NorCo DA Terry Houck presented his last budget to County Council on Wednesday. In it, he is seeking raises of a little over $31,000 for three experienced prosecutors. They were removed by the Executive, so he made a personal appeal to include them.
Fiscal Director Steve Barron explained why the request was panned. First, he noted that a new DA will be taking over in January. Second, he noted that Houck's budget has gone up every year since he's been DA. Third, he said it was "good government" to deny the raises because $400,000 has been invested in salary increases over the past two years and people are still leaving. He said assistant DAs have been given three steps amounting to 13% over the past three years while other career service (nonunion) employees received 9%. "From a good government stand point, I just couldn't put that in the budget.
Houck disagreed.
Noting that Barron never called him on this matter, Houck stated that "good government is relative to who's speaking."
Houck noted that he currently has 10 vacancies among the 21 prosecutors for his office. He recently lost three prosecutors in one week to the US Attorney's office, which is both more prestigious and far more remunerative. He lost another prosecutor to Lehigh, which pays $4,000 more to entry-level assistant DAs. Instead of comparing the salaries of assistant DAs to other county employees, Houck said Barron should compare them to the salaries paid to prosecutors in other counties. He said that would be "good government."
"This is not a big deal," noted Council member Ron Heckman after Houck explained that the raises could be funded in one pay period from the salaries and fringes for vacant prosecutor positions.
"I think we should consider this - I would support it," added Council member John Cusick.
The only remaining question is whether Houck should rely on a Council member to propose a budget amendment or if he should just seek the raise now.
In response to questions from Council member Lori Vargo Heffner, Houck stated that his budget includes $100,000 for the regional crime center (known as the RIC) as well as $40,000 for the forensic center at DeSales University.
Houck stated that he is seeking no money for a child advocacy center, but "the importance of a child advocacy center cannot be understated here."
He said there are plans in the works for a county child advocacy center, but they are being finalized and incoming DA Steve Baratta should make that call.
In light of the complaints that Council received from parents falsely accused of child abuse, Cusick stated that he would prefer to "have our own or not be involved in Leigh (Valley Health Network) at all."
22 comments:
"Good Government"
Now that is funny. Coming from Barron Von Footinmouth and the McClure gang. They will fight anything that Terry Houck wants to do. Was it good government when they gave targeted steps to some of his top people in the past. An incoming council member benefited greatly. Please, stop before you have people laughing in the Halls. Should we list all the Good Government moves of Footinmouth over the years? McClure thinks everyone works for him. Houck is the elected DA, it's his budget.
Documented time theif Barron, lecturing on good government is infuriating. He essentially stole from taxpayers. He shouldn't be anywhere near money. He is the embodiment of bad government. And that lisp ...
Northampton county seems to hire and train people, then lose them to go work somewhere else for more money, either Lehigh County, the state, or the feds. I am hearing that between the lower salaries and the general treatment of professional staff in this county, it's a no brainer to go work elsewhere. They are saying hey, thanks for the training, bye bye. At some point it has to be addressed. Being down 10 prosecutors is not good. Paying 4k less than Lehigh county, why work for Northampton? They most likely have better judges over there as well given the last few blog entries LOL.
I would think the Fiscal Director would know that the assistants have not seen three steps of increase. This county doesn’t appreciate years of service and experience, so it rarely awards steps. From the ADAs to the sheriffs to gracedale to court admin. Maybe he means three assistants received a step over that period. Or that some received salary increases as a result of promotions carrying heavier workloads.
Even assuming the starting salary was commensurate with other counties, only this county could assume that making starting pay for years on end will retain talent.
Perhaps we should reduce council pay to each member’s starting rate, adjusted insufficiently for inflation of course.
So Cusick and Heckman have no issue supporting bigger raises for the DA’s office because they keep losing people. How about the other departments? Who is standing up for them? When the Courts or DA come to Council, they are given whatever they request. When Gracedale or Human Services is there, I don’t see anyone sitting up there fighting for increased raises for the staff. Yes most are union. But what about those who are not? If it’s no big deal to fund these raises, then make it no big deal to not raise our healthcare while the unions sit with no increase. Make it no big deal to give us a bigger increase like you are saying for the DA’s staff. We lose people all the time to other counties or agencies. We lose people to the courts when they offer more. Cusick wants to fund student loan forgiveness to bring in new people. How about taking care of the ones your have already first. If we come there and state our case, we are called whining crybabies. Yet without these whining crybabies people don’t get necessary services. John Brown just wants to keep tacking on costs to employees. No health center because why should we get any little benefit. Keep adding costs but don’t raise our salaries to match the growing costs in this economy. Yet they all sit up there and talk about how important the work is that Gracedale does or children and youth. Put your money where your mouth is. Use that last bit of Covid cash to cover the costs another year. Most county employees didn’t see a bonus for showing up everyday during the pandemic. Most non union work over 40 hours a week with no compensation. To read these blogs and hear “it’s no big deal” yet it’s a big deal when it’s not a department at the Government Center or the Juvenile Justice center is just sad. The rest of us are tired of being the pawns in the political games. And for Cusick to just wave his hands and say no big deal has just turned my thoughts on how I’ll be voting next week. What a shame.
Where’s all the money in this county going? They haven’t washed the courthouse windows in over two years. The front door makes a pitiful screech. It’s a fitting representation of county leadership. I suppose Council doesn’t want to retain anyone more talented than they are. That’s not a promising outlook for county residents.
Wow. When you kicked off the team, you get seriously kicked off. Bye bye Terry.
I feel bad for Houck. Guy wanted to be the District Attorney his entire life. Sadly, it just can’t be denied at this point that the office has been mismanaged these last 4 years.
Guy shows up to a Council meeting, genuinely trying to benefit his remaining staff and seemingly gets slapped down. He’s a good man, I had hoped he would have been able to go out with at least one victory.
Good luck in whatever you do next, Mr. Houck.
" When the Courts or DA come to Council, they are given whatever they request. When Gracedale or Human Services is there, I don’t see anyone sitting up there fighting for increased raises for the staff. Yes most are union"
The 2/3 of the county workforce that is unionized does have a union that is supposed to be fighting for increased wages in every contract. If that is not the case, you need a new union.
Under career, service, department heads should do annual reviews and award step increases to employees who deserve it. This gets forwarded to the Exec and he should incorporate in his budget. That has not happened since the days of Brackbill, but that is the way career service is supposed to work. It is supposed to be based on merit, not just seniority. That should be the difference between union and nonunion.
Being a prosecutor is a crummy job because they see the absolute worst things, have to work with victims who may be reluctant to speak, and deal with witnesses who go silent (or missing). Any prosecutor who has stayed in the office has done so for the promise of justice, not a huge paycheck. These people deserve the raises being suggested.
BO—— if that’s how Career service should work then someone should train the administrations present and past because that has never happened. Not under Mr Freeze aka Reibman. Not under Stoffa. Certainly not under Brown and unfortunately it isn’t happening now. The only time career service saw a nice raise was when Baratta and Morganelli fought it out in front of council over raises for their staff. Reibman at least gave us a stuffed bear or a tree as a gift of thanks. Brown gave us higher healthcare costs resulting in a pay cut. It was the ultimate gift. No one has ever cared to look at merit. The worker who doesn’t show up for their shifts and abuses their time gets the same raise as the worker who goes above and beyond and will work to cover for those who don’t work. And everyone can say feel free to look elsewhere for work but at the end of the day…. If everyone goes elsewhere who is caring for your residents here at Gracedale or investigating the numerous abuse cases referred to Human Services. It’s about time Council actually show the appreciation for the work that all of the departments do. The lip service means nothing because it’s not backed up. Fight with the County Exec on your own time and stop using the employees as the pawns. We’re tired of being the kids stuck in the middle of the horrible divorce. And I’m tired of hearing all of the blame on McClure. Council is equally at fault when they sit there with their hands folded and their heads down saying nothing.
I watch the meetings on the computer. County Council wants to pay people more so they will stay. McClure and Barron stop it every time. They refuse to up th pay. They even fought the Council's pay study. Council wanted TO study all the employees, but the union bosses and McClure said no.
"BO—— if that’s how Career service should work then someone should train the administrations present and past because that has never happened. "
As I stated, it stopped under Brackbill. But a merit personnel system was considered so important that it was established in the Home Rule Charter. The first three Execs followed this system. It's why vacant positions must be posted before going outside. A department head would meet annually with an employee to review performance. If the employee's performance was good, a step increase was recommended to the Exec. This would then be incorporated into the Exec's proposed budget. Under this system, merit was rewarded. I heard some complaints about favoritism by department heads, so the system was not perfect. But it generally worked and morale was very high.
If an employee is in a union, the step increases are usually across the board for everyone. There is no way to reward merit, but the unionized employee has some protection against unfair treatment. Most of the county was nonunion, except for the jail and Gracedale. That changed when Reibman imposed a hiring freeze, wage freeze and imposed layoffs.
I believe that morale among career service would be enhanced if the Exec returned to the step system and rewarded merit based on recommendations by department heads. Two steps would require Council approval. Some bargaining units might decide they are better off as career service.
The admin might argue this is too costly, nut that is just an admission that the county has been balancing its budget on the backs of county employees.
Standard operating procedure for this arrogant and condescending gang. Mr. Houck was never talked to or notified of this move. No discussion, nothing. Just another example of your boy's arrogant administration. Very Sad.
We absolutely do need a new union. We train people over and over and lose them to other counties and agencies, heck warehouses pay more and have similar benefits. Things are absolutely terrible in many departments, and the quality of service to our citizens/taxpayers is what ultimately suffers.
Of course there will be no pay raises when McClueless wants no tax increases each year (or a reduction one year) so he can schmooze voters and stay in power. Come on term limits!
So you want tax increases? That’s a good thing ?
Who were the three raises for?
Workers in DHS and Gracedale are leaving constantly. Why stay? If Northampton County does not offer competitive pay we will never be able to keep good staff and serve our vulnerable citizens. Things need to change at the top.
Yes, one should expect occasional "reasonable" increases to attract and retain quality workers, maintain/ improve needed services, and fund a capital improvement budget. Thinking life can go on forever with no tax increases means just the opposite of those fundamental goals. Unreasonable tax increases to fund "pet" projects or for other meritless reasons are not needed or deserved.
Would some of these people elected on Democratic Party be elected if there was no party based on their own past judgment. ? I doubt it . No Republican candidates in Easton ever survive. So what we have here is Democratic controlled city. Evan prior Republicans have turned . Non senses prevail. I say candidate up with resume and zero party . And no way to vote straight party lines in voter polls.. and I say say you have to present a tax form to vote in elections. Non taxpayers are subsidized by the the earned income from people that go to work. Colleges should have to vote in the area they came from with absentee applications like the U.S.Military. They should not vote at Lafayette college from Connecticut for example. .they should have to file from home state.
People can say what they want about the county and raises and steps and the truth is the county workers, especially the clerical staff is WAY underpaid. Pay rates starting at 14.98/hour for a Clerical Tech III position. Take that then subtract taxes, mandatory retirement, stupid 2% tax to the city of Easton to cover their lawsuits, I mean to work in this beautiful city. People laugh in the faces of supervisors doing interviews at the salary. Clerical staff way underpaid and overworked in jobs where Judges and Attorneys disrespect the staff, expect them to be paralegals and the clerical staff cleans up or corrects the mistakes of all of them daily. When mistakes happen the the clerical staff can be suspended without pay while the higher up just is like “oh my bad.” The consequences is that the core offices have such an extensive turnover rate and the people coming to work aren’t even a quarter of the well qualified trained employees who are leaving. Sure you can replace a body with another but the knowledge that walks out the door and the work ethic that leaves versus the new hires is sickening to say the least. I have worked at the county for 20+ years and the amount of staff that leaves is insane. And the union is USELESS especially to those not working at one of the 24 hour facilities. I can come do work and do nothing, make mistakes, not care about my job and just be rude and come beginning of new year I get my raise automatically. The person next to me can come in, stay late, do the work of 3/4 clerks, dependable and has a true care of their job and guess what, they get the same raise. You want a better run county, raise the salaries and lose the political idiots who line their pockets while other families can’t afford to feed their family.
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