Back in October, Northampton County Council sued former Executive Lamont McClure over audio and visual upgrades to County Council's meeting room. Ron Heckman, a former Council member, was participating in meetings remotely and routinely complained that he was unable to hear or see what was happening. When he would speak at meetings, his voice would often cut off, and no one could hear him. It was suggested that he might be responsible himself for his technical difficulties, but he insisted that this was a systemic problem that the Executive branch chose to ignore.
Northampton County Council actually adopted an Ordinance for these upgrades in late 2023. According to the terms of this Ordinance, the upgrades were to be completed by June 2024. Then Exec McClure vetoed the Ordinance, but the only Council member who voted to sustain that veto was then Council member (and now Executive) Tara Zrinski.
The total cost of these upgrades is unknown but is well within County Council's contingency fund.
With the recent election and inauguration of Tara Zrinski as Exec, I thought County Council and the Exec would reach some sort of agreement. But instead, the matter is currently in the hands of Northampton County Court. The County Exec maintains that a complaint for Declaratory Judgment is an improper form of action. I personally think a Mandamus action is probably more appropriate but am unsure whether the court wishes to exalt procedure over substance.
10 comments:
New year, same norco silliness
I suspect the clock on Ron's Betamax has been flashing 12:00 for many years.
On several occasions, I have attempted to tune into County Council Meetings and have always been successful. Tuning in isn't the problem. The problem is it is almost impossible to understand what the members of Council and speakers from the audience are trying to communicate. I always thought it was because the speakers weren't talking into their microphones. I was told it is probably my computer system. Council should find a way to upgrade the system. Heckman is right.
It was Heckman’s set up. County Council is clogging the Court with its crap.
Council members very often fail to use their mikes. They all do it, but the biggest failure has always been Heckman. So I question his assertion that the audio visual problems are on the county. I do notice that, if I watch a meeting on my TV, I have to turn the volume very high to hear. On the phone, it is fine. That has only been since IT made whatever changes they did.
I do find the county's current IT department, a third party vendor, to be the worst it has ever had. The computers made available to the public at the courthouse for data are always restarting, half the programs never work and they simply don't give a shit. That company needs to go.
The IT Department is supposed to be under the Director of Fiscal Affairs. Currently that position hasn't been filled by the new Executive and it should not be the job of the career service budget administrator. Given the financial situation Lamont left her with, you would think filling that position would have been a priority. When that job is filled, consider establishing a separate in-house IT Department with an appointed director when the current contract expires.
If this is an ordinance you said it is county law. why McClure didn't just fix it is just standard stubborn McClure. It seems like an easy fix. I realize your history tends to love McClure and generally take his side on issues. I hope Tara Z. takes care of this and moves on to more important issues. This could be her hanging on to all the McClure people instead of getting her own team. I realize you are no fan of Heckman and I've heard in the past you ate him but if council over rode his veto it's the law.
The council chambers were set up by an audio-visual company, not the IT department. Bernie, I think your comments are overly harsh and not fully informed. The county has a strong IT team with several highly capable professionals. Although, It’s reasonable to question why a third-party vendor is needed when the IT department should be county staff.
I’ve used the public machines, and they are virtual PCs, so restarting them is a standard and reasonable step. While responsiveness can vary—as it does in any department—the IT team includes some excellent people who consistently do solid work and deserve recognition.
Bernie, once again you are talking about topics that you have not gathered all details on. The IT department has always been more than helpful for me and my department, a lot of other departments can also say the same. They do their best with what they're given. The contracted company they work for obviously does not treat them well and they should absolutely be county employees.
Maybe if the IT director Robert Mace stopped going out on his 15 minute cigarette break 5 times a day and answered our emails about issues, more would be getting done.
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