Werner Hates Politics, Unless He is the Source

Bob Werner, right, is good at digging
holes for himself. 

Although Northampton County Council has a 6-3 Democratic majority, it's beginning to appear that it's more like a 5-4 edge. Reason? Bob Werner? He thinks she should be County Exec. He announced he was running at a Democratic party picnic during the summer before election year. Then he got cold feet when Lamont McClure decided to give it a go. Now, from his perch on Council, he is attempting to sabotage McClure.

Werner was the original proponent of bridge bundling in Northampton County. His theory was to work on several bridges withe similar designs at the same time. This both reduces costs and ensures public safety. In fact, that's exactly what Executive John Stoffa did in his bridge bond.

Then came Executive John Brown, who eventually decided on a public private partnership (P3) to address county bridges. This is bridge bundling on steroids. Under Brown's P3, 33 county bridges were conveyed to the county's General Purpose Authority (GPA) temporarily. The GPA then entered into an agreement to repair or replace these bridges with private contractor Kriger Construction, who agreed to arrange for the financing on its own. The County then makes semi-annual payments to Kriger over a period of about 15 years, paying for the work with 2.5% interest.

This might turn out to be a great idea. It might also turn out to be a bad idea. It's too soon to say. The one certainty is that ay attempt to back out of the current arrangement would be very costly to Northampton County. Ken Kraft, a union agent who is involved in numerous construction projects, had issues with Kriger's qualifications. He may be right. He may be wrong. John Brown and the GPA, instead of being forthcoming, reacted to Kraft's complaints by shrouding everything in secrecy. This included a blatant Sunshine Act violation and excessive legal bills.

Because Werner was already a bridge advocate, and thinks he should be County Executive, he's down with PPP. In fact, he was at the ribbon cutting ceremony for a bridge that was supposed to insure Brown's re-election. He was now a Brown supporter. Even when it became increasingly apparent that John Brown had secret plans for a jail at Gracedale, he dismissed them as political.

So are the concerns about the lack of transparency and excessive legal bills at GPA.

When Lamont McClure proposed Frank Pintabone to fill an unexpired term on the GPA and give himself an ally on that board, Werner voted No. Now he may have been concerned that Pintabone would challenge him in the next Council race. But he also voted No to the appointment of Paul Anthony on the GPA. When asked to explain his No vote, he said his reasons were "personal."

He also joined two Republicans in supporting Republican Hayden Phillips as Interim Controller to fill the vacancy created by Democrat Steve Barron. Though the people had voted for a Democrat, he wanted a Republican. When that attempt failed, he voted against Bucky Szulborski as Controller.

Now he is attempting to sabotage Szulborski. He has requested legal opinions and wants a Council Inquisition into whether Szulborski is in violation of the Home Rule Charter's proscription on being "actively involved" in outside employment.

During his confirmation hearing, Szuloborski said that he is a realtor who does very little work, and intends to pursue that on a limited scale on nights and weekends. In other works, he is not actively involved in another business. Though Werner sat there, he raised no red flag or concerns. Now that Szulborski has been confirmed, he is raising this red herring.

Werner condemned the claim that Brown had secret plans for a new jail at Gracedale as political, although we now know that's exactly what he planned. And now he is doing precisely what he said was so distasteful. He's getting political, raising a bullshit issue that he could have brought up when Szlborski was being confirmed.