Last month's meeting of Northampton County Council's governance committee was a doozy. Council member Ron Heckman acted as though he is Council Solicitor Chris Spadoni. And Spadoni acted as though he was Ron Heckman. Heckman chimed on on the law. Spadoni initiated a policy discussion on a government study commission, which is the nuclear option for any home rule government. neither knoew what he was talking about.
Wannabe Solicitor Heckman incorrectly told Council member Tara Zrinski that any violation of a proposed gift ban by a Council member could result in removal. Real Solicitor Spadoni was worse. He correctly advised Council that recommendations of a government study commission must go directly to the people. Then 30 seconds later, he reversed himself and incorrectly said County Council could pick and choose what to send to voters. It was one of the worst meetings I've ever witnessed among many bad meetings of that august institution.
True, it lacked the drams of the near fistfight that once occurred between former Council members Ron Angle and Charles Dertinger. It lacked the panache of Administrator Jim Hickey, who could tell Angle and even a common pleas judge to go f--- himself during breaks in meetings. What made it one of the worst meetings of County Council that I ever witnessed was the complete confusion displayed by Council members and Solicitor alike. Much of this was the result of Chairman Lori Vargo Heffner's desire to cover too many serious topics in one meeting. The rest of it was the result of the distracting and misinformed verbosity displayed by Heckman. mostly in complaint about Executive Lamont McClure's gift ban ordinance.
Vargo-Heffner kicked things off by complaining she needed a pay study progress report and wanted to ask questions she had every opportunity to ask when the vendor appeared, in person, to explain what was happening.
From there it went to Lamont McClure's proposed gift ban, which Heckman really despises because it might interfere with him getting free ice cream. After that, Council member John Cusick proposed a change in the way vacancies are filled among elected officials. There was practically no discussion at all on the subject of term limits for all elected officials save the DA, yet that appeared the very next day as a proposed ordinance. Finally they discussed whether the Sheriff should be elected, which requires a government study commission. Spadoni said he'd need to research that question, although it'sbeen answered several times over the past few years.
Northampton County Council's governance committee is set to meet again today. After all the confusion last month, you'd think they'd trim the agenda to a few items that deserve thorough discussion. Nope. Once again, we're going to have a discussion of the proposed gift ban, term limits for all elected officials save the DA, a home rule charter study and whether the Sheriff should be elected or appointed.
These are all important topics. They each deserve their own separate meeting.
Vargo-Heffner likes to accuse Executive McClure of being in a rush to do things. Her ambitious agenda makes clear that she's pushing a lot of issues simultaneously. Why?
