Barb Thierry Displays Compassionate Conservatism

Last November, Northampton County Council elected three newcomers to Northampton County Council - Tom Dietrich, Bruce Gilbert and Barb Thierry. Called the newbies, they are probably far more conservative than your average LV resident. But each of them is willing to work. Attendance at committee hearings is up dramatically, and that may be one of the reasons why Council meetings are running more smoothly.

Bruce Gilbert, Northampton County's first black Council member, is easily its most brilliant member. Soft spoken and courteous, he established himself his first night on Council, when he countered a Lamont McClure attempt to torpedo a Gracedale study. "If we do not, Mr. McClure, look to the future of our county and its expenses, I think we will have failed our county overall. We do need to look at this. We do need to plan in advance. If we fail to plan, it's quite possible that it is we who will fail."

Tom Dietrich is easily the most vocal of the three, although he listens as well. To his credit, he's making an effort to understand human services, where 3/4 of the County budget disappears down the rabbit hole.

Barb Thierry has been Council's most quiet member. Sitting between Council Prez Ron Angle and deposed Prez Ann McHale, she has sometimes been caught in the crossfire of their testy exchanges.

Last night, Barb finally opened up. She spoke about our jail population and the need for a treatment center. She was responding to Lamont McClure, who several times derided the proposed Bethlehem Township site as the "Betty Ford Treatment Center." He's also stated, when running for Council, that he's unconcerned by overpopulated jails or inmates who have to sleep on cots in a gym or hallway.

He knows that sounding tough on crime will get him votes. On the campaign trail, he promised to deliver a child exploitation unit. Sounds very impressive. After all, who likes pedophiles? But DA John Morganelli has been operating a child abuse unit since 1993.

"I'd like to add one more thing about the treatment center," Thierry suddenly said. "The people coming out of there have a lot more support than the people coming out of the general population, which is probably why they don't return so often or in such big numbers."

She pointed out that recidivism is reduced from about 67% to 20% by treatment, and that ends up saving the County money in the long run. Sixty-six cents of every County real estate tax dollar pays for the back end of crime. If that figure can be reduced, future tax increases can be avoided.

In addition to making fiscal sense, it's simply the right thing to do. How ironic that Council's two Democrats could be opposed to treatment programs like the one proposed in Bethlehem Township.