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Nazareth, Pa., United States

Thursday, March 16, 2023

NorCo Council Prez Kerry Myers Will Be Off Ballot in Re-Election Bid

Kelly Keegan, Myers' opponent,
braved the dark and cold to get
her signatures. 
It could have been worse. Julius Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March. Northampton County Council President Kerry Myers got off a lot easier. Senior Judge Ed Reibman thanked Myers for his "demeanor and honesty. " He then indicated that he'll be sustaining objections to Myers' nomination petition for re-election to County Council. 

Myers, Northampton County's first ever African American Council President, submitted a nomination petition for County Council on March 7. Under state law, 250 registered Democrats from his council district are required to endorse that petition. Myers submitted a nomination petition with 310 signatures. Many appeared questionable on their face.  They included voters from Bethlehem, Nazareth and Allentown. These are all outside Myers' Easton area district.

Objections to Myers' nomination petition were filed by Forks Tp Democrats Ed Keegan, husband of Myers' primary opponent Kelly Keegan, as well as Laurie Jackson. They were represented by Bucks County election lawyer Larry Otter at a hearing conducted yesterday morning by Judge Reibman. They both sat quietly in the back of the courtroom, or at least tried. Laurie Jackson's cellphone kept going off, which always happens to people at the most inopportune times. When it does, the phone is always buried somewhere impossible to find. Eventually, a Deputy Sheriff asked her to leave and stay out until her phone was turned off. When she returned a few minutes later, my phone went off. I pointed at poor Laurie.

She'll be home in 5 to 10. 

Otter characterized the matter as a "garden variety election petition challenge," although it's pretty rare to see a local nomination petition signed by so many people who are completely unqualified. It's rarer still when the proposed nominee is the President of County Council. Otter methodically began going through the petition, signature by signature, with Northampton County Elections Registrar Christopher Commini. 

Myers, dressed in his Suburban Ambulance regalia, represented himself, and had no trouble interjecting himself whenever he felt like it. 

Commini went through signature after signature of voters who were either not registered at all or who were registered as Republicans or independents. He also flagged numerous signatures from voters who simply are outside Myers' district. 

Myers was simply forced to concede they were invalid. He explained at one point that he was circulating in [Shiloh Baptist] church on a Sunday morning and "had five petitions going at one time."  By his own admission, Myers was using a church for political purposes. 

God probably took a dim view of this. 

Once the number of clearly invalid signature hit 71, Myers admitted defeat. "I went out and did the best I could," he lamented. "If this is the game they want to play, I'm all in."

Actually, he appears to be all out.  

He later said, "I'm 69 years old and have been serving the people since I'm 18."

According to a Morning Call account, Myers placed the blame on the county administration and vowed to "raise a little hell" in his remaining months on Council. 

In his four years on County Council, Myers has already done that. He has debased both himself and his office by his regular use of foul language during meetings. He undermined the authority of the Sheriff when he publicly stated that, if he were a Deputy, he'd refuse to follow orders because it might endanger his life. He threatened Council members when they declined to vote for a proposed Elections Commissioner who happened to be black, but also happened to be working for a candidate seeking re-election. 

After the hearing was over, Myers marched down to the elections office to demand to know who looked at his nomination petition. 

The elections office does not maintain those kinds of records, but I was one of them. 

I'll just stay away from Suburban EMS. 

Judge Reibman said he will enter an order sustaining the challenge, but as of the time this story posted, no order had made its way to the docket. 

Myers can still wage a write-in campaign, but a guy who was unable to get 250 signatures on a nomination  petition has no prayer winning a write-in vote.   

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

If he's that incompetent, how'd this guy get elected to Council in the first place. 🙄

Anonymous said...

You and Barron have a play date working to kick Myers off the ballot, how sweet.

Anonymous said...

Oh ya, Who else is tied to the church ,like a can of worms ?

Anonymous said...

It takes about 10 seconds of being in this man’s presence to dislike him. After a lifetime of race baiting and race hustling to extort employment for his relatives, it’s fitting that his political malfeasance came to an end via fraudulent activity at his own church.

Kudos to those people who had the courage to expose this racial huckster for the despicable human being that he is.

The only thing to watch at this point is to see how many more false accusations of racism he can make before he fades away.

He has a legacy to uphold.

God The Father Almighty And Creator Of Heaven And Earth said...

Kerry is a bad person. I purposely didn't provide him a working brain. You're all welcome.

Sincerely,
G

Anonymous said...

Myers does more huffin' and puffin' than the Big Bad Wolf. He demands to know who looked at a public document he filed?


Anonymous said...

Is Kelly Keegan's middle name "Karen"? Another fine black public servant scuppered by election mumbo Jumbo just like they did sister Stacey Abraham's, only ray of hope is the brave move by San Francisco to offer some meaningful reparations might be time to pull up stakes the L.v is a hornets nest of micro/macro aggressions

Anonymous said...

Don’t blame anyone but Myers himself

Anonymous said...

Good Bye

Bernie O'Hare said...

"If he's that incompetent, how'd this guy get elected to Council in the first place. "

The first time he ran, he never made it past the primary. But you can thank Donald Trump. Myers was swept into office as part of the blue wave reaction to our American Putin.

Bernie O'Hare said...

"Myers does more huffin' and puffin' than the Big Bad Wolf. He demands to know who looked at a public document he filed?"

Yep.

"It takes about 10 seconds of being in this man’s presence to dislike him."

I actually liked him at first. The first time he ran for office, I was impressed by him. And I respect his youth coaching. I really do. I knew who he was by reputation for his youth coaching long before he ran for office. I think he did a great job for Easton youth.

I also appreciated his perspective on racial matters. I did not grow up a black man in Easton. He did. His father was apparently subjected to a lot of discrimination. I appreciated his insight. But as time went on, it appears to me that his office went to his head. Hus vulgarities were coming out a bit too frequently. He was often unprepared and would ask questions that had already been answered. He demonstrated his stupidity a bit more when he flirted with bots on Twitter disguised as sexy women. He threatened council members when they refused to install a proposed black elections comm'r who worked for a candidate seeking re-election. Council rightly concluded that there were plenty of black people who do not work for a candidate seeking re-election, and such a person was eventually appointed. When he blew up at the Sheriff, he did so bc he mistakenly thought it was a BLM rally. He just wasn't listening. He really over-reacted and publicly undermined the authority of a person I deeply respect and admire. He never apologized for what I'd call outrageous behavior.

On Council, he morphed from a fairly decent guy into a pompous bully. Maybe he was always that way, but there's good in him.

Anonymous said...

If you can’t find 250 or more signatures to get yourself on the ballot after 4 years On council it’s time to let someone else do this important job . GOOD BYE !

Anonymous said...

God forbid he gets together with some family and friends and goes door to door with voter registration lists 2 or 3 weekends to collect signatures the old fashion/traditional way. Might even get a chance to discuss key issues with his constituents and party members.

Anonymous said...

Bernie, the McClure Admin, Barron maybe the patriarchy. They all conspired to kick Kerry off the ballot. They also control the weather and know what is really hidden at Area 51. Oh my... maybe they are monitoring my keystrokes right now and can tap into my brain. Tinfoil hat don't fail me now!

Anonymous said...

When someone is digging a hole for themselves and they are not worth saving..you let them continue to dig their own funeral from political power via racist rhetoric and blaming others for everything under the sun except looking in a mirror. God riddance and let this be a lesson to the electorate. What a cluster F this guy is/was.

Anonymous said...

Question for you did the men you mentioned, go to the church to have members sign his petition? Answer is NO, Mr Myers did because he wasn’t ambitious enough to gather the signatures he needed, just easier to drop off petitions for people to sign… again don’t blame ANYONE but Mr Myers

Laurie said...

Hi Bernie. This is Laurie Jackson. I don’t know you and you don’t know me but for some reason you assumed I was the one with the ringing cell phone in the hearing yesterday. That was NOT me. I just wanted to set the record straight.

Bernie O'Hare said...

My apologies, Laurie. I was told after the hearing that was you. I hope you didn't mind the humor.

Anonymous said...

Kelly k is employed by easd, and just voted yes for a forks twp referendum ballot question that will raise local 1% tax on the residents. She is serving forks as a tax and spend open space junkie, and now she wants to quit so she can sit on county council and damage more people. Nice

Bernie O'Hare said...

10:22, Well all I can say it's a good thing the Rs have a candidate!. Oh wait, they don't. Your incredibly stupid comment demonstrates why.

First, you start off with an attack on EASD employees, as though it is for some reason sinful to be a school nurse. Second, you blast Kelly for voting to allow the people to decide whether they would support a 1% tax hike for open space. Third, you attack the failing attempt to preserve our open space. You must like the truck traffic, gridlock and increased number of warehouses.

peterjcochran said...

It will give him time to regroup. Myers is not a bad person, he’s … but , you have remember what he came from. He has a heart to help people. He’s been given a lot of Lea way , but , I think people are kicking him down ,now that he failed to get his paperwork done. This man is not a criminal, don’t treat him like one. If you know ME , you know I almost never have any sympathy for certain types of personalities. I have zero interaction with this man . So stop now . Be civil.

Anonymous said...

Kelly K. conducts herself professionally in her capacity as Forks Township supervisor and anyone who attends the meetings will see how two of her fellow supervisors offer antagonistic and unprofessional attacks on her as she tries to represent township residents. Forks Township's loss will be Northampton County's gain. And, yea, I am a registered Republican. Bernie, I wish you would have the time to attend recent meetings. I know you have seen a lot in your time, but it is unbelievable. But they get away with it because I and other Forks Township residents always seem to have too much to do to get our sorry butts to the meetings.

peterjcochran said...

I think what Karry doesn’t understand is- The Sheriff is the Chief Law enforcement officer in his county. The Coroner is in their too. Years ago when the City of Easton was undergoing threats because of race issues, riots at school and demonstrations, the Sheriff at at time deputized about 5 men that were groundhog hunters and my dad,a 1,ooo yard competitive shooter under 12 inches. At time.Y. Deputized with badges on 70’s because Stocker knew police departments couldn’t make an accurate shot. Kerry grew up in this issue. He had people he knew that were hurt or killed. Fortunately no shots had to be fired from specific group of accurate shooters. I still have that badge.

Vladimir Ill-itch said...

Word around the water cooler is that Myers went on a bit of a rant at the Varsity E awards banquet (he's the president) this past week. Apparently he took some shots at the school board (unsure if he named names) but he delved into the political at an awards banquet meant for students. Although, he probably thinks the banquet is for him and not the student athletes.

Of course, this is not surprising. Every time he speaks he takes shots at [insert public official or governing body here].