NorCo Says Good-Bye to Tom Harp

Tom Harp

Though the May 1 meeting of Northampton County Council was a quick one, Ken Kraft stopped to recognized Director of Administration Tom Harp, who is retiring after five years with the County.

Harp was the driving force behind a state-of-the-art Archives building, the Citizens' Academy and the move into a centralized human services building.

"It's been a pleasure working with all of you," noted Harp, noting that Northampton County "is where I grew up, where I went to school. My heart is here in the County."

Tom grew up in Bethlehem, graduating from Liberty ('67) and Moravian ('71). After that, he started a long and distinguished career in human services. He began by working with the developmentally disabled in White Haven. During his 8 years there, he picked up a Master's degree in Counseling from the University of Scranton.

Tom returned to the Lehigh Valley as a counselor in Allentown's Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, helping people with disabilities find work. He was promoted to Supervisor and eventually became the District Administrator, overseeing a staff of 35 people in four different counties. He ended his 35 years in human services as the state's bureau director.

Over this time, Tom got to know John Stoffa, who then headed Human Services in both Northampton and Lehigh County. Stoffa recruited him to join the Allentown Kiwanas, which does a lot of work for downtown Allentown kids with youth soccer, the Boys and Girls Club, Salvation Army and some arts groups. Once retired, Tom intensified his work with the Kiwanis and even joined the board at the LV Center for Independent Living.

Tom initially accepted a rather low-paying job as Deputy Director to help his friend, John Stoffa. He took over as Director in 2011, and stayed on to assist Executive John Brown in his early days.

Harp Resigns as NorCo Director of Administration

I had predicted that Northampton County Director Tom Harp would be canned on March 15, right around the time that the Centralized Human Services building was dedicated.

"Beware the Ides of March!" I would warn him.

But he lasted a little longer. He is resigning, effective May 2. In a letter to Executive John Brown, Harp states, "I was pleased to be able to complete the very important Human Services Building project, and to see that facility become fully operational."

In a memo to Council, Brown praises Harp. "He has done an excellent job with the Human Services building and managing the closure of the Bechtel and Wolf facilities. His support and guidance will be missed."

Harp is an avid baseball fan and is resigning in time to watch his grandson play.

Tom Harp Appointed Acting Director of Administration

From Northampton County Executive John Stoffa: "In view of John Conklin's departure, I am appointing Tom Harp as Acting Director of Administration effective Tuesday, November 1, 2011"

Who is Tom Harp? I wrote about Tom in 2009, and will repost an excerpt here.

He's a grandfather, a very proud one, too. When I walked into his office yesterday, the first thing he did was show me two pictures of his 8 year-old grandson, a heavy hitter in Catty, who is missing one of his front teeth. That makes him look even tougher. Tom throws little plastic golf balls at his grandson, which this slugger nails with a fierce-looking, orange-colored bat. He's playing Fall ball this year.

Tom grew up in Bethlehem, graduating from Liberty ('67) and Moravian ('71). After that, he started a long and distinguished career in human services. He began by working with the developmentally disabled in White Haven. During his 8 years there, he picked up a Master's degree in Counseling from the University of Scranton.

Tom returned to the Lehigh Valley as a counselor in Allentown's Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, helping people with disabilities find work. He was promoted to Supervisor and eventually became the District Administrator, overseeing a staff of 35 people in four different counties. He ended his 35 years in human services as the state's bureau director.

Over this time, Tom got to know Stoffa, who then headed Human Services in both Northampton and Lehigh County. Stoffa recruited him to join the Allentown Kiwanas, which does a lot of work for downtown Allebntown kids with youth soccer, the Boys and Girls Club, Salvation Army and some arts groups. Once retired, Tom intensified his work with the Kiwanis and even joined the board at the LV Center for Independent Living.

Stoffa, who had avoided filling the Deputy Director of Administration position in an effort to save the county some money, soon found that he and his staff were overwhelmed. So he ended up recruiting Tom again, but this time to work for Northampton County. Tom accepted a rather low-paying job to help a friend, and this is how he describes Stoffa. "He has the qualities an elected official should have. He's honest. He's a straight shooter. He cares about people. He's very level-headed. He thinks things out. You are attracted to people you can respect."

So just what does Tom do at his do-nothing job?

* He's the county's risk loss coordinator. That eats up half of his time, and the county gets a $8000 annual reduction in its liability policy as a result. He also helps prepare the Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for all fourteen insurance policies.

* He's the county's point man for safety, methodically attacking health and safety priorities. He is currently engineering a program to get county workers certified in CPR and the use of a defibrillator. He's also formulating an EMS emergency action plan.

* He writes the county newsletter, which is only distributed internally for now. He tells me a newsletter may soon be made available for the general public, published on the county's web page.

* He is the county's liaison with its thirty-eight municipalities and four Councils of Government (COG). He attends all the COG meetings, which are conducted after hours.

* He is the county's Act 32 coordinator, and is currently setting up the initial meeting for the appointment of a single tax collector.

* He is the county's conduit on the Bachmann Publick House, the county's oldest building. Currently, he is coordinating a transfer of this treasure to the Northampton County Historical Society and Lafayette College.

* Naturally, with his background, he's the county's disability specialist, and is working on a way to make it easier for the disabled to access the courthouse.

* He drafts and researches the issues for county proclamations.

* He initiated and administers the county's prescription drug program.

* He prepared and regularly updates a Directory of County Services.

* He fills in for Stoffa at meetings the Executive is unable to attend.

One thing Tom is not is political. "I don't want to be part of that," he tells me. Clearly, the County is getting its money worth from this guy, described by John Stoffa as a "joy" to be around. If this is an example of cronyism, we could use a few more just like him. He's somebody's grandfather. He's here to help. He works hard. The anonymous shots Tom gets here are totally out of line.

Meet Northampton County's Tom Harp

From time to time, Deputy Northampton County Administrator Tom Harp is attacked on this blog as a John Stoffa crony, a do-nothing administrator who is only here because of his friendship with the county executive. These complaints are always posted anonymously. But they sound suspiciosuly like the rants I've already heard from a bitter former Reibman administrator, Bob Daday.

Daday hates Stoffa. On election night, he submitted a resignation letter to then Exec Glenn Reibman, claiming his "principles, values and ethics" would be incompatible with someone like Stoffa. But guess what? If he quit, he'd be ineligible for unemployment. So right before Stoffa came on board, Daday persuaded Reibman to "fire" him. When Stoffa discovered Daday's letter, he challenged the unemployment.

Daday had a radio show at the time, and was already lashing out regularly at Stoffa, Ron Angle, and for reasons that still elude me, Morning Call columnist Bill White. When the unemployment flap hit the papers, Daday quickly left his radio show, claiming he would be spending all his time at Attorney John Karoly's office. He was embarrassed.

But the rants have continued here. Always anonymous. Always mean-spirited. Often blatant fabrications. For all I know, these slams could be the work of someone else. But I find it hard to believe more than one person could be that goofy. A target of these ill-tempered arrows is Tom Harp. I owe it to him to set the record straight.

He's a grandfather, a very proud one, too. When I walked into his office yesterday, the first thing he did was show me two pictures of his 8 year-old grandson, a heavy hitter in Catty, who is missing one of his front teeth. That makes him look even tougher. Tom throws little plastic golf balls at his grandson, which this slugger nails with a fierce-looking, orange-colored bat. He's playing Fall ball this year.

Tom grew up in Bethlehem, graduating from Liberty ('67) and Moravian ('71). After that, he started a long and distinguished career in human services. He began by working with the developmentally disabled in White Haven. During his 8 years there, he picked up a Master's degree in Counseling from the University of Scranton.

Tom returned to the Lehigh Valley as a counselor in Allentown's Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, helping people with disabilities find work. He was promoted to Supervisor and eventually became the District Administrator, overseeing a staff of 35 people in four different counties. He ended his 35 years in human services as the state's bureau director.

Over this time, Tom got to know Stoffa, who then headed Human Services in both Northampton and Lehigh County. Stoffa recruited him to join the Allentown Kiwanis, which does a lot of work for downtown Allebntown kids with youth soccer, the Boys and Girls Club, Salvation Army and some arts groups. Once retired, Tom intensified his work with the Kiwanis and even joined the board at the LV Center for Independent Living.

Stoffa, who had avoided filling the Deputy Director of Administration position in an effort to save the county some money, soon found that he and his staff were overwhelmed. So he ended up recruiting Tom again, but this time to work for Northampton County. Tom accepted a rather low-paying job to help a friend, and this is how he describes Stoffa. "He has the qualities an elected official should have. He's honest. He's a straight shooter. He cares about people. He's very level-headed. He thinks things out. You are attracted to people you can respect."

So just what does Tom do at his do-nothing job?

* He's the county's risk loss coordinator. That eats up half of his time, and the county gets a $8000 annual reduction in its liability policy as a result. He also helps prepare the Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for all fourteen insurance policies.

* He's the county's point man for safety, methodically attacking health and safety priorities. He is currently engineering a program to get county workers certified in CPR and the use of a defibrillator. He's also formulating an EMS emergency action plan.

* He writes the county newsletter, which is only distributed internally for now. He tells me a newsletter may soon be made available for the general public, published on the county's web page.

* He is the county's liaison with its thirty-eight municipalities and four Councils of Government (COG). He attends all the COG meetings, which are conducted after hours.

* He is the county's Act 32 coordinator, and is currently setting up the initial meeting for the appointment of a single tax collector.

* He is the county's conduit on the Bachmann Publick House, the county's oldest building. Currently, he is coordinating a transfer of this treasure to the Northampton County Historical Society and Lafayette College.

* Naturally, with his background, he's the county's disability specialist, and is working on a way to make it easier for the disabled to access the courthouse.

* He drafts and researches the issues for county proclamations.

* He initiated and administers the county's prescription drug program.

* He prepared and regularly updates a Directory of County Services.

* He fills in for Stoffa at meetings the Executive is unable to attend.

One thing Tom is not is political. "I don't want to be part of that," he tells me. Clearly, the County is getting its money worth from this guy, described by John Stoffa as a "joy" to be around. If this is an example of cronyism, we could use a few more just like him. He's somebody's grandfather. He's here to help. He works hard. The anonymous shots Tom gets here are totally out of line.