NorCo HR Director Wants A Ringer on Council

Ken Kraft

Under Northampton County's career service rules, a job vacancy must first be made offered to someone who already works for the county. So as positions become open, people often apply. This gives qualified people a chance to move up and prove themselves. But when a department head concludes that no one on the inside is qualified for an open slot, he or she can hire someone from the outside. One such outside hire by Human Resources Director Amy Trapp is raising eyebrows. She has recently hired someone as a Human Resources recruiter who will make it that much easier for her to push her agenda through Council's Personnel committee. She's hired Chairman Ken Kraft's wife.

Since Trapp has been confirmed as Human Resources Director, she's pretty much cleaned out the office and replaced the people there with her own team. That's why she imported fellow gift card grabbers Mike Twining and Courtney Kendzejeski from Allentown City government, where all three were pals. She also turned down several NorCo employees who applied for vacant positions in her department on the basis that they were "unqualified," but given the amount of county money she is spending on staff training, that's a bullshit rejection.

Her decision to hire Kraft's wife is easy to understand. It gives her and John Brown leverage for the near monthly changes they push. It gives them a friendly face on Council who will be reticent to push the administration on salary compression and doing a proper pay study. as the Chair of the Personnel Committee, Kraft could decide not to list matters that Trapp would prefer not to see.

Northampton County's nepotism policy extends beyond supervisor and subordinate relationships. It also bars members of the same family or household from county employment if it would create an "actual conflict of interest" or "the appearance of a conflict of interest."

The term "conflict of interest," as defined in the state ethics act, includes an elected official's use of the authority of his office for the private pecuniary benefit of himself or a member of his immediate family. Under state law, he and his immediate family are restricted from accepting employment if it is based on any understanding by that elected official that his votes and official actions will be influenced as a result.

Ken Kraft and Trapp would both undoubtedly deny that the decision to hire his wife had anything to do with his role as Chair of the Personnel Committee. There's no evidence of a quid pro quo, other than the hire itself. I am sure Ken's wife, who is much nicer than he, is qualified.

Nevertheless, this certainly creates the appearance of a conflict of interest and violates the county nepotism police. That is something that Trapp, as HR Director, should be enforcing, not breaking.

There are two resolutions to this mess. The first is to transfer Kraft's wife, who is still in her probationary period and is an at-will employee, into another department. The second is for Kraft to step down as Chair of the Personnel Committee

Over the years, I have seen numerous instances of members of the same household working for the County. Wayne Grube, Ann McHale, Peg Ferraro and Lamont McClure have all served on Council while members of their immediate family have worked for the County. Though Peg arguably had a conflict, she recused herself when her daughter's payraise came up for a vote. It has never been a conflict for the others because those employees worked for the courts or the DA, which are independent elected officials  In Kraft's case, there will be the appearance of a conflict every time Trapp wants something.