Today's one-liner: “In a republican nation whose citizens are to be led by reason and persuasion and not by force, the art of reasoning becomes of first importance.” T Jefferson
Late last week, I shared a picture that NorCo Council member Kelly Keegan posted on Facebook It included some of the Lehigh Valley's most extreme Democrats, posing with Bernie Sanders. The picture also includes Controller Tara Zrinski, who is in a tough race with Amy Cozze for county exec. At a time when Zrinski is being labeled an extremist, this is no way to help her.
I've already told you about Ce-Ce Gerlach (standing on right side of Zrinski). But I did not tell you about the woman on the far left. That's Enid Santiago, a former State Rep. candidate who claimed her election was stolen (Sound familiar?) She actually spoke at the rally. She was introduced by former Congress member Susan Wild, who has apparently stopped pretending she's a moderate. Wild hugged Santiago.
And what did Santiago say during her 15 seconds of fame? "Fuck ICE!"
Despite that divisive remark, Keegan thought nothing of posting a picture of her with Zrinski and other far-left extremists.
I have several friends who lost children the fentanyl scourge over the past several years. On Friday, I spoke with a mother who still grieves over her daughter's untimely and unnecessary death. These days, she tries to discourage other kids from making the same mistakes her daughter did. I told her that her efforts are probably helping because the number of fentanyl overdose deaths has dropped.
"No, that's because Trump closed the border," she countered.
And she could be right. While he might have tanked our economy and is trying to remove safety nets that protect our most vulnerable, very few of us would argue against removing criminals who enter this country illegally. I know from personal experience, as a former federal prosecutor, that ICE agents do tend to have a high proportion of cowboys, but "Fuck Ice?"
A person who makes that kind of statement has lost touch with the blue collars.
Tara has little control over who poses with her in a group picture. But it was completely moronic for Kelly Keegan to post that group picture.
It was also idiotic for Congressional candidate Carol Orbando-Derstine to participate in a panel discussion with Santiago at a UNIDOS town hall last week. But Derstine is getting coached by Susan Wild.
Last year, Easton City Council member Taiba Sultana ran an unsuccessful campaign for state representative against Bob Freeman. Her final report for the period ending 12/31/24 indicates she had unpaid debts of $6,350.97 as well as a negative cash balance of $598.89. This includes a $636 payment to NGP Van, which provides tech support to Democratic campaigns, on 10/18/24.
Now she's seeking re-election to Easton City Council, and her Pre-Primary Finance report reveals there's been no changes since the end of last year. She's received no donations and is claiming no expenditures.
She has, however been handing out flyers that attack her opponent, Susan Hartranft-Bitting, as a "disastrous school board member." These handouts claim to have been paid for by Friends of Taiba Sultana. There is no union bug on the handout, and they were hand-delivered, not mailed. She also has been handing out palm cards.
My conclusion is that she used NGP Van software she purchased last October to create her flyers and printed them out herself.
Although it's hard to believe she spent no money in her re-election bid, it's hard to prove otherwise. It's easy to believe no one contributed to her.
Though she has managed several political contests and should know better, Patti Bruno was removed from the ballot in this year's at-large race for the Democratic nomination to Northampton County Council. She was removed because she failed to file her Statement of Financial Interests with the Clerk of County Council. Although she's waging a write-in campaign, her chance of success is remote. She needs at least 100 votes and finish in the top five of the five Democrats who already are on the ballot. Her petition was challenged by former Upper Mount Bethel Tp Manager Ed Nelson but an independent expenditure report filed by Ray Lahoud makes clear that he, and not Nelson, funded the challenge on his own. He also represented Nelson in court.
Why?
Bruno managed Terri Houck's campaign when he ran for re-election as District Attorney. Lahoud was the de facto manager for Steve Baratta, who eventually won.
That was a nasty race, and Bruno reported disparaged Lahoud several times with slurs aimed at his sexual orientation. So much for the party of tolerance. Lahoud's successful lawsuit removed a hypocrite.
I just hope nobody finds out that I have a thing for parakeets.
Pre-primary campaign finance reports were due on Friday. They are designed to tell you who is funding a candidate and what he or she is doing with the money. Northampton County's elections office, thanks to a directive from Executive Lamont McClure, makes county finance reports available to the public online. (You can view them here). Statewide PACs report with the department of state. (Those reports can be found here.) They often tell you a lot more about a candidate than you'll learn from mailers or debates. Almost all, but not all, county finance reports have been uploaded to the county site. I will report on the contested county races once they are. Today's posts will hopefully help you with some of the other races.
Previously, I told you about negative mailers aimed at Bethlehem City Council candidate Hillary Kwiatek Bethlehem Mayor Willie Reynolds. They were paid for by Pa. Local Leaders Fund. My friend Jeff Ward, publisher of Lehigh Valley News Briefs, did a little digging and learned that this PAC was formed on April 22 by immigration lawyer Ray Lahoud. OK, but who paid for the mailers?
City Councilman Bryan Callahan - $7,000 (both personally and from his campaign fund)
John McGeehan - $400 (a former Green Beret)
Bruce Haines - $3,000 (principal of Hotel Bethlehem).
This PAC spent $12,575.00 for one mailer against Reynolds and another against Kwiatek. It still has $22,825 for more.
On Facebook, Kwiatek addressed the mailer and Callahan: "Look. I don’t know why he’s obsessed with me. I don’t know what he’s trying to accomplish by combing through my Instagram account and sharing with Democratic voters that I'm grateful for everything I have in this world, including the occasional delicious latte. (The half dozen coffee houses I can walk to in Bethlehem suggest this is not exactly an out of touch activity, btw).
Callahan responded. "For all of you that know me well ... i speak up when I see something wrong. I got this in the mail today from a PAC that supports good moderate Democratic candidates. I checked the council voting records and It's factual ....in only her first term on council, she did vote to raise your taxes , she voted to raise her own city councils salary, she voted to sell Historic Bethlehem land to a developer to build high end rental units, she voted to sell retired police officers handguns to a gun dealer rather than to the retired police officer for the same price, she first recused herself from a vote to give her employer grant money because she felt she had a conflict of interest ... then get this .... when she realized there weren't enough votes to pass the grant money to her employer.... she then reversed her recusal and was the deciding vote to give her employer the money. To top it all off , she then voted against the City of Bethlehem's July 4th fireworks which is a long standing tradition that our families and kids love to attend!!! Wrong for Bethlehem !!! If you feel like sharing SHARING to others .... please do ! Voters need to know !"
Earlier this week, I took NorCo Council member Kelly Keegan to task for complaining about the "spandex ass" of a woman who dared to stand in front of her at last weekend's Bernie Sanders rally. This blue MAGA warrior also did no favors for someone she supports in this year's Exec race - Tara Zrinski.
Zrinski, who has done an admirable job as Controller, is in a testy battle with former elections registrar Amy Cozze. Zrinski's biggest negative is that she has run for 6 offices over the past 9 years. Her second biggest negative is that she is perceived by some as simply too extreme.
Over many years before she decided to seek public office, Zrinski has been and remains an ardent environmentalist. That's hardly extremist. I know plenty of conservatives who are environmentalists as well. Many of them are hunters and fisherman, and they understand better than most that our natural resources are finite. She has fought against sludge and landfill expansions and has worked at improving the water quality in our streams. It is only when she strays from these issues, about which she is well-informed, that she gets into trouble. That's when she gets labeled an extremist.
So, what does Kelly Keegan do?
She posts a picture of Zrinski, at the Bernie Sanders rally, standing with some of the most extreme Democrats in the Lehigh Valley. This includes Ce-Ce Gerlach. As you may recall, Gerlach was placed on ARD for endangering the welfare of a minor runaway that she dumped off at some homeless camp. Gerlach Voted No to several grants for Allentown police and was one of the big supporters of an employee now accused of false reports for placing a noose on her computer and calling it racial intimidation. She also wanted to have social workers, and not police, respond to 911 calls.
I could go over the rest of this crew and their background, but I think you get the point. Those of you from Allentown may recognize some of them. They make Bernie Sanders look like an archconservative.
Now I understand that Zrinski has almost no control over who the people are who stand next to her in a photo. I can't really blame her, But I can blame Keegan for the utter stupidity of posting that picture on Facebook. What was she thinking?
As someone who has been highly critical of Cozze for blackmailing the county with a resignation tendered just 12 days before an election, there is no way I will vote for her for anything. But that picture really shook me up. All that was missing was Taiba Sultana.
Ryan Croswell is one of a bevy of DOJ lawyers who have resigned rather than do Donald Trump's bidding. His resignation accompanied a decision to drop a public corruption case against NYC's Mayor. He took what seems like a very principled stand, and I would ordinarily be happy to see someone like him run for Congress in Pa.7. Rumors abound that he has his eyes on the seat currently held by Ryan Mackenzie. It would be great to see a Republican with moral courage take on a Trump acolyte. Except for two things. First, Croswell has never lived in the Lehigh Valley, although he may have visited Allentown. Second, Croswell switched parties to Democrat just six months ago.
Crosswell spent 4 years working for the Trump administration and voted as a Republican during the four years Trump was in office. He continued voting as a Republican in the election Trump lost in 2020 and voted as a Republican in the election Trump won in 2024.
This possible Democratic candidate has a Republican voting history that stretches back to 2011, when he registered to in North Carolina. He registered as a Republican in Louisiana in 2014 and voted as such in the 2016 election. He continued voting as a Republican in the 2020 Presidential, 2022 midterm and in 2024.
Mysteriously, on December 27 of last year, this long-time Republican suddenly switched parties to Democrat.
Why?
I'm certainly suspicious about this sudden change of heart from a Marine veteran. It could very well be sincere. It could be a recognition that he thinks the easiest way to prevail in Pa. 7 is as a Democrat. But he could also be a stalking horse for Mackenzie with the goal of making sure that the remaining Democratic candidates - Lamont McClure and Carol Obando-Derstine - spend so much money that little will be left for the general.
Let me first thank the reader who posted a comment with a link to a story indicating that, at the suggestion of Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley, its pension board has voted 4-2 to stop purchasing Tesla stock. It is also considering divesting what investments it has already made. Should NorCo's retirement board do the same?
I understand that Lehigh is sending a message - it's a big FU to Donald Trump and Elon Musk. But a retirement board has a fiduciary duty to the retirees and employees who contribute a portion of their salaries to their pensions. Any decision on the purchase of new stock should, in my view, be left to the discretion of the pension fund manager. In his view, this might actually be a good time to purchase Tesla stock.
As for divestment, that would almost certainly result in a loss and would be a breach of the fiduciary duty owed to retirees and employees.
That's my take. Feel free to comment if you disagree.
I think we'd all agree that, of the Lehigh Valley's three cities, Bethlehem is considered safest and Allentown the least. What does AI say?
Bethlehem residents generally consider the north part of the city to be the safest. Your chance of being a victim of violent crime in Bethlehem varies by neighborhood – ranging from 1 in 232 in the south neighborhoods to 1 in 567 in the north.
Easton ranks in the 69th percentile for safety, meaning it is safer than 69% of cities but less safe than 31%. Based on FBI crime data, Easton is not one of the safest communities in America. The crime rate in Easton is 18.36 per 1,000 residents in the typical year.
Based on FBI crime data, Allentown is not one of the safest communities in America. The city has a higher crime rate than the national average, with 28 crimes per 1000 residents and a 1 in 36 chance of becoming a victim of crime. However, local insights from Nextdoor Neighbors suggest that Allentown is generally considered a safe place to live.
Over the weekend, US Senator Bernie Sanders took his Fighting Oligarchy Tour to LU's Stabler Arena. I wanted to go and signed up for a ticket but never heard back. I like Bernie but he's a bit late. Our unresponsive national government has long been a bastion of oligarchs and kleptocrats on both sides of the aisle. It precedes the Trump era. I also completely disagree with Bernie when it comes to defense spending. We need a strong and robust national defense precisely because that will deter others from testing us.
One person who did attend and apparently had front row seats was NorCo Council member Kelly Keegan. But she was miffed that a woman stood in front of Keegan as some band played before the usual parade of speakers.
Instead of asking this woman if she would mind moving, Keegan snapped a picture and posted it on Facebook with this snark: "I'd rather watch the band then [sic] her spandex ass."
The photo that Keegan took shows that, in fact, she could still watch the band, but that's beside the point. What bothers me is this rather mean-spirited slur against another woman coming from a person who has been elected to represent us as a public servant.
During political campaigns, politicians love to brag about endorsements from ... other politicians. Frankly, endorsements from former Senator Bob Casey or Exec Lamont McClure mean next to nothing to me. But there are two kinds of endorsements that mean a lot to me in urban races. These are the ones made by local FOPs and firefighters. These men and women put their lives on the line every day for people they don't know. They keep our cities safe.
With that in mind, you should know that Bethlehem's FOP, its rank-and-file police officers, has voted to endorse Willie Reynolds for re-election as Bethlehem's Mayor.
When Easton Mayor Sal Panto first ran for office, his mantra was "clean and safe." To this day, that is still his mantra. If a city is clean and safe, people will want to live, work and play there.
You can talk about affordable housing. You can preach about economic development and offer all kinds of public candy (tax breaks) to developers. But the one thing that works is keeping a city clean and safe.
As election day draws closer, mailboxes are getting more and more mailers every day. Today I got two. One was from Jeremy Clark, who is running a positive campaign for judge. The other is from Amy Cozze's campaign, which has been a bit more negative.
The mailer from Cozze arrived in an envelope and is actually a letter from former US Senator Bob Casey along with a nice little palm card containing on one side "NORCO." That's actually the abbreviation I started using years ago for Northampton County because I got tired of writing Northampton County. NorCo is much easier and is kind of neat. So Cozze is actually using my abbreviation. Don't tell her or she'll stop.
Some of those who received this mailer, which was paid for by the Pa Dems, believe it means that they've endorsed her. Let me clear that up. They've endorsed no one in the Exec race. What the Pa Dems did do is allow her to use their postal permit so that the letter costs a little less than it would have had she done it herself. Zrinski did the same thing in a colorful flyer she sent out just as Mail-in-Ballots started to go out. It was "paid for and authorized" by the Pa. Dems.
The letter from Casey was a nice gesture, but as one of my friends noted, many recipients will never see it. They don't like opening political letters, and many probably have landed unopened in the recycle bin, assuming they actually recycle. Sadly, they will never see the word "NorCo." This letter certainly helps her campaign, but not as much as it could have.
A better move would have been a splashy post card that included a picture of Cozze, who like Zrinski is rather photogenic.
Both of them look a helluva' lot better than Lamont McClure or Tom Giovanni. Even Bob Casey is prettier than those two, and he looks like he's been embalmed. I realize this is very sexist on my part, but if you are an attractive person, let people see it.
At this time last year, Easton City Council member Taiba Sultana was running against State Rep. Bob Freeman. He's been in office a millennium, so he really should step down. But not to her. She's been a disaster on Easton City Council when she bothers to show up. She likes to accuse everyone who disagrees with her on anything of being racist, sexist, xenophobic or whatever. She has even included Easton City Council member downtown Kenny Brown, who is black and Brown, in these accusations. He himself was a victim of some pretty blatant discrimination by Easton's then racist and brutal constabulary when he was growing up. Before I get into the main topic of this post, which is Sultana's lawfare against a PAC that dared criticize her, let me tell you about how Kenny was victimized.
Kenny had a brother named Carl. Kenny was good, but Carl fell under the spell of the dark side, committing numerous armed robberies. He was killed by Easton police, who then knocked on young Ken's door to inform him that "we killed your n----r brother."
I think it's safe to say Brown cares about discrimination.
Ken got involved in sports and even began playing with cops. One day, the officer who shot Ken's brother apologized to him for what he had said and how he had said it.
People can change for the better. So can institutions. That includes police departments. Easton's police department today is a far cry from what it was during the days in which cops would routinely beat people up. It hurts them to hear unfounded accusations of racism like those that Sultana likes to hurl. It hurts the Mayor and Council members who are justifiably proud of the mini mecca that Easton has become. Finally, it hurts those who grew up in the mini-Apple and know what it was like then and what it is like now.
That includes Ray Lahoud. He might be a very successful immigration lawyer, but his roots are in Easton. Like so many Easton residents, he was outraged by the dishonest and spurious claims being spewed by a Pakistani immigrant who settled first in NYC, then Jersey, and only recently in Easton. But unlike most Eastonians, he could so something about it.
Ray formed what is known as a political action committee (PAC) and then paid for and posted campaign signs around Easton calling Sultana "CRAZY, CHAOTIC, CRIMINAL." Most of them disappeared or were defaced in a few short hours, and state police nabbed Sultana's children (both minors and one adult) in flagrante delicto. In an effort to silence Lahoud, Sultana sued his PAC for libel in a lawsuit filed on her behalf by Allentown lawyer Matt Mobilio.
Lahoud's PAC, represented by Goudsouzian & Associates, has filed a motion to dismiss (see brief here) based on a 2024 law called the Protected Public Expression Act. This is a response to a trend in which the "civil litigation system was increasingly being used in an illegitimate way: not to seek redress or relief for harm or to vindicate one’s legal rights, but rather to silence or intimidate citizens by subjecting them to costly and lengthy litigation. These kinds of abusive lawsuits are particularly troublesome when defendants find themselves targeted for exercising their constitutional rights to publish and speak freely, petition the government, and associate with others. Commentators dubbed these kinds of civil actions “Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation,” or SLAPPs."
Another word for this exists - lawfare.
Legal argument on this motion to dismiss is scheduled for today.
Mobilio obviously opposes the attempted dismissal of Sultana's claimed defamation and filed a brief to support keeping his case on life support. It includes an attack on me.
I'm honored. It's not quite the Pulitzer, but I'll take it.
Here's his accolade:
"Defendant contends that the remaining accusations against Plaintiff are factually correct. However, the documentation that Defendant appends to its motion in support of the truth of these statements, does not in fact support that argument. Indeed, many of the attachments are from “blog posts” and comments published by Bernie O’Hare, a former attorney who was suspended from practicing law nearly forty (40) years ago and who has resigned himself to blogging his opinions about political officials. According to the Moring [sic] Call, Mr. O’Hare was suspended for: “illegal conduct involving moral turpitude . . . dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation . . . conduct."
"Accordingly, to the extent Defendant relies on Mr. O’Hare for “factual”, “reporting”, and that his blog posts and comments somehow constitute a matter of public record, or “truth”, such seriously undermines the entirety of Defendant’s defense and argument."
As I understand this argument, Mobilio asserts that nothing I say should be believed by any sane person. He very well may be right. I know I argue with me all the time. But if that's so, then it also means that nothing I say is capable of defamatory meaning because nothing I say is believable and therefore it is incapable of harming the reputation of another person. His argument is self-defeating.
I could go on to attack Mobilio himself, as I've done once before. But I think I've made my point.
By the way, this new act entitles the winning party to seek attorney fees.
Over the past week or so, Lehigh Valley mailboxes are getting loaded with mailers from candidates seeking local office. There have also been a few negative mailers aimed at Bethlehem City Council candidate Hillary Kwiatek, Bethlehem Mayor Willie Reynolds, Easton City Council member Taiba Sultana and Allentown City Council member Natalie Santos. Who is behind them?
The mailers against Sultana were paid for by Pa Citizens PAC, funded exclusively by immigration lawyer Ray Lahoud. You may recall that when Sultana ran a few short months ago for State Rep., Lahoud's PAC paid for and posted campaign signs around Easton calling Sultana "CRAZY, CHAOTIC, CRIMINAL." Most of them disappeared or were defaced in a few short hours, and state police nabbed Sultana's children (both minors and one adult) in flagrante delicto. In an effort to silence Lahoud, Sultana sued his PAC for libel. Ray appears to be undeterred. She'll have to sue again.
The mailers against Willie Reynolds, Hillary Kwiatek and Natalie Santos were paid for by the Pa. Local Leaders Fund. My friend Jeff Ward, who publishes the very informative Lehigh Valley News Briefs, did a little digging and learned that this PAC was formed on April 22 by Ray Lahoud. Whether he is the sole funder is currently unknown. We'll know when the pre-primary reports are filed.
Unfortunately, I have none of the mailers prepared for Allentown candidates. But I do have several. Let me post and offer my editorial observations:
Anti-Reynolds mailer:
While the mailer is accurate, it's effectiveness is destroyed by its amateurish attempt at a Face-in-Hole picture. There's another that's a bit more damaging.
Anti-Kwiatek Mailer:
I'd say this is pretty good. Factual and it makes Kwiatek look like an elitist who appears to be more interested in an espresso than Bethlehem's working class.
Anti-Sultana Mailer:
This one is the best. It is accurate and exemplifies precisely why Sultana is called CRAZY, CHAOTIC, CRIMINAL.
At last night's NorCo Council meeting, Executive Lamont McClure reported that voters have requested 23,620 mail-in-ballots (MIB) so far. At that pace, the number of MIBs should easily exceed the municipal primary four years ago, where there were a grand total of 16.010 MIBs counted on election day.
The last day for requesting a MIB is May 13. If you want, you can apply for a MIB online.
The elections office has received 5,531 MIBs and have recorded 5,431 as valid. The remaining 100 are missing dates and/or signatures, and both party chairs have been notified so they can contact these voters to cure any defects. The elections office is attempting to reach these voters as well.
The last day to register to vote or change party registration is TODAY.
Since this is a primary election with no ballot questions, only registered Democrats and Republicans can vote.
As part of President Donald Trump's attempt to rein in federal spending, the US Dep't of Agriculture has cut $1 billion in funding for food at schools, daycare centers and local food banks. At last night's NorCo Council meeting, Executive Lamont McClure advised that he has repurposed CDBG funding for low to moderate income census tracts to provide some relief to local pantries. This includes $10,000 check to the Slater Center in Bangor, the LINCs Family Center in Wilson Borough and a food bank in Pen Argyl.
"Each food bank does not know how they're going to make up for the cuts," said McClure. He added that the county would "continue to scrounge," but "we won't be able to replace federal funds."
He suggested that Council might want to consider grants to food banks from its contingency fund at the end of each year.
On Monday evening, Lehigh Valley News, aka PBS39, aka WLVR, aka Lehigh Valley Public Media, hosted a debate between Democratic NorCo Exec candidates Amy Cozze and Tara Zrinski. The winner of the primary will face Republican Tom Giovanni in November. He has no primary opponent. He was invited to participate, but said he'd rather wait for the general election. It was a good thing he stayed away because the knives were out in what turned out to be a rather testy debate between the two Democratic contenders.
Overall, I'd say that Cozze had a bit more poise than Zrinski, and that Zrinski seemed more empathetic than Cozze. As one watcher put it, "Zrinski was loud, and Cozze was snotty." Zrinski has spent years as an activist on local environmental issues before running for office and tends to treat every speaking event as though it's a rally. Sometimes, and last night is an example, this is a negative. Conversely, Cozze's brief career in government has been as a bureaucrat, where she appears to have mastered the art of deflection.
The biggest hit at Zrinski came, not from Cozze, but from a question that moderator Ryan Gaylor asked. Zrinski. He noted she has run for 6 different offices over the past 9 years and promised him after her election as county controller that she'd stay in office for the entire four years. Zrinski said she'd liked to have remained there, but "was asked by so many people to tun. I felt I had a responsibility and a duty to my county to run." She assured Gaylor that is he is elected, she will stay in the Executive office for four years, and this time, she really, really, really, really, really, really means it. Really.
Cozze would later say to Zrinski, "You have shown [voters] that your word is not good."
There was a big hit on Cozze as well. Northampton County currently uses the Express Vote XL system, and this system was definitely pitched to both the Elections Commission and County Council by Cozze. There have been problems with that system in two different elections. Cozze deflected. She denies being "part of the decision-making process" even though it was her research and recommendation that led to the decision to select that system.
Zrinski would go on to say that some of the policies Cozze created as Registrar led to the 2023 election debacle in which there were insufficient emergency paper ballots on hand after the voting machines went haywire. In the 2023 General election, each precinct was only supplied with 20 emergency ballots, and they ran out quickly. Cozze thought having a large supply of emergency ballots was both too expensive and too heavy.
Cozze called this accusation a "bold-faced lie," deflecting that a different elections registrar could have initiated a different policy. But a comment she made anonymously on this blog lends truth to Zrinski's assertion. Cozze definitely was opposed to supplying precinct with paper ballots
How do I know? When I posted on the topic, I received this anonymous comment from the U.S. Senate, where Cozze just happened to be employed.: "Can we just address this paper ballot thing? If the county is going to start sending out hundreds of thousands of paper ballots on election day 'just in case' what the hell is the point of even using the voting machines??? Just switch to an all paper system. The paper ballots are supposed to be for EMERGENCIES not incompetence. ... they need to fire whoever is in charge, not saddle the tax payers with a new outlandish expense." I'd say that when the machine has to be discontinued, that's an emergency. Also, as Elections Commissioner Dan Lopresti observed, "The cost is tiny compared to what we experienced here."
Cozze criticized the tax cut that Zrinski supported under Executive Lamont McClure, saying the money saved could have been used to help the homeless.
She slammed the McClure administration for the retention problems at 911, the jail and at Gracedale, and noted pointedly that Zrinski refused to vote for a pay study to determine appropriate salaries. But Zrinski responded that she voted No because the county had no need to spend $100,000 for a pay study and that she did vote for higher wages and retention bonuses. (It should be noted here that the pay study passed by county council covered only nonunion workers, who make up 1/3 of the county workforce.)
I was a bit surprised to hear Cozze say that "conserving open space as a way to combat warehouse development is lazy policy." That is one of the few weapons county government has, but it has done more by encouraging multi-municipal planning, a point that Zrinski made. Under multi-municipal planning, a member township can assess impact fees if it is impacted by a proposed development. County government has no zoning power in all but two municipalities.
Cozze deflected yet again when asked about holding the county hostage to her salary demands. As I've previously reported here, she submitted her resignation as NorCo Elections Registrar and made it effective just 12 days before the November 2, 2021 municipal election. In her resignation letter, obtained through a Right-to-Know request, she also complained about stress and her mental and physical health. She put her own interests ahead of the county's core obligation in assuring the citizenry that its votes would be counted. Her blackmail worked. After she got the money she wanted, she rescinded her resignation.
She put her own financial interests ahead of what is best for the county, and in my opinion, that makes her a poor choice for any position in government. But when confronted, she denied she ever appeared in front of council to demand more money or talk about her physical or mental health. That's true. It was all in her October 28, 2021 resignation letter, which I posted on this blog.
If nothing else, both candidates gave Tom Giovanni a lot of ammunition.
That's my take. Feel free to make your own arguments.
Lackawanna County, as a result of what elections officials call a "printer's error," sent the wrong Mail-in-Ballot (MIB) to 545 Republican voters. Instead of receiving a ballot for this year's primary, they were sent a ballot for the 2024 primary. This error has been corrected.
Lackawanna sent out over 12,000 MIBs total.
Lackawanna is still a Democratic county, unlike other Northeast Pa counties. It voted for Harris. Understandably, Republicans are suspicious that the wrong ballot would be sent to their voters. A news release from the "PaGOP" asserts, "Elections should never be this sloppy. Taxpayers deserve a county government that functions and a process they can trust. These kinds of mistakes need to be taken seriously, and they need to stop happening."
"The people of Lackawanna County deserve competence, not chaos."
It's sad to see this error because, even though it has been corrected, it gives Republicans another reason to distrust MIBs. Only about a third of the MIBs are being used by Republican voters, and this hurts them in the long run.
Twelve seniors and one community group were honored yesterday by NorCo's Area Agency on Aging. I nominated myself several times, as I did last year, but was snubbed again. Now nothing less than the Presidential Medal of Freedom will do. Anyway, here are this year's outstanding seniors:
Barbara Abel (Nazareth) – Intergenerational Outstanding Senior Award recipient, for sharing her musical talents with Morningstar Living residents and inspiring youth through music.
Marvin Boyer (Palmer Township) – For his enduring leadership in civil rights, criminal justice reform, and community advocacy.
Mary Detrick (Pen Argyl) – For her exceptional volunteer work addressing food insecurity, elder support, and shelter needs.
Curt Ehly (Easton) – For his tireless contributions to community revitalization, especially as emcee of the Easton Farmers Market.
James & Eileen Glancy (Upper Nazareth Township) – For their compassionate and consistent service with Meals on Wheels and personal outreach to those in need.
Happy Hookers, Knit Wits, and Sew ‘n’ Sews Group (Forks Township) – Outstanding Community Group recipient, for crafting essential items that support local seniors, children with special needs, the homeless, and animal shelters.
Charles Mallon (Nazareth Borough) – For his 21 years of service at the Nazareth Senior Center and dedication to Meals on Wheels and Habitat for Humanity.
James Marsh (Palmer Township) – For decades of leadership at Bethel Memorial Baptist Church and involvement with the VA and community nonprofits.
Gerald E. Seyfried (Lower Nazareth) – For a lifetime of public service, from County Executive to founder of the Parks 2000 initiative.
Maryann Umble (Bethlehem) – For her steadfast support of faith-based outreach, emergency shelter services, and community coordination.
Charles Wacik (Easton) – For his extensive record of volunteerism in local government, youth sports, church activities, and public safety.
Linda Weiss (Bethlehem) – For her lifelong dedication to children’s education and her ongoing volunteer work with Cops ‘n Kids, Meals on Wheels, and more.
I think all they got was a plaque and a free lunch that most of them are unable to eat. I'd want $1 million dollars.
I watched this debate, hosted by PBS last night, but want to watch it again. I thought both Willie and Grace were very well informed. She describes herself as fiscally conservative but socially progressive." That certainly is true of most of us. "The party's got to be the people that help [sic] people, "said Willie. He added, "I am an honest Democrat. ... People get way too invested in left, right, in the middle and so on and so forth. People want to know what your plan is to be able to help people out."
I liked that answer, which reminded me of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's blend of pragmatism and ideology. He talked about "getting out there and finding ways to make people believe." But that should also include listening.
I really have to watch this again because I liked both candidates. What's your opinion?
Northampton County Council, established in the county's 1978 Home Rule Charter, is arguably its most powerful branch of government. In addition to "exercising the legislative power of the county," it sets the salaries of all employees, levies taxes, adopts the budget and confirms executive appointments. It also exercises the county's "residual powers." It consists of nine part-time members who are paid an annual salary of $12,500, with the President getting an extra $500. They serve for four-year terms and may serve no more than three consecutive terms. Four members are elected from districts consisting of the Bethlehem, Easton, Nazareth and Slate Belt areas. The remaining five member are elected at large, meaning they are elected by the entire county. The five at-large seats are up for election this year.
Republicans have five candidates for five seats, meaning that the GOP nominations of John Brown (inc), John Goffredo (inc.), Juan Martinez, Sam Elias and Daniel Campo. They are running together as a united front.
Democrats also only have five candidates on the ballot, but they are far from united. They are Lori Vargo Heffner (inc), Theresa Fadem, David Holland, Jason Boulette and Nadeem Qayyum. In addition to the five on the ballot, Patti Bruno is waging a write-in campaign after her nomination petition was rejected for the fatal error of failing to file her financials with the county council clerk.
As one of my readers observes in a comment wondering whether Democrats have learned a damn thing after being beaten by Donald Trump. "In Northampton County they have a full slate for council, but the democrats are icing out an incumbent who is on the ballot for a person who was unable to get on the ballot." This is a reference to Lori Vargo Heffner. The reason they want her out is because she has committed the mortal sin of governing in a bipartisan fashion and has been an independent voice. They would prefer a blue MAGA like Kelly Keegan, who is just as blindly loyal to Executive Lamont McClure as MAGAs are to Trump.
Lori Vargo Heffner should be the top vote getter in the Dem primary. David Holland, a psychiatric nurse who also served as an Administrator at Gracedale, could very well be the voice the county needs to arrive at some long-term plans. Jason Boulette comes from a conservative district but appears to understand the importance of working with and listening to Republicans. The others, not so much.
