When it Comes to UMBT, NorCo Council Solicitor Spadoni is Conflicted

If the current make-up of Upper Mount Bethel Township's Board of Supervisors is any indication, voters want nothing to do Lou Pektor's River Pointe Commerce Park. They are very concerned this industrial "park" will increase truck traffic along Route 611, add even more warehouses and destroy the rural charm of Northampton County's most beautiful municipality. A large and active group, sometimes referred to as Concerned Citizens of Upper Mount Bethel, has changed been unable to stop this development, but has changed the face of Upper Mount Bethel's government. 

Many of them expressed their concerns when Northampton County Council considered a tax break for Pektor last April. Judith Henckel, a well known environmentalist, added that this kind of tax break is limited to blighted areas, but is being applied to farmland. 

As with most things, there's another side to this story. Council members John Goffredo and Tom Giovanni, who actually live in the Slate Belt, complain there are no jobs. According to Goffredo, "The slate belt is an area where there are no stores, no restaurants, no nothing." Former Upper Mount Bethel Supervisor Robert Teel described it as a depressed area that never recovered when the garment industry died. Giovanni said that his aging father-in-law lives in Evergreen Village and struggles to pay taxes. "This has to go through." said the normally laconic Council member. "That northern tier of our county is suffering and we need to help them."

When push came to shove, Northampton County Council approved this tax break, known as a LERTA. It was supported by Republican Council members Giovanni, Goffredo and John Brown and Democratic Council members Lori Vargo Heffner and Ron Heckman. It was opposed by Republican Council member John Cusick and Democratic Council members Tara Zrinski and Kevin Lott. 

Executive Lamont McClure, no fan of warehouses or truck traffic, vetoed the measure. But Council overrode his veto with the same votes that initially approved the tax break.

McClure's concern may well have been justified. Since this vote, the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission has been with with 13 million sq ft of proposed warehouse development in Northampton County. This includes nine separate plans submitted by Pektor in Upper Mount Bethel Tp. 

At their last meeting, McClure asked County Council to rescind the tax break. He said he'd support a LERTA for manufacturing or to remediate the hulking PPL power plant, but that incentivizing warehouse development is "obscene." 

I happen to oppose most corporate tax incentives. If someone has a good business idea, he should need no government money to succeed. Moreover, no amount of government money can transform a bad business idea into one that is good. So I pretty much agree with McClure's concern. but that's not the point of this post. 

Though Northampton County Council voted in favor of the tax break and against the wishes of what seems like a majority of Upper Mount Bethel Township's voters, it needs to know that their Solicitor is in bed with Pektor's opponents.

County Council Solicitor is Chris Spadoni. He has represented Upper Mount Bethel Tp residents in their fight against Pektor.  He represented Pektor foe and Township Supervisor David Friedman in a complaint that Friedman lost before the state ethics board. Now that the Township is under control of these concerned citizens, he wants his piece of pie. He's been appointed as an alternate township solicitor, but that isn't enough. He wants to be lawyer to the zoning hearing board, even though he'd have to resign as alternate township solicitor. That way he can pretty much stop any zoning changes that Pektor might think are necessary. 

But there's a price to pay. 

Spadoni is clearly conflicted on this or any matter concerning Upper Mount Bethel Tp and the county. He is ethically barred from offering County Council advice on any legal questions that could arise during their consideration of McClure's latest proposal.