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| Lamont McClure and John Brown |
According to his pre-election report for the period between June 6 and October 23, McClure started with $55,151 and raised another $57,975.00. This gave him a warchest of $113,126, of which he has spent $94,870. Going into the final days of the campaign, he has $18,256 to spend, in addition to whatever sums of money he can raise.
McClure also has campaign debt of $4,587.78 from previous races.
Brown's pre-election report shows that he started the cycle with $7,126.28 and raised $66,816.35. This gave him a treasury of $73,942.63, of which he has spent $3,053.76. He still has $10,888.87 to burn, in addition to any last-minute contributions he might receive.
Brown has campaign debt of $42,380, most of it from his failed bid for state auditor general.
Major Donors
Donations to McClure in the amount of $1,000 or more come from the following: Eckert Seaman Government PAC - $2,000 (law firm); IBEW PAC - $10,000; Steamfitters Local 420 PAC - $2,500; DC 21 PAC - $2,500; Asbestos Workers PAC - $4,000; Operating Engineers PAC - $2500; King Spry LLC - $1,000 (law firm); Bob Donchez - $1,500; Rosen Law Firm -$1,000; Northeast Carpenters PC - $2,000; AFSCME -$1,500; Plumbers Local 690 PAC - $2,000; Bill Hillanbrand - $1,000 (former Deputy Sheriff who started the Nathan Ogden award); Jack D'Alessandro - $1,000 (Gracedale advocate); Murat Guzel - $5,000 (businessman and DNC official); John Morganelli - $5,000; and Susan Biggica - $2,000..
Donations to Brown in the amount of $1,000 or more include the following: Fulton Financial PAC - $1,000; Cozen O'Connor PAC - $1,000 law firm); Mario Scavello - $1,000; Charlie Dent - $1000; Ryan MacKenzie - $1,000; Delaware County Republicans - $1,000; Great American Pa Fund - $5,000; David Ceraul - $2,500; Andy Daub - $2,500 (car dealer); Carroll Neubauer - $1,000 (B Braun); Dave Backenstoe - $1,000; Joe Topper - $1,000 (gas stations and NIZ developer); William Kennedy - $1,000 (Attorney); Stephen Hurni - $1,000 (Green Knights); Jeffrey Feather - $1,000 (LV Industrial); Csaba Balazs - $1,000 (architect from Ebensburg); Paul Oberbeck - $4,854.70 (Nat'l Magnetics); David Lobach - $1,000 (Embassy Bank); Claudia Acharya - $1,000 (financial analyst); Charles Chrin - $2,500 (landfill and developer); Vicki Doule - $1,000 (Capital Blue); Robert Asher - $1,000 (Pa Future Fund); Lee Butz - $1,000 (contractor); David Jaindl - $1000 (farmer and developer); Steve Follett - $1,000 (ice machines) John Malloy - $1,000 (Victaulic); Thomas Boles - $1,000 (C3); Lou Pektor - $1,000 (Ashley Development); Cynthia Di Renzo - $1,000 (vitamins); Dennis Benner - $1,000 (developer); Albanese and Grimes - $1,000 (developer); and Charles R Diacont - $1,000 (developer).
Brown Appointees, County Vendors Add to his Coffers.
Brown's warchest includes payments from some of his county appointees. They owe their jobs or titles to him. They include Dave Ceraul (Ass't Solicitor - $2,500); Dave Backenstoe (Ass't Solicitor - $1,000); Michael Snover ( Ass't Solicitor - $400); Robert Miklas (Assessment Appeals Board - $500); Dick McAteer (Assessment Appeals Board - $500); Tim Herlinger ($400, DCED); and $200 each from Dan O'Donnell (Ass't Solicitor), Dan Keen (Corrections Director), Ryan Durkin (Solicitor), Jim Hunter (Fiscal Affairs Director), David Dalrymple (Sheriff), Dan Trapp (husband of Human Resources Director Amy Trapp) and Public Works Director Stan Rugis.
There is nothing illegal or even unusual about an elected official who accepts campaign contributions from people who work for the county or who serve on county boards. It is only illegal if the payments are made as a condition of keeping the job.
The only contribution that really bothers me from county appointees and workers is the one from Dan Trapp. Even though it is only $200, Brown accepted money from someone (unless his wife was using his name) who referred to county workers as "entitled spoiled brat government employees," and on this very blog. If Brown values the county employee, he should return Trapp's money.
Brown also accepted donations from current and prospective vendors.
- Christopher B Baily is President of Premier Healthcare Resources, which manages the county-owned nursing home.He contributed $970.70.
- Charlie Chrin, mentioned above, has connections to Northampton County through his Route 33 TIF and landfill,
- Capital Blue administers the county's health plan, and Sales VP Vicki Doule donated $1,000.
- Thomas Boles works for C3, which has its tentacles throughout Northampton County, and is largely responsible for Brown's decision to cut medical benefits. He donated $1,000 to Brown.
McClure's Union Support
McClure received $28,250 from unions. With the exception of $1,500 received from AFSCME, this comes from trade unions. Those of you with an anti-union bias should know this is where McClure has historically received his money over the years. And he is a true believer. While on Council, every year he sponsored a resolution concerning Labor Day. Those are no longer even introduced.
So yes, if you want to charge him with supporting unions, he's guilty. My question is why anyone from the Lehigh Valley or coal regions would oppose them.
My grandfather on my mother's side used to marvel us all with his missing fingers. He'd show use the stumps and ask us who hid them. We'd look everywhere. He was missing a few fingers because, as a child, he worked by picking up pieces of coal that fell off the trains that ran inside the mines. No child labor laws then. No unions, either. Attempts to start them, whether at a steel company or in the mines, were dealt with swiftly and brutally.
It is thanks to unions that decent wages finally began being paid to most of your ancestors in this area. It is thanks to them that worker safety became a bargaining issue.. As unions have withered away, so have your wages. So have family values Moms and dads both work several jobs and are more focused on surviving than teaching their children the importance of morality. A century ago, business owners had no compunction about hiring goons and even the police to bang heads and sometimes even kill union protesters. These days they are more sophisticated. They move.
You could argue that McClure as Executive will support massive public building projects like the massive $185 million jail proposed by John Brown. But McClure has made clear he opposes this.
During the debate last week, McClure also expressed disdain for the big box warehouses exploding all over the Lehigh Valley, which offer job insecurity and meager wages.
Is that wrong? Is it right for local businesses to rip off blue collar workers by hiring undocumented workers at job sites, and then ripping them off too because they have nowhere to complain?.
If you hate unions, then Brown is your guy. If you prefer buildings that are built by American citizens who know what they are doing, then McClure is your man.
Lehigh Valley Contributions.
According to one of Brown's campaign mailers, "almost two thirds of Lamont McClure's campaign contributions come from donors outside of Northampton County." The innuendo there, of course, is that outside special interests hope to gain something in exchange for their money. After checking both reports for Lehigh Valley contributors, I can tell you that Brown's mailer is not only false, but that he has a higher percentage of outside donors than McClure.
In his pre-election report, McClure identifies 87 contributors, and 62 of them are from here in the Lehigh Valley. So 71% of his contributors are local. That seems to be the exact opposite of what Brown's mailer claims.
Brown identifies 109 donors, of which 64 are from the Lehigh Valley. So his percentage of Lehigh Valley donors - 58% - is actually lower than McClure.
Most of McClure's outside money comes from fellow attorneys he has met over the years, as well as local trade unions. They employ people here in the Lehigh Valley, but their PAC addresses are outside the area.
Brown's report includes an unusually large number of mostly small contributions from people in the Scranton and Wilkes-Barre area. Financial adviser Matthew Garber, Dan Meuser (running for Congress), Attilio Frati, (Wilkes-Barre operations director), Robert Knowles (Franklin Bank Director, Scranton Prep Director), Paul LaBelle (Clarks Green attorney) and a host of others. Brown's P3 building project is with Kriger Construction in Lackawanna County.
Great American Pa Fund PAC Donors Hidden From Public View
Brown's biggest contributor is the "Great America Pa Fund PAC." This PAC was just formed in March, and given that its address is at property owned by former state GOP Chair Rob Gleason, I suspect it is his baby. This PAC gave Brown $5,000, and another $3,500 to the NorCo GOP. But where did it get its money? In other words, who donated to the Great America Pa Fund PAC so that it could make these donations? That's the whole point of requiring these reports. It enables us to see who is doing the laundry. To follow the money.
The Great America Pa Fund PAC reports having received $255,000 between June 6 and September 18, but has failed to list a single one of these contributors. Its pre-election report that was due on Friday is still unavailable online. It is entirely possible that we will not know where this money comes from until after the election, thanks to toothless campaign finance disclosure laws.
The telephone number of this PAC is (814)341-7100. I would urge you to call during normal business hours and ask this PAC to follow the law and list its contributors.
The PAC's first filing listed two contributors - Gleason ($5,000) and Dr. Josephine Templeton ($250,000), a retired pediatrician. She and her deceased husband at one time funded organizations opposed to same sex marriage, but may have softened their views.
How Have Candidates Spent the Money?
If you drive throughout Northampton County, you know where McClure has spent $1,650. On signs. Lots of them. They're everywhere. If you have a phone, you know here he's spent another $1,270. On robocalls. (Money for that is paid to Steve Barron, which he then uses to buy the minutes. He keeps none of the money.) If you get mail, and are a Democrat or an Independent, you've received some of the mailers for which he has spent $55,494.52. If you watch television, you may have seen his ad, which cost him $29,500.
He has also paid $400 to Advantage Pep (Celeste Dee) and another $2,500 to Rich Wilkins for his ground game on election day. Finally, he has paid Tom Severson $3,200 to poll for him. McClure is using no political consultants to instruct him on how to sell himself.
Brown has paid Mary Barket $4,000. She's appeared at a Q and A by Nazareth area residents concerned about a jail at Gracedale, and told them how great Brown is. She never bothered disclosing that Brown paid her $4,000 on September 1.
Brown has also paid himself $4,025.52 to get back some of the money he lent his campaign when he ran for state auditor general.
He spent $35,980 with LN Consulting to devise his campaign strategy from Harrisburg. Communications Concepts received about $7,400 to print his campaign ads.
Brown also gave the Northampton County GOP $46,000, which was turned over to the state party so that it could pay for the postage on three of Brown's mailers.
Seriously, Bernie? This Trapp woman cannot win with you! It’s funny how all the men in Brown’s cabinet donated $200 and you have no problem, but you list Trapp’s husband just to take a shot(yet again). How was the donation made? Cash or check? Could it be the name on a check is howit was recorded and you just decided to be a sexist ass and go after her once again? Shocking...she must really be doing a good job with all this ridiculous bs you give her!
ReplyDeleteBig difference between public unions and private unions. Attempting to lump those who fought the good fight with those who already have civil service protections and get to elect their negotiating counterparts is very misleading.
ReplyDeleteToo bad public sector union members aren't protected by OSHA
Delete---Mother Jones
"Seriously, Bernie? This Trapp woman cannot win with you! It’s funny how all the men in Brown’s cabinet donated $200 and you have no problem, but you list Trapp’s husband just to take a shot(yet again). How was the donation made?"
ReplyDeleteHad any of Brown;s cabinet members referred to the workforce as "entitled spoiled brat government employees," you can be damn sure I'd be objecting to them and their money. They did not. Dan Trapp did. The fact that Brown accepted this money, knowing what he knows, is just another reason why the workforce needs to vote him out. They already have ample other reasons.
Your strange attempt to make this about gender is noted.
5:04 - Bernie will never let go of his hate for women who are far more superior than he and that doesn't take much.
ReplyDeleteHe does loves unions but they suck even more than he does
There you go. If you want someone who hates unions and refers to the workforce as "entitled spoiled brat government employees," vote Brown.
ReplyDeleteBernie confirms that 2/3 of McClure's dollars comes from outside the county. Let that sink in.
ReplyDeleteI've shown that 71% of McClure's donors are local and that the Brown mailer to the contrary is false.
ReplyDeleteExcellent report Bernie. I did notice that the union PAC's who gave to McClure, gave to "Fed Ed", a democrat, and to Joe Hanna [LC Sheriff], a republican. I would expect democratic preference by the unions, however, to give to a republican candidate is puzzling. Maybe there is bipartisan support from the unions, so I will not be so harsh in my criticisms on union support. A very critical item in my thinking is the outside money coming into the valley to support a local candidate. This is a big piece of consternation with me. Why would somebody contribute from the coal regions, [Scranton/Wilkes-Barre], without some benefit of return. This sets off an alarm which doesn't leave my independent mind. Not that John Brown and crew doesn't earn reelection, this only confirms who I will vote for; and it is not the current County Executive and his rag-tag blokes!
ReplyDeleteHmmm. Wasn't Ekert Seamans was the law firm Stoffa hired to sell Gracedale? Why is Lamont taking money from them?
ReplyDeleteAs a lawyer, McClure knows that lawyers have no personal interest in the matters they advocate.
ReplyDelete7:40, Unions can and do support Rs. If i am not mistaken, i believe the LV Labor Council endorsed Peg. I know Emil Giordano has widespread union support.
ReplyDeleteAnd Percy Dougherty in Lehigh County.
Delete"I've shown that 71% of McClure's donors are local and that the Brown mailer to the contrary is false."
ReplyDeleteBig difference between "donors" and "dollars." What you did was confirm that 2/3 of McClure's DOLLARS are from outside NorCo. Let that sink in. The mailer is absolutely true. Two-thirds. Wow.
@8:31 so you are equally upset then that a ton of Brown's money came from the Coal Region as well as a county vendor who advised Brown to cut workforce healthcare and ignore county union contracts at the expense of the taxpayers. C3 is a terrible company and pushed out another vendor that brought them into the county to get more taxpayer dollars. Then shoots Brown a big fat check!
ReplyDeleteLet that sink in!
Bernie you keep harping on what Trapp’s husband said, you do realize that the vast majority of taxpayers feel the same way? The fact that employees are being held accountable, made to do their jobs and being walked out if they don’t gives Browns administration credibility. There isn’t any sympathy for employees by the taxpayers and voters.
ReplyDelete"The mailer is absolutely true."
ReplyDeleteThe mailer claims "almost two thirds of Lamont McClure's campaign contributions come from donors outside of Northampton County." I've demonstrated they do not. The mailer does not claim that 2/3 of the $ is from out of the area. It claims the donors are from out of the area, and 71% are from the LV. So the mailer is false. McClure actually has more local donors than Brown.
The mailer says contributions, not contributors... meaning 2/3 of the money, not the amount of donors...
Delete"Bernie you keep harping on what Trapp’s husband said, you do realize that the vast majority of taxpayers feel the same way?"
ReplyDeleteThe majority of taxpayers have ample other reasons to be offended by Brown, including his idiotic quest to build a $185 million new jail that is only wanted by his corrections director. But Trapp's remark about the workforce should translate into 5,000-7,000 votes for McClure. Brown could have fired his toxic HR director. He could have forced her to apologize. He could have sent back Trapp's money. But he accepted it, and people who work for the county should remember that on election day.
9:01, I quoted the exact words. It said donors. Although I did not check this by amount, I suspect that is a lie, too. But that is what I expect from a candidate who has a paid shill talk him up at a meeting in Nazareth without disclosing she is a paid shill.
ReplyDeleteI will accept no more comments attempting to dispute the plain facts. At this point, it is just disinformation.
ReplyDeleteAs is pretty much everything you write, Mr. O.... personal opinion and disinformation are your specialities, aren’t they?
DeleteTo be clear, I have checked the amounts, too, and 45% of The AMOUNT reported by McClure is also local. So no matter how you cut it, Brown’s mailer is false.
ReplyDeleteIn the words of Emily Litella:
ReplyDelete"Nevermind!"
I have a problem with Trapp buying herself an $800 popcorn machine on my dime and sending staff to Las Vegas and New Orleans. They may not have been vacations, but they could be described as a junket, where more time was probably spent enjoying nightlife than in training sessions. Still no accountability on those missing gift cards, too. Don't even get me started Brown's assistant and her lack of knowledge. I'm voting McClure. Four years of Brown Clown is enough.
ReplyDeleteIf I hear about that "$800 popcorn machine" one more time.... agh! The point has been made, the point has been made, the point has been made, the point has been made, the point has been made, the point has been made.... the horse is dead. Is there another word that rhymes with Brown beside clown?
ReplyDeleteAmen. Especially since no taxpayer money was used to buy it. But O’Hare won’t let that fact get out. He only reports fake news.
DeleteHere's some words that don't rhyme. Liar, secretive, authoritarian, dope, failure.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous...October 30, 2017 at 1:26 PM
ReplyDelete"Here's some words that don't rhyme. Liar, secretive, authoritarian, dope, failure."
How do you really feel? Is there another word that rhymes with Brown beside clown?
Doo-doo Brown!
ReplyDeleteJeff, you may not like hearing about it, but it certainly illustrates an administration with no regard for the public it ostensibly serves.
ReplyDeleteFour year sago Brown was the so-called business consultant, the fresh face for Northampton County. After four years he now has a record. We now know why Bangor would not vote for him four years ago.
ReplyDeleteHis Admisntration has been one cluster--- after another. Forget the popcorn machine. If that were the only problem, it would mean little. It does however illustrate an Admisntration that is woefully inept and has shown little real "business" sense other than those goofy business seminar terms he uses. He raised your taxes, he has not filled necessary positions and he gutted the open space fund. The guy is a fraud and for that reason plus so many others he must go.
Also, we must boot this rubber stamp county council with him. They did nothing for four year but blindly OKed all his hair brained ideas, as well as authoring the unneeded tax increase. They did take time out to run for other offices. Time to go.
This Independent will vote for the people running against John Brown and his team.
Lowdown Brown. Letdown Brown. Smalltown Brown.
ReplyDeleteAnyone that gets elected to a county or state office and has the nerve during their first term to run for a higher office, should never be elected to any office again.
ReplyDeleteBernie , take this to the bank _ McGee is a straight shooter and he has squared away the pension plan the insulation union has in short order it was a mess prior . I say this man is a “Blue Dog” dem , so I was with one of those union guys he represents today . McGee s union man says this guy takes care of business . But what I get is this man is honest , and we can trust him . I’m a hard R but I will vote for this man because he is honest .
ReplyDelete6:38, yet you will vote for the other republicans even though they have been dishonest over the prison amongst other things.
ReplyDeleteSince you lack the integrity to say who you are, you are in position to cast stones at the integrity of others.
ReplyDeletePeter, if I get a chance, I will tell McGee about your support on Wednesday. I am sure he will be honored.
ReplyDeleteNo one wants the Trump/Brown ticket in Northampton county.
ReplyDeleteThe hell they don’t!
Delete5:08 Is right on point. He Raised money and spent time running for another office on County time.
ReplyDeleteDid you hear? John Brown single-handedly is responsible for the new Messinger Street Viaduct in Bangor! He didn't even invite Cong. Dent to his grand opening event this past Sat. (Dent secured a big earmark for funding the new bridge).
ReplyDelete