Following a lengthy discussion, Northampton County Council voted last night to table an ordinance authorizing over $63 million in new debt for a new parking deck and adjoining office building at the county campus.
Voting to table were Council members Lori Vargo Heffner, Ron Heckman, Jeff Corpora, Tom Giovanni, John Goffredo and Ken Kraft. Voting against tabling were John Brown, Kelly Keegan and Jeff Warren.
In my original synopsis, I had this count wrong. (It was very difficult hearing Council members speak) On Monday, I'll summarize the remarks made by Council members to explain why they voted the way they did.
(On a personal matter, I am still recovering from bronchitis. I'm on a regimen of antibiotics and hope to be fully recovered by Monday.)
34 comments:
I'm looking forward to reading what the members of the troika said on the matter. It should be some low-brow stuff.
According to WFMZ, the McClure rubber stamp three wanted to move ahead with the build for $63 million. Did anyone expect differently.
9:47, Ken Kraft went along with the vote to table, so that exhibits some independence. He argued for it but is willing to wait a bit to get more of a consensus. He made the most sense of all last night, bastard that he is.
OT…Bernie get better and feel well!
Off topic Mr. Ohare. But the public needs to know how incredibly horrible the City of Bethlehem has become since the Evans crew as well as the all inclusive Reynolds administration has taken over. ABSOLUTELY NO ONE IS HAPPY
For anyone paying attention, Kraft is McClure's policy whip on county council. His job is to get the votes McClure needs, as Windy McClure is unable to on his own. He as well as McClure have radicalized the new people. His vote to table was not virtuous it was necessary. After the two new McClure acolytes, totally screwed up any consensus of council with their stupid attacks, Kraft knew it was time to retreat. Mcclue is an authoritarian you love. Kraft early on did what the two fools did and then backed off.
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Had it been voted on it would have failed.
Youi have your devils and angels and those you don't care about. I would hesitate to give Kraft a halo. Mclure needs to grow up and learn to play with others. He created these people.
9:37, Anyone who has read my posts about Kraft would know I have OFTEN been highly critical of him. I think your interpretation of why he went along with the table is valid. But so is the explanation that he tabled to give his colleagues more time to have their questions answered. I agree this is very much needed, but doubtful Council members need assurances. Calling them obstructionists, as Keegan did, is just divisive.
According to "Robert's Rules of Order" only two of the people who voted to table can make a motion and second to bring the issue back "off the table and up for discussion", and then you need enough votes to bring it back off the table and the pro "Bond Issue" people don't have the votes. Kraft buried the issue forever. Stupid move.
That’s what Keegan does. If you don’t follow along then you hate people, like her two stupid resolutions or obstructionist if you don’t follow. She is full of hate if you don’t agree with her. Something must have happened to her to be so full of hate instead of understanding people do have different views. It is after all America, something she’s trying to change. One party rule, like communism.
This Kelly Keegan seems like such a nice person LOL.
I hear your sarcasm, but make no mistake about her. She is one of the meanest people around and doesn’t care what anyone thinks about her. She thrives on it. We all saw it on the last board she was on.
Since when did County Council adopt Roberts rules of order?
The County doesn’t follow Robert’s Rules of Order. So, stupid comment.
Lori Cargo Heffner doing the bidding of the County Council MAGAts, no more, no less.
We already have one party rule, 11:20. For the most part, just like we see in our Congress, elected representatives are of one single mind. Their greatest interest is getting re-elected, to continue having their campaigns funded mostly by corporations and big special interest groups. The big funders have all their attention. You and I, not so much.i
Here is where the lying comes in, the lame excuses. Everything to amuse us, to keep us at bay, and make us believe they are working for OUR good. But, most of those promises never seem to get done. We really need to get incumbents out of office more quickly.
The whole point of being on council is to keep county business running smoothly and efficiently. Why is it that Goofredo, Brown, Giovanni, Lori Vargo Heffner, and Ron Heckman constantly ask for more information when they’ve already been given all this information? And if they have questions, then they should call the county executive and / or the administration and ask for answers to their questions, but no, they continually table things and act like they were never provided with any of this information. If you ask me that is a perfect example of delaying and isn’t as efficient as it could be. They were given all of this information via presentations and handouts and then they act like, oh wait we need more info we need more time. What do you need more time to think about, how you can obstruct it some more? And if Ron Heckman has to give us another history lesson about what the county council’s role is then we should all get a lobotomy. These people should do their homework and come prepared and not expect the County Executive to bow down and anoint their feet.
You could give them until Doomsday and answer all of their questions twice and Brown, Giovanni, Goffredo and Lori Heffner will vote NO. (I think Corpora is a dope and will vote with the MAGAs.) There are certain circles Heckman travels in in which he still wants to be seen as a friend, so he’ll vote yes.
The whole point of being on council is to keep county business running smoothly and efficiently.
No, it's not. You just want them to rubber stamp McClure's agenda asap. $63 million is a massive amount of debt for the county to take on. These plans were cooked up last year without any knowledge or input from Council. It's not even mentioned in the 2024 budget or capital improvements plan. Why not? It's good to see they are taking their time and looking for less costly alternatives.
This topic is spot on (from someone who knows)
They sound like a
majority, could it be you?
If you haven’t noticed, this group of “Commissioners” can’t keep their eye on the County business ball. However, this what to expect when you have people who are not independent thinkers, nor do they research on their own. The composition of this council is made up of bully types, self gratifying agenda types, those looking for handouts, and bootlickers….a fine group.
Love the "independent thinkers" comment. Does that mean just do what your told?
Obviously, the McClure trolls and Pr team is once again attacking any council member who wants to consider this massive bond issue. Annon 10:36, what you describe is closed door government. Only private discussions allowed. You are anti-democratic govenrment. You obviously do not understand the Charter or choose to ignore it. The county Council governs the county.
I agree, Heckman should not be giving history lessons, it is wasted on this crew. However, the lobotomies are a good idea. Also, I doubt Heckman has any friends to worry about.lol Your tactics are working in that you have a solid majority of three out of nine, ya dummy!
Love the "independent thinkers" comment. Does that mean just do what your told?
Obviously, the McClure trolls and Pr team is once again attacking any council member who wants to consider this massive bond issue. Annon 10:36, what you describe is closed door government. Only private discussions allowed. You are anti-democratic govenrment. You obviously do not understand the Charter or choose to ignore it. The county Council governs the county.
I agree, Heckman should not be giving history lessons, it is wasted on this crew. However, the lobotomies are a good idea. Also, I doubt Heckman has any friends to worry about.lol Your tactics are working in that you have a solid majority of three out of nine, ya dummy!
John Brown is planning to replace County workers with Artificial Intelligence.
This is a Do Nothing County Council. When a chunk of concrete hits you in the head blame Ron Heckman’s endless prerogatives of County Council.
Under John Brown’s plan you’ll have to go to Wind Gap for your marriage license.
Oh look, Lori wants to build a cheap building that will fall apart in 5 years. Lori is a menance to society. Plans are in motion to rid us all of her horrible stench.
Look out DIXIE, McClure is looking for more money
Isn’t it the administration’s job to be proactive with projection needs and budgeting? Again, your comment makes my point about how you want McClure to anoint your feet and ask for permission. Permission to start a projected need?! That’s his job! This LVH posse is so arrogant and has such an overrated sense about them it’s amazing.
Let’s all recall Goofredo, the county bigot, telling everyone how he walked around the parking deck and made a structural analysis that we should take seriously! And let’s all watch Bernie ignore such arrogant, idiotic remarks because he supports these losers.
Sounds like McClure and his cronies are pissed. No one cares.
Plans by McClure to try and seat more rubber stamp council members. People are seeing what’s happening with these three rubber stampers and they want no part of it. Stupid resolutions and no fiscal responsibility for spending.
BernieOHare to 9:36, when Goffredo makes salient points and good arguments, I will note them. He is no bigot and your description of him as Goofredo just makes you look petty. When he stumbles, as he did on Thursday night, I will be noting that as well. In this post I promised a follow up on Monday and I was critical. This is without getting into Kelly Keenan’s resolution, which I will discuss later. I call things as I see them, not as you or anyone else wants.
This comment sounds like the way Vargo-Hefner acts. If Keegan and Warren are rubber stamps, then what is Vargo Hefner? She will not do anything this administration wants. Isn’t that an obstructionist? Or maybe there is a better word for her?
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