To his credit, Council President Kerry Myers ensured everyone got five minutes. He called it the "toughest three hours I had to sit through in my entire life." On a hot mike during a recess, Council member Ron Heckman told Solicitor Chris Spadoni, "All of this seems so bizarre." It is. From what I understand, the last thing that Children, Youth and Families wants to do is remove a child from his or her home.
In his Executive report, Lamont McClure called the subject "complicated," but acknowledged you have to feel empathy for the "pain and real trauma" he heard.
I'd need to hear a lot more before making any judgment.
In county business, County Council also heard from the public on Council member John Goffredo's proposed ordinance to exempt Lehigh and Northampton County contractors from a responsible contractor ordinance.
Similar proposed responsible contractor ordinances in Bethlehem and Allentown have been rejected.
Public Works Director Mike Emili told County Council that, contrary to what certainly seems to be the case, there has been no decrease in the number of bids on a project since the responsible contractor ordinance was adopted.
Goffredo argued that 88% of the local workforce is ineligible to bid on a county job because of the responsible contractor ordinance. He also argued that a performance bond is a contractor's guarantee. This was disputed by Administrator Charles Dertinger.
Council member Kevin Lott, himself a former union agent, claimed he was threatened by Associated Building Contractors with boycotts when the responsible contractor ordinance was originally considered by Council in 2018. He thanked them for not threatening him this time. Lott kept calling for a vote, trying to exclude Goffredo from speaking.
Goffredo said his family has been in construction for four generations, but takes it personally when nonunion tradesmen are excluded from county work. He argued this ordinance is unfair to the taxpayer. Goffredo also offered an amendment to the ordinance that would still require prevailing wage and OSHA training. Council member Lori Vargo Heffner agreed to second Goffredo's amendment, which was adopted over the objections of Lott, Council member Tara Zrinski and Council member Ron Heckman.
Heckman said he still supports the responsible contractor ordinance, but believes that Goffredo has a point concerning the need to use local labor. He said that the county also has a local labor ordinance, and wonders whether there is a conflict. He also suggested that smaller projects should probably be open to everyone.
Heffner stated she heard no argument to persuade her that apprenticeship programs are unnecessary. But she is concerned about the recent dearth of bids on county projects.
Council member John Cusick stated he supported the original responsible contractor ordinance because the minimum threshold was $250,000 and it provided for an alternative apprentice program. He opposed the 2020 revision, which lowered the project threshold to $100,000 and made the apprentice program mandatory.
When the final vote was tallied, Goffredo's proposed ordinance failed, 6-3. It was supported by Goffredo, Council member John Brown and Council member Tom Giovanni. It was opposed by Council members Ron Heckman, Lori Vargo Heffner, Kerry Myers, Kevin Lott, Tara Zrinski and John Cusick.
25 comments:
Heard that Lott went ballistic and was ranting and raving. What's his deal.
Our government is filled with vicious assholes with mental problems. I want anyone involved to see serious jail time. It's time to put government workers or contractors behind bars. It's the only way to clean out these cockroaches. It's the proper and patriotic path. Government workers and contractors should always operate under the assumption they could go to jail for a single misstep. Don't like it? Get another job and STFU.
This issue has been a long time in the making, as our Children and Youth agency is completely incompetent. I too, have been a victim of their ineffective ministrations under the guise of children's safety. The use hand picked "medical professionals" including psychiatrists to come to unfounded conclusions of abuse. The individual case workers have no concept of civil rights and any understanding of the idea that they cannot force their way into the homes of parents without a court order or exigent circumstances. They are vindictive and punish lawful non-cooperation with their "family service plans". Furthermore, when a child is taken away from the home, the effect on a parent can be devastating, often precluding a parent from umping through the hoops necessary to challenge a finding of abuse. The process is long, adversarial, costly and generally requires the ability to hire expect witnesses to counter the testimony of the children and youth "experts". At the expunction appeal hearing in my case, which was resolved in my favor after 14 months of complete separation from my child, case worker Amber Gross testified that she didn't even know what part of this case constituted abuse. Furthermore, she testified that in our county the decision to indicate abuse is made as a group and implied that individual case workers are under pressure to agree to whatever status their superiors want to label the case as. Daniel Correnti, Children and Youth Solicitor, refused to withdraw the case even when expert witness testimony was provided indicating that the methods used by Children & Youth psychiatrist Veronique Valliere do not pass psychological muster. Thankfully, I won my case and was reunited with my child, but many people do not have access to the resources that I did at the time. It cost me many of my assets, my business and all the money I had access to just to fight this corrupt system and remain a father. And do you know the worst part? They will just do it again to someone else because there are no consequences for this criminal behavior.
Matt Flower
It is also worth noting that certain county Judges start the process with this agency by ordering children and youth investigations connected with other proceedings. Judge Jennifer Sletvold has said on the record that she routinely does this in her Protection From Abuse Cases.
She actually took it a step further in my case and ordered that I "willingly cooperate" with their investigation. How does one willingly cooperate with demands that the Children and Youth Agency have no authority to make, such as non-emergency entry into my home without a search warrant? I don't know, maybe Judge Jennifer Sletvold does. Maybe you should ask her Bernie...
So you have Judges feeding this machine with cases to investigate, then you have incompetent case workers who either don't understand how to come to a conclusion to indicate abuse or allow themselves to be pressured by theirs peers and supervisors. Then we involve lawyers, guardian ad litems, expert witnesses, psychiatrists/psychologists, supervised visitation, etc.
Do you see a pattern? Everyone gets paid for this circus act except the parents and the children, both of whom suffer abuse at the hands of the county. Northampton County, wise up!
Lott wasn’t on council when this was happening in 2018
@5:48
Judicial immunity and immunity for these agencies is a serious hurdle to bringing real sanctions to the people who engage in these behaviors
Yeah, Lott was off the hook, lol. I wish he was this passionate about county union workers. Apparently, he and some AFSCME dude mixed it up with Goffredo in an elevator at the last meeting, and each had different versions of what went down. Lott kept calling for the question (demanding a vote) before everyone had even spoken out of fear that someone might actually make an argument to persuade five people to vote for Goffredo's proposal.
He had no reason to worry.
Lott had no authority to call the question. First of all, County Council has no rules of order, and pretty much goes by whim. Second, even if it used Roberts rules, you can only call the question if you actually have the floor. Lott did not. Third, if you do call the question, you need a second, followed by a vote that cuts off debate. That would have to be supported by six members. So Lott was pretty much being a blowhard.
I thought it was all quite silly. I believe he tried talking over other members, but that might just be that he was unaware his mike was on.
"Lott wasn’t on council when this was happening in 2018"
No, he replaced Ken Kraft, another trades union agent. The ordinance was submitted to the solicitor by Bill McGee, another union agent.
I think and RCO is fine for larger projects. I think we need to expand the pool of bidders for smaller projects, and it should be inapplicable there bc Lott himself said unions have no interest in $350k jobs.
Lott is nothing but a union puppet. His behavior demonstrates that of a bullying child.
The CYS thing is a problem. There’s a fine line there. People have rights, but if you end up with a dead kid due to abuse then it’s CYS fault. Who would want that job? The pay is peanuts which contributes to the problem. The younger kids start their career there and then move on. Part of the problem goes back to how cheap Northampton county is with its wages.
Matt Flower- I believe that Dr. Valliere is a Psychologist, not a Psychiatrist. Also, what do you mean by her saying, that "the methods used by Children and Youth do not pass psychological muster". I'm not sure what you (or she) means by this. Can you add more context?
I wonder which approved Contractor these Council members would pick if THEY were paying for it?
Nothing but a bunch of UNION shills. ALL Vetted Contractors should all be able to quote on these jobs. Maybe it is time for a discrimination lawsuit? Shake things up a bit.
Isn't that the same judge you threatened in March 2023?
Bully behavior is quite popular with unions and Democrats. Doesn’t always work, though. Some ‘victims’ fight back and reveal certain secrets the bullies want to keep hidden. Sounds familiar.
He is not a union puppet. He is a puppet for the people that pay him. The locals that pay him. He could give two sh-ts about the county union employees. If he's not getting paid he doesn't give two thoughts about what you are.
@8:37 Valliere's report was ripped to shreds by an opposing expert witness in forensic psychology. Her methods were found by the opposing expert and the court to be suspect. When you interview only one parent in a highly contested custody case, you are bound to get a biased result.
Here are some choice quotes from the Bureau of Hearing and Appeals in their finding to overturn the ruling of abuse:
"Dr. Valliere's testimony and evaluation were less than substantial evidence the Appellant caused or substantially contributed to the subject child suffering a serious mental injury."
"Dr. Valliere's testimony and medical findings were primarily based on the hearsay"
"Dr. Valliere's findings in the subject child's evaluation appear unreliable."
"Dr. Valliere's evaluation gave a contradictory explanation for finding serious mental injury."
"The reliability of Dr. Valliere's conclusions were further undermined by the Agency investigation"
"As parent are free to raise children as they wish, unless unlawful, and the subject child's testimony and the entire hearing record contradicts Dr. Valliere's conclusion on this major point, it appears Dr. Valliere either projected her own safety concerns onto the subject child or confused the subject child with another patient."
I will not post any more comments from or about Matt Flower. I am leery of these situations, especially since kids are involved. I do not want this stuff coming back to them. Also, I really hate to see some people use it as an excuse to tee off on him.
How many county laborers DOES Dertinger believe are being excluded? He disputes a US Labor Department statistic for union membership percentage. But what's his number? Andy number is outrageous. Intentionally excluding 88% of county laborers from county contracts is is why so many have so little faith in government and don't trust it. It's a structural unfairness at 88% or 0.88%. Dertinger should not provide his number or shut his face.
I've read your article three times. What am I missing about Dr. Debra Ersenio-Jenssen? What were the complaints? That she misdiagnosed child abuse? When a child has a physical injury, it's readily apparent how it was caused. Were the parents complaining that their child had an injury resulting from corporal punishment but it doesn't rise to the level of abuse? Or, were the parents saying that their child's was caused from some other reason (a fall, perhaps?), but the Doctor believed that it was abuse, instead, and therefore made a CPS referral?
What, specifically, were the parent's complaints?
I'm asking out of curiosity, not that I'm taking sides. I simply am not aware of the story and why Ron Heckman would reportedly say it's "bizarre".
That Cusick would entertain any exclusion of county laborers for any dollar amount speaks to his lack of concern for county laborers and taxpayers. John's teacher/collectivist background cannot be erased. When forced to choose, he'll choose the system over individual working souls and their taxpaying families. Shameful, but ultimately predictable. He hasn't earned the vote of any hard working Northampton County resident. His interests are selfish, demonstrably. It's behavior you expect from paid-for Ds. At least they're honest about their contempt for taxpayers.
Thank you.
There is a reg that says healthcare providers must report suspected child abuse. Mandatory reporters. It's suspect and then followed up by others such as children and youth services etc for investigation. Mandatory reporter is obligated to report or they will lose their license to practice. This includes nurses. EMTs physicians etc . The outcome of the investigation is not determined by the reporter . They give their statement and then it is investigated by a different agency. Wanted to clarify this. That agency is obligated to keep children safe until the investigation is finished.
In this country you can’t take children away without compelling evidence of abuse. These parents have every right to be upset with the medical professional, the investigator and the judges who signed the removal orders for their children.
In Northampton County, we have a malicious "Protection From Abuse" section whose only justification for its existence is to villify as many people as possible. Years ago, I experienced their hate and intrusion into my family first-hand. 2 Family-law attorneys of the County have acknowledged this sorry situation as well. An accusation is as good as a conviction. These derelicts use emotional appeal, instead of strict compliance with state law, to break up families.
Bernie
Saturday's Call has lengthy article on situation.
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