Nick Englesson to Remain on Ballot For MDJ (Updated)

Nick Englesson with Malta Ortiz and Olga Negron

In a ruling handed down late Tuesday afternoon, Judge Craig Dally has dismissed a nomination petition challenge against Bethlehem Attorney Nick Englesson, who is running for the Magisterial District Judgeship in Northeast Bethlehem, part of the south side and Freemansburg. Judge Dally's decision follows a lengthy hearing on March 17 in a case that was well-tried by Allentown Attorney Ron Clever and Bethlehem Attorney Vic Scomillio. Barring an appeal by rival candidate Jon Whittington through his proxies, Englesson will remain on the ballot.

The challenge against Englesson was premised primarily on his circulator affidavits. He executed 16 affidavits attesting that he had obtained the signatures to his nomination petition, but in fact, signatures were obtained by numerous other circulators. He attempted to cure this defect by having each circulator file an affidavit. Judge Dally stuck all signatures that Englesson failed to obtain himself.

During the hearing, Englesson frankly admitted that he failed to have his individual circulators execute an affidavit, calling it an "oversight." "There was nothing nefarious about it," he assured Judge Dally at least three times. "There was no intent to deceive anybody. Nobody was harmed by it and I had nothing to gain by it."

As finder of fact, Judge Dally concluded that "any error in the completion of the Circulator Affidavits was purely accidental, and not done for some fraudulent purpose." But following the dictates of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, he refused to accept any signatures that Englesson failed to obtain himself. Judge Dally also struck several signatures from people who previously signed the nomination petitions of other csndidates, as well as several signatures that were defective for other reasons.

In the end, Attorney Englesson was left with 121 valid signatures on his Republican petition and 111 good Democratic signatures. He exceeded the 100 minimum needed to get on the ballot.

Throughout this ordeal, Englesson has been besieged by anonymous comments on this blog, suggesting he be disbarred or charged with "purjury."

I felt bad for Nick, so before the hearing got started, I tried to calm him down.

"Nick, I just want you to know that being disbarred is not as bad as it's cracked up to be. I can teach you how to search titles."

"Go away!"

Later, during a break, I decided to comfort Nick again.

"Nick, I just want you to know that I'm sure Morganelli would seriously consider ARD if you apply."

"Stop!"

Later that night, I sent him an email telling him that I could help him get his passport renewed almost immediately.

He never answered.

At one point, Nick told me that before this challenge, only one person had ever questioned his integrity.

"Who?"

"You! You always were filing motions accusing me of prosecutorial misconduct."

"Well, prosecutorial misconduct is not really unethical, Nick."

The Whittington camp has hinted it intends to appeal. That's his right, and i understand him being upset. But it would be unwise. Other than this blog, there's been very little coverage of this challenge. If Whittington appeals, he is inviting more scrutiny. He will look like a bully and will almost certainly lose the appeal and his race.

Let the people decide, just as Judge Dally ruled.
 
(Blogger's Note: Originally published on 3/21/17 at 5:27 pm)

Freddy Lahovski Files For Magistrate in Northeast Bethlehem, Freemansburg

When I walked inside the elections office yesterday to be nosy about candidates filing nomination petitions, the man you see above was standing there, waiting for me. I thought he was holding a warrant for my arrest again, but it was a nomination petition. Fred Lahovski, the finest police officer I ever met, is running for magisterial district judge in Northeast Bethlehem and Freemansburg. He decided to run only as a Democrat.

Bethlehem attorney Nick Englesson, who I started with and who is well aware of my many flaws, filed his petition last week.

When I stepped outside to cool off, I ran into the guy you see above. That's Jon Whittington, who's also running for this judgeship. I asked if he was filing his papers.

"No, I have a warrant for you."

I'd ask Englesson to represent me but he knows me and knows I'm guilty as hell.

Nazareth Police Officer Fred Lahovski: Our Very Own Robocop!

A few weeks ago, I emerged from my bunker after sunset to get a new keyboard for my computer. As I barrelled down a Nazareth street, I noticed flashing red and blue lights in my rear view mirror. They were coming for me!

"Bad boy, bad boy, what you gonna' do? What you gonna' do when they come for you?"

As luck would have it, I had a burnt out headlight. The officer gave me ten days to get it fixed instead of citing me. My brother popped in a new one later that week and I stopped by the Nazareth Police Department so they could check his handiwork.

The police officer who inspected my Jeep is Fred Lahovski. He's part of Nazareth's professional new police force, operating under the able supervision of Chief Michael Sinclair. I've seen Fred at both Nazareth block parties, where he makes it a point to say hello to everyone. But beneath this friendly and seemingly casual exterior is a very dedicated professional. He and other Nazareth cops have actually been working cases on their own time, something very unusual these days.

Lahovski is the cop who once stepped in front of a speeding vehicle to save a child from getting run over by a drunk driver during a block party. He's the officer who once tackled a 32-year-old man who sat with a gun pointed to his head for five hours, threatening to shoot himself. This ill man still shot himself, but it was nonfatal.

I've previously tried to get Lahovski to talk to me about the improvements I've seen in Nazareth, but he told me he is just part of a team. His opinion is that the entire Nazareth police department should be commended.

I'm always so busy snarking the bad guys that I never pay attention to the many dedicated public servants out there.

When I showed Lahovski my Jeep, he noticed a number of Stoffa campaign signs in my jeep. I was planting them all over the place at the time.

"Are those Stoffa signs?" he asked.

Uh oh.

I started sweating, worried he might be investigating the culprit who had been taping Stoffa signs to the hoods of their cruisers. But he let me slide. Instead, he frankly admitted he had some troubles of his own as a youth. Two people helped him to turn his life around - Barbara and John Stoffa. In fact, he even worked for them briefly.

On Sunday night, Lahovski was one of two officers who whisked a 9 year-old Nazareth boy to safety as that boy's distraught father fired on state troopers. We know one of these troopers is now dead. But Lahovski and another trooper saved a life that night. The life of a boy the same age as my grandson. The Express Times correctly called him a local hero.

Lahovski is our very own robocop, one of the good guys. They don't get enough credit.