In early July, Northampton County Council voted 6-3 to establish a Gracedale Oversight Committee proposed by Council member David Holland. Earlier that evening, Executive Tara Zrinski condemned the idea. Council President Ken Kraft first tried to table the matter, and when that failed, he voted against it. So did Council members Kelly Keegan and Nadeem Qayyum. (Qayyum had argued in support of the Oversight Committee, so I think his No vote was a mistake.) Though he ultimately voted to establish the committee, Council member Jeff Warren said he had "serious" reservations about the word "oversight."
Each of County Council's standing committees exist for that express purpose - oversight.
After this vote, Kraft chose to ignore the expressed will of a Council majority and dragged his feet at establishing any oversight committee. July and August breezed by with nothing. It looked like that would happen in September, too, until District Attorney Steve Baratta released the findings of an Investigative Grand Jury highly critical of Gracedale's administration.
Now the committee has been established and Kraft named Keegan the Chair even though she voted against it. He also put himself on the committee, although he voted against it, too.
The Chair should have been Holland, who not only proposed the idea of a Gracedale Oversight Committee, but was also himself an administrator there and elsewhere.
Near the end of last week's meeting of Northampton County Council (September 17), Holland suggested that it's time for the governing body to decide how committee members are appointed. Holland pointed out that though the Home Rule Charter provides that the Council President (currently Ken Kraft) has the authority to preside at meetings, nothing in either the Charter or its rules and regulations governing the conduct of meetings invests Council President with the authority to members to Council's various standing committees. That has been a matter of tradition rather than law. He believes the President should nominate the committee members and Chairs, but the vote to confirm should be made by Council's nine-member body.
This matter has been referred to Council's Governance committee, which is next scheduled to meet in October.
If Council does decide to take control of committee appointments, it should do so by ordinance so that it binds future county councils.
Kraft and Keeeegan have gone to great lengths to to nothing to fix Gracedale. It's almost as if they think Gracedale residents' families would be better off without their loved ones. Keeeeegan has told us who she is. Now, she's showing us. Kraft is simply low IQ. He doesn't know if his hiney is punched or bored and he's still looking for a board stretcher from his apprentice days. Keeeeegan is purposefully heartless.
ReplyDeleteKeegan baddddd, Holland goodddd! Grrrrr....
ReplyDeleteBernie likes Hollland for the post because Holland is an expert at privatizing nursing homes.
ReplyDeleteThis is nonsense. Holland was actually part of a team that actually rescued Gracedale. He's been brushed aside and demeaned by Kraft on multiple occasions and for no apparent reason.
DeleteThis all comes down to voting. NORCO voters elected these tools. Then council members elected kraft as president. You get what you ask for.
ReplyDeletekraft/keegan - egotistical spite/ pure mean hate. Obviously, what the citizens want.
ReplyDeleteYa just can't make this crap up. If it wasn't so sad it would be funny.
ReplyDeleteStill no post about wife beatin court administration Jermaine Greene his paid vacation em suspension is going nicely.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it is the fear of being called a racist?
DeleteHe said he wanted to wait until it shakes out one way or another. You know, like every other news story where you find out what happens once everything is resolved. I remember my shock in 1945 when I found out the world was at war for the passed six years.
DeleteAbsolutely not!
ReplyDeleteO’Hare wants Gracedale to fail. Tara is going to bigly raise taxes and she going to pour money into Gracedale. Unless the Feds/State put county nursing homes out of business by not funding them; Gracedale is going to be there for a long, long time !
ReplyDeleteActually, I desperately want both Gracedale and Zrinski to succeed. I agree it is a moral obligation to actually care for the residents there, not just warehouse them and pretend. The county has failed its moral obligation and at the current rate it will close because the nursing home remains poorly administered
DeleteSeriously, losing Gracedale will directly negatively impact the families and residents, along with over 1500 workers/employees.
DeleteThen Add to that a failure of our government to budget and manage various necessary divisions for our communities. If you don’t know the depth of your county government responsibility, you should do some research.
The president is voted on and it comes with certain responsibilities, one being picking the committee chairs and members. Now someone wants to have council vote on each member and chair? This sounds like someone's feelings got hurt and they want to micromanage it all. Grow up and do your jobs.
ReplyDeleteThe President is voted on and presides over Council. That is his role as per the Charter. Nothing more. By tradition, he has been allowed to select committee members and chairs after they tell him what they would like. Kraft has actually usurped the express will of a council super majority. For months he did nothing to establish the Gracedale Committee that they voted to establish because he was against it. Then, after the Grand Jury report embarrassed him into action, he established the committee and made Kelly Keegan, who voted against it, the chair.
DeleteWhen a Council President defies a super majority of Council, he proves he is unworthy of his position.
I'm interested to see what a committee is going to do. Those employees do not report to Council. This committee can ask one trillion questions and spout their opinions and what they think should be done, but in real time nothing can be done and especially overnight like you think things can happen. This is going to be fun watching more minutiae.
DeleteKraft has willingly used the “tabling” of various suggestions from council to end what he decided or was told to block. Now it’s the Gracedale commission work, and going back a few years, he tabled an opportunity for the county to open a 501 C3 for generous donations from public and private community offerings.
DeleteHe must really hate Gracedale.
No, especially with an incompetent and devisive person like Kraft and a nut like Koo Koo Keegan. Here we go again, more meetings and committees with nothing getting done- just lip service. With the exception of a few, this Council has turned into everything I thought it would become- ineffective and used as a platform to campaign for their next office. Zrinski is in way over her head, and will only act if it affects her political ambitions. Without the D.A. getting involved, Gracedale would've been swept under the rug.
ReplyDeleteTrue- the only local politician who is worth their weight is Ron Beitler in LC.
DeleteDavid Hollland oversaw the sale of the Monroe County nursing home to private equity.
ReplyDeleteThe decision to convert that home into a nonprofit was made by Monroe County Comm'rs and the courts, not Holland. He has no relationship with the buyer. He was part of the team that once managed that home. Comm'rs voted to sell bc it was costing too much money and they believed the buyer would perform the same role the county was performing.
DeleteNo he did not…
DeleteI didn't see anything on the Gracedale DOH visit from earlier this month. Fines? Licensing?
ReplyDeleteThere are numerous visits that result in no sanctions. We do not know until about 40-50 days after the visit, when it is posted online.
DeleteBut the administration knows!
DeleteThe saying, “Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it” applies here only instead insert the word “vote”. There are truly only a handful of commissioners who have a clue and the knowledge to be effective but they are stifled by those who have neither. Couple this with an arrogant, clueless executive who is full of herself and believes she is a monarch and you have the disaster that is Northampton County. It’s not just Gracedale that’s in disarray. Many other departments are as well. Communication is a big issue!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more- a rubberstamp Council who follows an incompetent opportunist Executive.
DeleteThey “wish” they were commissioners, but they are really members of a dysfunctional County Council.
DeleteSomebody keeps writing that Bernie will have no place to go because he’s a brokeass bro. But, Bernie won’t get into Gracedale because he’s an elopement risk, and they’re not taking those people anymore.
ReplyDeleteTrue.
DeleteBernie,
ReplyDeleteWhen i was Council President and the previous Council Presidents, we asked the members to submit their choices for committees. The appointments were then made based on seniority, expertise and experience. It worked for years.
Jerry Seyfried
Jerry, it did but as a matter of tradition, not law. Kraft ruined it by defying the wishes of a super majority.
DeleteThen is needs to stop being tradition and become law.
DeleteJerry Seyfried
Yeah Jerry and that is what i did, i asked what they wanted and appointed accordingly. Bernie you have no idea what you are talking about or when i made this committees appointments, i can only say it was way before this "grand jury" report. You are such an asshole, when are you going to do a Germaine Greene story you hypocrite
DeleteBernie has the uncanny ability to eventually "smoke out" the nuts on Council like Koo Koo Keegan and Kraft. This cretin's response tells you everything you need to know about this wack job.
DeleteI’ve been getting comment after comment telling me to write about Jermaine, and the started coming right before the grand jury report was released. They were an obvious attempt to distract me from writing about the grand jury.
DeleteAs for the Gracedale oversight committee you are lying. You dragged your feet before you established it, and when you did, you put on two of the three people who voted against it, and made one of them chair. You had no intention of ever meeting and only scheduled a meeting to do damage control after the grand jury report came out.
Gotta give Kraft credit for demonstrating, again, his inability to smooth talk and massage his words to piss people off. Time for term limits to be a real thing, oh he would table them anyway.
DeleteKen, you're a career loafer and nobody likes you because you're lazy and dishonest and obnoxious. Wear it well.
Delete9:00, I I do believe Kraft is lazy. He skips most committee meetings even though he is now Council President. I know he is dishonest. He has outright lied to me several times. After promising me he would vote one way, he'd do the opposite. And yes, he is obnoxious. I personally like the obnoxious part of him because in some ways that betrays a deeper honesty than his broken promises to me. It's more real. But he did defy a council super majority and will hopefully pay a price for it. I'd prefer to see him removed as Council President, but Holland is taking a kinder approach.
DeleteThere you go folks! This is your council president what a disgrace!!
DeleteLol. Kraft shouldn't be allowed back in the jail after what he did.
DeleteUnion guy Ken is a perfect example of why union membership has fallen from 14% on 2020 to 10% today. If you're negotiating with Ken and have anything more than a third grade education, it's like destroying a tacking dummy. I'd love to negotiate with him. He's walk away with only the underwear on his ass, and only because I didn't want to see him completely naked.
DeleteHe is the furthest thing from a union guy. He got paid by a union to represent them. And like most business managers they suck
DeleteExecutive Zrinski has called Baratta out on his lies ! She will Save Gracedale from the list of Deplorables like Steven J. Baratta who want Gracedale to perish from the Earth !!!!
ReplyDeleteKeep cheerleading for yourself Tara!
DeleteSettle down it’s time for your meds.
DeleteTake a deep breath Tara. and exhale slowly!
DeleteShe should be worrying about how deep she has dug the hole she is in.
DeleteYes, the same person who perjured herself during her custody trial. A lying dumbass TZ.
DeleteThe creators of “Dumb and Dumber” would have to come up with a new title for a film about Kraft, Keegan, and Warren. There aren’t enough adjectives.
ReplyDeleteDumb, Dumber, & Dumbest!
DeleteCourt Administrator Johnny Greene has been charged with a crime with respect to abusing his wife why is judge Dally still protecting him
ReplyDeleteIf that comment is really written by Ken Kraft (the council president?) then No Co is a mess. What kind of person in that role calls another an asshole in a public forum? How disrespectful and unprofessional. This guy seems unhinged. Man am I glad I retired! What a difference from the old days to now. The lack of decency and kindness to your fellow man is just appalling. People used to treat others with dignity and respect. I do understand why people call the county a joke now. What a shame. All the hard work people have done and do and this is their representation on council. no wonder all the good people retired or left or are waiting on their next job offer. Its really a shame.
ReplyDeleteYou’re so self righteous, you poor thing. It must make you insane listening to Trump. Hahaaaa!
DeleteYep, that would be Ken Kraft response.
DeleteYep, he sounds like a total idiot. Id much rather listen to Trump actually. He is so much smarter than Ken who sounds like a someone I would not want to be associated with at all.
DeleteBoth have ego problems.
DeleteBernie O’Hare (9/25; 8:51 am) said:
ReplyDelete“I agree it is a moral obligation to actually care for the residents…
Bernie -
NorCo is one of only a few counties that still have a county home.
Can you explain to me why it is a “moral obligation” for Northampton to operate a county home, and yet the vast majority of counties seem to get by just fine without one?
Are they failing in THEIR moral obligation? Or have they just found a better way to care for their elderly without burdening taxpayers with a costly county-owned home?
I read a lot of news sources, and I don’t see ANYTHING about the elderly in other counties being forced to live in the streets because their counties closed their nursing homes.
I can’t help but feel that Northampton is operating under an outdated model of directly providing care (for a select few) while other counties have realized it’s no longer necessary. In fact, had it not been for political demagoguery, there probably wouldn’t be ANY counties left that still operate them.
The Citizens of Northampton County have chosen to care for their elderly as a moral obligation. The citizens choose, and vote for people who feel the same way. In fact, if you toured former county homes that have been privatized, you will see that they do not in fact care for their elderly the same way. Private nursing homes who care for a large Medicaid population do so for profit. Where do you think this margin comes from? Gracedale and the private homes get paid the same rate by Medicaid. I can assure you, the private nursing homes are not more efficient nor do they deliver better care. Privatization comes at a huge cost.
DeleteWith Zrinski & Co. at the helm, the County is like a rudderless ship- its going to be a long and painful 4 years.
ReplyDeleteThe grand jury report was two weeks ago ya have had time to write a post about johnny greens attacking his wife with gasoline
ReplyDeleteKraft proves what an asshole his is, how unprofessional he is and most of all how incompetent he is. A lazy obnoxious POS. As for Keegan, she’s just a hateful hateful person who must have had a horrible childhood. She’s incompetent and crazier then the psychopaths in the asylum.
ReplyDeleteYes. As long as he or she can justify it within one paragraph.
ReplyDelete