Friday, November 22, 2024
Lower Saucon Township Council: Worst Governing Body in Lehigh Valley
I like to complain about NorCo Council or the antics I've seen in Allentown and Bethlehem. I didn't know how good I had it. Above is six-hour long Lower Saucon Township Council meeting. I just watched the very beginning and suggest that's all you need to see to realize this is by far the worst governing body in the Lehigh Valley. I'll have more to say Monday.
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49 comments:
Jason and Tom have a lot in common with Lori Vargo Heffner and the Republicans on County Council. They’ve all proven to be dangerous to the public they serve.
Bernie, What do you expect? The President and Vice president of the council are democrats. Most Democrats couldn't organize a two car parade. People need to change their voting habits.
https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/news/2023/01/3-democrats-vying-for-republican-held-seats-on-lower-saucon-township-council.html
You know some of the meetings go on longer than that, and the police officers have to be on standby for that entire mess….
So as ugly as the meeting appears, I’d rather have that than the performance art you see at other meetings where there is no differences of opinion and things have obviously been worked out before the public meeting.
At least in the video I see a resident getting info from one council member that others apparently wouldn’t give up previously, and board members that are willing to ask questions of each other.
That said, there are obvious procedural issues with how the meeting is proceeding. I think much of the blame for meeting getting out of hand falls on the board chair for not gaveling down other members when they speak without having the floor. If the chair doesn’t enforce ANY rules, this is what you get.
I’d recommend a seminar on running a meeting for all those on the board. It would be money well spent by the township.
Honestly, I’m also surprised that the board solicitor hasn’t taken them aside and gotten them back on the right path as far as running the meeting properly.
Good lord! We have some antics at out meetings but this is ridiculous and a metaphor of unstable America. The gentleman on the right even sat down early during the pledge. I have no knowledge of party officiating and did not watch long enough to understand the intent, but surely it was deplorable behavior and meant to to disrupt the meeting.
Holy hell what's going on down there???
It's been a clown show all year - some of their meetings drag on for 9 hours with screaming matches throughout. Go back through their video history and grab a bucket of popcorn . An utter embarrassment all around - both parties are at fault, and politics should never enter the mix on the local level. There's a reason that they cannot hire a Township Manager that lasts more than a few weeks. The DCED really needs to step in here.
My daughter's kindergarten class is more behaved.
So you're saying that one political party controls the behavior of another? These 2 morons don't belong on council if they can't control themselves properly in a public meeting! Disgraceful! Childish! Ignorant!
I don't even know where to begin. I should've stopped after the first 2:30 minutes but curiosity got the best of me and I skipped around from time to time throughout the video. Embarrassing. Expect more from the Trump clown car show about to begin
There's been a great impact on employee morale, they can't keep or find a Manager and several highly qualified staff have resigned and gone to work elsewhere. Its a bizarre situation, as Townships like Lower Saucon typically are the most competently run municipalities in the region.
9:20 I totally agree, I’m a republican, but there are idiots and morons on BOTH parties
The entire meeting us must see TV. The two men speaking truth to power are rockstars. Would love to see them on Norco council go take on the tree rubber stamps, especially Kraft. The McClure/ Barron PR show would hit a mountain. Bring them to the county.
Also, it appears McClure won't allow council to purchase radios now but wants them as the sweeter for his massive Bond. They have the money Politics ahead of people, way to go McClure/ Barron.
Northampton Area School Board should be a contender.
The two men openly insult the solicitor to his face and don't care what he says (usually shouting something like "you don't run the meeting, Suzie!" at the solicitor anytime he tries to restore order or keep things on track), so it would make no difference. That being said, the council president is also to blame for being ineffective at running the meeting, and the two men just keep talking if she gavels them anyway.
I watched it and I have never seen such embarrassing behavior! Tom and Jason are not men. They are children using childish behavior to distract and sabotage township business. The residents deserve better!
Vote Jason and Tom out! They are the two biggest LOSERS in politics!
This is a riot. If you can't run a meeting, you can't run a township. The disrupters should be ejected for disrupting a public meeting. I don't care what party.
She does gavel them down, constantly. They actually complain about how much she gavels. The issue isn't that they don't get gaveled; it's that they don't respect the power of the gavel or have the common decency to act like grown adults at a meeting and follow the rules of decorum.
It all started because Jason couldn’t get a zoning change approved by Hellertown in order to make bank off of his in-laws property.
Bring it on
Those guys are up for re-election in 2025. Between their frequently missing meetings, awful behavior when they are in attendance, and unquestioning subservience to the whims of the landfill back when they had control of council, I have to think the voters are ready to replace them. I wouldn't even be surprised if their fellow Republicans are fed up with their childishness and primary them.
In Bethslum it is the citizens who elect council members. You get 5 mins to make statements or ask questions. You get told that you may wait until after the meeting has ended to speak with a director or an employee. Why should one who elects a council have to wait hours for a response? I'd like your opinion on this Bernie.
2:38, The right to address a governing body at a meeting is a statutory, not a constitutional right. The Sunshine Act specifically provides that restrictions can be imposed on speakers. This enables the council or board to hear from the public AND conduct business. Last year, a group of pro-Palestinian speakers attempted to take over several councils with endless speeches about the war in Gaza, over which local government has no control. In one instance, Bethlehem had to adjourn without conducting any business. And there is nothing wrong with asking you to wait until the end of a meeting to address someone individually. Rights have corollary duties. The right to speak should always include a duty to listen. Too many speakers are only interested in what they have to say. I am a big supporter of the Sunshine Act and have sued over violations. But there are a lot of very entitled and selfish people out there who have no interest in anything other than their own pet peeves. There are also people who just like to talk.
The two guys (they sure aren’t men) are morons. Their idiocy is causing chaos and denying those who wish to speak an opportunity. (That Tom guy and his crinkly paper when people who he doesn’t like is incredibly obnoxious.) The other Trump dancer (he doesn’t have moves) sat down midway through the Pledge of Allegiance. That isn’t like Trumpettes, who claim love of the flag. One of those freaks has a child serving as a junior council member. I sure hope the son is more mature than is father. Don’t even get me started on the old coot who left the podium, though in joining the other two, he becomes the third stooge.
Call Bethlehem anything you’d like, but be honest about it. It may not be perfect, but it damn sure isn’t a slum and Im hard pressed to take seriously anyone who would resort to untrue middle school name calling. SMH
I believe that part of the problem in Bethlehem was that the council members didn’t want to go on the record as opposing the terrorists who attached Israel on Oct 7. So they literally strung the pro-terrorist group along to avoid taking a stand.
Having the protesters Constance turn for action was the price Bethlehem Council paid for being cowardly politicians.
8:17 here again. My point is if they’re not going to respect the gavel, the next step is to have them removed from the meeting. That’s what a competent chairperson does.
Many of the questions either have nothing to do with local government or should be addressed to the administration.
Local councils are part-timers and they don’t have all the answers.
deLeon has been on council 40 years and yet is still completely ineffective as President. She should just resign.
Property negotiations require a level of confidentiality until an agreement is ready for a public hearing and vote. These antics seems to be an effort to undermine open space preservation efforts.
The big woman just laughed.
The residents deserve a Council President who has a spine. Instead we got activists who are more concerned about banning plastic bags and cloaing the landfill rather than making sure the police have tasers and body cameras.
6:10 - you can’t have them removed. There is no power that anyone has to have them removed from a meeting. Except the voters - next election cycles there should be a compete turnover of the council. It’ll take a few years but needs to happen.
Someone should have pointed out to the two tRump dancers they aren't doing it right. The fists need to be turned at an angle as if jerking off two guys toward the face. Just like the Great Orange one does it (which is a great analogy for what he does to his followers, except of course, with no happy ending).
Stop picking on LVH. She said she’s leaving County gummit at the end of ‘25.
This is America now. The center didn’t hold. Things have fallen apart.
who said that? stop making stuff up.
She did. During the meeting. “I’ll be gone after next year.”
Those guys are great. Thye made fools out of the lib women.
It’s astonishing how practiced these men seem to be at the “Double Jerk Dance.” It is after all, often busted out to the tune of “YMCA.”
Regardless of party or political leaning, the guy who sat before the end of the Pledge Of Allegiance is an unpatriotic, anti-American piece of shit. He basically spit on the flag.
There is no legal basis in Pennsylvania for kicking elected Township Supervisors out of a township supervisor meeting, no matter how they are behaving. The solicitors have confirmed that, many times. If there was any way they could be removed, they would have been.
I deleted a comment from someone who suggested violence as a response. That is totally wrong.
@1:25 is exactly right, and Jason and Tom know it (they may be dickheads but they aren't stupid), so that is why they feel emboldened to behave the way they do. There is nothing they could possibly say or do short of maybe physically assaulting people in the room that would end up with them being removed from the meeting.
*they. Fool.
If you actually watch the video you will see he recited the entire pledge before sitting down.
You mean the zoning change that was approved by both the zoning board and Council and was vetoed after the fact?
Jason’s arms were too tired from the “Double Jerk Dance” to Pledge Allegiance to our Constitution.
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