"I don't think our participation is necessary," said Zrinski, who argued the money needed to be spent right away. But Heckman reminded her that Council is "the steward of this money. This is one of our fundamental responsibilities." Zrinski said the county should trust the Chamber to make the right call, but Heckman responded with Ronald Reagan's famous quote - "Trust, but verify." He added he wants to see who applied so he knows whether Chamber members were given preferential treatment.
Council member Kevin Lott, usually a staunch ally of Executive Lamont McClure, sided with Heckman. "I will not vote for a resolution that just hands money to the Chamber and says, 'Have a good time!'" He agreed the disposition of County money is Council's job. "This is why we're on Council, to oversee finances." He is even leery about letting the Chamber write checks out with the County's money, saying that is bad optics.
Council member Bill McGee suggested that Council could review applications as they come in and are recommended. He pointed out there's no need to wait until all applications have been processed. Council member Lori Vargo-Heffner added that, if necessary, Council could call a special meeting to award grants so that the delay would be minimal, if at all.
Heckman pointed out that the Chamber is not doing this out of the goodness of its heart, and asked McClure, "What's the vig?" McClure revealed that the Chamber would be getting five per cent of the $4 million in grant money, or $200,000. McClure said this percentage was low, but Heckman seemed dubious. Vargo-Heffner later suggested the Chamber should be asked to accept a bit less money.
This marks the first time since McClure's election that Council has disagreed with the Executive. He seemed unfazed by the minor setback. He said he understood the philosophical objection and would make sure that Council reviews every penny spent, from small business to nonprofits to municipalities.
In stark contrast to yesterday's meeting, Council finally made an effort to use their mikes. Heckman actually designated a clerk to watch the meeting on Youtube and report Council members who failed to use their mikes.
What was Ms. Zirinski's main concern?
ReplyDeleteGood move by council and another reason Zrinski shouldn't be voted into a position that deals with making decisions on even larger amounts of money.
ReplyDeleteBernie O'Hare said:
ReplyDelete"McClure revealed that the Chamber would be getting five per cent of the $4 million in grant money, or $200,000."
Wow! Where do I begin?
1) I can tell from the post that Council will now have the "final say", but is the Chamber still involved and getting $200,000 for their part? If so, that needs to be stopped.
2) Isn't it funny that the County Executive, a member of the political party that is supposedly soooooo concerned about the little guy, is willing to funnel money to cronies in the Chamber? I would point out that the amount the Chamber will get/would have gotten is 2,700% more than the MAXIMUM a struggling business is eligible for.
3) I think it's absolutely piggish that the Chamber is trying to get a cut of the money that is supposed to be going to small businesses - the very people the Chamber is supposed to be representing! They should get NOTHING! As you mentioned in previous posts, the total amount of the grant money available is already very low when you look at the need out there. For the Chamber to siphon any of that might not be criminal, but it should be. How many other much-needed programs in the Valley is the Chamber siphoning money from? I guess this is what the Chamber means when it says "together, we'll get through this."
4) So McClure believes that 5% is low? I would point him to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), where the United States Treasury caps "agent" compensation at 1% for loans under $350,000. And the federal government is hardly known for its wise use of funds. If McClure thinks 5% is low, you should look at other such arrangements to find out how much the county (and its taxpayers) are being fleeced for there. Again, the Chamber should get NOTHING for this.
5) Aren't NorCo taxpayers already paying for a Department that handles funds like this? Are they so incompetent that they can't handle processing applications and disbursing the money on their own?
6) Is the county also taking any portion of the funds to disburse the money?
7) There is no way that any money should be disbursed until all applications are in. Allowing that invites favoritism in processing and reviewing applications. Lancaster County (RecoveryLancaster.com) is disbursing their money in two phases - the first for businesses with less than 20 employees, and the second for businesses with between 20 and 100. Applicants had/have a week to apply and only then will the applications be reviewed and the funds disbursed.
8) So Zrinski is willing to give up Council's oversight of funds to curry favor with the Chamber? This speaks volumes about how she would perform as a State Legislator. We don't need another person in Harrisburg who's not willing to do their job and get the state budget under control. If she gets 30% of the vote in the upcoming election, voters should be ashamed.
I pretty much agree with you. We have a DCED. I see no reason why that body cannot solicit and process the grants. I have seen no effort made by anyone at the county or at the chamber to alert businesses to this application. There is still no form application posted anywhere,. This tells me that the chamber already has picked out its winners, especially after Jessica O'Donnell said she is getting 20 calls per day. I would rather have Council pick out the winners bc they face the voters. This is their job.
ReplyDeleteI am also disturbed that only $4 million is going to small business. They are supposed to be getting the lion's share of this money, which instead will be gobbled by the county and municipalities.
This was poorly handled by McClure, who has done a generally good job responding to this pandemic. If he wants the grants processed promptly, why aren't the application forms posted anywhere?
As for Zrinski, the argument is that we should trust the Chamber to get the money out quickly to businesses that really need it. I agree they do, but want to make sure it is going to the businesses that really need it and not to someone's pals. That is Council's responsibility, and her inability to understand this betrays a basic misunderstanding of her role. She also wasted about 40 minutes of the meeting arguing for abdication of their fiduciary responsibility. She does not belong there or in any legislative body bc she fails to understand their primary role is monetary oversight.
If DCED is unable to process these grants bc it is already overwhelmed, I can understand seeking the expertise of the chamber. Because there are so many $15k grants and they are capped at $15k, it is much different than a PPP loan. So I understand 5%. I have no issue with the Chamber putting this together if DCED is overwhelmed or with the 5% fee,, but the checks should be coming from the county, not the chamber, and each every application must be disclosed to Council, including those that are rejected.
It was good to see Council act responsibly. It's been awhile.
No need to reinvent the wheel here. Just revamp the forms used by the former gaming funds board to process these claims quickly and get it to who needs it most. Instead of casino impact plug in other criteria for the point system. It worked well for them but now is open to the entire County area.
ReplyDeleteThe planter boxes on main Street in Bethlehem are probably from an insider chamber business and already have their hands out for more. I also see an accident waiting to happen there but it's a free choice diners are making. Shouldn't they have to sign a waiver?
ReplyDeleteANd the County could handle that process not the Chamber 10:04.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being a Mike Karen.
ReplyDeleteTHat 200.000 probably wont even cover the salary of Mr. Iannelli who leads the local chamber.
ReplyDeleteThis is the same guy who once wrote in the Morning Call that he was "giddy" over the election of Donald Trump. The chamber, both locally and nationally are nothing more than an arm of the Republican Party. The national put millions in the Trump campaign and are presently pouring more millions into Republican campaigns nationally.
Two points if I may Bernie. Frst, the entire Chamber deal sounds like some backroom insider politician plan. McClure should fire whomever came up with that idea. Frankly it stinks' and council was right to kill it. If they had not, the council should have been tossed the next election. Based on your story and the channel 69 website they were only given a few hours notice of this and that sounds planned by some business and political insiders. I hope McClure was unaware of the scheme.
ReplyDeleteSecond, Tara Zirinki is as dense as a brick. How does she expect to be a state legislator when she doesn't even know what her current position is? This is not plastic straw nonsense but real taxpayer money she should be watching over. She sounded like she was giving a campaign speech rather than asking questions. She obviously loves the sound of her own voice. The leader of the meeting should have shut her down. Hopefully she is not elected to the state as she should not even be on county council.
I'd recommend that you watch the Heckman-Zrinski exchange. Yes, he went her go on for way too long. But I suspect that is bc he wanted to get her out of the way so she would not interrupt others. She did herself no favors.
ReplyDeleteIK watched. I think as the President, he was trying to help her understand the job but it was a lost cause. The woman is just incompetent.
ReplyDelete