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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Political Consultant Seeks Open Seat on NorCo Council

Four of the five at-large seats on Northampton County Council are held by Democrats Ron Heckman, Lori Vargo-Heffner, Bill McGee and Tara Zrinski. All four are seeking re-election. Republican Peg Ferraro, who holds the fifth seat, is retiring from government service once her term is over. Lifetime Easton resident and Democratic political consultant Patti Bruno has decided she'd like to run for public office herself. 

A graduate of Notre Dame Green Pond, Bruno earned her undergrad degree at Temple University. She went on to earn two Master's degrees at American Public University in both Homeland Security (2016) and Public Policy (2018). She currently is a doctoral candidate. 

She was employed for two years as a Presidential Management Fellow with the Department of Homeland Security under both the Obama and Trump administrations.  

She is known in the Lehigh Valley as a campaign manager for Amy Cozze (state rep), Terry Houck (DA), Abe Kassis (judge) and Kevin Branco (state rep). 

In a telephone conversation yesterday, she told me she's a consensus builder. I believe her. Her partner is a registered Republican. I made a critical remark about her yesterday because I had her confused with someone else, and apologize for my error. 

She reached out to me, which is basically the opposite of what most NorCo politicians do.

I look forward to hearing her views as the campaign progresses.   

In her free time, Bruno is a football and baseball fan. She went to the right high school for both. 

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hate to see sons and daughters of Notre Dame, who represent Mary's gold and blue, support radical pro-abortion state office candidates. ND alumni are charged with following in Mary's way, for she will guide us in her love and we'll not go astray. And when the course of life is done, may we deserve to hear, "well done." All schools birth disappointments. May Mary turn her heart to recall the most important things she was taught at Notre Dame.

Anonymous said...

Is Patti Bruno a professional student? 2 masters degrees in 2016 and 2018 from same university spells out a diploma mill, or "mail in" degree. Were these "online" degrees from one's own living room sofa, or were these pound the pavement degrees that required actual in person attendance...asking because online colleges (in general) have become the norm and have been churning out graduates with no real skills to be applied in the current workforce. I get that "online learning" has its place in society for CEs in professional careers, but I fall short in seeing their usefulness in any K-12 or college diploma program. Its a fair question if Patti wants votes. What other jobs has she held?

Anonymous said...

Unfortunatley for Patti, I have seen her partisan , woke, and unhinged comments and opinions all over social media, leading me to believe she spends to much time on social media. She obviously has a plethora of time on her hands, and consensus building is not one of them. If you want to build consensus, you need to stop using a broad brush on anyone who liked Trump. You need to stop referring to all Trump supporters as insurrectionists, conspiracy theorists, racists , and white supremecits. These are the new terms, coined from the failed 2016 Hillary race of identity politics , and they have no place in "building consensus." She comes off as an uneducated bartender turned congresswoman like AOC. She should delete her account.

Anonymous said...

Since Patti is obsessed with politics of Trump I would like to know if she agrees with McClure's Executive orders and edics that ICE detainers and warrants will not be enforced in the Northampton County Courthouse.

Where does she stand on this issue?

Anonymous said...

I reviewed the campaign finance report for Terry Houck and did not notice any expenditures to Patti Bruno. Was her work on his campaign "in-kind" or was the payments made to someone other than Patti? What exactly was her role in the Houck campaign , because other than "Tom Carroll is a racist" and "soft on crime" I saw no other campaign strategies. Terry turned around and prosecuted Jacob Holmes, a black man, for a murder from over 10 years ago, when the person responsible was already serving a life sentence in jail. This does nothing for the black community , except make Houck look like the racist-prosecutor overkill, who is in a white only bowling alley, knocking down black pins. Did Patti approve?

Anonymous said...

ah, the Trumpers are on the attack. Sorry, candidates like Steve Lynch and Kristen Solridge need to be called out for their membership in a cult. These folks have zero business being in the serious job of governance. If there are actual Republicans who are running that have a desire to govern without tearing apart institutions and understand their role in the office they are seeking, bring them on. Otherwise, Dems should paint them with the Trump brush that they deserve and talk about what actually needs to be done in the County to benefit its citizens.

Anonymous said...

I support re-opening the courthouse cafeteria because people have to eat, and I would like to know where all the candidates stand on this. A year of no food, enough is enough.!

Anonymous said...

ah, the Trumpers are on the attack. Fear of pro-choice candidates, which of course has nothing to do with County government. Fear of educated candidates because, well, learnin' is bad right? Sorry, candidates like Steve Lynch and Kristen Solridge need to be called out for their membership in a cult. These folks have zero business being in the serious job of governance. If there are actual Republicans who are running that have a desire to govern without tearing apart institutions and understand their role in the office they are seeking, bring them on. Otherwise, Dems should paint them with the Trump brush that they deserve and talk about what actually needs to be done in the County to benefit its citizens.

Anonymous said...

These comments are deeply disturbing because first, they’re painted with that broad brush of which you speak. Please do compare Patti to that “uneducated bartender, AOC” but get the facts right. AOC graduated cum laude from Boston University in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in both international relations and economics. While she was bartending after college to help her mother save her home from foreclosure, AOC also started a publishing firm and worked for a nonprofit.

Patti earned her first Masters with Honors in Homeland Security and is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Gamma Mu and Golden Key International Honor Societies, and Alpha Phi Sigma Honor Society. She’s completed another Master’s program and is working on her doctorate. Working, not buying, these degrees.

She served as Congressional Affairs Specialist/Executive Assistant at Homeland. Since leaving Washington, Patti’s set up a strategic consulting firm and has run four local high profile campaigns. She’s worked for Congressman Matt Cartwright and Congresswoman Susan Wild. She has a deep understanding of this area and, like any other American, also has the right to follow her religion in her own way and gain as much education (and online as many degrees are earned in this time of covid) as she feels she needs.

Politics is partisan. Patti IS a political animal and not ashamed of it. The views of these three readers are quite clear. Patti deserves the same right.

Anonymous said...

Stop it. AOC proves that education does not necessarily improve intelligence. Watch an interview following a professional sporting event and ask yourself how the interviewee who struggles with his or her native tongue was awarded a college degree. Anyone can get a degree these days. Patty's proud to be partisan. She should be ready for her partisanship to be repaid in kind. I hope she is properly savaged by happy partisan warriors, whom she so hates. Welcome to the kitchen Pat.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"I support re-opening the courthouse cafeteria because people have to eat, and I would like to know where all the candidates stand on this"

It's open.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"I reviewed the campaign finance report for Terry Houck and did not notice any expenditures to Patti Bruno. Was her work on his campaign "in-kind" or was the payments made to someone other than Patti? What exactly was her role in the Houck campaign , because other than "Tom Carroll is a racist" and "soft on crime" I saw no other campaign strategies. Terry turned around and prosecuted Jacob Holmes, a black man, for a murder from over 10 years ago, when the person responsible was already serving a life sentence in jail. This does nothing for the black community , except make Houck look like the racist-prosecutor overkill, who is in a white only bowling alley, knocking down black pins. Did Patti approve?"

Bizarre comment, to say the least. If you looked at Terry's campaign finance, you'd see payments for consulting. If not made directly, she was paid thru a corporation. She was, in fact, his campaign manager. He won convincingly, and one reason for that is that Tom Carroll was very properly called to task for his racist behavior.

As for the Holmes case, the fact Jacob Homes is black grants him no immunity from prosecution. He is a first degree murderer. I sat through several days of that trial. He was fairly tried and the evidence of his guilt is overwhelming.

Prosecutorial decisions are made by Houck without regard to whether they are politically popular. Bad guys go to jail, without regard to race. It's silly for you to suggest otherwise. Incidentally, the person Holmes killed in cold blood was himself a minority.

Anonymous said...

Judging by these vicious attacks, things are looking good for Patti Bruno.

Anonymous said...

Be fair. Race isn't an issue for Terry. Cops are an issue for Terry. It's why he failed his first test in office with SBRPD. He lost a lot of respect before he ever got his spikes laced up.

Anonymous said...

Just saw her self-praising Facebook post about your public apology tp her. It is nauseating. She is well know as a shameless self-promoter. You may be smitten but the idea she "ran" campaigns is a joke. Most people know the realities of all her endless self-praise. As one politico put it all smoke and no fire.

Bernie O'Hare said...

I was unaware she had posted on Facebook. I thought she had sent that to me as a comment and was wondering why I was unable to find it. I am by no means "smitten." I'm a bit too old for that sort of thing, by the way. The reality is that, since I know NorCo government better than any topic, no one escapes my criticism. Sometimes, it is justified. Sometimes it is not. I am unable to think of a single person on Council whom I don't eventually criticize. It's why only one of the four incumbents (Bill McGee) seeking re-election had the guts to notify me. I am sure I will have plenty of reasons to be critical of Bruno. But I am also critical of myself. I had her confused with someone else and needed to apologize. Not for her, but for me.

It's called honor. That concept might be lost on someone who anonymously launches personal attacks on others.

I notice that you're really focused on smearing her abilities as a political consultant. You sound jealous. Competitor? Give it a rest.

Anonymous said...

Sure you will, just like you "criticize" McClure.

Bernie O'Hare said...

I have been critical of him several times. I nailed him over failure to pay at least $15 per hour. I nailed him over the low salaries at the jail. I nailed him over the bad survey at Gracedale, although that was not really his fault. I exposed Gracedale nursed who failed to change a resident's pressure dressings for a month and lied and claimed they had. I criticized his penchant for accepting campaign donations from people who owe their jobs to him. But I've mostly been complimentary bc he is an excellent Exec.

I am unable to think of a single person in NorCo government of whom I've never been critical. You just have a hot nut for McClure and me both. Actually, you don't have balls at all bc you stay anonymous like the little coward you are.

Bernie O'Hare said...

I will no longer publish anonymous comments attacking Bruno bc they appear to come from a competitor

EJ said...

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=156634703129846&id=100063499524684