1) Peg Ferraro - everybody's mom - is far and away the best of this crop of candidates. As a matter of full disclosure, I must tell you that she and her late husband, Dominic, were close friends with my mom and dad. When they became ill, Peg often came down to Hellertown from Nazareth with all kinds of food.Peg, whose personal style is nonconfrontational, has nevertheless become a forceful voice. When Council voted to ask its Human Resources Director to resign, Peg refused to participate in the attempted assassination. "This is not in our purview and I feel this is inappropriate. I've been around here since 1989 and I think there have been more problems with Directors of Human Resources than any other job here. It's not an easy job and it's not easy to please everyone. I just feel this is inappropriate." Although she called a proposed $75,000 passenger rail study "visionary," she urged fellow Council members to wait. "I don't feel the timing is right. . . . We should hold off on this for a few months until we see that the economic stimulus package comes into being, if the financial markets get a little better, where our pension fund is. I just feel that we should hold off on this for three, four, five months." She urged council to hold off on trying to appoint a solicitor with only eight members, and was proved right.
Peg provides very candid responses to questions posed in The Express Times Voter's Guide. She supports the bi-county health department and believes that more drug and alcohol counseling will actually reduce county costs in the long run. As far as partisan bickering goes, she has always maintained that "[o]nce the election is over, all parties must forget labels and work together. In my years on County Council there have been years where differences of opinion were just that and not personal attacks."
2) John Cusick, County Council's workhorse. In his three years on council, Cusick has dedicated himself to county business. He attends more committee meetings than any other council member. He has used vacation days to attend County Commissioners Association of Pa (CCAP) meetings and even attends classes at the Academy for Excellence in County Government. The result has been a very informed council member.You can see this in the specific answers he provides to The Express Times Voter's Guide. He'd like to consolidate the Department of Human Services into one office building, preferably located in the City of Easton. He lobbies the state for adequate funding of mandated programs. He advocates using state contracts for purchases.
You can read more about Cusick, a 42 year-old schoolteacher from Williams Township, at his web page. Bi-partisan, he halted an executive campaign when he heard Stoffa was running.
3) Jane Mellert, the meek. "Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land." Last week, I made the mistake of telling Mellert she is too meek for the hardball politics of Northampton County Council. She glared at me and told me to look up the definition. I did and there's actually two. Meek is defined as "easily imposed on; submissive." But it's also defined as "showing patience and humility; gentle." I have a feeling that a fist of iron is inside her velvet glove.Mellert began attending county council meetings several months ago and even attends committee meetings. She obviously does her homework. She also maintains a detailed campaign blog detailing her twenty years of experience as both elected official and municipal employee in Plainfield Township.
Raised on a dairy farm, she should have no trouble dealing with the bullshit coming from Council.
Mellert has spent money for campaign signs.
4) Barb Thiery, the dark horse. Not much is known about Bushkill Township Planning Commissioner Barb Thiery. She's trying to change that with campaign signs. But in Bushkill Township, she owned and managed commercial and rental properties, supervising 38 employees. Here's what she tells The Express Times Voter's Guide:
"Very young in life I learned the value of earning and stretching a dollar. As a young married couple with 2 children there was just enough, and that was with multiple jobs between us. We simply did not buy what we could not pay for. It was a cash only time, and a no frills way of life, but I would not change a thing. Some years later we were able to purchase the first of many properties with our own money, a $15,000.00 retirement fund. It was a commercial building, purchased for me to operate my business. Within a few months my husband opened our second business. Through proper planning and common sense spending, I learned to make a budget work for me. Within a few years, between growing the business to 38 employees and making smart and timely purchases we ended up with a total of 9 commercials rentals, 11 apartments and 2 large warehouses. After 20 years we were debt free and retired. I have the skills needed to work through a budget. I would be a fresh addition to Council."
I agree.
5) Bruce Gilbert, the MBA. Bruce is a former player on a Wayne Grube championship football team and successful banking executive. He would be Northampton County's first ever black council member. But the only times I've ever seen him are the two times he applied for appointments to council vacancies.
Ive been told that Gilbert is possibly the most qualified of all the candidates, Democrat or Republican. But he sure is a lousy politician. He's made no effort to tell the community about himself. He also failed to participate in The Express Times Voter's Guide. He does provide some details to the LWV.
6) Tom Dietrich, the Hellertonian who unsuccessfully challenged Ann "Nice Guys Finish Last" McHale last year, is in the fray again. He has a web page, but I haven't seen him at a council meeting for some time. He tells the LWV he'd like to eradicate the "unprofessional conduct" in county government with better customer service and professional responsibility. Like Gilbert, he failed to participate in The Express Times Voter's Guide. Unlike Gilbert, he has no MBA.
