#NoJailatGracedale - 1, John Brown - 0

Jenna Hausman and Christine Woodmansee

You've probably heard that one person can never take on the government and win. Two can. Jenna Hausman and Christine Woodmansee are residents of Eagles Landing, and moved there because they want a safe community in which to raise their children. They live in nice homes that they hope to see go up in value over the years. But when they heard that Northampton County is again secretly considering a new jail at the Gracedale campus, they proved that democracy is no spectator sport. Two Republican moms started on online petition at Change.org, a site usually reserved for liberal issues. They formed the Facebook group #NoJailatGracedale and then cascaded into a County Council meeting, where a dozen residents told Council that "the cloak is off" when Council members pretended they had no idea what is going on. They forced a County Executive who likes to play his cards close to his vest to finally rule out a jail at Gracedale. And yesterday, while kids played soccer and fall baseball at Tuskes Park, about 90 Nazareth area residents forced that County Executive to rule out a new jail, not just at Gracedale, but on any county-owned park land.

The Eagles have Landed. #NoJailatGracedale - 1, County Executive John Brown - 0.

It was a rare yet refreshing display of democracy. Perhaps not as big a deal as the Magna Carta, but it'll do. In addition to all the Nazareth area residents, politicians galore where there. I saw Nazareth officials, Upper Nazareth officials and State Rep. Joe Emrick.

NorCo Exec John Brown, aware that his unwillingness to provide straight answers to straight questions could cost him an election, tried to assure everyone that he's their man and has been completely upfront. His challenger, Lamont McClure, slammed Brown over his penchant for secrecy.

Brown did himself no favors.

Fake News

He was rambling, unresponsive and consistently went over the time allotted to him. "I don't play word games," he said at one point, but that's precisely what he did. You can see it for yourself both here and here. Though there is overwhelming evidence that he fully intended to build a new jail on a greenfield and at Gracedale, he dismissed it as fake news.

"[T]his whole issue about putting a jail at Gracedale is completely fictitious and has been promulgated by - uh - you're caught up in political gamesmanship. That's all it is, quite honestly. ... By inflaming something like this, my opponent does not have much of a record to stand on, so if you don't have your own record, you attack someone else."

Lamont McClure, however, had an effective retort.

"How do we know this isn't made up news, an alternative fact? How do we know that? We know that because we have prison advisory board meeting minute notes. And in those prison advisory meeting notes, the Chairman of the advisory board said Gracedale would be the best location of a prison. And what else do we know? We know that Mr. Brown, our current County Executive, gave his budget message a week or two ago and was asked whether he'd rule out the county property at Gracedale for a prison. He would not. A few days later, at the County Council meeting, he was asked to rule it out. He would not."

Transparency

Challenged on his lack of transparency, Brown insisted, "The whole thing about lack of transparency is nonsense. I am a transparent person. No one came and asked me about this ... ."

"I did," interrupted Julian Kryemadhi.

His comment asking Brown for an update on Facebook was deleted.

His $72,000 study for a master plan, which was awarded to architectural form DLR as a no-bid contract, is by itself a demonstration of a lack of transparency. Hayden Phillips pointed out that he's tried several times to adopt ordinances that would give Council more power to review these contracts, but has been rebuffed repeatedly. When he was on Council, Lamont McClure joined Phillips in attempting to give Council more oversight over county contracts, but Brown vetoed their ordinance.

McClure also provided a disturbing example of Brown's lack of transparency. "He [Brown] once had a press conference where he posted armed guards at the door of the press conference so certain people couldn't come to the press conference," noted McClure. "One of the people specifically identified was a sitting member of county council." Under the Home Rule Charter, Council is considered the governing body, but Brown excluded a member with armed guards. "That is the definition of the lack of transparency," said McClure.

Brown Admits He Could Have Sought Free Study

In response to questions from a woman in the audience, Brown admitted that he will spend $72,000 in taxpayer funds for a report he could have received at no cost from the National Institute of Corrections. "If the study could be done for free by a government agency, why did you give the contract to a private company and pay $72,000?" she asked.

"Those are the decisions you get to make as County Executive, quite honestly," Brown answered. "It wasn't answering the question I needed to have answered in an expedited fashion." Brown acknowledged he never even contacted the National Institute of Corrections.

DLR Report

Brown claimed that the DLR report is coming soon. He spoke to them on Friday and said that DLR will give the County a way to save $6 million per year in spending at the jail, and without moving to a greenfield. He promised to make that report available as soon as he gets it.

No Jail at Gracedale Pledge

Brown initially refused to pledge there would be no jail at Gracedale. "I can't stand here and pledge ... . It's ridiculous to make those pledges because you don't know. I could get back in office and change my mind and flip on it." But as the meeting wore on, Brown reversed course in response to questions from Julain Kryemadhi. "A pledge is - fine - I'll sign that. That's not an issue."

Brown Gets Support

Though the audience was largely suspicious or downright critical of Brown, he got support from Nazareth resident Mary Barket, who described him in glowing terms. What she failed to disclose is that Brown paid her at least $4,000 last year to work on his failed campaign for state auditor general. Whether she is working his Exec race is unknown, but I'll know soon when Brown files his second Friday pre-election report.

What about Council candidates?

In addition to the Executive race, five County Council seats are up in the next election. As you might have guessed, the candidates who came to Tuskes Park are all opposed to building a new jail at Gracedale or anywhere else, for that matter. These included Republicans Hayden Phillips (incumbent) and Ron Angle. They also included Democrats Ron Heckman, Lori Vargo Heffner, Bill McGee and Tara Zrinski.

Republican Peg Ferraro had a prior commitment in Walnutport, but sent a note indicating she opposes any kind of jail at Gracedale. Republicans Glenn Geissinger and Seth Vaughn, both of whom are seeking election, failed to appear. Also missing was Democratic Council candidate Pete Melan.