(Incumbent Controller Steve Barron, far left; challenger Hayden Phillips, far right; and referee Dean Browning in the middle. Though Barron and Phillips oppose each other, they were kind enough to pose for a picture together.)
As expected, Northampton County Council member Hayden Phillips, filed the paperwork on August 19 to make official his candidacy as the Republican nominee for County Controller. Ron Angle, who won the primary election on the basis of a write-in vote, withdrew from the race on August 7 for personal reasons. Phillips was the unanimous choice of the County GOP Executive Committee. In fact, Angle nominated Phillips as his successor.
Phillips, who refers to himself with some pride as a tea party conservative, has established a reputation for thoughtfulness and independence in his two years on Council. His capital improvements committee has focused on establishing maintenance plans for long-neglected county property. "Say what you're going to do, do it, and prove that you did it," has been his simple but effective mantra.
He sided with Democrats over contracts proposed by Executive John Brown for both business and press relations consultants.
He also spearheaded the one-mill tax hike narrowly approved by Council last year.
Phillips is held in high regard by his fellow Council members. In fact, Democrat Ken Kraft is the one who gave Phillips his nickname as The Colonel. Phillips wears no white suits, but served in the U.S, Marine Corps, and retired as a Colonel in 2003.
Phillips has a bachelor's degree from Mansfield University and a master's in Business Administration from Lehigh. He recently retired as a project manager in the information technology industry.
Incumbent Steve Barron is the Democratic nominee. He is seeking a third term. He is a graduate of Widener University and its School of Law. He is also a certified fraud examiner who occasionally assists the District Attorney in white collar crime.
Barron has the distinction of drawing the ire of both Republican Executive John Brown as well as his predecessor, Democratic Executive John Stoffa. His recent audit of a treatment program at the jail refuted boasts that it was ending recidivism,.One of his audit findings showed that two persons who were supposedly free of new offenses were in fact residents at the jail. This led to the termination of a $5 million contract.
You can read more about this race in a story written by Tom Shortell for The Morning Call.
17 comments:
It's one for you and 8 million for me, taxman Hayden Phillips
Be careful I don't tax your tea, taxman Hayden P
Yeah I'm the taxman
Hayden is the taxman
If Phillips wins, who will county council tap to fill his position o9n county council? Won't the council be tied 4-4?
Who do you think they will appoint?
There will be eight council members, and it is likely that five or six of them will be Republican. If he wins, Phillips will stay on Council until the end of the year. But he has to win first.
Philips is a tax and spend tea party boy. He is just the Kind of candidate the Republican HYPOCRITES WANT.
Anon 2;53-I'm asking what direct evidence are you holding to support your statement? I have ,and still will defend this man's character. I believe his character to be exemplary. He had been vetted many times as a U.S.Marine Corps officer and it would be very unusually inconsistent that several agencies IE; NSA, FBI and U.S.Navy at different time for sometimes random issues ,if they found integrity problems ,they would send him packing early- a secret clearance or above is a reason .Bankruptcy in officer grade IS an integrity violation for example,he would be booted,a DUI ,gone NO JOB] Infidelity would change his upward wow -we could have a smorgasbord with some people on this standard. .A line civilian standards don't see as anything wrong. Ask yourself could you pass muster being checked by the IRS or what?----- . He had to walk that line. Now I'LL ask myself---could I pass- hell no..
Nice photo of two county tax raisers and a county time thief. It's no wonder people hate politicians more than diarrhea.
This should be an interesting political tussle. I like it and Steve will now have to earn the right to continue at county as controller. Razor thin advantage to the incumbent right now but the R's seem to have chosen the right person to go for it. If hayden wins..council seat will be up for grabs but if he loses..he still holds his seat. A no brainer. Let the race begin!
Peter,
It's the decision of the citizens of Northampton County as to whether Phillips is a suitable candidate - this is not a military, police, or secret state.
The citizenry can define integrity any way they want. They may want to accuse a man who is a member of an essentially anti tax grouping leading the charge to raise taxes as hypocrisy.
If he is being the good citizen and simply doing the right or obvious thing in raising taxes, in spite of the tea partiers being opposed to pretty much all taxation, then those who elected him last time might consider him guilty of elitism or hubris. Is there an FBI vetting process for hubris?
You may be a very decent man, Peter, but you have to remember that this is a democracy and that therefore the citizens will make up their own minds, and probably won't rely on your opinion, which has the unusual dichotomy of both being biased and completely off the point.
Anon;8;08 Well stated-It will be determined by the voter,I agree. Mr.Phillips,will not get on here and underwrite himself,I for one do not care for anyone indiscriminately beating up on him or any other without provocation.Too many people get their info here to do so. The increase in tax income had to be for a good reason.I want you to know I don't disagree with what you say. I for one, would not want the likes of Vladimir Putin anywhere close . Reason why Mr.Phillips as well as many others have served this country for rights like voting .Should there be an FBI vetting process for hubris? What would be the outcome? I hate taxes but more so tax money that IS WASTED by incompetent or complacent crap that goes on ,like at my School District,they make me mad as hell. And-I have nothing to say negative about Mr.Barron . Good day.
Peter,
I am happy to hear that, while you will obviously be voting for Mr. Phillips, you have nothing bad to say about Mr. Barron. Mr. Barron is a young man who is a deeply committed public servant, and honorable and decent in his private life.
I felt I must point out that the electorate may care more about the conflict between Mr. Phillips stated affiliations and his voting record. His military service is laudable, but irrelevant in weighing his bona fides for the job he seeks. I am sure he is the man of high character you describe, and committed and honorable in his public duty.
Thank you for a fair and civilized exchange of views.
I am deeply biased to favor military experience, IT Experience, and an MBA. Col Phillips has proven during his tenure on council that he is not a hack. Without the benefit of knowing either I can say that I prefer Col Phillips over Steve for nothing more than Steve throwing around the weight of his office (the TMobile Union thing). I'm certain that if I met Steve I would like him as a person, but as controller I like someone like Col Phillips more as he has a much more well rounded resume (private sector, military, academia, and county government).
Hokie Joe says:
WHO WILL COUNCIL APPOINT TO FILL HAYDEN"S UNEXPIRED TERM SHOULD HAYDEN BEAT BARRON? Simple enough.
They don't have to fill the vacancy until January next year 2016. They will have a majority on Council because they will have at least six of the nine seats, maybe, and more likely they will have seven seats. Either way they will control Council. District 3 will be going Republican, so the "R's" pick up another seat. District four may stay Democratic but very unlikely. As to appointing the vacant position to someone other than a "D".......well the sign will be posted. "D's", no need to apply.
Agree with anon 1:42, The Republicans will appoint another Republican. They want to have a super majority to enforce their tax increases in case there is an executive veto.
I'll concede that Phillips isn't a party hack, but that's what makes him unreliable in the minds of the Tea Partiers who elected him. No doubt he moved so swiftly to raise taxes for the right reasons, but that's not what his voters put him there for. It's no use having the best resume in the world if your own voters don't trust you - and who can blame them? How many of them expected when they voted for him that they were voting for the tax hike King of Northampton County? Not many, I'll bet, but I will bet that many of them will now be running scared of voting for him again - and who can blame them?
We agree that tax and spend is a common grip, One of the reasons rate payers have to always pay more is bad politics and too many tax free 's like Lafayette College not 'row n the boat' ! So the ones that pay ,are the ones that will pay. I will address this later. But,this is why. My friends in conservative suits,would be better spending time at their school districts. They are out of control ,and the boards historically have people that can't seem to balance their personal checkbooks so that's where they get it from. In contrast NorCo tax's are a bargain.
Petey your judgment of only marines are good is warped. How about good old Lee Harvey? The guy was a lifelong bureaucrat in the nations largest bureaucracy. No wonder he wanted to raise taxes twice as much as his other
Republican taxers.
Hayden Phillips has been a disappointment to many conservative Republicans and Independents who voted for him. His talk didn't match his deeds.
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