What's going on in the race for judge, Controller, District Attorney and four County Council District seats? Here's what I know so far.
Judge. Brian Panella and Nancy Aaroe are the two announced candidates in this nonpartisan race made necessary because Judge Steve Baratta resigned in the middle of his term. Panella's Facebook page shows he's been pretty busy, both as a candidate and as a volunteer with groups like the Boys and Girls Club of Easton as well as Palmer Kiwanis. He believes community service matters.
Aaroe has scheduled a news conference on Thursday. "Pennsylvania has minimal eligibility requirements to become judge, and that ... will impact this race specifically. The citizens of this county should be aware of the gravity of this race.” she states. It's unclear to me what eligibility requirements she thinks should exist. She clearly has more seniority than Panella.
Panella's webpage shows that he already has picked up endorsements from a large number of well-respected local lawyers.
District Attorney. - Incumbent Terry Houck and Steve Baratta are both seeking the Democratic nod. Houck and Baratta both attended Easton's annual NAACP dinner, along with numerous other Democratic candidates. Houck, but not Baratta, is scheduled to appear at the February meeting of "Lehigh Valley For All,"
Baratta is waging a negative campaign in which he calls into question the integrity of three lawyers - - the DA, his top Assistant and a locally well-liked and prominent criminal defense lawyer. This strategy appears to have backfired among lawyers.
Baratta's webpage promises transparency, but he has ignored several emails from this blog, including an email last week asking him for his stance on a Major Crimes Task Force
Controller - Popular Bucky Szulborksi has served as Controller twice. He was appointed to replace Steve Barron on condition that he not run. He was then appointed a second time because the person who did run and won - Tony Bassil - unfortunately passed away. I've not spoken to Bucky about his plans, but believe he is leaning against running.
Tara Zrinski, a current member of County Council, is reportedly mulling a run. She has run in four elections over the past five years.
District Council Races. - Ken Kraft (D1), Jeff Warren (D3) and Tom Giovanni (D4) are running unopposed thus far. Kerry Myers, the Current Council President, is being challenged in District 2 (Easton area) by Kelly Keegan.
Keegan is listed as a speaker at the February meeting of Lehigh Valley For All, but Myers is not.
Republicans? - Aside from Tom Giovanni and Nancy Aaroe, I've heard nothing about Republicans who might be interested in county government. If you have any intelligence to share, please feel free.
21 comments:
The Vox Has what you have. Kraft, Warren and Kelly comprise the McClure dem ticket for council. As for republicans only District four is locked in. There are rumblings for three and two but nothing solid yet. Zirinski running for Controller would not be a surprise, never has so much political ambition with so little substance been so successfully pushed on a local level. She wants a full time elected poloitcal job with no real oversight of her work. Controller is a stretch, a position for which she is eminently non-qualified. However, it is strongly rumored that Cusick will run for controller and that scares the McClure campers. Cusick would audit whatever he wants without interference. So, a Zirinski run backed by McClure is very possible. Stay tuned.
"This strategy appears to have backfired among lawyers."
Good thing this group of slithering reptiles doesn't comprise even a microscopic voting bloc. This is instructive, however. If lawyers don't like a guy, he's probably the guy regular humans should support.
Brother Steve runs, Brother Steve wins
Please, please, please, tell me what qualifications (other than rubber stamp for McClure) does Tara Zarinski have to be County Controller. This is a politician looking for a job. She doesn't care about the work (she will have a staff to do it) she only cares about a paycheck. Please, please, please, say it ain't so Joe. This can only lead to no good.
There’s gotta be a Republican running for DA. No way the R’s watch Houk and Baratta rip each other apart without thinking they could sneak someone through.
I agree that Zrinski would provide no oversight and is a McClure rubber stamp. But let's be clear about qualifications. Nothing in the Home Rule Charter, which establishes this position, requires that the Controller be an accountant. The only requirements are (1) citizen of the US (2) continuous residency in the county for a year before term commences and (3) a willingness to work full-time. So she's qualified. She could even continue to sell solar panels so long as she does so outside normal business hours.
I believe what you're saying is that she lacks the independence we'd like to see in a Controller. I also question whether she'd stray into areas are outside the purview of the Controller.
I agree Cusick would be excellent but would have to give up his teaching job. I have heard he's not running but have not asked.
I find it laughable that the county gives political positions like controller such a vague description, but a correction officers and deputy sheriffs job description are two pages long.
And get paid vastly less
Which candidates does UNITY PAC support?
Zrinski has zero qualifications for the job, and she will not be independent if elected. She’s a closet democratic socialist who belongs no where near taxpayer’s money.
Zrinski is qualified as a matter of law. Read the Home Rule Charter. Also, she's pretty open about her views. What you are really saying is that she has no accounting skills.
Shouldn’t we have someone with an accounting background who has experience in forensic accounting? The Charter is way too vague when it comes to the qualifications for this job. Perhaps it shouldn’t even be an elected position.
Zrinski knows there only three kinds of accountants: the kind who can count and the kind who cannot. She's smarter than most. This is government.
The Irish never forget Bernard, read the post on Sunday !
What5 they are really saying is she has no real skills in governing anything. As well as a lack of any fundamental common sense. She would be a terrible Controller as it is a position that one should take seriously withy serious people.
So, Bernie, what's your scoop on the Lehigh County DA race, with Jim Martin retiring?
The Mark Pinsley of Northampton County.
What is the group that is "Lehigh Valley for All"? Are they an anti-police group and are some of their members some of the wackos from Allentown that you have exposed in past?
@2:29
Yeah because the current system of exploitative capitalism is working so great for the working class. Just because you have a middle school understanding of what social-democracy actually is, and buy into the fear-mongering and propaganda that Fox News spews, doesn’t mean most of us deserve better than the current system.
"Tara Zrinski, a current member of County Council, is reportedly mulling a run. She has run in four elections over the past five years."
Is she qualified to be controller?
TeamTara is making an announcement today (Feb. 1) at 10 AM.
I can't confirm, but I've heard she flashed her prowess with numbers by declaring 2=2=9, and saying any other answer is racist and a crime against the environment.
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