid of the Dem WB/Scranton area and made even more Dem by adding Easton area, thinking that friendly Blue Dog Dem Holden would be able to hold on. While Dent's district also became safer, I do not think he needed any help in that regard. Back to the 17th, the fact that a Liberal populist in a presidential election year was able to unseat Holden, and then survive a challenge in 2014 with nearly 57% of the vote... Cartwright is not in the "safe zone" that Dent is in yet, but, a first term Twp Commissioner whose electoral success so far is 365 votes will have an uphill battle. And I am sure Cartwright will take nothing for granted, and it will be a presidential election year. Somehow the Dent-Dougherty race comes to mind... something like $1.5 million vs $45,000.

Anonymous said...

Cartwright has as much chance of losing as Charlie Dent does. None.

Breslin came to my home shilling for votes. He seemed like a horse's ass and never once did he disclose that he was a Tea Party advocate.

Anonymous said...

What the heck is going on in Bethlehem Twp? Each day this week I read your blog a new story about one of the Twp commissioners is posted and none of them are good. Bernie you cover several areas, how does this board rate and be honest? Imagine if Breslin somehow gets elected to Congress? What a complete joke, this guy can't manage to show up for Budget or Board meetings for a local Municipality. When he does make it he sits like a "deer in headlights". Transparency coming from him???? Did he not go on Radio to protest non union staff raises, then turned around and voted to give union employees signing bonuses plus raises? How does he explain that? Notice next time you speak with him all he does is drop names of who he knows or who he is meeting up with, yet he produces nothing in terms of results for the tax payer.

Bernie O'Hare said...

I regard BT's Board as dysfunctional. The staff is pretty good. But we have one Comm'r who goes on wingnut radio to complain about four others, and has been absent at least three times just this year. I don't think he really lives in the Twp. Hudak has lambasted three incumbents on F/B, and is highly insulting to members of the public he dislikes. Of course, these guys are boyscouts compared to Boards like Nazareth or Upper Mount Bethel.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Breslin came to my home shilling for votes. He seemed like a horse's ass and never once did he disclose that he was a Tea Party advocate"

Did he look you in the eye? He seems to have trOuble doing thAT.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Breslin is right they have way too many executive sessions and discuss regular agenda items. Those meetings are suppose to be a rarity, but are used almost every meeting for the wrong purposes. Bernie a number of months ago you were questioning the number of executive sessions in Bethlehem Township, but now defending them. This carrying water for Marty surely will get old by November."

Anyone who knows me knows I carry water for no one, and in this very post, I claim Marty violated the Sunshine Act by not letting Barry Roth speak. I have also tagged him several times about comments.

But it is completely unfair to slam BT over the number of its executive sessions. I have linked to my own report on this topic, written last October,m in which I concluded the only mistake BT was making was in its timing. The back room meetings should never be a reason to make the public wait. That is wrong, and it has been corrected.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Mr. Walsh is a Godsend. He provides information that other sources like yours doesn't cover. He has on people that give the inside information. You hate Gunther because he had Ron Angle kicked off the radio station, right?"

Wrong. Gunther is a ringmaster for wingnuts, and anyone who appears on his show loses credibility in my eyes for that reason alone. He provides nothing of substance. For example, on this very program, he never questioned Breslin's false claim that he had 70% of the vote, or Breslin's own absences. He never reached out to another Board member to get a different perspective. He never did is own research to determine whether Breslin is full of shit. He just let the guy blather on, kinda' like the way he let someone else blather on and now is facing a defamation suit.

He has had Ron Shegda and Heidi Markow as guests, two of the biggest wingnuts you will see, and both of whom I have discussed on this blog.

I have no respect for Gunther but don't dislike him.

Anonymous said...

"anyone who appears on his show loses credibility in my eyes"

So you won't be supporting Vic Mazziotti for re-election then?

Bernie O'Hare said...

Anyone on that show, whether it is Vic Mazziotti or Michael Molovonsky, loses credibility in my eyes.