Get Well, Bob Cartwright!

Ron Angle and Bob Cartwright

Most of you probably never heard of Bob Cartwright. He's one of the Slate Belt's many colorful characters. He is Portland's former Police Chief and claims that its water is the Perrière of the Lehigh Valley. He is both Zoning Officer and Township Manager in Upper Mount Bethel, which he calls the Cancun pf the Lehigh Valley. He's also one of those unpaid school directors, which in my opinion is by itself a basis for having him committed. It's not just any school board. It's Bangor, and that means he serves with Ron Angle. That's a second reason to have him committed, especially since he voted for Ron. On top of everything else I've just listed, Bob spends every weekend in Delaware, where he has a very successful bagel and coffee shop that serves U.S. Senators and Supreme Court justices. Unfortunately, Bob suffered a stroke a few weeks ago.

The stroke occurred in Delaware, right as he was closing his bagel shop after a busy weekend. He was hospitalized in Delaware, after which he was sent to his home there to recuperate. From what Ron Angle tells me, he still insisted in participating in Monday night's school board meeting by phone.

Despite his brash demeanor, Bob is a very private guy. He lost his wife several years ago, and has spent all of his spare time taking care of his two daughters. Last Christmas, I met him at Ron's house. He was so proud of the mug they gave him, upon which both of his little girls wrote about how much he means to them.

He's really concerned about the food security of kids in the Slate Belt. "We have some kids in this district whose only real meal is the free lunch they get at school," he told me last year. He added that over 400 families participate in the Portland's food bank. Portland's population itself is not much larger. "I'm a die-hard conservative," he added, "but at some point, you gotta' open your eyes."

I hope Bob makes a full recovery. His daughters need him, and so do a lot of families whose food security is under threat.

Does Bangor Need a New Stadium?

As a rule, I don't do school boards. Whether it's Frank Pintabone in Easton, Mike Faccinetto in Bethlehem or Bob Cartwright in Bangor, these directors are all nuts. They spend money to run for nonpartisan offices in which they are paid nothing. If they do manage to get elected, the good ones spend countless hours negotiating with teachers who rightly want more money and taxpayers who rightly demand an end to all the spending. No matter what they do, they eventually end up pissing off everyone.

Kinda' like me.

But I'm about to violate my own rule again by discussing Bangor Area School Board. Spillman Farmer, a prominent architectural firm, was hired recently to lay out a number of options for the school's athletic fields. One of them is an $8.8 million stadium. As much as I love youth sports and enjoy sitting inside a local stadium, this is a bad idea for Bangor.

Bob Cartwright told me yesterday that the school district has many more pressing needs. These include a leaking roof at the middle school, which will cost $3.3 million to repair. Two teacher contracts need to be negotiated, and they have endured wage freezes long enough. The school district is running a $2 million or so deficit. The pension contribution is going up $1 million per year. And Bangor, like every school district in the state, is required to report that three times its $26 million payroll as a pension liability.

"We're the Titanic about to hit the iceberg, and they want to re-arrange the deck chairs and move the orchestra," he complained. "You can't spend money you don't have."

Cartwright raises another troubling point. "This is Bangor," he started. "We have some kids in this district whose only real meal is the free lunch they get at school." He added that over 400 families participate in the Portland's food bank. Portland's population is not much larger. "I'm a die-hard conservative," he added, "but at some point, you gotta' open your eyes."

Bangor always has very competitive sports programs, I reminded Cartwright. He agreed, but added, "Our priority is education."

That's too bad because Ron Angle, the Sultan of Slate Belt Sludge, spent the weekend designing the new stadium, which he has suggested be named after him. "If the weather gets bad, just close the lid," he explained "If the other team gets out of hand, just flush!".