The Workhorse Who Failed to Work

Scott Parsons is the hardest working member on Northampton County Council. In 2014, his attendance record at Council and Committee meetings was a whopping 97%, more than anyone else on Council. He was able to do that while working a blue collar job at a slate quarry. He brought the perspective of a working class guy. But as dedicated as he was on Council, he was a reluctant campaigner in the Republican Northern Tier, which he represents. So unfortunately for all of us, he came up short in a bid by Republican Matt Dietz to replace him last week.

By way of background, the northern tier view may be economically depressed, but is the most beautiful part of the Lehigh Valley. Their turnout in this election cycle was very high. County-wide, turnout was 21.08%, far better than expected. But in places like Upper Mount Bethel, it was 31% in one precinct.

Also, a heavy Italian contingent seemed to help Scomillio in the Slate Belt. Murray may be half Italian, but has an Irish last name. It appears that Scomillio's Italian ancestry helped him win in places like Bangor and Roseto, where he really should have lost.

Matt Dietz, the Council victor in the northern tier, ran a very good campaign. He had a lot of grass roots support and was everywhere. His ten point margin of victory is an electoral landslide. But Parsons could have beaten him. Instead of running against Dietz and his tea party tendencies, Parsons should have run against Executive John Brown, who shackled taxpayers with consultant contracts to make himself look good, tried to stick the county with improper expense vouchers, gave illegal raises to his cronies and wanted to borrow money to balance the budget. Dietz, a fly boy who is the darling of the business elite, could have been painted as more of the same.

* He needed to work the boroughs harder. They are Democratic strongholds. Yet he barely won in Pen Argyl and Roseto, where he should have crushed. He actually lost in Bath, Portland, East Bangor and Walnutport.

*  He needed to work the open space townships. Parsons is perhaps Council's biggest open space advocate and chairs its committee. He has successfully pushed for projects in Lower Mount Bethel, Upper Mount Bethel, Moore, Plainfield and Bushkill. I am sure he could have attracted some of these environmentalists.

*  The Gracedale crowd was completely MIA. Parsons failed to win in Upper Nazareth, where Gracedale is located. Four years ago, he won there convincingly.

Northern Tier District Results

Community	Parsons	Dietz	Murray	Scomillio	Barron	Phillips
Bangor	317	220	247	295	255	245
Bath	108	149	115	150	109	153
Chapman	11	18	9	20	13	15
E Bangor	56	61	38	75	42	68
Lehigh	517	782	575	826	562	791
L Mt Bethel	183	177	226	162	166	182
Moore	616	898	662	908	649	886
Pen Argyl	267	261	204	310	194	275
Portland	34	41	24	48	22	47
Roseto	134	114	105	175	121	114
U Mt Bethel	431	574	395	617	353	596
U Nazareth	368	380	370	398	359	379
Walnutport	84	91	86	94	84	90
Washngtn	328	304	268	364	269	334
Wind Gap	191	157	160	170	146	150
Bushkill	363	686	410	640	362	654
Plainfield	522	593	436	652	437	575
Total	4530	5506	4330	5904	4143	5554