John Brown's Spotty Voting Record

John Stoffa never missed elections; John Brown
never bothered.   

Northampton County Executive John Brown likes to portray himself as Captain Corporate America, a man who devoted his business career to saving failed businesses. He gave all that up for us. But as I explained to you on Friday, the truth is much different. Thanks to a deposition of John Brown himself, taken in 2014, I can tell you that he saved no corporations. He mostly worked in what I would call lower or middle management. He did manage to get fired twice, and actually spent a year in customer service at Majestic Athletic Wear, where the only job requirement is a high school diploma. At the last place he worked, he was laid off in 2008 when the Great Recession hit. He went into the public sector because he needed a job. He had no interest in politics or government, and that is borne out by his very spotty voting record.

In his 2014 deposition, he was asked about his entry into politics.

Q. How did you get involved in politics?
     A. Decided to run for mayor and that was my introduction to politics.
Q. Had you been actively involved in politics previously?
     A. No.
Q. Are you a registered Republican?
     A. Yes.
Q. When did you register as a Republican?
     A. I don't know specifically.
Q. Approximately?
     A. Within the last 10, 15 years.
Q. Prior to that time were you registered?
     A. I believe I was registered independent.

From his deposition, we know that Brown graduated from high school in 1979 and from college in 1983. He should have registered to vote sometime in that period. But Northampton County's voting records show that he waited until October 3, 1995, before doing so. That's 12 years after his college graduation.

Brown said he registered as a Republican 10-15 years ago, and prior to that, was an Independent. The elections records show that he registered 22 years ago, and was always a Republican.

After registering to vote in 1995, he failed to show up at the polls and vote in the municipal races that year. Nor did he vote in the 1996 elections in which incumbent Bill Clinton was re-elected. He also skipped the 1997 municipal race in which Robert Janus was elected Mayor of Bangor. Two years later, Janus was arrested and eventually pleaded guilty in a drug sting in which he was accused of selling cocaine from a bathroom in the Sportsman's Bar and tipping off dealers.

A former Bangor Mayor, Duane Miller, said that "the townspeople abdicated their responsibility" in that election, and Brown was certainly one of them.

After being registered to vote in 1995, Brown cast his first vote in the 1999 municipal primary. But he failed to follow through and vote in the general election that year.

He also skipped the municipal elections completely in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007.

He only began voting regularly in 2009, when he himself decided to run for Mayor in Bangor.

He needed a job.

The conduct of elections is a county responsibility. He now administers an office he routinely ignored when he was in the private sector.

Prior executives have always taken this responsibility very seriously. One of Gerald "Jerry" Seyfried's proudest moments was when he and his lovely wife were honored for voting for 50 years straight. Glenn Reibman and John Stoffa have both received this honor. When he was Executive, John Stoffa often conducted ceremonies to honor 50-year voters.

Democracy, after all, is no spectator sport.

While I was at it, I checked the voting records of Lamont McClure and the candidates for County Council. All but one are impeccable. Bill McGee, for example, has voted in every election without fail since he first registered in Northampton County in 1996.

One Council candidate, solar panel salesperson and author Tara Zrnski, has a spotty voting record.  She registered to vote in 2000, but has only voted 11 times. She skipped the municipal elections in 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013. That's right. She never cast a vote in the races in which John Brown was elected over John Callahan.

It is difficult for either Brown or Zrnski to claim they care about county issues when they've missed most of the elections.