Today's one-liner: "The shortest way to the distinguishing excellence of any writer is through his hostile critics." Richard LeGallienne
Local Government TV
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Friday, December 14, 2018
Citizens Complain of Human Services Abuses
Three people complained to Northampton County Council last night over what they claim are serious human services abuses in both Northampton County and nationwide. They all went over their allotted time, but Council VP Ron Heckman let them speak. Since these people feel no one has heard them, he made the right call. Whether what they claim is true is another story
Ron Shegda is an excitable former tea party politician who at one time hosted a blog that tried to imitate mine. His Pa Political Polka video by itself is reason to have him and everyone around him committed. After watching it, I need to commit myself. He once referred to me at a courthouse rally about human services abuses as Satan.
He was the first to speak. His sister, who suffers from Down's syndrome, was taken away from him about seven years ago. He complained of "chronic cruelty and intense abuse" by Northampton County Human Services and the agencies it employees. "They will lie about vulnerable people and their families for their 30 pieces of silver," he said, claiming that Human Services should be called Human Disservices or Inhuman Services. He spoke of his sister being dragged out of the house by Attorney Deborah DeNardo, who is often employed as a Guardian.
He didn't mention his video.
Arlene Dabrow, who refers to herself at LinkedIn as the Chair of Pennsylvanians Against Government Abuse, pointed out that there are three branches of government. "We are not supposed to have a branch called the bureaucrats, but that is what we have." She complained about "negligence and abuse, covered up by fraud." It appeared that most of her complaints were directed at Lehigh and Northampton County for refusing to hire her.
The final speaker, Tamar Dick, is a disabled artist who said NorCo human services workers mocked her when she filed for disability. She claims to be a victim of capitation fraud. "This is a human rights issue," she argued.
My first impulse on hearing these stories is to dismiss them. But what if they are right?
Executive Lamont McClure told County Council that there's very little he can say in public when accusations like these are made. But he suggested that Council's Human Services Committee could review these allegations, and if thought to be meritorious, refer the matter to the District Attorney.
He also defended the Human Services department, giving it his "strongest endorsement," and calling it one of the finest in the state. "We're not perfect," he admitted. "We do make mistakes." But he added, "We care."
Instead of condemning or dismissing this trio, he commended them for having the courage to address Council.
11 comments:
You own views are appreciated, especially if they differ from mine. But remember, commenting is a privilege, not a right. I will delete personal attacks or off-topic remarks at my discretion. Comments that play into the tribalism that has consumed this nation will be declined. So will comments alleging voter fraud unless backed up by concrete evidence. If you attack someone personally, I expect you to identify yourself. I will delete criticisms of my comment policy, vulgarities, cut-and-paste jobs from other sources and any suggestion of violence towards anyone. I will also delete sweeping generalizations about mainstream parties or ideologies, i.e. identity politics. My decisions on these matters are made on a case by case basis, and may be affected by my mood that day, my access to the blog at the time the comment was made or other information that isn’t readily apparent.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteO'Hare you Bastard! I watched it and now I cannot unsee or unhear it!!
What the Hell was that? Was that a campaign video or an acid trip? Also who the hell and what the Hell was the second song? Who were those people? Where are they from?
What the Hell did I just experience.
I blame you O'Hare! I blame you!!!
Ron Shmegma is still mad you made fun of his sister about stealing all the cookies from a political event many moons ago, Ron has lost many elections just like your buddies Orclownski and Maga-nelli feel sorry for him but he is going to heaven as he is a man of God.
ReplyDeleteAll kidding aside, we ask government to deal with very delicate personal matters. This is an entity that can't live within its means or properly fix potholes and we expect it to solve intricate family issues. They're from the government and they're here to help. There's no good answer.
ReplyDeleteThis is an entity..
ReplyDeleteWho would you suggest?
Claims of stealing children at the border and yet American children are stolen to become a insurable peril on the state as a revenue source against the federal system? Dam the left ruining the innercities across America really no how to use all venues as a source of income stream cash cows.
ReplyDeleteYou stalking Tamara Dick ?(unless you prefer Dick).
ReplyDeleteYou will do foolish things,but do them with enthusiasm.
Sidone-Gabrielle Colette
Writer and Actress
Why didn't Heckman make them obey the law and stay in time limits. He should have made theme sit down. you must be firm with these people.
ReplyDeleteYesterday, I had an 80+ y/o woman insist that I look at her Trump coin at a local convenience store, as she proudly displayed her recent purchase of it (from TV, I believe). She went on about how Trump is saving America from the Mexican rapists and drug dealers, the conspiracy against him, and that he "is a gift from God" (her words, exactly). She concluded by telling me she is part of the "Q Army."
ReplyDeleteFor her, it is likely senility can be blamed. Perhaps the same can be said for the creator of the video.
"Why didn't Heckman make them obey the law and stay in time limits. He should have made theme sit down. you must be firm with these people."
ReplyDeleteThe right to speak at Council meetings is enshrined in the Sunshine Act and our HRC. Moreover, the First Amendment gives citizens the right to petition their government for the redress of grievances. There is no "law" restricting people to five minutes. It is a Council policy, and one that I don't think was never voted on by the full council. If anything, Council is breaking the law when it limits people to five minutes. Council does, however, have the right to set limits.
In the case of the Thursday speakers, those complaining about human services were talking about a core function of county government. It is very important that they be heard, no matter how ridiculous they may seem. If shut down, they could then argue Council is not even willing to listen.
Heckman did the right thing and I applaud him.
He was more insistent that the plastic straw speakers stick to five minutes.
This entry only recently appeared in a Google search or I might not have known it existed.
ReplyDeleteIn response to the minutes debate, let me help clear a few things up:
I had been invited to share a prepared statement with the Council that evening, it was 8 minutes long. When I signed in to be a speaker prior to the meeting, I was given permission by the Council to take the 8 minutes to read it.
* For anyone else wishing to exercise your "right to redress" at future meetings; write a script detailing what you want the Council to hear—especially if it's a complex issue, practice with a stopwatch, then ask the Council for that time allotment upon signing in to be a speaker. It's that simple.
At the meeting, I presented two complex issues with a 'fox guarding the henhouse' problem—a system plagued by "profound inadequacies" that no one wants to talk about:
(1) the damage this is causing to people's health, wellbeing, safety, and finances, resulting from the misactions and abuse of power by local Dept. of Human Services employees—due to Pennsylvania's lack of accountability and oversight;
(2) and guardianship, which also, has become abusive due to bad actors taking advantage of a system rife with loopholes for the same reasons as the first—these were common threads in each of the speakers statements as well.
Not familiar with what a guardianship is? Learn more: https://stopguardianabuse.org/
[I decided to post (starting with the comment above) using my name, "Tamar Dick," but it has been displaying "Unknown" for some reason. I also noticed the hyperlink does not work——so you'll have to do a copy/search manually if you want to open it. The same will probably go for the links below.]
DeleteAddressing this blog entry: the healthcare advocates who read this particular blog are concerned with the misrepresentation of facts rendered in a way that's not conducive to bringing about the right kind of awareness to the issues presented, nor to the desperately needed improvements that this "broken system" needs. It's a concern because as a public blog, it has the power to erroneously influence those who cannot grasp the issues to begin with; and minimizes the plight of people living with disabilities, and the elderly, who already face a great deal of bias and hardship.
Unfortunately, the only people aware of the seriousness of these issues are those who have gone through it firsthand.
REMINDER: we are all going to grow older (if we live that long), unforseen illnesses and accidents happen; anyone can become disabled and/or end up in a situation similar to mine, or end up like my mother——who is now dead because no one took this seriously, or cared enough to take preemptive action.
The guardian in question was involved with forcing the "chemical lobotomy" [a dangerous, multidrug cocktail https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/02/05/us-nursing-homes-misuse-drugs-control-residents] on my mother that was responsible for a "false dementia," with days of total unconsciousness, as her natural rights and estate were stripped from her——she even lost her final court appeal due to this prolonged unconsciousness; my mom had less rights than a felon in prison before DeNardo killed her.
This investigation highlights the dangers of just one of the four drugs that were used on her: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKe86UqgbbY&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR2m14CxuS6jdzsga-vr0SdGEKRpMAfUUE6rLnHUJTW_vnT9R1W08OQJV
Read the full Human Rights Watch investigation into the practice of forced drugging [chemical restraint]: https://www.hrw.org/report/2018/02/05/they-want-docile/how-nursing-homes-united-states-overmedicate-people-dementia