Advisers Tell Northampton County to Buy Out of Swaption

Advisers tell Northampton County Council it should pay $25 million to get out of bond refinancing deal.

Cusick Re-Elected Northampton County Council President After Initial Deadlock

Republican majority chooses Northampton County Councilman John Cusick as president for another year.

Reorganization doesn't seem to be simple, at least where Northampton County Council is concerned. Last year, Council President Ron Angle lost his seat after his fellow Republicans instead backed Councilman John Cusick. This year, Cusick kept his seat, but only after a challenge from council's Democrats on council that ended with a tie vote, causing council to put the meeting on hold until member Bruce Gilbert arrived to break the tie. Councilwoman Peg Ferraro -- who was re-elected Vice President without challenge -- nominated Cusick.  Councilman Lamont McClure, a Democrat, was also nominated as president. The resulting 4-4 vote meant that council effectively had no president, and thus the meeting was put on hold until Gilbert arrived. But …

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Northampton County Council Fails to Pass Budget

If majority can't come to agreement, Stoffa's budget and 10 percent tax hike takes effect.

After more than two hours of discussion Thursday night, Northampton County Council tried, but failed, to adopt a budget for 2012. Council had spent much of the night hearing from residents on proposed budget amendments, debating spending cuts and arguing over salary freezes and increases.  But when it came time to vote, only four council members said yes to County Executive John Stoffa's $331 million budget. "Yes, we have no budget," Council President John Cusick said minutes after the vote. Councilman Ron Angle -- who lost the presidency to Cusick at the beginning of the year -- told Cusick he should have worked harder with the rest of council to get the budget passed. "It was your job to produce this budget. You have failed," said Angle…

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Northampton County Council Agrees to Fund Gracedale

Northampton County's nursing home will get an additional $2.75 million to continue operating.

Northampton County Council has agreed to give the Gracedale nursing home an additional $2.75 million to fund it through the rest of the year. According to published reports, council voted 7-2 Thursday night to amend its budget, allowing the Upper Nazareth nursing facility to stay solvent. County budget director Doran Hammond, quoted in the Express-Times, says the money is needed to offset a decline in reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid due to lower number of residents at Gracedale.  The Morning Call reports that council had listened to a presentation earlier in the day from Premiere Healthcare, the company hired by the county to run Gracedale. Premiere representatives gave council an assessment of the facility, and made a number of …

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Angle, Dowd Lose Northampton County Council Seats

Results show longtime Republican councilmen losing to newcomer Democrats in Northampton County Council race.

Ron Angle, the outspoken Northampton County councilman, has lost his seat after 12 years in office. Angle, of Upper Mount Bethel, was defeated Tuesday night by Democratic challenger Scott Parsons, the Wind Gap borough council president who had campaigned almost solely on the notion of bringing a civility to county council that he claimed Angle lacked. Parsons took home 53 percent of the vote -- 4,817 -- to Angle's 4,171. Another Republican incumbent, Easton's Mike Dowd, lost a challenge to political newcomer Bob Werner. Werner, of Easton, had focused during his campaign on improving Gracedale, the county-owned nursing home that voters had opted not to sell in the May 2011 primary.  Incumbent Councilman Lamont McClure held on to his seat in…

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Chris Miller

8:29 am on Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Ron Maybe we can figure out a way to keep you on retainer so we will at least have you there to put the budget together every year.   more ›

Gilbert Says History Won't Impact Job

Northampton County councilman says he thinks he has the support to take over finance director role.

Northampton County Councilman Bruce Gilbert says he has no plans to back away from his appointment as the county's new director of finance. On Monday afternoon, blogger and Patch columnist Bernie O'Hare wrote a piece arguing that "recent discoveries make it unclear whether Gilbert can manage his own personal finances." Those discoveries included a series of financial judgements against Gilbert -- including one from the IRS -- as well as a bad check charge in 2003, which was withdrawn when Gilbert paid a penalty. Less than three hours after O'Hare's column was posted, Gilbert called a news conference in which he announced his hopes to still take the job as finance director, and explained the marks on his financial history. Before the …

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