If you want a friend in politics, get a dog. Harry Truman once said that about Washington, but it applies everywhere. Charles Dertinger and Lamont McClure have pretty much been tied at the hip since they both got into Northampton County politics. Over the years, they've been very loyal to each other. So it's shocking to see Dertinger "resign" over what McClure has already acknowledged is his responsibility. You could say that Dertinger just loyally fell on the sword, giving an angry Council the "sacrificial lamb" they demanded, You could say he needed to go, but it's pretty clear he had no role in either a coding error or pre-election testing that led to the November 7 election debacle. A loyal McClure would refuse to let Deringer depart under these circumstances. This is being sold as firm action, but it solves nothing. In fact, it actually weakens Lamont McClure.
I understand the ager from the public and County Council at the inexcusable failure to handle a core county function. But I'm more interested in fixing the problem than in collecting heads. We know that the county had nothing to do with the coding error that started this fiasco. We also know that ES&S spearheaded the pre-election (called Logic and Accuracy) testing following a pattern recommended by the Department of State. That has nothing to do with the county.
So where is the county at fault? The biggest error, and this is in hindsight, is the failure to supply voting precincts with sufficient emergency paper ballots to cover a precinct in the unlikely event that use of a voting machine had to be discontinued. The county only supplied 20 emergency ballots to each precinct under a practice initiated by former Registrar Amy Cozze, who obviously had Dertinger's blessing. Even though this failure was a disaster in the November 7 election, Cozze herself still fails to grasp why.
An anonymous comment from the U.S. Senate, where Cozze just happens to be employed, makes this argument: "Can we just address this paper ballot thing? If the county is going to start sending out hundreds of thousands of paper ballots on election day 'just in case' what the hell is the point of even using the voting machines??? Just switch to an all paper system. The paper ballots are supposed to be for EMERGENCIES not incompetence. ... they need to fire whoever is in charge, not saddle the tax payers with a new outlandish expense. " I'd say that when the machine has to be discontinued, that's an emergency. Also, as Elections Commissioner Dan Lopresti observed, "The cost is tiny compared to what we experienced here."
The remaining errors were by election workers in the field, most of whom only work twice a year. Some of these are independently elected officials, and the county has limited authority over what they do or fail to do. Some of these officials decided to close their polling stations. This was unsanctioned and inexcusable. Some of them told voters to vote the opposite of who they wanted to elect even though no one in the county gave that advice. Two election workers from Hanover 4 incorrectly told voters that there would be a special election in the appellate retention race, though neither had authority from anyone to give such advice.
Could the county do a better job of training? Registrar Chris Commini told the elections commission last week that there is mandatory training before each election, but it's clear to me that more training is needed, especially before next year's Presidential.
Aside from Dertinger's acquiescence in the limited number of emergency ballots, I find little fault with his administration of this election. His resignation is intended to deflect some criticism away from McClure, who is ultimately responsible. Instead of doing so, it weakens him in many ways.
It emboldens his critics. As one reader observes, "McClure shows his true colors here. It could be said it was his 'failure' too. In my world the top guy always takes responsibility. That's true leadership." I'd much rather see a written report explaining what went wrong and what steps are being taken to prevent it from happening again.
It is now less likely that his rubber stamps (Zrinski, Lott, Kraft, Warren and Keegan) will remain that way. They have seen now that they are expendable.
It is now far less likely that a McClure pick will get the Council vacancy created when Zrinski becomes Controller. Instead of a McClure lemming like Bill McGee or Greg Zebrowski, Council is far more likely to select someone who would be independent and provide balance. Republican John Cusick or Democrat Deb Hunter are both good choices who would exalt good government over partisanship or blindly following McClure's agenda.
In his time as Executive, McClure has worked hard to undermine the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, has played a part in the rift between the county conservation district and is now fighting with Easton over a goofy proposed hydropower plant on the Lehigh Canal. Council members Lori Vargo Heffner and Ron Heckman, both of them Democrats, complain his administration refuses to talk to them.
On top of all this, McClure and the local Democratic party are at odds.
How many people can you afford to alienate before you start paying a price?
McClure first tried to downplay the election fiasco as a minor error. Nobody swallowed that bullshit burger. He now has accepted the resignation of his top administrator, hoping that ends things. It's instead an admission.
He has been a good Executive, but his chief flaws have been both an unwillingness to listen as well as a penchant for undermining anyone he perceives to be a threat.
If Republicans can get out of their own way, I doubt very much he wins a third term. Democratic and even Republican voters are motivated by woman's choice, which explains Democratic success on November 7. But Republican and even Democratic voters care about election integrity. You can't tell people to ignore the touch screen in favor of the paper ballot in one election and to ignore the paper ballot in favor of the touch screen in another.
