Misdiagnoses of Child Abuse Voiced at NorCo Council - "All of this Seems so Bizarre"

Dr. Debra Ersenio-Jenssen, a child abuse pediatrics specialist employed at Lehigh Valley Health Network, was the subject of attacks from numerous families at last night's meeting of Northampton County Council. They themselves were the victims of unfounded claims of child abuse over the past several years. In public comments that went on for nearly three hours, they detailed repeated misdiagnoses of child abuse. Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley urged that, at the very least, a county should seek a second opinion before separating a child from his or her family. 

To his credit, Council President Kerry Myers ensured everyone got five minutes. He called it the "toughest three hours I had to sit through in my entire life." On a hot mike during a recess, Council member Ron Heckman told Solicitor Chris Spadoni, "All of this seems so bizarre." It is. From what I understand, the last thing that Children, Youth and Families wants to do is remove a child from his or her home. 

In his Executive report, Lamont McClure called the subject "complicated," but acknowledged you have to feel empathy for the "pain and real trauma" he heard.      

I'd need to hear a lot more before making any judgment. 

In county business, County Council also heard from the public on Council member John Goffredo's proposed ordinance to exempt Lehigh and Northampton County contractors from a responsible contractor ordinance. 

Similar proposed responsible contractor ordinances in Bethlehem and Allentown have been rejected. 

Public Works Director Mike Emili told County Council that, contrary to what certainly seems to be the case, there has been no decrease in the number of bids on a project since the responsible contractor ordinance was adopted. 

Goffredo argued that 88% of the local workforce is ineligible to bid on a county job because of the responsible contractor ordinance. He also argued that a performance bond is a contractor's guarantee. This was disputed by Administrator Charles Dertinger. 

Council member Kevin Lott, himself a former union agent, claimed he was threatened by Associated Building Contractors with boycotts when the responsible contractor ordinance was originally considered by Council in 2018. He thanked them for not threatening him this time. Lott kept calling for a vote, trying to exclude Goffredo from speaking. 

Goffredo said his family has been in construction for four generations, but takes it personally when nonunion tradesmen are excluded from county work. He argued this ordinance is unfair to the taxpayer. Goffredo also offered an amendment to the ordinance that would still require prevailing wage and OSHA training. Council member Lori Vargo Heffner agreed to second Goffredo's amendment, which was adopted over the objections of Lott, Council member Tara Zrinski and Council member Ron Heckman. 

Heckman said he still supports the responsible contractor ordinance, but believes that Goffredo has a point concerning the need to use local labor. He said that the county also has a local labor ordinance, and wonders whether there is a conflict. He also suggested that smaller projects should probably be open to everyone. 

Heffner stated she heard no argument to persuade her that apprenticeship programs are unnecessary.  But she is concerned about the recent dearth of bids on county projects. 

Council member John Cusick stated he supported the original responsible contractor ordinance because the minimum threshold was $250,000 and it provided for an alternative apprentice program. He opposed the 2020 revision, which lowered the project threshold to $100,000 and made the apprentice program mandatory. 

When the final vote was tallied, Goffredo's proposed ordinance failed, 6-3. It was supported by Goffredo, Council member John Brown and Council member Tom Giovanni. It was opposed by Council members Ron Heckman, Lori Vargo Heffner, Kerry Myers, Kevin Lott, Tara Zrinski and John Cusick.  

NorCo Council Poised to Consider Its Responsible Contractor Ordinance

Northampton County Council must anticipate a lot of visitors tonight. Its regularly scheduled meeting will be conducted in Courtroom One instead of the Council chambers. I doubt people are coming to hear the annual presentation from the external auditor. I suspect they want to weigh in on proposed changes to the responsible contractor ordinance sponsored by Council member John Goffredo. 

In 2018, County Council adopted what is known as a "responsible contract ordinance" for its own public works projects valued at over $250,000. Bidders on these projects were required to submit a "responsible contractor certificate" that included proof that it has participated in a Class A Apprenticeship program for the past five years. In 2020, this requirement was tightened to make it applicable to all public works projects over $100,000. 

The argument for this ordinance is that it ensures that all public construction and maintenance projects are performed by responsible firms with the expertise to perform on time and under budget. The argument against it is that most nonunion contractors have no such apprenticeship program. But some do. 

In the five years since this ordinance was originally adopted, Northampton County's biggest public works project was the design and construction of the forensic center on Gracedale's campus. According to Executive Lamont McClure, several nonunion contractors participated.

But it's also true that in the five years since this ordinance was adopted, the county has had numerous smaller public works projects with one or no bids at all. 

In July, County Council was a proposed $340,000 contract with Wilmer R Schultz, Inc. a union general contractor located in Emmaus. The project was repairs to the courthouse steps as well as the retaining wall on 7th Street. According to Public Works Director Michael Emili, this proposal had gone out to bid at least twice. He received only one bid from Schultz, and after competitive negotiation with the sole bidder, he was able to knock down the price tag by $34,000.

Just a few months before this, the County received no bids at all for the plumbing of a bathroom replacement project at a county park. It was forced to seek out a union plumber located in Reading.

Council member Kevin Lott, himself a former union agent, dismissed concerns about the $340,000 contract with Schultz. "$340,000 on a commercial job is a small job," he said. "It's very busy in the LV right now."

If a $340,000 commercial job is considered small, then requiring prospective bidders to have Class A apprenticeship programs just limits the number of potential bidders. If a contractor can establish that his workers have technical school backgrounds or several years of on-the-job training, that should suffice for smaller jobs. 

I understand the rationale for a responsible contractor ordinance, but it is actually irresponsible for a county to erect so many hurdles as to make it nearly impossible to secure competitive bids on its own projects? How does this serve the taxpayer who foots the bill?

Goffredo's proposal would exempt all Lehigh and Northampton County contractors from the responsible contractor ordinance. I doubt that will fly. What might get five votes is a responsible contractor ordinance that only applies to larger projects like the forensic center. 

According to former union agent Lott, a $340,000 commercial job is small. A responsible county council should trigger a responsible contractor ordinance for major projects, not an outhouse at a county park.  

I doubt very much that Goffredo will be successful. There may be a gift ban, but most Democratic Council members as well as Executive McClure rely heavily on union support to fund their campaigns. 

I support unions. People like to say they gave us the 40-hour work week. That souns nice, but what unions really did is make working conditions safer. My grandfather lost two fingers in a cola mine where he worked as a little boy. Unions put a stop to this misuse of child labor. So yes, I support an ordinance designed to give them edge. But it should only apply to larger projects. If they were bidding on smaller projects, I'd want the ordinanceto remain in place as is. But we shouldn't need to go to reading to get a union plumber on a small job.

Goffredo Proposes Exempting Local Contractors and Subs From Responsible Contractor Ordinance

In 2018, Northampton County Council adopted a Responsible Contactor Ordinance (RCO) that required apprenticeship programs from contactors and subcontractors who do major projects for the county. In 2020, it amended its RCO to make it applicable to projects as low as $100,000.  After seeing several instances in which there was only one or no bids for a project, Council member John Goffredo has proposed a change that will exempt Lehigh and Northampton County contractors and subs. 

Former Council member Bill McGee, who is also a union agent, spoke against this change during public comment. He told Council that OSHA and apprenticeship training is "paramount" in the construction industry. He noted it is a matter of safety. He indicated that there are more deaths in the construction industry than in any other. 

Executive Lamont McClure also spoke against changing the RCO. He noted that the county's forensic center, which was built on time and under budget, included nonunion contractors who had apprenticeship programs.  

Goffredo said all contractors and subcontractors post bonds and receive no payments unless the work is done responsibly. He added that the current RCO is unfair to businesses who pay taxes in Northampton County but are denied the opportunity to bid. 

With respect to the paucity in bods for county work, McClure stated that for five years prior to the RCO, 55% of county projects had multiple bids. In the five years following adoption of the RCO, 60% of county projects have had multiple bidders. He noted that the number of bidders increse with the size of a project. "That's just a fact of life." 

Should NorCo Council Review Its Responsible Contractor Ordinance?

John Cusick

Is Northampton County's Responsible Contractor Ordinance irresponsible?  Some members of County Council appear to think so. Since its enactment, a pattern has emerged in which the county is getting very few bids on construction projects. This problem was on display at last week's July 20 County Council meeting. 

At issue was a proposed $340,000 contract with Wilmer R Schultz, Inc. a union general contractor located in Emmaus. The project was repairs to the courthouse steps as well as the retaining wall on 7th Street. According to Public Works Director Michael Emili, this proposal had gone out to bid at least twice. He received only one bid from Schultz, and after competitive negotiation with the sole bidder, he was able to knock down the price tag by $34,000,  

This dearth of bids for public works projects started to become a pattern after Council's adoption, in 2018, of a "responsible contractor ordinance." It requires all contractors who are bidding on county contracts valued at or over $250,000 to have in place a Class A apprenticeship program for each craft or trade employed. 

This ordinance was adopted despite claims that it would render nonunion companies ineligible to bid on future work. Their employees learn their craft through on-the-job training or a technical school instead of an apprenticeship that is more common in the trade unions.  None union contractors argued that the ordinance, if adopted, would limit the labor pool and favor unions. 

Then County Council member Bill McGee, a union agent who sponsored the ordinance, countered that this law would ensure that county work is done by skilled workers and ultimately save the county money. 

A federal lawsuit attacking this ordinance failed because, as Judge Edward Smith observed, there was a rational basis - worker safety - for requiring an apprenticeship program.   

Last October, the County received no bids at all for the plumbing of a bathroom replacement project at a county park. It was forced to seek out a union plumber located in Reading.   

Kevin Lott

Council member Kevin Lott, himself a former union agent, dismissed concerns about the $340,000 contract with Schultz.  "$340,000 on a commercial job is a small job," he said. "It's very busy in the LV right now."

Public Works Director Emili is unable to explain why the county is receiving so few bids. "I don't know what contributed to it in this particular case," he said. "It's a fairly substantial project. It was advertised for over 30 days. I know procurement does an excellent job of notifying contractors whenever these projects do get posted ... . "

Council member John Cusick agreed that these repairs are needed, but "[t]he lack of a competitive bid process is what troubles me, so I'll be voting No." Council member John Goffredo agreed with Cusick. "[W]e need to be looking for answers for why we're not getting competitive bids, and I think that looking at the Responsible Contractors Ordinance might be one of those avenues."

Cusick, Goffredo and Council member John Brown voted No to this contract. The other six Council members - Lori Vargo Heffner, Kerry Myers, Tom Giovanni, Ron Heckman, Kevin Lott and Tara Zrinski voted Yes. 

If $340,000 is a small amount for a public works project, as Lott asserted, perhaps the county should revise the Responsible Contractor Ordinance to restrict its application to larger contracts.