Pinsley Drops Out of Congressional Race, Will Seek State Senate Seat Instead

Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley, who was one of seven candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for the Pa 7 Congressional seat, has dropped out of the race. He's now running for the state senate instead. He's claiming he's the strongest possible candidate to take on incumbent Jarrett Coleman.

I'd say he's the weakest and has immeasurably hurt himself by abandoning one race to seek what he perceives to be a lower hanging fruit. 

Does LC's New Exec, Aided by Controller and Congressional Wannabe, Really Want to End Human Trafficking Taskforce?

When he was running for Lehigh County Exec, Josh Siegel attempted to portray himself as a moderate who has matured and who no longer participates in "Fuck the Police" rallies and who no longer doxes mayors. Now that he's in office, he's dropped the charade. He and his Bobbsey twin, Lehigh County Controller and Congressional candidate Mark Pinsley, called a press conference to announce that they were evicting ICE from office space in a Lehigh County building. Siegel said he was evicting them and "would not accept their blood money." Pinsley crowed, "We're going to deport ICE." Sounds good. I don't like ICE myself. Except what these two maroons are really doing is putting an end to a task force that investigates human trafficking out of those county offices. 

These are the same two dumbasses who wanted to give you both an increased sales tax and a county income tax.    

Commissioner Ron Beitler, unlike either Siegel or his sidekick, offers this insight into what really is going on.

Lehigh County was in the news today following a hastily assembled press event by the County Controller. Commissioners were notified only shortly before it occurred.

Before I get into what happened, I want to be clear about where I am coming from. I consider myself politically independent. I do not operate with a team mentality and I believe that shows in my posts. I try to start with 2 things. First, a factual foundation for decision making. Second, advocacy for what I believe is in the best interest of Lehigh County. Period. That approach does not always fit neatly into partisan boxes.

Today, the Controller and County Executive called for the immediate eviction of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from county owned office space in Allentown, asserting that a federal agency has occupied the space for years without a fully executed lease or rent payments.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. 𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗶𝘀 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲.

A memorandum of understanding was signed by Homeland Security Investigations on October 31, 2022. It was passed unanimously by a Democrat majority and signed into law by a Democrat executive. This was before the current political environment surrounding immigration enforcement.

The intent was for the office to work closely with the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office and local law enforcement, particularly on investigations involving human trafficking and other serious crimes. Much of this productive collaboration has been driven by our world class County Regional Intelligence Center.

Today, nothing has changed with the scope of work occurring in that office space. It remains a human trafficking task force. Critically important work. 𝗜𝗧 𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗜𝗖𝗘.

How do I know this? I picked up the phone and called the District Attorney and asked. Apparently neither the Controller nor the County Executive took the time to do the same. That is disappointing. Our District Attorney, who is well respected across the aisle, confirmed that the original intent of the agreement is being fulfilled and that the work being done there is exactly what it is supposed to be.

𝗦𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲?

There is a legitimate issue that needs to be addressed. The lease and payment process stalled due to unresolved signature authority issues on the DHS side, which caused the MOU and subsequent lease to languish in the County Department of Law. That happens. Anyone who has dealt with intergovernmental agreements knows these issues can take time to resolve. This was a bureaucratic issue stemming on the fed side. DHS has indicated an intent to pay outstanding amounts once a fully executed agreement is in place. 𝗜 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘀𝗼.

𝗪𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗟𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘆. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵.

This situation is being framed as something it is not. What we are dealing with is a federal bureaucratic failure and a stalled lease process, NOT an ICE operation in a county building and NOT a change in the work being done in that space. Conflating the two misleads residents and undermines trust in county government.

We deserve better than press release driven opportunism. We owe residents facts, coordination among elected officials, and decisions rooted in those facts rather than political theater. In today’s environment, careless implications about what is happening inside county facilities, especially when untrue, can inflame tensions and put people at risk.

Furthermore evicting the DHS from this county building is NOT evicting ICE (they aren't operating out of the building). It is evicting a critically important human trafficking task force. To think politicians would put that relationship at risk to score political points is.... well sad. I can't think of another way to put it. This whole thing is sad.

I don't do theater. Above is my understanding of this issue.

What questions do you have? I will do my best to answer them.

***𝘛𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘕𝘖𝘛 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘐𝘊𝘌. 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭***

Readers of this blog know I think ICE is totally out of control. Just today, I viewed a news account about off-duty police officers who are American citizens being targeted by ICE in the Minneapolis area simply because of their skin color. 

But leave it to Siegel and Pinsley to make ICE look good.  

Pinsley Joins Increasingly Crowded Pa. 7 Congressional Race

According to several news outlets, Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley has announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination in the Pa.-7 Congressional race. His Statement of Candidacy was filed with the FEC on July 30. 

He's got company, including NorCo County Exec Lamont McClure, Susan Wild puppet Carol Obando-Derstine, and Republican-turned Democrat Ryan Croswell, who resided in D.C. until he was urged to run. 

Pinsley is a poster boy for what is wrong with Democrats. He's a blatant opportunist. No sooner was he elected South Whitehall Tp Commissioner than he announced he was running against Pat Browne in a State Senate race. Undaunted after losing, he took on Lehigh County Controller Glenn Eckhart in the next election cycle and knocked him off. As Controller, he proposed both an increase in sales tax in Lehigh County as well as an income tax that would hurt low-income families that work multiple jobs just to put food on the table. He called for UN observers in the 2020 presidential election, He also revealed his true feelings about Allentown and Bethlehem when he objected to them being combined as part of redistricting. "We don't need another ghetto," he said. Well, we don't need Pinsley. While running for re-election as Lehigh County Controller, he told donors he was running for state auditor general. He did and he lost  Then he started telling donors he wanted to run for the US Senate, but appears to have put that off for a seat in the House.  

The most offensive thing about him was his use of families accused of child abuse as political props. He paraded them before both Northampton County Council and Lehigh County's Board of Comm's with unproven claims of misdiagnoses of child abuse. His claims were completely contrary to the philosophy of the human services departments in both counties, which will only separate children from their family as a last resort, and with due process.  His actions solved nothing, but he did get a $50,000 campaign donation from the lawyer who filed a class action on behalf of families claiming they were wrongly accused of child abuse. Both LehiCo and NorCo have been dismissed as Defendants in that matter. 

He's never shied away from using his public office to play politics. Most recently, he did that with a thinly disguised political rally disguised as a "town hall" to discuss planned federal cuts to Medicaid on a county level. 

I still believe that of all candidates on the left or the right, the person best suited for Congress was John Morganelli, a true centrist. He's unfortunately done with politics. Lamont McClure has been his protege. 

Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley Hosts Political Rally Disguised as Educational Town Hall

Lehigh County Controller Mrk Pinsley has never failed to use his office for political purposes. He did it when he waded into Lehigh County's jail system with misleading information about the money charged for phone calls. He did it again when he and Exec wannabe Josh Siegel suggested a sales and county income tax double whammy to fund the "creative economy," whatever that is. And yet again when, like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, he marched parents into both counties to claim they are victims of wrongful child abuse claims.  He's learned nothing from his misjudgment. Yesterday, he hosted what was supposed to be a town hall at Lehigh County's meeting room to discuss the possible impacts of federal spending cuts, even though no one knows what the hell they are. What was billed as an educational town hall was actually a political rally. That's according to my brother Mike O'Hare, an evil Republican, who happened to attend. I dislike Trump and his policies just about as much as Pinsley, but believe government resources should be used for government, not politics. 

Here's my brother's report: 

Lehigh County controller Mark Pinsley held a "Town Hall" yesterday to discuss the effects of Federal Government budget negotiations on Medicaid-at the County level.

After 45 minutes of Trump/Mackenzie bashing, he publicly admitted that he had no real or concrete information about any budget cuts. 

Mr Pinsley did have some good and interesting information about county operations, but his presentation was more of a campaign rally than a town hall. It was clearly partisan. 

Even worse was the clearly biased presentation by Mr. Dwayne J Heisler from Penn Policy. He spent time talking about the 2017 "tax scam" and handing out flyers about "Trump's giveaway to corporations and the ultra-rich". 

There would certainly be no problem with this event if it was held in a non government location, but this was held on a workday in the public hearing room of the Lehigh County Government Center. Wrong!

There were handouts, room setup/ teardown, and A/V support all provided at county expense. Very Wrong!  Maybe the controller should investigate himself. 

Does the County executive know what's going on in the government center? Seems like he's AWOL. 

Mr. Pinsley, controller, promised more "town halls". If so, he should stop all the partisan rhetoric or move them to a non government location. 

While Seeking Re-election as Controller, Pinsley Tells Donors He's Running For Auditor General.

Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley recently paraded a large group of parents before Lehigh County's Board of Commissioners to claim that they were all victims of unfounded claims of child abuse. What that has to do with his job as Controller is anybody's guess, but it made headlines. He generated so much publicity that he took his show on the road to Northampton County Council as well, where he generated even more publicity.  There is little doubt in my mind that Pinsely was using these people to advance his re-election campaign against Bob Smith. One mental health professional told me he basically forced these people to go through their trauma all over again, and did it twice. But that's what I'd expect from someone who really should have been a juggler. No sooner was he elected to a township office that he was off an running for the state senate. 

Now he's doing it again.  While running for re-election as Controller, he's texting potential donors to alert them that he's now running for Auditor General as well. 

Yes, this is the same guy who wanted Lehigh County to add a 1% sales tax as well as a county income tax to fund the arts.