Bernieohare

Barack Obama Executive Order re Abortion Restrictions and Health Care Reform

2010-03-21T14:29:00.000-07:00

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (approved March __, 2010), I hereby order as follows:

Section 1. Policy.

Following the recent passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“the Act”), it is necessary to establish an adequate enforcement mechanism to ensure that Federal funds are not used for abortion services (except in cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman would be endangered), consistent with a longstanding Federal statutory restriction that is commonly known as the Hyde Amendment. The purpose of this Executive Order is to establish a comprehensive, government-wide set of policies and procedures to achieve this goal and to make certain that all relevant actors—Federal officials, state officials (including insurance regulators) and health care providers—are aware of their responsibilities, new and old.

The Act maintains current Hyde Amendment restrictions governing abortion policy and extends those restrictions to the newly-created health insurance exchanges. Under the Act, longstanding Federal laws to protect conscience (such as the Church Amendment, 42 U.S.C. §300a-7, and the Weldon Amendment, Pub. L. No. 111-8, §508(d)(1) (2009)) remain intact and new protections prohibit discrimination against health care facilities and health care providers because of an unwillingness to provide, pay for, provide coverage of, or refer for abortions.

Numerous executive agencies have a role in ensuring that these restrictions are enforced, including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

Section 2. Strict Compliance with Prohibitions on Abortion Funding in Health Insurance Exchanges.

The Act specifically prohibits the use of tax credits and cost-sharing reduction payments to pay for abortion services (except in cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman would be endangered) in the health insurance exchanges that will be operational in 2014. The Act also imposes strict payment and accounting requirements to ensure that Federal funds are not used for abortion services in exchange plans (except in cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman would be endangered) and requires state health insurance commissioners to ensure that exchange plan funds are segregated by insurance companies in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, OMB funds management circulars, and accounting guidance provided by the Government Accountability Office.

I hereby direct the Director of OMB and the Secretary of HHS to develop, within 180 days of the date of this Executive Order, a model set of segregation guidelines for state health insurance commissioners to use when determining whether exchange plans are complying with the Act’s segregation requirements, established in Section 1303 of the Act, for enrollees receiving Federal financial assistance. The guidelines shall also offer technical information that states should follow to conduct independent regular audits of insurance companies that participate in the health insurance exchanges. In developing these model guidelines, the Director of OMB and the Secretary of HHS shall consult with executive agencies and offices that have relevant expertise in accounting principles, including, but not limited to, the Department of the Treasury, and with the Government Accountability Office. Upon completion of those model guidelines, the Secretary of HHS should promptly initiate a rulemaking to issue regulations, which will have the force of law, to interpret the Act’s segregation requirements, and shall provide guidance to state health insurance commissioners on how to comply with the model guidelines.

Section 3. Community Health Center Program.

The Act establishes a new Community Health Center (CHC) Fund within HHS, which provides additional Federal funds for the community health center program. Existing law prohibits these centers from using federal funds to provide abortion services (except in cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman would be endangered), as a result of both the Hyde Amendment and longstanding regulations containing the Hyde language. Under the Act, the Hyde language shall apply to the authorization and appropriations of funds for Community Health Centers under section 10503 and all other relevant provisions. I hereby direct the Secretary of HHS to ensure that program administrators and recipients of Federal funds are aware of and comply with the limitations on abortion services imposed on CHCs by existing law. Such actions should include, but are not limited to, updating Grant Policy Statements that accompany CHC grants and issuing new interpretive rules.

Section 4. General Provisions.

(a) Nothing in this Executive Order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i) authority granted by law or presidential directive to an agency, or the head thereof; or (ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This Executive Order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This Executive Order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity against the United States, its departments, agencies, entities, officers, employees or agents, or any other person.

THE WHITE HOUSE,

Joe Brudnak Allentown City Council Race

2009-09-15T19:00:00.002-07:00

D.O.B. - 1961
Education: Salisbury High School, one year of community college
Occupation: Fuel Oil Truck Driver, Altemose Fuel

LVR Posts:

Allentown Mayoral & Council Candidates Send in the Clowns

Other Sources:

Valley 610: Meet Joe Brudnak

Ray O'Connell Allentown City Council Race

2009-09-15T19:00:00.001-07:00

D.O.B.: 1949
EDUCATION: BS – Kutztown State University, 1971; M Ed – Lehigh University, 1977
OCCUPATION: Retired
QUALIFICATIONS: Public School Employee/Administrator – 1972 to 2007 (35 years); Allentown resident for 33 years; Member of Allentown Recreation & Allentown Human Relations Commission

LV Rambings Posts

Why People Jump Off the 8th Street Bridge

Phillips, Hershman & O'Connell Shine at NAACP Debate

Allentown Mayoral & Council Candidates Send in the Clowns

Allentown's Three Blind Mice

Other Sources

Queen City Daily: Meet Ray O'Connell

Valley 610: Meet Ray O'Connell

Mike Schlossberg Allentown City Council Race

2009-09-15T18:59:00.001-07:00

D.O.B.: 1983
EDUCATION: B.A. (Political Science & Psychology), Muhlenberg College, M.A. (Political Science), Lehigh University
OCCUPATION: Urban Revitalization Specialist
QUALIFICATIONS: Former aide to Representative Jennifer Mann and County Executive Don Cunningham, State-certified Urban Revitalization Specialist, Allentown Government Reform Committee, West Park Civic Association Officer, Hamilton Street Revitalization Committee, Congregation Keneseth Israel
Web Page: www.mikeschlossberg.com
Party: Democrat.

LV Ramblings Posts

A Reason for Urban Living

Schlossberg, Hoover Weighing Allentown City Council Races

Muhlenberg College Dems Like D'Amore & Schlossberg, But Not Howells

Allentown's Three Blind Mice

Schlossberg Recognized for Façades

Other Sources

Queen City Daily: Meet Mike Schlossberg

Valley 610: Meet Mike Schlossberg

Julio Guridy Allentown City Council Race

2009-09-15T18:58:00.001-07:00

D.O.B.: 1960
EDUCATION: BA in Sociology, Minor in CJA; MA in Sociology
OCCUPATION: Director of Compact Authorized Investment - DRJTBC, Business Owner, Real Estate Investor
QUALIFICATIONS: Incumbent who chairs the Public Works Committee and an ad- hoc Finance Committee. Member of Public Safety Committee, Human Resources Committee, Community and Economic Development and Legal and Legislation.
WEB PAGE: http://www.guridyforcitycouncil.org/
Party: Democrat.

LV Ramblings Posts

Why People Jump Off the 8th Street Bridge

Guridy to LVR:Turn That Flipcam Off, Gringo!

Allentown Mayoral & Council Candidates Send in the Clowns

Allentown's Motto: Stupid is as Stupid Does?

Allentown City Council Votes To Let Lou Speak, 6 to 1

Allentown "Development Specialist" Engages in Illegal Political Activity

Eichenwald: A Teachable Moment

Other Sources

Will Julio Guridy suffer from a case of Hispanic Voter apathy?

Queen City Daily: Meet Julio Guridy

Bill White: Camera Shy

Valley 610: Meet Julio Guridy

Lou Hershman Allentown City Council Race

2009-09-15T18:57:00.002-07:00

D.O.B.: 1936
EDUCATION: Lehigh Community College, Accounting
OCCUPATION: Business Owner, Hershmans & Associates, Prepare Income Taxes
QUALIFICATIONS: Businessman, Councilman, City Controller, Special Investigator, PA. Dept of Revenue, S-2 US Army.
Web Page: None
Party: Republican.

LV Ramblings Posts:

Phillips, Hershman & O'Connell Shine at NAACP Debate

Allentown Mayoral & Council Candidates Send in the Clowns

Allentown City Council VP Michael Donovan: "Some of You Disgust Me"

Hershman to Donovan: Allentown Needs Watchdogs, Not Lapdogs

Hershman: Overtime Abuse Nothing New in Allentown

Hershman: More Cops Without More Taxes

Was Hershman Political Ad Censored in Allentown?

Allentown City Council Muzzles Citizen Participation

Allentown's Incumbent Protection Rule

Tony Phillips & Marc Grammes: Let Lou Speak!

Allentown: We're Broke, So Let's Borrow Money!

Allentown City Council Votes To Let Lou Speak, 6 to 1

Allentown City Council Contender Lou Hershman: Ban Convicted Drug Dealers From City

Lou Hershman Being Victimized By Anonymous Robocalls

Rob Hopkins, James Spang Behind Anonymous Hershman Slur

Lou Hershman Still in Allentown City Council Race as Republican Write-In

Allentown's Three Blind Mice

Lou Hershman Now Batting Righty

Hershman Demands Debate With Hopkins & Pawlowski

Lou Hershman Will Refuse Allentown City Council Salary

Hershman: More Cops Without More Taxes

Other Sources

Queen City Daily: Meet Lou Hershman

Molovinsky: The Hershman Hoffman Affair (At this time, I had a different view of Lou.)

Molovinsky: In the Jungle, the Mighty Jungle

LVPoliblog:Allentown City Council Candidate Lou Hershman is a True Class Act (NO, he's not running for Mayor)

Valley 610: Meet Lou Hershman

Bill White: Lou Hershman

Mike D'Amore Allentown City Council Race

2009-09-15T18:57:00.001-07:00

D.O.B.: 1969
EDUCATION: Graduate of Dieruff H.S.; BA Moravian College (1992); MA University of Vermont (1998); Ph.D. University of Massachusetts-Amherst (2009)
OCCUPATION: Community College Faculty
QUALIFICATIONS: Born & raised in Allentown; Current President of Allentown City Council; Current member of Allentown City Council
Web Page: None.
Party: Democrat.

LV Ramblings Posts:

Eckhart & D'Amore to Duel at Coplay Coke Wagon

Mike D'Amore Rules Out Challenge to King Ed's Allentown Throne

Lehigh County & Allentown Conduct Peace Talks

Muhlenberg College Dems Like D'Amore & Schlossberg, But Not Howells

Allentown City Council Muzzles Citizen Participation

Allentown City Council Votes To Let Lou Speak, 6 to 1

Allentown's Three Blind Mice

Allentown City Council: Public Needs More Time For Cedar Park Plans

Michael D'Amore: Allentown Tax Hike Not Viable

Other Sources:

Queen City Daily: Meet Michael D'Amore

Valley 610: Meet Mike D'Amore

John Stoffa Campaign Finance Report Filed 5/5/09

2009-05-12T17:32:00.000-07:00

Stoffa Campaign Finance May 5, 2009

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Magazines & Newspape northampton county john stoffa

Business Plan for Norco Civil Division

2008-05-29T18:58:00.001-07:00

Strategic Plan Paper
Darcel Gibson
University of Phoenix
MBA/580 – Strategies for Competitive Advantage
May 19, 2008

With trends, consumers want everything available at their fingertips. For example, the consumer pay the bills, check banking, order food and other products on the Internet. Suppliers are affected by trends because if consumers do not purchase their products then the suppliers are faced with an excess amount of goods.

Companies are faced with creating short-term strategies to lure in customers. For example, technology is a basis for many companies. Companies are always looking for ways to please the customer so the company will invest in high speed hardware and software along with creating new ideas to reach an unchartered market. New technology is being invented and in the next five to 10 years, consumers will be able to access everything from home. Many companies will have to downsize because they would need a handful of employees to fill orders; deal with customer care and monitor the computer system to make sure everything is in working order.
A project team must be able to address the issues that the company is faced with. The one strategy that a company could use is strategic thinking. Strategic thinking focuses on finding and developing unique opportunities to create value by enabling a provocative and creative dialogue among people who can affect a company’s direction (What is Strategic Thinking, 2001). Northampton County will have to research companies that have gone through similar issues and how the companies have overcome the situations. For example, the arrival of a global marketplace, information technology and intense competition caused many companies to reevaluate middle management activities to determine just what value was truly being added to the company's products and services (Pearce & Robinson, 2004). The Administrative Office would have to think of some action plans that could help the department.

Company Background

On February 17, 1764, the Assembly initiated an act authorizing trustees to commence construction of the first Northampton County Courthouse which was opened in 1766 and George Taylor (one of the signers for the Declaration of Independence) was one of the trustees that was in charge of the construction (History of the Courthouse, 2007).

The first courthouse was fashioned after the Carpenter’s Hall in Philadelphia and was located in the center of Public Square in Easton. Two years later, the bell cast was placed in the cupola of the courthouse so that the public could be notified of the events. The courthouse had many events, including a group of petitioners that wanted the courthouse to be moved to another location. On August 23, 1860, the County Commissioners accepted an offer of land at $1 that was west of the original courthouse and the structure was built on top of a steep hill for $53,000 (History of the Courthouse, 2007). On June 18, 1861, the first court session was held.
The courthouse has added two additional wings because of the population growth and to satisfy the judicial needs.

In 1978, various offices, such as, the Clerk of Criminal Courts and Clerk of Civil Courts, moved to the newly constructed administrative building to help improve efficiency.

The County Executive is responsible for overseeing county operations that serve the residents and municipalities of Northampton County, and oversees the departments of Administration, Community and Economic Development, Corrections, Court Services, Fiscal Affairs, Human Resources Department, Human Services, and Public Works, and the offices of the Coroner, Public Defender, Sheriff, and Solicitor (Gateway to Government, 2008) and has a four year term.

The courthouse does not have stakeholders, but the public plays a big part in the elections. The executive shows the employees leadership and have the employees share in the same vision. If the County Executive does not work out, the public will vote the party out so that a new replacement could take over the position.

The clerk of courts – civil is also known as the prothonotary’s office. The primary function of the office is to docket and file all legal documents pertaining to civil complaints, civil lawsuits, equity actions, mortgage foreclosure actions and indexing of judgments as well as federal and commonwealth tax liens (Department of Court Services, 2008). The other functions that the office deals with are: processing passport applications; issuing writs of executions for mortgage foreclosure in real estate and personal property; assist in the processing of naturalizations twice a year; and court minutes, such as, commitments from mental health; articles of incorporations; naturalizations, awards of ownerships; legal name changes and swearing in ceremonies. The clerk of courts - civil has another office called the protection from abuse that deals with domestic violence matters. That office assists the victims with filing the paperwork; getting victims before a judge to get a temporary abuse order and later, a final abuse order.

The office consists of clerk of courts – civil/prothonotary, five deputy prothonotaries that have the authority to sign documents on behalf of the prothonotary and assist in supervising the office, six clerks who process civil matters, two clerks who process protection from abuse cases and a file clerk (Department of Court Services, 2008).

Value Statement

The Civil Division has been faced with creating a webpage where consumers could review the Sheriff’s Sales. Title abstracts companies and law firms have been pressuring the county to come up with a solution for them to review information on houses on the Sheriff’s Sale lists. Things are being worked out, but the project will be up and running in a few months.

The current problem is that three employees left their positions creating additional stress for other employees. The jobs will have to stay open until 30 days because of union rules and if the employee needs more time, they get an additional 30 days added before they have to give a definite answer about not coming back to the Civil Division.

The problem that the department is facing is that the Northampton County Civil Division does not offer online services for the public.

Vision Statement

The Civil Division will enter into the competitive market with the other courthouses so that the department will be able to increase its revenues by 60% within in the next five years.
The department will offer online services to the public. With implementing the new technology, the Civil Division’s software package will have firewall protection so that viruses will not attack the system nor will hackers have accessibility to the software.

The department will improve the work environment for the employees through training sessions and raising employee wages that would include the cost of living.

Mission Statement

Northampton County Courthouse’s mission statement is to plan, implement, and direct a comprehensive Personnel Management System for all County Employees (Human Resources, 2008). The definition of the mission statement is that a plan is implemented guide each department to achieving the goals set forth for the courthouse, each employee should implement a form of professional conduct towards the public and management should guide each employee about the rules and regulations of the company. The mission statement not only identifies what product or service a company produces, how it produces it, and what market it serves, it also embodies what the company believes (Pearce & Robinson, 2004).

When creating a new strategy, the strategic management process should be reviewed. First, the mission statement should be restructured if the company makes changes to the values. Second, an internal analysis should be done so that the company can assess the strengths and weaknesses of the company's management and organizational structure (Pearce & Robinson, 2004). The company could focus on future capabilities. Third, the external environment could have an effect on the competitive situation and the strategic plan. Fourth, the policies that empower action. Fifth, action plans and short-term objectives. Six, the long-term objectives should be implemented in the mission statement. The county would have to review the mission statement to see if changes have to be made.

Environmental Analysis

The Northampton County Civil Division must examine the internal and external environments because the two play an important part when implementing short- and long-term objectives.

Internal Environment

The remote environment comprises factors that originate beyond and usually irrespective of, any single firm's operating situation: (1) economic, (2) social, (3) political, (4) technological, and (5) ecological factors (Pearce & Robinson, 2004). A company will research the factors for opportunities, threats or weaknesses that would influence on a company’s decisions for the company. For example, the trade agreements that resulted from improved relations between the United States and China and the United States and Russia are examples of political factors that impact individual firms (Pearce & Robinson, 2004).

Social and Cultural Factors

One of the social changes that society has been facing is an increase in female employees in the labor market. This has not only affected the hiring and compensation policies and the resource capabilities of their employers; it has also created or greatly expanded the demand for a wide range of products and services necessitated by their absence from the home (Pearce & Robinson, 2004). Firms who act quickly to the change will offer child care services, microwave ovens, fast food restaurants and microwavable foods. A second profound social change has been the accelerating interest of consumers and employees in quality-of-life issues (Pearce & Robinson, 2004). At Northampton County Courthouse, the number of women hired has increased in recent years as well as the number of employees who are retiring and some of the retired employees come back to work because the pensions are not enough to get by. According to Pearce & Robinson (2004), evidence of this change is seen in recent contract negotiations. In addition to the traditional demand for increased salaries, worker demands such benefits as sabbaticals, flexible hours or four-day workweeks, lump-sum vacation plans, and opportunities for advanced training. Northampton County Courthouse employees have voted in a union because the employees want pay increases because the pay hand not increased in the last three years and the treatment of the employees was getting abusive at the workplace. The employees needed a neutral party to help with the employment issues, bring in opportunities to allow seniority to play a factor in promotions on the job, and training sessions for employees to improve behavior on the job. When the contract was negotiated, the employees received pay increases, more added time for vacation hours, and other demands. Some employment issues are being discussed in the contract, such as, a disciplinary board that oversees the complaints from employees (neutral parties are evaluating the situation and rendering a decision in the matter). Cutting across these issues is concern for individual health (Pearce & Robinson, 2004). Northampton County Courthouse changed insurance carriers because the company believed that employees would benefit with the new changes.

Political Factors

Political factors define the legal and regulatory parameters within which firms must operate. Political constraints are placed on firms through fair-trade decisions, antitrust laws, tax programs, minimum wage legislation, pollution and pricing policies, administrative jawboning, and many other actions aimed at protecting employees, consumers, the public environment (Pearce & Robinson, 2004). At Northampton County Courthouse, all employees have to follow the rules and regulations of the employment laws because the employer would have to pay for the consequences of the employees’ actions. The county has established policies that the employees have to follow in the company handbook. Employees can be given a verbal warning as well as a written warning. In recent years, some employees and some of the prisoners have filed lawsuits against the county because their rights have been violated and no one was listening to the problems that the individuals were having with the other employees. Human Resources have been lacking education in some areas of harassment on the job because some of the employees are not aware of the federal and state laws pertaining to employment. The county has started some training classes that involve communication, ethics, customer service, and leadership so that employees could be trained to prevent future problems.

Political activity also has a significant impact on two governmental functions that influence the remote environment of firms: the supplier function and the customer function (Pearce & Robinson, 2004). The supplier function occurs when the government decision affects the strategies of a company. For example, the County Executive’s decisions affects how business is done at the county. If prices are raised on the different filings in various departments, lawyers have to increase the fees with clients and the consumer will have to find a way to pay for the increased costs. The customer function occurs when the government demand for products and services can create, sustain, enhance, or eliminate many market opportunities (Pearce & Robinson, 2004). For example, the County Executive wanted employees to get an increase in pay, but wanted employees to keep out the union. HR wanted health and wellness addressed.

Technological Factor

A technological breakthrough can have a sudden and dramatic effect on a firm's environment. It may spawn sophisticated new markets and products or significantly shorten the anticipated life of a manufacturing facility (Pearce & Robinson, 2004).

Technology is a big factor at the Northampton County Courthouse because the county uses a computer system for daily activities. The computer system keeps a daily record of all activities within the courthouse. At the Civil Division (also known as the Prothonotary’s Office and Clerk of Courts – Civil), the public can come into the office to access any file that is not sealed by the courts. Thus, all firms, and most particularly those in turbulent growth industries, must strive for an understanding both of the existing technological advances and the probable future advances that can affect their products and services (Pearce & Robinson, 2004).

The Civil Division employees use the computer systems to make daily entries of filings and have access to email, but the employees cannot send civil documents to the public as attachments because the Civil Division does not have that kind of software package system like some of the other counties. For example, some counties offer civil documents on the Internet where the public can purchase civil docket entries and other civil document via credit card or Pay-Pal service along with filing electronic documents from attorneys and pro se individuals (individuals acting on their own behalf). The Civil Division will have to think of ways to please the public and to compete with the other counties with an upgraded computer software system.

If the Civil Division wants to make any upgrades on the computer software, the Prothonotary would have to meet with the County Executive, the Controller, the County Solicitor, and the Director of the Information Department to discuss the upgrades. Once approved, the Director and staff of the Information Technology Department will create a software package that will allow the feature available for the public, but will have to create firewall protection and other means of protection so that no one can plant viruses on the county’s computer system.

Demographic Factors

The demographic factors involve the relationship between business and ecology. Specific concerns include global warming, loss of habitat and biodiversity, well as air, water, and land pollution along with the threats to our life-supporting ecology caused principally by human activities in an industrial society are commonly referred to as pollution (Pearce & Robinson, 2004). For example, some law firms file lawsuits that concern asbestos cases with the Northampton County Civil Division because some of the big companies in the Lehigh Valley have had their employees working in buildings that contained a high concentrate of asbestos and after so many years, employees were diagnosed with different kinds of cancers and other health related problems. The Civil Division has one clerk that handles the filings for the asbestos where they are posted on Lexus Nexus plus that clerk has to go into court for the swearing of the jury and reading the verdicts for the asbestos cases. The courthouse has one judge that is assigned to hear the asbestos cases along with a court appointed attorney that argues the cases in the courts.

External Environment

A trend is nothing but the general direction of the price of an asset or market in general and can be apply to equities, bonds, commodities and any other market which is characterized by a long-term movement in price or volume (Trade Trending, n.d.).

A force is an interaction between two objects and their environment. For example, an environment relies on five forces to create a strategic agenda in a competitive market. The five forces are:

The threat of entry. New entrants enter into the industry bringing a desire to gain market share, new capacity, and substantial resources to shake-up the other markets to begin leverage in the industry (Pearce & Robinson, 2004).

The bargaining power of customers. Customers will have competitors in the industry against on another because of the demand for different products or services in the market forcing a price reduction. Consumers tend to be more prices sensitive if the consumers are purchasing products that are undifferentiated, expensive relative to the incomes and of a sort where quality is not particularly important (Pearce & Robinson, 2004).

The bargaining power of suppliers. Suppliers can squeeze the profitability out of an industry unable to recover cost increases in its own price (Pearce & Robinson, 2004). Suppliers will either raise the prices or reduce the prices of the product or service, but other industries are affected by the changes causing erosion in that particular industry. For example, bottling companies are in competition with powdered mix, fruit juices, and other beverage companies.

The threat of substitute products or services. Substitute products that deserve the most attention strategically are those that (a) are subject to trends improving their price-performance trade-off with the industry's product or (b) are produced by industries earning high profits and could rapidly into play if some development increases competition in their industries and causes price reduction or performance improvement (Pearce & Robinson, 2004).

Jockeying among current contestants. Rivalries amongst competitors in the market take a form of jockeying. The companies will use tactics, such as, introduction of a new product, advertisements that degrade the competition or competition with prices.

With the collective strengths of the five forces, the ultimate profit potential depends on the industry (Pearce & Robinson, 2004). For example, the tire and metal can industries will not have a spectacular return on investments, but the soft drink and toiletries industries will have high returns on investments.

Long-Term Objectives

The Civil Division’s strategic plan could be implemented, but the department would follow six strategic long-term objectives so that the Civil Division could enter into the competitive market. The objectives are: invest in upgrading the technology; offer online services to the public; hire additional employees to help with the increase of filings; re-train employees and hold stress management classes; downsize some of the job positions and raise employee wages so it includes the cost of living.

With a limited income, consumers are living paycheck to paycheck and cannot afford to pay the mortgage. Mortgage companies will be filing more complaints in foreclosures. The filings will increase to about 60% at the Civil Division in the next 10 years. The situation would cause employees to become overworked; absenteeism would increase; conflicts will increase amongst the employees and the office would be understaffed. The Civil Division will need to hire more employees. The department would need 12 additional employees (six to help with the Sheriff’s Sales and six to input the increased paperwork) plus the county will have to increase employee wages. If an increase of unemployment occurs in the next five to 10 years, domestic violence and divorce filings would increase. Some consumers will become frustrated and angry causing more domestic violence cases to be filed with the PFA (Protection From Abuse) office. The PFA office will need to hire more employees because the office would be understaffed; an increase in absenteeism; overworked and would cause conflicts amongst the employees. The opportunity would be to hire seven employees in the next 10 years.

The department will have to invest in upgrading technology and hire tech support operate the online services. With the Civil Division implementing new technology, marketability would increase in the competitive legal market and increasing revenue by 60% in the next five years. The department would not need as employees working in the department because most of the new complaints will be processed via the Internet. The department needs two deputies (one handles mortgage foreclosures and the other handles the PFA department), five employees and a file clerk who will handle walk-in filings, mail; run receipts; file requests and mail. The county could train an assistant Director of IT to oversee and implement all managerial functions f or the Civil Division, train one IT specialist that will be trained to handle the job functions of the three civil deputies, and train eight IT technicians to do the civil functions of the department (the IT staff members would be replacing the prothonotary, three deputies, and seven employees). The change in positions would cut down on costs for hiring additional employees; increase the employees’ wages; decrease employee complaint and decrease unethical behavior from its employees causing an unhealthy work environment.

The department will enter into the competitive market in the legal system, offer ongoing training for the employees with stress management classes and raise employee wages so it includes the cost of living.

Strategic Analysis and Choice

Northampton County could research other courthouses, such as, Lehigh County and Montgomery County. The other company that could be researched is Delta Air Lines because the company had a great deal of issues dealing with situations, such as, downsizing, mergers, supplier diversity programs, Chapter 13 bankruptcy and the company figured out a way overcome the situations.

Companies

Lehigh County

Lehigh County’s Clerk of Courts Office, consists of the civil division, criminal division, Recorder of Deeds, and Recorder of Wills. The office is responsible for the complete, accurate filing and maintenance of original records for the Lehigh County court system (Clerk of Courts, 2008). The first strategy for Lehigh County was downsizing one of the supervisory positions so courts combined the two offices together so that one supervisor running one office so that money would be saved. Downsizing is eliminating the number of employees, particularly middle management, in a company. The second strategy that the courts used was allowing the public to access public records via the Internet. The software that is used is called Odyssey Public Access. For example, the public could go on the site and receive a tutorial on how to set up a subscription, a username, and a password. The new release of Odyssey's public access site is now certified to work with Internet Explorer version 7 as well as continuing to work with IE version 6, but Odyssey public access is not certified to work with browsers other than Internet Explorer (Odyssey Public Access, 2008). The third strategy was that the Clerk of Judicial Records position is an elected position. The clerk has a term of four years. This strategy allows the office to receive new ideas from a fresh face and offices problems are limited because each elected clerk has ways of doing things.

Northampton County could have the Prothonotary’s position for the Civil Division an elected one. The term would run every four years where the department. The department would get a fresh face with new action plans that could be developed to focus on upgrading technology for the office and considering downsizing some of the positions by combining different departments.
The idea would eliminate some of the issues and concerns in the office so that the Northampton County Civil Division could enter the competitive market with the other county courthouses in Pennsylvania.

Montgomery County

The Prothonotary is the elected civil clerk of the Court of Common Pleas and is responsible for recording all civil procedures before the court (Prothonotary’s Office, 2008). The courts came with a strategy to enter into the competitive market by creating a pilot program for electronic filings for court documents. The pilot program will be open to all Pennsylvania attorneys [current e-filing initiative is designed to handle all permitted civil filings in the Montgomery County Civil Courts starting with initiation of suit by a Summons or a Complaint-Civil Action. Initially, the system is permissive, not mandatory. (E-filing with Montgomery County, 2008)]. E-filing will allow legal documents with exhibits and attachments to be filed on the county’s website. The legal documents will not have to be delivered through the mail nor hand-delivery service. The process will cut down litigation costs and time. If attorneys wanted to file other paperwork that involved pleadings, the pleadings could still be delivered by mail or hand delivery service at the Court House in Norristown.

Northampton County Civil Division could create a website that attorneys could file e-filings so that the courts could cut down of litigation costs and time. The office could create a strategy with the information technology systems to create software that would help them enter into the competitive market with the other counties. The Net will allow the global enterprise with different functions, offices, and activities dispersed around the world to be seamlessly connected so that far-flung customers, employees, and suppliers can work together in real time (Pearce & Robinson, 2004).

Delta Air Lines

In the 21st century, the company dedicated to Supplier Diversity Managers who help coordinate certification, introduction, and ongoing performance measurement process for the small, minority-, and women-owned businesses because Delta wants to assure the highest quality products and services for managers to maintain continuous dialog with the buyers and this provides Delta with the necessary criteria for determining the most qualified diverse suppliers (Supplier Process Overview, 2007). The company has a four step process of: reviewing certified business, identifying suppliers, matching supplier with opportunity, and measuring performance that helps Delta determine which companies will participate in the diverse supplier program.
Delta hired Neil Shah as the vice president. Shah was hired to helping the company focus on building a world-class cargo business that leverages the size and scope of Delta’s global network and helps create the company to be one of the world’s extensive air freight operations (Delta Appoints Vice President to Lead Cargo Division, 2007). President Ed Bastian believes that this will be an opportunity for Delta to create a new form of brand equity and cargo revenues.
Delta Air Lines offers more destinations than any other airlines in the global market and has more than 600 weekly routes to 58 destinations. Delta carefully planned the company’s supply chain strategy [is the idea that applies to a total systems approach to managing the entire flow of information, materials, and services from raw materials suppliers through factories and warehouses to the end customer (Chase, et al., 2006)] to develop a plan to create a new form of revenue.

Northampton County Civil Division could research the ways of how outsourcing [the act of moving some of a firm's internal activities and decision responsibility to outside providers (Chase, et al., 2007)] and planning [for example: Long-range planning is generally done annually, focusing on a horizon greater than one year (Chase, et al., 2007)] that works for Delta. The Civil Division could examine how Delta selects companies that will benefit in the diverse supplier program through a four step process.

The Civil Division will need to examine alternative solutions that the department could help with employee satisfaction and update computer software that would satisfy the public.
The Controller would have to create a budget that would include any additional costs that may be incurred when implementing the projects.

Plan Goals and Implementation

The Civil Division will need to a project team that will benchmark other courthouses and corporation to create ideas to help the department to enter into the competitive market in the legal system along with offering different services to the public.

The Director of IT and staff will create the software for the upgraded technology along with will be installing new hardware, conduct tests to make sure the software is in working order, and create firewall protection on the software so that no viruses could get attached nor could hackers obtain access to the software.

The Controller would have to create a budget that would include any additional costs that may be incurred from the new projects and will have to re-evaluate the employees’ pay rate.
The Civil Division would need to be restructured so that the new technology would be acceptable by the employees as well as the public. The department would need on-going training sessions, such as, computer training, code of ethics, interpersonal skills training, stress management and managerial training. The county will have to hire an outside consulting firm that could help the Civil Division with restructuring. The outside consulting firm could examine the strengths and weaknesses of the department so that a training program could be implemented for the employees along with assisting the IT department with ideas concerning the computer upgrades. First, the outside consulting firm would examine the strengths of the Civil Division. The department does have its strengths that allow the Civil Division to be at its best.

The strengths are:
Each employee is trained to do a job.
The Prothonotary has four deputies that help her check each employee’s work.
Registers are counted daily. (This prevents employees from embezzling money). All checks and cash are put in locked bags each day with a deposit slip and sent up to the Tax Department to be re-checked and later sent to the bank.
Public is treated with care.

Second, the outside consulting firm will examine the weaknesses of the department. Unfortunately, the Civil Division’s weaknesses outweigh the strengths. The weaknesses are:
Poor management skills. (Prothonotary needs help dealing difficult employees).
Too many bosses. (A few employees believe that they answer to know no one and the Prothonotary listens to the solutions for the workplace).
Favoritism. For example, one to three people are being cross-trained on different job duties and others are trained to do three job functions.
Employees lack knowledge of the federal and state employment laws. For example, employees do not respect others.
Poor communication skills between management and employees.
No educational training classes for proper work ethics.
Increase in employee overturns. For example, three employees left the office in the Spring 2008 to pursue other jobs in different departments compared to two employees leaving in 2007.
More employees are dissatisfied with jobs.
Mission statement too vague for employees to understand.
Employees are disgusted with the union. For example, the union keeps everything a secret and does not hand out newspapers or meeting notes.
HR ignores the problems that are happening within the Civil Division.
The weaknesses are rising and if the problems are not fixed, the Civil Division will face more overturns; increase in absenteeism; conflicts amongst the employees; an increase in grievances and an increase in lawsuits filed in federal court. The result could be that the department gets closed down until the problems are resolved.

The Northampton County Civil Division has the opportunity to correct the weaknesses. First, re-training could be done for all the employees so that everyone is cross-trained on every job duty. This situation would eliminate the favoritism amongst the employees. Second, all employees will need to have pay increases so that they are not frustrated and take things out on other employees. Third, the county needs to have on-site stress management classes for the employees. The classes will help relieve daily stress from day-to-day functions on the job. Fourth, a disciplinary board could be created. The county could elect four individuals who oversee the conflicts, grievances and other issues that are going on in the Civil Division. Fifth, weekly or monthly meetings need to be created to open up communication lines between union, management and employees. Six, on-site training classes (involving work ethics, the federal and state employees, and business etiquette) should be on-going.

The other alternative that the department could implement is downsizing. The department would not need as many employees in the Civil Division because most of the new complaints and filings would be sent via the Internet. The department would only need two deputies (one handles mortgage foreclosures and the other handles the PFA department), five employees and the file clerk that would take in any filings over the counter; run receipts; handle file requests and handle mail requests. The county could replace the prothonotary, three deputies, and seven employees. The county could just have an IT department that handles all civil matters where eight IT technicians, one IT specialist (handles the three civil deputies’ job duties) and an assistant Director of IT (handles the prothonotary’s job duties) to be trained on all aspects of the civil functions. The changes would cut down on costs for hiring additional employees where the county could increase employee wages and the department would not have to deal with poor management issues or unethical behavior from its employees causing an unhealthy work environment. Employee complaints would be reduced by 80%.

Critical Success Factors

The first factor that influence the Civil Division that the County Executive because they are elected every four years and they bring new strategies to be implemented for that term. The executive will deal with new ideas; new projects; and cleaning up any problems that the last County Executive might have left unfinished.

A second factor that would impact decisions in the Northampton County Civil Division is the rise in prices in the economy. Many consumers are feeling the crunch. In the next five to 10 years, the situation is going to get worse. Consumers will be limited in purchasing products or pay the bills. The situation cause more civil actions to be filed at the county.

The third factor would be downsizing. Companies are becoming more advanced in technology and need fewer employees; some have merged with others and some have gone out of business because of the increased costs.

The fourth factor that would impact the decisions of implementing the new technology in the Civil Division is the appointed judges. Some of the judges may disagree with having civil filings accessible through the Internet because they do not like to use the equipment so the project leader would have to meet with all the appointed judges to discuss the importance of moving into a more competitive market and how some changes will affect their offices, but they could chose to hire an IT staff member to help with adjusting to the changes and to teach the judges and their staff members the new computer system for the Civil Division.

Financial Projections and Analysis

The Northampton County Civil Division has one of the lowest rates for no-fault divorces. The county charges $132. Attorneys have been filing divorce cases with the county so that the costs are reduced for the clients and profits are increased at their firms. The competitors are: Cameron and Potter counties because they try to increase revenue by offering no-fault divorces at a cheap, convenient rate.

The other situation is technology. Some counties offer docket printouts and scanned copies of files online to the consumer. Law firms and title abstract companies do not have to leave the office or home to receive a copy of public file. The Civil Division would have to invest in high speed software and hardware that would prevent viruses or spyware or hackers from getting into the computer system so that the department could compete with other counties. The fees for the civil filing will have to be adjusted because the department would have to put additional fees for printouts from the Internet site. The fees will have to keep increasing each year by 5%.

The Civil Division could increase the fees for filings, inquiries, and requested if the county offers online services. For example:
Fees for new complaints filed on the Internet would be $200.
Fees for divorce complaints filed on the Internet would be $350 and up (depending on the additional counts).
Fees for child custody complaints would be $300.
Requests for complete files sent via as an attachment by email would be $20 and up (depending on the files).
Requests for docket entries sent via as an attachment by email would be $3 for the first page and $1 for each any additional page.
Requests for divorce decrees sent via as an attachment by email would be $3 for an uncertified copy and $15 for a certified copy.
Requests for certain file request sent via as an attachment by email would be $5 for the first page and $1 each for any additional page.

The Civil Division will have to upgrade the payment system for all filings, inquiries, and requests from the website. The department would have to offer a pay pal system (the system would include debit card access, check card access, credit card and check by phone access). The pay pal system would help the department keep track of all payments.

The costs for the new equipment and software would be $40 million. The costs would include having all the county departments upgraded so that they will be able to be converted to Internet accessibility along with ongoing training computer classes, stress management classes, managerial training, and different employee training programs. The upkeep of the equipment would be less costly and more efficient.

Downsizing some of the job positions in the Civil Division would have a positive effect on the department. For example, the department would have a decrease in employee complaints; decrease in absenteeism; decrease in the employees’ unethical behavior and an increase in a healthy work environment.

With the necessary changes, the Northampton County Civil Division would be able to offer online services and compete in a competitive market in the legal system along with creating a health work environment for the employees.

Controls and Procedures

The County Executive is responsible for overseeing county operations that serve the residents and municipalities of Northampton County, and oversees the departments of Administration, Community and Economic Development, Corrections, Court Services, Fiscal Affairs, Human Resources Department, Human Services, and Public Works, and the offices of the Coroner, Public Defender, Sheriff, and Solicitor (Gateway to Government, 2008). A County Executive is elected every four years and a new strategy is implemented for that person’s term. The executive will deal with new ideas; new projects and cleaning up any problems that the last County Executive might have left unfinished. Each employee will be observing to see if the executive will tend to the needs of the employees. Some employees may not like the new strategic plan that the County Executive may bring and the employees struggle with the changes.

The courthouse does not have stakeholders, but the public plays a big part in the elections. The executive shows the employees leadership and have the employees share in the same vision. The organizational culture is similar to an individual’s personality. For example, that personality influences the behavior of an individual, the shared assumptions (beliefs and values) among a firm's members influence opinions and actions within that firm (Pearce & Robinson, 2004). If the County Executive does not work out, the public will vote the party out so that a new replacement could take over the position.

If the changes are to be made in the Civil Division, the prothonotary must meet with the Controller, the Director of Information Technology Department and the County Executive to get approval.

The Controller is the individual who will create the budget for any projects that the Civil Division would like to do.

The Director of IT will create the software for the upgraded technology along with the staff who will be installing new hardware in the IT department and the Civil Division. The Director and staff will conduct tests to make sure software is in working order.

The County Executive, HR, County Solicitors and Controller would have to restructure the Civil Division and create an organizational structure and chart to show the changes, such as, technology and downsizing. The County Executive would have to downsize the Civil Division if the department offers online services because there would be an excessive amount of employees. The department will only need two deputies (one handles mortgages foreclosures and the other handles the PFA department), five employees and a file clerk to work the counter, data entry, run receipts and retrieve files. An IT support team could run all civil functions and online services where an assistant Director of IT (will handle the prothonotary’s job duties), one IT specialist (will handle three civil deputies’ duties) and seven IT technicians could be trained to run the civil functions of the department.

References

Chase, R. B., Jacobs, F. R. & Aquilano, N. J. (2006). Operations Management for Competitive
Advantage, 11th Edition. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies.
Clerk of Courts. (2008). Retrieved May 5, 2008, from
http://www.lehighcounty.org/Elect/electbody.cfm?doc=elect_clerk.htm
Corporate Information. (2007). Retrieved May 5, 2008, from
http://www.delta.com/about_delta/corporate_information/index.jsp
Delta Appoints Vice President to Lead Cargo Division. (2007). Retrieved May 5, 2008,
2007, from http://news.delta.com/print_doc.cfm?article_id=10930
Delta Stats & Facts. (2007). Retrieved May 5, 2008, from
http://www.delta.com/about_delta/corporate_information/delta_stats_facts/index.jsp
Delta Through the Decades. (2007). Retrieved May 5, 2008, from
http://www.delta.com/about_delta/corporate_information/delta_stats_facts/delta_through_ decades/index.jsp
Department of Court Services. (2008). Retrieved April 14, 2008, from
http://www.northamptoncounty.org/northampton/cwp/view.asp?a=1521&q=620168
E-filings with Montgomery County. (2008). Retrieved May 5, 2008, from
http://prothy.montcopa.org/prothy/cwp/view,a,1673,q,64380,prothyNav,%7C.asp
Gateway to Government. (2008). Retrieved April 14, 2008, from
http://www.northamptoncounty.org/northampton/cwp/view.asp?a=3&Q=620819&
NorthamptonNav_GID=1977
History of the Courthouse. (2007). Retrieved April 14, 2008, from http://www.nccpa.org/
geninfo/history.html
Human Resources. (2008). Retrieved April 14, 2008, from
http://www.northamptoncounty.org/northampton/cwp/view.asp?a=1526&Q=620609&
northamptonNav=&northamptonNav_GID=1977
Odyssey Public Access. (2008). Retrieved May 5, 2008, from
http://www.lehighcounty.org/Elect/elect.cfm?doc=elect_home.htm
Pearce, J. & Robinson, R. (2004). Strategic Management: Formulation, Implementation and
Control, 9th Ed. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies.
Prothonotary’s Office. (2008). Retrieved Maya 5, 2008, from
http://prothy.montcopa.org/prothy/site/default.asp
Supplier Process Overview. (2007). Retrieved December 22, 2007, from
http://www.delta.com/about_delta/partnering_with_delta/supplier_diversity/supplier_process_overview/index.jsp
Trend Trading. (n.d.). Retrieved April 28, 2008, from http://www.tradersedgeindia.com/
trend_trading.htm

Is Freddy Lutz a Democrat?

2008-03-17T02:38:00.000-07:00

The following is the text of an email I received from Freddy Lutz concerning his party registration.

Thank you for the opportunity to answer your questions. I do not have a current “blogger” account, and therefore will respond via email.

For one, let me say that I did not (or did not intend to, if it was presented to you in that manner) refer to myself as the Chairperson of Catasauqua, but rather the Chairperson of the Planning Commission for the Borough of Catasauqua. I noticed several other minor typo's in the transcript posted on your website (as compared to the original letter I sent), but I’m guessing this was manually transcribed since I did not submit an electronic version, but the bulk of facts are accurate.

As far as my Party affiliation goes, I had registered as an Independent a number of years ago simply because I never considered myself a hard-line member of either principal political party. However, throughout the years I have found myself voting primarily in a manner consistent with many Democratic viewpoints, and intend on making this change formal not only for this potential appointment, but also so that I may voice my opinion in the upcoming primary election. As far as the rest of my qualifications go, I would agree with the fact that a simple resume or letter does not define any individual. I'm sure that all of the interested individuals, including myself, bring a unique set of talents to the table that should be considered in their own light. I trust the individuals responsible for ultimately selecting their candidate will base their decision on who they believe will best fill the vacant position.

I hope this satisfies your curiosity. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any other questions.

Regards,

Freddy Lutz

Nancy Wilt Letter of Interest & Resume

2008-03-10T20:29:00.000-07:00

Letter of Interest.

Please allow me this opportunity to inform you that I am sincerely interested in the District Three vacancy on the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners and would greatly appreciate you adding my name for consideration for this appointment.

Currently, I have the honor of serving as a Legislative Assistant and Office Administrator to State Senator Lisa M. Boscola. This position (which I have held for the past 13 years) has afforded me the opportunity to learn about the intricacies of government including the legislative process and the relationship between the state and local municipalities.

I am a homeowner in the 13th Ward of the City of Allentown, where I live with my husband and our three children. Furthermore, I am a life-long resident of Lehigh County and am quite proud of my record of commitment to our community. Please know that I am active in several community organizations, as well as my church.

It is my sincere goal to continue to contribute to the betterment of our county in order to provide the brightest possible future for my children and our future generations. Although Commissioner Derr will be truly missed, I am confident that I have the right experience, energy and judgment to ably complete his term.

Thank you for your consideration of this request. I truly look forward to the opportunity to discuss my interest in this appointment with you further. If you have any questions about my interest in this position, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

Resume.

Objective:
To obtain a position that utilizes my strong organizational and communication skills in an environment of service to my community

Professional Experience:

Executive Assistant: State Senator Lisa M. Boscola (18th PA Senate District): Bethlehem, PA: 1998 to Present Responsibilities include generating and maintaining Senator's district schedule, overseeing daily operations of Bethlehem District Office, fielding of constituent telephone calls and working with constituent outreach projects, maintaining databases, maintaining office budget and completing appropriate expense vouchers. Additionally, this position requires strong written and oral communications skills, being detail oriented, the ability to work one on one as well as in a team environment and the ability to assess constituent cases and come to a satisfactory resolution.

Legislative Assistant and Office Administrator: State Representative Lisa M. Boscola (135th PA House District): Bethlehem, PA: 1995 to 1998

Responsibilities included generating responses for the Representative to incoming correspondence, fielding of constituent telephone calls, assessing constituent needs and working with the appropriate Commonwealth departments, maintaining Representative's schedule, maintaining of office budget, and supervision of interns

Canvass Director, Clean Water Action: Allentown, PA: 1994 to 1995

Responsibilities included recruitment, interviewing, training and supervision of staff, meeting fundraising goals, maintaining a budget, payroll, public speaking, understanding the legislative process and direct lobbying. Additionally, this position required strong written and oral communication skills, the ability to work on an individual basis, as well as with a group and solid organizational and time management skills

Field Manager and Canvasser, Clean Water Action: Allentown, PA: 1990 to 1994

Responsibilities included community education and fundraising regarding environmental legislation, meeting fundraising goals, training and supervision of staff and a thorough understanding of the political process

Education:

- Cedar Crest College, Allentown, PA: Majored in Communications: 1987 to 1990 Lehigh Carbon Community College, Schnecksville, PA: 1986-1987 Graduate, Emmaus High School, Emmaus, PA: 1985

Volunteer Experience:

Past Member of the Board of Directors: Coalition for Appropriate Transportation
Volunteer: Various electoral campaigns for state and national government; registering voters, phone banking and GOTV
Past Member: West Park Civic Association
Member: West Walnut Neighborhood Association
Member: Union Terrace Elementary School PTA

Computer Proficiency:

Microsoft 2000 Professional Office Suite; including Word, Excel, Access, Publisher and Power Point

Dennis Pearson Letter of Interest & Resume

2008-03-10T20:09:00.000-07:00

Letter of Interest.

At the moment the County's largest city Allentown has only one resident on the Board of County Commissioners, Dan McCarthy. People outside the city hold all the at-large seats. Given this fact, the next Board of Commissioner from District 3 should be an Allentown resident. That is most logical but it may not necessarily be.

During the mid to late fifties the Lehigh Valley was predominately agricultural in both orientation and thought. The then existing industrial complex being primarily concentrated in the cities (that is, Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton in Pennsylvania and Phillipsburg in New Jersey) and a few outlying suburban communities. We note the heart of this five county industrial complex comprised the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, New Jersey Zinc Company, Ingersoll-Rand, Mack Trucks, Air Products & Chemicals, Lehigh Portland Cement and Western Electric.

I initiated a study entitled "We Present the Truth, But You Still Don't Comprehend" believing that I can come to a general understanding concerning the chronology and decision-making that has led to the planned or unanticipated destruction of the character of the Lehigh Valley's landscape from largely rural to urban sprawl which in its extended form is called megalopolis.

A megalopolis, of course, is an urban complex encompassing several major cities and regions. Its application in the Lehigh Valley region would be the Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (S.M.S.A) of Allentown-Bethlehem and Easton (A-B-E). The A-B-E S.M.S.A comprises the Counties of Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton in Pennsylvania and Warren County in New Jersey. We add that in regards to this study I concentrated on considerations that have impacted upon Lehigh County and its major city, Allentown; and I concerned myself with Carbon, Northampton, Berks or Warren Counties when developments there tied-in and matched my field of consideration.

Today the heart of the five county industrial complex has changed and the Count}' has dealt with this fact of life on a continuing basis as well as their response to the unanticipated destruction of the character of the Lehigh Valley's landscape from largely rural to urban sprawl.

As an lifetime resident of Lehigh County and the district I wish to serve, I have demonstrated my interest in the issues that face Local government whether it be the Allentown School Board, Allentown City Council or the Board of County Commissioners by being present at these meeting many times when I did not have to attend as most residents would do. In fact, my interest is such that it was even my practice to attend public meetings outside the City of Allentown.

It is my belief that I would be an asset to the County Board of Commissioners given the information I have learned from going to the before said meetings The fact, that I have been a leader in East Allentown for so many years and served these people with dedication and sincerity in a position of leadership that worked more to benefit the people of my neighborhood then myself.

If there is a learning curve to be a Commissioner I believe that my learning curve will be short given all this experience.

I would be most honored to fill the seat once occupied by Leon Eisenhart who offered his constituency one promise — " I will a good job." And doubly, I would be honored to succeed Kurt Derr as representative of the Third Commissioner District. Kurt Derr served his constituency well by doing his homework on the work that needed to be done.

Therefore, I Dennis LeRoy Pearson make this known this day of March 9, 2008 to the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners of my desire and interest to be appointed by the Board as the next Commissioner for District # 3. As Commissioner I seek to do a good job, do my homework and ask God if it is his will to serve me up with a little bit of wisdom to understand and react to the real concerns and needs of the people of my district and the people of Lehigh County.

Resume.

OBJECTIVE
To be appointed County Commissioner District # 3
SUMMARY
A responsible, motivated and productive individual with over 25 years experiences in the industrial service section of a major metal-producing company. A hard-working and creative community leader who has demonstrated great ability in improving neighborhood livability. Very concerned about the needs of children and people. Certified Social Studies (PA/NJ), Elementary (NJ).

STRENGTHS/ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- President, Neighborhood Association
- Past Participant, Agere Technologies -Environment Advisory Group
- Board Member and Officer in effort to preserve the legacy of the individuals who worked in steel.
- Ability to identify needs
- Persuasive/influential
- Organizational Skills
- Motivational skills
- Capable of organizing and maintaining financial records
- An educator who was involved as an ESOL Adult Tutor, Catholic Relief Agency

WORK HISTORY

*Northern Lehigh School District, Slatington, PA 2002- Present
*Sa!isbury Township School District, Allentown, PA 1999 - Present
*Southern Lehigh School District, Center Valley, PA 1999 - Present
*Parkfand School District, Aiientown, PA 1999 - Present
*East Perm School District, Emmaus, PA 2002- Present
*Bethlehem Area School District, Bethlehem, PA 1999 -Present
Northampton School District, Northampton, PA 1999 - 2002
*Saucon Valley School District, Hellertown, PA 1996 - Present
*Quakertown Community School District, Quakertown, PA2002- Present
*PhiIHpsburg School District, Philiipsburg, NJ 1999 -Present
**Whitehaff-Copiay School District, Whitehall, PA 1999 - 2002
(Short- Term Substitute Teacher --- * Denotes on list 2005-2006 term
Conduct classes on various subjects on a short-term basis as assigned.
Use various teaching methods.
" Summer School Instructor —- 2000 — Denoted by +)

Allentown YMCA/YWCA, Allentown, Pa 2000 - 2003
Tutor and Teacher - After School Child Care Program - Cetronia Elementary

Bethiehem Steel Corporation, Bethlehem PA 1973 - 2000
- Prepared incoming water for use by high-intensity boilers
- Analyzed water quality and treated accordingly.
- Worked to close tolerances.
- Maintained and operated boilers and auxiliary equipment
- Responsible for daily reports.
- Trained co-workers

EDUCATION & TRAINING, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

4-Year College and University Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA
Act 48 Courses — 2002
Computer Training 1999
Certification (Social Studies 7-12 1970-1978
History (7-12) - BS Education 1965-1969
Muhlenberg Coiiege, Allentown, PA
* Act 48 Course — 2003
East Stroudsburg University, East Stroudsburg, Pa
Coaching 1999-1999
Moravian College, Bethlehem, PA
* Elementary Education 1996-1998
Penm State University
Business 1997-1998
Lehigh University, Bethiehem, PA
MA History 1969-1971

2-Year College and Other Training Performance Resources

* USWA/Bethlehem Steel Career Development Program 1993-1999
Bethlehem Area Vocational-Technical School, Bethlehem, PA
* Web Page Development 1998-1998
Community CPR and First Aid 2002-2002
Dale Carnegie Course in Effective Speaking and Human Relations 1992-1992
Lehigh County Community College, SchnecksviHe, Pa 1991-1991
Texas Education Agency 1991-1991
* Space Science
L.E. Dieruff High School, AHentown, PA 1962-1965

Computer Skills:
Word Processing and Writing, Graphics, Siide Shows, Desktop Publishing, Database,
Spreadsheets, World Wide Web....

Programs: Claris Works, Microsoft Works, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Money,
Microsoft Excel, Power Point, HyperStudio

Operating Systems - Macintosh, M.S. Dos, MS 3.1, MS 95, MS SSMicrosoft

Freddy Lutz Letter of Interest

2008-03-10T19:52:00.000-07:00

Letter of Interest:

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Freddy E. Lutz Jr., and I am writing to express my interest in filling the current vacancy on the Board of Commissioners, serving Lehigh County's Third District.

My wife and I have lived in the Borough of Catasauqua (3d District) since 2001, and while I am not a "native" of the Lehigh Valley, have considered this region to be my home since 1992. As many others, I have witnessed the growth and progress that has occurred in the area, and understand that only through my active involvement in local affairs can I contribute towards making the future growth of this area occur in a positive, sustainable manner.

I feel that my upbringing and history have provided me with the breadth of experience that would be a wonderful compliment the current Board. I also believe that, while each individual has the right to believe in what they wish, a certain degree of compromise and objectivity is required to truly represent those residents which they have chosen to serve.

As a Fine-Arts Major in college, I frequently found myself using my creative skills to find solutions for a variety of problems. I am a strong believer that in order to find the best solution, most times you need to keep an open mind, since progress is not only repeating those things that have proven successful, but also educating yourself to the issues at hand, and going in new directions. Most of us have heard the phrase: "If you risk nothing, you risk everything." I feel this philosophy is paramount to fully addressing the needs of the public for one simple reason - when you look back through history at all the life-altering projects improved a regions livelihood and sustainability, every one of them required taking a chance.

My Experience:

In my early professional career, I held a number of construction-related jobs, which have provided me the valuable "life experience" of constructing various improvements from buildings, to utilities, to road infrastructure. I have found that understanding the logistical issues and limitations of implementing these types of projects has been instrumental in my professional advancement since then.
In 2001,1 assumed a managerial position in local government, serving as a zoning officer in a Northampton County municipality. In that position, I served as a liaison to a number of Boards and Commissions, and acquired a wealth of experience in interpreting/applying the Pennsylvania Municipalities Code (MFC), as well as coordinating projects and addressing issues with virtually every municipal department, including Police, Public Works, and Water and Sewer Authorities. In that same period, I also became the municipal Geographic Information Systems (CIS) Administrator, which fostered an even deeper belief in "seeing the big picture", as I facilitated GIS projects with all the same Boards, Commissions, and departments.
Currently, I am an Office Manager and Executive Staff Member for a regional engineering firm, and am responsible for day-to-day activities of the firms Lehigh Valley office, including business development, personnel matters, and other administrative functions. In this capacity, I am regularly involved in municipal projects, as this is the focus of the firms business. As a result, I am immersed in the dynamic daily issues that most local and regional governments face. From regulatory agencies, to private resident concerns, I am frequently involved in mediating issues that require an understanding of both (or more) view-points relating to a variety of issues, from Subdivision and Land Development applications, utility and road improvements, stormwater management, and code enforcement, to name a few. I consider myself to be an above-average communicator, and have found that most adversarial issues can be greatly reduced by communicating effectively, and respectfully. Similarly, educating yourself to the issues at hand allows you to understand the viewpoints of others. While you may not agree with those views, you can at least make a more educated decision by understanding their concerns.

I am also currently the Chairperson of the Borough of Catasauqua, and have served in this capacity for the past 2 years. Prior to that, Ihad served as a member of the same board for one year. In this capacity, I frequently converse with a variety of persons seeking to improve (heir properties, sometimes not necessarily in compliance with what may be permitted or desired. As a result, it is often the case where we discuss what avenues may be open for them to achieve their goals, or how compromises can be reached that satisfy both the resident and Borough's concerns. I also communicate regarding these issues with Borough Staff and other Elected Officials, as necessary to make sure that the Boards input is conveyed in a clear, professional manner.

I stand prepared to commit the energy and resources to fulfilling the role of Commissioner, and look forward to the opportunity to meet in person for further consideration.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

David Jones Letter of Interest

2008-03-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

Letter of interest.

I would like to formally submit my letter of consideration for the Democratic vacancy on the Board of Commissioners. I would consider it an honor and privilege to serve the citizens and families of Lehigh County by providing them effective government and core services.

I bring a solid professional background and global experience from 10 yrs in the Corporate sector. That experience includes leadership and organization development, change management as well as Professional Certifications in Six Sigma, Organizational Systems, Lean Processing Systems, This experience can lend its self to helping to shape our County Government to become even more effective as we navigate the constant state of change that Lehigh County finds itself in at this time.

Additionally I presently serve as the Executive Administrator for one of the largest Faith institutions in the County. Our multi cultural membership spans the entire Lehigh County region and beyond.

Resume (first page only).

David S. Jones Sr.

Profile Skilled administrator with 15yrs experience leading and directing various functions within organizations.

Professional leadership
Highlights

A Track record of proven administrative, and interpersonal leadership abilities in business and community helping organizations improve effectiveness.
Able to effectively as a team

Demonstrated ability to work across functional, cultural and political boundaries to build coalitions of leaders.

Strategic thinker and decision maker, Successful 10 yr corporate career working my way up from an entry level position to Global HR Leadership role. Assisted city of Allentown to end a community riot and reduce tensions resulting from the accidental death of a young child.

Lifechurch Executiue Administrator

Operational leadership of the 2300 member church's ministry profile and infrastructure including managing $2.5 mil budget, supervising 40 administrative staff.

Implemented first comprehensive budgetary process resulting in net income increasing by 150%

Revamped the organizations programming profile to be more reflective of relevant needs of membership

Transitioned staff from a culturally entrenched entitlement system to performance based.

Global Operations Talent Development Manager

Direct training and development function for Averydennison's global operations consisting of divisions(6bil annual sales) and over 200 sales, manufacturing and distribution facilities. Managed the allocation of $6 mill budget working with vendors and consultants across global platform. Implemented first universal performance evaluation system for global operations (17,000 ees) Created first corporate wide talent council consisting of Operations and HR leaders from US, Asian and European divisions.

• Certified Six Sigma Greenbelt
• Quality Control Management Systems
• Kaizen Continuous Improvement
• Lean Manufacturing Processes
• Organizational Development, Executive Recruiting & Coaching
• Cross Functional Networking, Instructional Design Employment, Executive Administrator History, Global Operations Talent Development Manager,
Divisional Training Manager, Regional Training Manager, Business Results Leader

Kevin Easterling's Letter of Interest and Resume

2008-03-10T19:24:00.000-07:00

Letter of Interest:

Please accept my letter of application to serve Lehigh County Pennsylvania and fill the current vacancy in District Three on the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners.

I have been the Democratic Committeeman for Ward 19-11 on Allentown's South side for the last 2 year, a resident of District 3 in Lehigh County for the last 7 years and a resident of Allentown (Lehigh County) for the last 36 years. I feel my professional, community and business experience will bring a new perspective and even more professionalism to our Lehigh County Government.

From a county governance perspective, my experience in administering large organizations and developing efficient operations and budgets will play a significant role in helping me to make intelligent decisions on county budget issues. I have had first hand experience in creating opportunities for children, families and the business sector and will be able to use that experience on issues relating to Community and Economic Development.

(Attached you will find my resume detailing my professional, business and community involvement over the years.)

As you might already know, I was a candidate this past November in the 2007 Municipal Election where I sought a Democratic seat as a County Commissioner at Large. While I was not successful in securing the at-large seat, my efforts and participation in the election has given me an even greater appreciation for county government.

If the results of this past November's race are any indication of District Three's support for me as a candidate, I would like to think I have gained the District support. (Gloria Ham [sic] was the only other candidate who's [sic]number where higher than mine for District Three)

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to submit this application. Please feel free to contact me any time if you have any questions or need any clarifications. I look forward to meeting with you and the entire Board of Commissioners.

Resume.

Employment History:

August 2007-Present: Parks & Recreation Department, 3000 Parkway BLVD, Allentown, Pennsylvania 18104, Superintendent of Recreation City of Allentown PA.

Responsible for various aspect of administering the City of Allentown's Recreation Bureau. Activities of the Bureau include all recreational programming, City owned Field S Court reservations, Allentown School District facility, Grant & CDBG funding coordination. Special event coordination, Pool & Spray Park management, Summer Playground Program coordination. Staffing for the bureau includes the management of (6) fulltime staff and (100) plus part-time, seasonal and contracted program staff. The Bureaus budget is 600K.

May 2005-July 2007: Communities In Schools of the Lehigh Valley, Inc 17th & Chew Streets P.O Box 722 Allentown PA 18105, Director of Advancement

Responsible for various aspects of fundraising coordination & marketing for organization: Grants (Government-PDE S CDBG), Foundations, Tax Credits, Major Gifts Cultivation. Donor-base creation S management, direct mail solicitation, various campaign coordination, (UW employee, Success Society), Leadership Gathering coordination, Website development, newsletters. (Hard copy & electronic). Coordination of Board of Directors Advancement Committee, program report coordination.

March 2001-May 2005: Alliance For Building Communities, 830 Hamilton Street, Allentown PA 18101, Fundraising / Marketing Coordinator

Responsible for various aspect of fundraising coordination & marketing for organization: Grants (Government-HUD & CDBG, Foundations, CRA (Banks), Donor-base creation S management, direct mail solicitation, Major Gifts, Website development, newsletters.

Dec 1999-Nov 2000: Boys & Girls Club of Allentown, 720 N 6th Street, Allentown PA,
Resource Development Director

Responsible for various aspect of fundraising coordination & marketing for organization: Grants (Government-HUD & CDBG, 'Foundations, Donor-base creation S management, direct mail solicitation, Website development, newsletters

Nov-1990-Dec 1999: Positions held; Educational Director, Unit Director, Director of Operation (5 Facilities), Camp Director (Camp Horseshoe)

Planned, coordinated and managed various Youth recreation programs for various facilities of the organization. Responsible for managing a full-time and part-time staff.

July 1994-2005: Black Heritage Association of the Lehigh Valley Inc. PO Box 4385 Allentown PA 18105

Founder and President Black Heritage Festival & Basketball Tournament, Valania Park Youth Recreation Leagues (2000-2005)

Responsible for direct oversight of organizational operations: personnel, finance, public relations, development. Responsible for motivating and managing volunteer board of directors & staff.

EDUCATION:

Kutztown University, Kutztown PA. 1984/1985/1993
Currently pursuing (AFP) CFRE Certification
Lehigh University Educational Technologies-ITEC Certificate 1989-1991
Lehigh Carbon Community College- Networking & E-commerce classes 2000-2001
Dieruff High School, Irving Street Allentown PA. -High School Diploma 1980-1984

Computer Skills:

All Microsoft Applications-Word, Access, Power-Point, Excel, Publisher, Front page. Outlook Donor-base: Donor Perfect, Fundamental Donor, Web administration & development: Mdeamon Server Applications, Constant Contact and various E-Marketing ASP programs.

Honors: Rotary International Group Study Exchange Team Member/Nigeria 1994, National Society of Fundraising Professionals (NSFRE) Fundraising Scholar 2000, City of Allentown Human Relations Award Recipient- October 24th 2001 'Lehigh Valley Style Magazine' Movers & Shakers-September 2002

Professional Networks & Activities:

B&GC of America-Academy of Boys Girls Club Professionals-Management Professional 1999 The Association of Fundraising Professionals 2000-present, President MNET of PA (E-Marketing Services)

Community Volunteer Activities:

Allentown Liberty Bell Rotary Club 1998-2006, Lehigh Valley Mural Project (Funding Architect), City of Allentown Recreation Commissioner-2002-2007, Lehigh valley Workforce Investment Board 2006-2007, Board member 2007-present Coalition for Alternative Transportation

References provided upon request

Crime Rate Tracker by Zip

2008-01-08T07:31:00.001-08:00

Sam Bennett Posts - 2007

2008-01-01T17:50:00.000-08:00

Norco Democrats Afraid of Democracy

Congressional Rumblings in the 15th District

Norco Dem Bosses Try (and Fail) to Muzzle Bloggers

Dem Chair Joe Long Slanders Ron Angle Yet Refuses to Accept Calls on Call-in Talk Show

2008's Charles Dertinger - Sam "Sacrificial Lamb" Bennett

Dent's Cash v. Bennett's IOUs

Opportunistic Sam Bennett: Trying Her Best to Re-elect Congressman Charlie Dent

Congressional Wannabe Sam Bennett: Say Hello to my Little Friend!

Senator Browne, Listed as Bennett Donor, Asks Rendell to Pull State Funding

Sam Bennett's Nonprofit Helping Her Congressional Ambitions

King Midas Meets Congressional Wannabe Sam Bennett

Bennett Rumors Prove Accurate: Nonprofit Funding is Halved

Bennett's Campaign Finance Report Doesn't Stack Up to Her Boasts

Rendell Should Keep His Philly Nose Out of Pa 15th Congressional District

Bennett Campaign Vainly Tries Some Damage Control

LC Dem Committeman Asks Bennett to Withdraw Candidacy

An Allentown Dem Who Likes Both Bennett and Dent

Congressional Wannabe Sam Bennett: The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Daily Kos Drumming Up Money for Bennett

Dent v. Bennett = Teflon v. Velcro

LC Dem Chair Daugherty: Why I Support Sam Bennett for Congress

Bob Wolper & Karen Ritter Say NO to Sam Bennett

Congressional Wannabe Sam Bennett Takes a Stand ... and Bends Nonprofit Rules Again

"Take a Stand" Town Hall Bashes Congressman Dent, But Takes No Stand

What Has Happened to Sam Bennett's Endorsement Page?

FEC Thows Penalty Flag at Bennett's Former Employer

Bill Hall to Challenge Sam Bennett for Democratic Congressional Nod in LV

Bennett's Fundraising Problem: Too Liberal or a Phony?

Sam Bennett's Sure Fire Way to Bring in Those Congressional Bucks!

Properties of Merit: Garden Rakes For Elitists

Norco Citizen Advisory Panel Elections Timeline

2008-01-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

January 23 Minutes
- LVR report: Stoffa's Citizen Committee Deals With NorCo Election Mess

January 31 Minutes
- LVR report: Norco Citizens Elections Committee Follows That Paper Trail
- Did Advanced Voting Solutions Pull a Fast One in Pa.?
- BlackBox Voting Backs Up Charge That Advanced Voting Pulled Fast One in Pa.

Febraury 7 Minutes
- LVR Report: Citizens' Election Panel Questions Voting Machine Certification

Febraury 13 Minutes
- LVR Report: Norco Elections Committee Wants Answers From AVS
- Voting Activist Asks That Norco Voting Machines Be Tested

February 21 Minutes
- LVR report: Norco Voter Registrar DePaul Discusses Her Kingdom

February 28 Minutes
- LVR report #1: In Northampton County, Bloggin' is Dangerous to Your Health!
- LVR report #2: Norco Registrar DePaul to Critics: "Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!"
- Febraury 28 Letter to State Elections Commissioner
- State Elections Official Finally Speaks, But Not to Norco Citizens' Elections Panel
- Norco Registrar DePaul Tries to Soak County for $2470 Private Lawyer Bill
- Northampton Voting Registrar's Lawyer Also Represented Local Dems
- Norco Voter Registrar Uses Lawyer Recommended by Local Dem Chair
- State Never Certified NoCo Voting Machines: Too Busy Plowing Snow?
- An Epistle From Joseph of Bethlehem: Dem Boss Long Denies Elections Problems

Survey Results Summary

April 4 Minutes
- LVR report: Norco Elections Task Force Reviews Positive Survey in Final Public Meeting
- Commonwealth Court Permits Suit Challenging Voting Machine Certifications

Norco Citizens' Advisory Panel: Election Report
- Norco Elections Commission Chair: Report "Pure Partisan Politics"
- Norco's Election Chair, Wally G, Doing Partisan Radio Show ... Again!

Northampton County Council Campaign Finance Reports

2007-12-10T13:55:00.000-08:00

J Spike Rogan Responds to Easton Undressed Questionnaire

2007-11-12T18:43:00.000-08:00

The quality of neighborhood living has been negatively affected by the persistent, and often ignored, decay of properties. Detail a plan using current code regulations to immediately improve the appearance of under maintained properties?

The codes are already written. The main issue is enforcement. Our city needs more codes officers, and we need more active patrolling of the city. Not only by the codes officer but our city Police and public works. They drive the city as well. The cities employees need to work as a synergy in making Easton "clean and safe" to steal the "Badapple" and "House of Crayons" battle cries for better living.

There is no reason why Police can't report large piles of trash at the curb before trash day. And lets make sure all city departments know which part of the towns trash pick up falls on. These are more than a eyesore but a health hazard between possible arson, and god knows what else could be in them.

Also if you look up properties owners and see owners with multiple properties these need to be checked more often. The more properties one owns the harder it will be to keep up. And chances are if someone runs a bunch of rentals around this city they have a higher chance of tenets who don't care about the upkeep of the neighborhood or who are moving constantly.

I lived for well over a year and a half downtown in a Apartment building that had Asbestos in not only my bathroom, but right above the dryer in the laundry room most of the tenets use. We are allowing "Slum lords" to get away with shoddy conditions that violate codes galore. Again if the Fire Department has a call in a building and sees its against code there should be a form to file on the matter.

This "bureaucratic" tactic would create more communications and better enforcement of codes.

It has become fairly common practice to resolve problems of the moment by creating new legislation. Easton has a comprehensive set of ordinances already on the books. How can we more effectively enforce the laws/rules that already exist?

Nothing defines this better than the debacle that was a increase in parking meters. Again we need leaders who read whats on the books. Often some have cast votes and decisions without reading the matter. If I a 28 year old kid can find time to go to the clerks office or where ever need be to read a piece of legislation why not those who are "serving the community"? Reading the matter over is only part but a large one. Reactionary policy comes from uneducated persons on a matter.

The parking meter increase never did focus on the future it was just "what was good now". Again the matter of codes enforcement falls under the reactionary matter. We have a downtown and College hill that has a thriving night scene. While many who enjoy going to bars are fine folks. Many in a college town are out of decent hands.

We need some ordinances enforced more. These violations are not maybe the crime of centuries where the bat-signal needs to be turned on. Granted good people do stupid things. BUT public drunkenness and public urination goes on all the time. Yet the Police department seems invisible at the time these violations occur. Again more man power equals more enforcement like codes. I know many hate when I do this but to our north Stroudsburg has increased Police presence on Main Street and the area around it from 10PM till 3AM.

When the bars close there, the Stroud Regional Police are out of their cars on the sidewalks and alley corners. Public urination, and fighting has dropped and it also forced many more to seek sober drivers. Again that is a single idea many subjects could be spoken of. But considering we had a gang hit at Larry Holmes Ringside during that time a more concentrated police presence would deter many violations of our city.

The city’s 20 (or so) authorities, boards, and commissions significantly impact the progress and the quality of every facet of life in Easton. Because the authorities, boards, and commissions are sanctioned city government subdivisions, how can we better ensure that the nominated appointees are qualified and representative of the needs of taxpaying residents?

Honestly we need to allow the citizens the right of deciding. It is their lives these individuals effect directly. With the passing of the charter perhaps legislation can be made allowing for a citizen meeting where those who attend vote for or against first. Granted this would be flawed with many unable to attend but a No vote leaves the door open for a citizen led recall from that position.

It would be hard to have a "board" that decides other boards. The more we make things citizen involvement, the more we help to make more stake-holders in this fine city.

Failure to reinvest in the maintenance and upgrade of the city water plant was a key factor in the decision to relinquish responsibility and oversight of a significant municipal asset. How can we prevent losses of this magnitude in the future?

First and foremost hold the elected official who let this happen accountable. Again this was a direct result of reactionary policies. Not just handing over responsibility which was a total reaction to protect political capital in "saving taxpayers dollars". When water is a asset that should not be profit driven since we are a municipality NOT a business.

Plans and models with 5, 10, 15 and 25 year plans should be laid out and could be amended for the future. Also the water plants like our pools were victims of the city giving money to other projects that private funds should have been more involved in.

We need to stop acting like the City of Easton is a business, its not. Our utilities and services are more important than tax breaks and projects that benefit private for profit interest.

What is more key for our residents... providing the best service a city can, the most outstanding public safety, and the best infrastructure? Or what some Fat Cat with downtown business interest who doesn't care to reach into their own pocket to fund the deal?

For years the city’s annual budget was planned and discussed over a few weeks. Devise a 12 month budget development program.

Easy. Instead of having the position formerly known as City Treasure report maybe twice a year. In-place have the Director of Finance have a regular part of council between Comments from the public on Agenda items only and the council members committees reports. It would be quick and easy like taking a bandage off a hairy arm. The way we do budget sessions now a long cram session, thats as painful as yanking six feet of duct tape off that hairy arm.

Also aside from a cheap punch line. It would focus on a regular basis allowing more proactive discussion and not a summary of why we lost money for the year.

Give us an example of something you will do to make Easton’s government more open, accessible, and/or accountable.

Well considering at one time I use to record council to back up Mr. Hand (and two meetings were from my audio) I know the very first thing we need to do. Posting ALL city meetings audio from Council Chambers (not just City Council) digitally on MP3 on the cities website. Perhaps using Internet Archive sites. The relatively small expense to do this will back the city up for decades to come. Citizens could listen to audio at home.

I would like to also push legislation making the local cable suppliers agree to air on the local region City Council meetings on their access channels much like the FCC agreement to allow cable to operate as long as they provide a public service which gave us C-Span. Sadly federal deregulation may have made this a unlikely possibility.

But more than just clerk written summary of minutes needs to be posted.

I recommended the city STOP posting files for meeting minutes, agenda and such as Microsoft files but PDF's so Mac only users (like myself) can access them as well. This ways the city uses a neutral party and does not have to worry about change should the market tip to Mac's side and suddenly our files are readable to a lone few. (Considering we have a Apple Store in the valley now, it will only increase the number of Macs in the valley)

To the Clerks credit he almost instantly made major changes to PDF.

I think more city employees want to make it accessible, its getting the leaders to make it more so.

In recent years we have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on consultants resulting in a sizable stack of reports and critiques, while not resulting in any type of strategic plan. Propose a method to develop a strategic plan in more economical, more comprehensive, less fractured, and less consultant dependent way.

This will sound like a cheap answer since its short. Our leaders need to do their own homework more. Thats why they get a salary. It is basically just like someone buying answers for tests in school. Just a lazy way out of putting any effort into the job at OUR expense.

Economic development efforts have been focused on the city’s central business district for the past quarter century, while the residential neighborhoods have received less attention. Propose a residential neighborhood development program.

It is time to let the birds leave the nest. What I mean is if business is dependent on the "free market" in this post NAFTA WTO economy. Then they need to deal with the costs to operate more from their pockets. Many who want a hand receive relatively great treatment from the Fed in the form of taxes. I find it hard to imagine that Crayola who is a international company could not afford to fund the downtown more which was part of the bull we as a nation were fed with NAFTA and the free market. The Free Market is not pulling their share of the weight. Donations are weak from the corporate side to keep the community thriving.

The residents of the west ward are not in the "Free Market" we are citizens with needs. 30K would have been better spent repairing my back ally (1100 block of vine street) than benefitting already financially secured interest of Bank Street.

Our own head of public works Mr. Hopkins admitted my alley lacks good snow plowing due to its condition. The garbage company uses the alley to remove our trash. We need it properly plowed.

That is a more important example than a kick back for Fat Cats. Simply the Citizens need to stay the TOP concern of our leaders.

Collection of taxes and fees has been identified as a major financial issue in the city. Provide a few tactical solutions that would positively impact our collection deficiencies.

We need to prioritize in amount due. The Russell Russo days can not be repeated. Nor can we allow scofflaws to rack up tens of thousand of dollars in unpaid fines.

I also understand that our national economy is a joke these days. Open up the classifieds and see the lack of jobs more and more. I would rather have thousands in unpaid due from families with problems from unemployment, and corporate cut backs. The main problem is we have been going after the little guy and the big offenders who can pay but choose not to get by.

We did finally stop Mr. Russo but now we have a condemned house on Chidnesy that is loaded with trash is falling apart with busted basement windows so as to allow illegal activity to operate in there at night.

Again the mega slum lords who don't pay taxes and fees often are the same who don't correct codes violations. Again more synergy at the Alpha building with department directors would change this.

Also we should go after those who have numerous locations that have owed fees and taxes. Chances are they have the money but are too stingy to pay up.

Also we need to use eminent domain to obtain some of these properties not of merit. I do believe the "officer next door program" specifically uses this to make project houses available at a bargain price for City Police officers. That would make things better to making more members of the Police department stake holders by living in the place they protect.

Are you satisfied with the way city hall functions? What issues need to be addressed to improve interaction between departments?

Well the employees have always been very polite, friendly and professional I have ever dealt with. Now as far as Directors go. They report to the Mayor.

I would not shy down from riding the Mayor's behind about a director not doing a good job. But the Mayor is who controls them.

I would recommend every Tuesday a AM meeting with all department directors and the Mayor so perhaps problem properties and problem issues can be cross referenced as to draw red flags early. If one property has numerous code complaints the name could be checked by finance to see if the taxes were paid. Etc.

Text of Sam Bennett Email to Dem Committee Members

2007-08-27T19:58:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, We Can Tell Charlie Dent How We Feel About IraqCongressman Charlie Dent knows that the escalation in Iraq isn't working.

Congressman Dent admits there are "no good options" in Iraq.

Congressman Dent knows that this has been the bloodiest summer yet for American troops in Iraq.

So isn't it time for Charlie Dent to finally say "no" to George Bush? Let's tell him that.

In a recent meeting in his office, Dent told constituents that the so-called surge was like playing the children's game Whack-a-Mole, "where you subdue the insurgency in one place and it pops back up in another." He also said there are "no good options in Iraq."

He's right. So why does he keep voting with President Bush for more war in Iraq?
Tomorrow evening, Tuesday August 28 at 7 pm, I urge you to join your neighbors at Van Bittner Hall in Bethlehem to "Take A Stand" against the war and to urge Congressman Dent to break with President Bush.

All over the country Tuesday night, veterans, parents, students and neighbors will be gathering to tell Congress and the President that it is time to begin the withdrawal of our brave troops from the middle of a religious civil war.

Here at Van Bittner Hall, we will let Congressman Dent know:

that the death and injury toll for both Americans and Iraqis is rising, not falling, in the face of the escalation,

that the Iraqi "government" is in tatters and cannot unite the country,

that the so-called "Petraeus report" that he says he is waiting for is being written inside the White House, and won't be objective,

that we want him to stop voting with George Bush for "war without end," and

that we need to begin an orderly and safe drawdown and to bring our troops home to the hero's welcome and the lifelong support they have earned - we love our troops, and we want them home.

Please join your fellow citizens to urge an end to the war.

WHERE: Van Bittner Hall (Steelworkers Hall), 53 E. Lehigh Street, Bethlehem [Map]

WHEN: Tuesday, August 28th, 7 pm

I hope you will pass this e-mail on to your friends, and I look forward to seeing you there.Thank you so much.

Sam BennettBennett for Congress 2008PS - Please come and check out our brand-new website at http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=eaor5dcab.0.enihsacab.p9fhqacab.1298&ts=S0278&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bennett2008.com%2F. Let us know what you think.

Authorized by Bennett 2008, P.O. Box 9195, Allentown, PA 18105-9195, 610-770-3280, Jeanette Eichenwald, Treasurer. Donations to Bennett 2008 cannot exceed $2,300 per person for each of the primary and general elections, $4,600 in total. Contributions to Bennett 2008 are not tax deductible. We cannot accept contributions from corporations, unions, or foreign nationals who are not permanent residents. Federal law requires that we make our best efforts to gather and report the name, address, employer and occupation of anyone who contributes more than $200.

Lehigh Valley Parnership: Officers & Directors as of 2005

2007-08-21T17:45:00.000-07:00

William F. Hecht, PPL CEO, whose six year average salary was $4.08 million, before he retired.

Lee A. Butz, chief executive officer to Alvin H. Butz., Inc., the Lehigh Valley's biggest construction manager.

Jan Armfield, Regional President at Wachovia Bank.

Bert Daday, Special Assistant to the Prsident, PPL, Community Affairs.

Robert B Black, VP at Morris Black & Sons.

Michael J Caruso, Principal, Caruso Benefits Group.

L. Anderson Daub, Partner, Brown-Daub.

John T. Dickson, President & CEO, Agere Systems.

Timothy Fallon, TSF Consulting, LLC

Dr. Gregory C. Farrington, President, Lehigh University.

Jeffrey P. Feather, CEO, Sungard Pentamation, Inc.

Roderic R. Fink, President & CEO, ACME Cryogenics, Inc.

Steven R. Follett, President, CEO & Chairman, Follett Corporation.

Elmer D. Gates, Chair, Embassy Bank.

F. Mark Gumz, President & COO, Olympus America, Inc.

Christian Jepsen, President & COO, F.L. Smidth Inc.

John P. Jones, Chair, President & CEO, Air Products & Chemicals, Inc.

John F. Malloy, President & CEO, Victaulic Co. of America.

L. Susan Hunt, Publisher & CEO, Morning Call.

L. Charles Marcon, President, Duggan and Marcon Inc.

Richard Master, President, MCS Industries Inc.

Caroll H. Neubauer, Chairman & CEO, B. Braun Medical, Inc.

Arthur J. Rothkopf, President, Lafayette College.

Tony Salvaggio, President & CEO, Computer Aid, Inc.

Mark J. Schwab, President & CEO, Binney & Smith, Inc.

David N. Shaffer, co-chief executive officer, Just Born, Inc.

Kim W. Snyder, President, Eastern Industries, Inc.

Richard E. Thulin, Principal, Arcadia Properties, LLC.

Martin K. Till, President & Publisher, Express Times.

Paul Vikner, President & CEO, Mack Trucks, Inc.

Daniel C. Wells, Chairman & CEO, SWB&R.

Robert C. Wood, Chairman of the Board, The Wood Company.

Greatest Generation Grant - Veteran Relief Program Ordinance

2007-08-02T19:54:00.000-07:00

Title: THE GREATEST GENERATION GRANT - VETERAN RELIEF PROGRAM ORDINANCE, APPROVING RELIEF FOR NORTHAMPTON COUNTY'S VETERANS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR ON FIXED INCOMES

WHEREAS, Northampton County has many residents who served our country in its military service during the second world war, and who are struggling with incomes limited to veteran's benefits and social security; and

WHEREAS, those individuals who served in military service during the second world war made an important sacrifice, and the county wishes to recognize this sacrifice by easing the financial burden of second world war veterans whose sole source of income, aside from any veteran's benefits, is social security; and

WHEREAS, for those veterans who served for a period of four months or more between December 7, 1941 and August 15, 1945, whose sole source of income is veteran's benefits and social security, and who have either a homestead or farmstead designation for their property, the County is desirous of providing financial relief for the County's real estate taxes on those properties; and

WHEREAS, the time period for which WWII veterans whose income is limited to social security and veterans' benefits would be eligible for this relief will be the 2007 and the 2008 tax years; and

WHEREAS, this relief would be available for all eligible individuals in all branches of the service; and

WHEREAS, the available relief will be in the amount of the applicable County real estate taxes on the property owned by the eligible WWII veteran; and

WHEREAS, it is the intention of the County to set forth procedures for eligible WWII veterans to apply for this relief; and

WHEREAS, in order to implement this relief program for the 2007 budget, funds need to be appropriated to permit payment of the relief.

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ENACTED AND ORDAINED BY THE NORTHAMPTON COUNTY COUNCIL, PENNSYLVANIA, THAT:

1. The foregoing Whereas clauses are incorporated herein as if set forth in their entirety.

2. This Ordinance shall be known as The Greatest Generation Grant - Veteran Tax Relief Program.

3. The Veteran Tax Relief Program as described herein is hereby approved for tax years 2007 and 2008. Eligible WWII veterans who own Homestead or Farmstead property in Northampton County, whether individually, or as tenants in common, or as joint tenants with a right of survivorship, or as tenants by the entireties, shall be entitled to apply for a relief payment in the amount of the County taxes for the applicable year.

4. The County Executive shall promulgate procedures in order to effectively administer and carry out the intent of this program. These procedures shall include instructions on how to apply for this relief, and those instructions shall be made available in the Assessment Office and on the County Website.

5. The sum of $100,000.00 shall be transferred from the 2007 Contingency Account $05000-76050 and appropriated to the appropriate section of the 2007 budget in a new line item titled, "Veteran Tax Relief Program," in order to provide for the effective administration of this program.

6. The County Executive shall distribute copies of this Ordinance to the proper offices and other personnel of Northampton County whose further action is required to achieve the purpose of this Ordinance.

7. Any Ordinance or any part of any ordinance conflicting with the provisions of this Ordinance are hereby repealed insofar as the same affects this Ordinance.

8. This Ordinance shall become effective thirty (30) days after the enactment of this Ordinance.

This Ordinance was advertised on the day of 2007, and was adopted by the Northampton County Council on the day of 2007.

Attest:

Frank E. Flisser Wayne A. Grube
Clerk to Council County Council President

John Stoffa
County Executive

Ron Angle's Complaint Against Northampton County Council

2007-07-02T14:46:00.000-07:00

COMPLAINT

1) Plaintiff, RONALD L. ANGLE, is an adult individual who resides in Upper Mount Bethel Township, Northampton County (Box A, Portland, PA 18351), and is a Councilman of NORTHAMPTON COUNTY COUNCIL.

2) Defendant, NORTHAMPTON COUNTY COUNCIL, is the governing body of NORTHAMPTON COUNTY, consisting of nine elected Council members, and its offices are located at 669 Washington Street, Easton, PA 18042.

3) The Northampton County Home Rule Charter provides, in pertinent part, that county council is both the legislative body of Northampton County and that it also has the power to exercise all "residual powers" of the county. 348 Pa. Code Section 1.2-201.

4) Northampton County's contract with ACS for information technology expires at the end of this year.

5) The county administration established an information technology review committee to review vendor qualifications and make requests for proposals, pursuant to Administrative Code Section 13.09.

6) On May 17, 2007, proposals from three qualified vendors were submitted.

7) The request for proposals had asked for two proposals from each bidder - a "current situation" proposal, one matching current IT levels; and an "alternate situation" proposal, one for alternatives to our current levels.

8) The three "current situation" proposals are as follows: ACS - $10,002,873; CAI - $9,151,000; and CMC - $9,287,652.

9) The three "alternate situation" proposals are as follows: ACS - no proposal; CAI - $8,503,100; and CMC - $8,747,686.

10) There is a $1.5 million difference between CAI's low price and ACS' high price.

11) CAI failed formally to acknowledge two addendums to the request for proposal.

12) CMC neglected to sign its proposal.

13) ACS failed to provide an "alternate situation" monetary bid.

14) The Northampton County Solicitor advised the administration that the technical defects in the CAI and CMC bids required that they be rejected. He further instructed the administration it was unable to negotiation with ACS for a lower price.

15) Based on the advice of the Northampton County Solicitor, the administration could only consider one bid, the bid submitted by ACSD\, even though that bid is approximately $1.5 million higher than CAI's low bid.

16) As a result of this information, the county's information technology review committee recommended that the administration reject the bids and ask all three vendors to submit a second proposal.

17) All three vendors told Fiscal Affairs Director Vic Mazziotti that they were willing to submit new proposals.

18) Northampton County's Administrative Code, Section 13.14, provides that the county executive may reject bids or proposals that are not "in the best interests of the County," but requires that he obtain a resolution from county council authorizing that rejection.

19) On June 21, 2007, Defendant Northampton County Council was presented with a draft resolution to reject these bids because they were not "in the best interests of the County."

20) By a seven to one vote, Defendant Northampton County Council refused to reject these bids.

21) Defendant, Northampton County Council, in refusing to reject the aforesaid bids, abused its fiduciary duty to the taxpayers, as set forth in Heilig Brothers v. Kohler, 366 Pa, 72, 76 A.2d 613 (1950), for the following reasons:

a) It is forcing the county executive to award a contract that will unnecessarily cost taxpayers as much as $1.5 million more than the lowest bid, knowing full well that all three bidders are willing to submit new proposals;

b) It has ignored "the best interests of the County" by exalting fairness to bidders over taxpayer, in violation of the Administrative Code, Section 13.14.

c) It is forcing the county executive to award a contract that is not "most advantageous to the county," in violation of the Administrative Code, Section 13.09(g).

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff, RONALD L. ANGLE, demands that Defendant County Council be ORDERED to reject the aforesaid bids to remedy the breach of a fiduciary duty owed to taxpayers.

Sitemeter Information for Possible Borger Comments

2007-06-28T23:31:00.000-07:00

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Sample Email to Bernard Kieklak

2007-06-27T20:44:00.000-07:00

Bernie Kieklak's email: bkieklak@pasenate.com
Glenn Kranzley's email: kranzley@mcall.com
Lisa Boscola's email: boscola@pasenate.com

Dear Mr. Kieklak,

In your own words, your comments at lehigh Valley Ramblings "crossed the line." In fact, they were sexist, misogynistic and vulgar. When these comments were brought to your attention, you initially refused to apologize. "What do I care?", were your words.

The apology you eventually made was to Congressman Dent and Congressional candidate Bennett. You make no effort to apologize to Look Out Lehigh Valley, the 23 year-old woman you most viciously defamed with sexist remarks.

The purpose of this letter is to ask that you do things. First, make arrangements to apologize personally to this young lady. You can make arrangements to contact her through Chris Casey, whose email address is ctcasey1961@yahoo.com. Second, please resign your office immediately. That is the only way you can demonstrate sincerity.

Very truly yours,

Banfield Press Release

2007-04-16T07:54:00.000-07:00

SECRETARY CORTÉS PROVIDES FACTS REGARDING BANFIELD OBJECTION RULING; VOTING SYSTEMS
WORK WELL IN PENNSYLVANIA

HARRISBURG – Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro A. Cortés today issued the following statement about the Commonwealth Court’s decision to not dismiss the case of Banfield v. Cortés, which is aimed to decertify the use of seven voting systems.

The court denied the commonwealth’s efforts to end the case on legal grounds.
“In a divided opinion, Commonwealth Court narrowly decided that there is a basis for proceeding further with the lawsuit. The court’s decision was not a final determination of the facts of the case,” Cortés said.

“Pennsylvanians should know that testing protocols and electoral procedures are in place to ensure fair, accurate and accessible elections,” he said. “The systems have worked well in the commonwealth, and some counties have used direct-recording electronic machines successfully for 15 to 20 years.”

The court’s 4-3 ruling was made in a procedural matter in the early stages of the case.

On August 17, 2006, the Secretary of the Commonwealth was served with the initial legal action that seeks to prevent the use by 57 counties of direct recording electronic machines that allegedly do “not create a permanent record of each vote.” The action specifically asks the court to direct the secretary to decertify seven systems and to “declare that the use of various auditable and non-auditable voting systems in Pennsylvania violates the uniformity provisions of the Pennsylvania Constitution.” The lawsuit claims the certification of the systems violates the Pennsylvania Election Code, as well as the Pennsylvania Constitution.

In response to this action, the commonwealth filed a preliminary objection asking the court to end the lawsuit because it failed to have any basis under existing law. The court’s decision on April 12 overruled those objections, allowing the case to move forward.

“No merits or facts were presented to the court regarding the issues of the case,” Cortés said. “Unless there are intervening court orders or other events in the coming months, the court will hear evidence, review the facts and make a determination. Until such time, the systems will remain certified.”

Before a voting system is certified for use in Pennsylvania, it undergoes a two-tier testing process. First, as a prerequisite to being certified by the department, an electronic voting system must be examined and approved by a federally recognized independent testing authority, which reviews both the hardware and software components of an electronic voting system to ensure that the voting system meets the applicable federal standards. The electronic voting system must then be examined by experts and approved by the Department of State prior to use anywhere in the commonwealth. The department reviewed 19 systems and certified 13 for use in Pennsylvania. In November’s general election, 11 systems were used, including seven direct recording electronic machines, three optical scan systems, and one hybrid.

In addition to the certification process, specific procedures are in place to ensure election system security. The systems are well secured and the counties have a specific chain of custody that designates authorized individuals to handle the machines. The department also makes sure that each county had back up procedures in place, if necessary.

Apr 4, 2007 Minutes For Citizens' Advisory Committee

2007-04-10T04:57:00.000-07:00

NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
CITIZEN’S ADVISORY COMMITTEE
In conjunction with
Voter’s Registration Office

Meeting Minutes
April 4, 2007 – 6:30 p.m.

The scheduled meeting of the Citizen’s Advisory Committee was held at 6:35 p.m. on April 4, 2007, in the County Council Meeting Room #307.

WELCOME –
Chair Russ Shade welcomed everyone to this meeting.

Roll Call

Mr. Conklin gave the roll and the following members were present:
Jack Bradt Russ Shade Greta Browne (Late-7:00 p.m.)
Richard Benner

Motion to approve minutes from February 28, 2007. Motion seconded. Motion carried.

Courtesy of the Floor

Will Power, currently running for Northampton County Council, gave praise to the Voter Registration Office.

Old Business

Surveys

Overwhelmingly positive.
Experiences with the Voter Registration Office were very positive.
Issues can be dealt with some different approaches in training, additional personnel, etc.
Summary of Surveys reviewed with Committee
Survey results will be sent to the Voter Registration Office.

Letter to PA Department of State

Sent to Henry A. Van Sickle, Commissioner. He replied with a description of the certification process. Basically, he said the machines were not certified going into the November General election. State afterwards examined the tapes and everything functioned as it should and the General election results were certified.

New Business:

Will these machines satisfy the needs across the County? It will be monitored closely.
Difficulty with the machines due to the large ballot discussed. It takes time to change from Democrat to Republican causing some slowness. Processor upgrade is needed to resolve the issue will be in place for the November General election. This particular upgrade will necessitate required certification at the national and state levels; therefore due to time constraints the State DOS will not permit it to be in place for the Primary election.
This is the last public meeting of the Committee. The Committee will meet once or twice privately to assemble their list of recommendations and write a report for the County Executive.

Courtesy of the Floor

Large ballot issue discussed again.
Pay of poll workers should be addressed or schedule the staff accordingly to allow for dinner breaks, etc.
Suggestion for a greater oversight of wrongdoings instead of it being another candidate’s responsibility to identify the errors. Wrongdoings should be made public.
Suggestion for a document warning “what not to do”. Voter Registration information is sometimes used improperly and it should be exposed when it occurs.
The Green Party candidates and Green Party officials from last year did not receive surveys. It was an oversight and not done deliberately.
Optical Scanner was suggested as a means to address the paper trail issues.
Life expectancy of the new machines questioned.
John Stoffa thanked the committee for all its time and hard work.
Counties should work together in approaching the State.

Meeting Adjourned.

Motion to adjourn, seconded, meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.

Citizens' Advisory Committee Survey Results Summary

2007-04-05T06:07:00.000-07:00

CITIZEN’S ADVISORY COMMITTEE
SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS

Surveys were mailed out to three groups of individuals: Candidates, Poll Workers and Voters.

Sent out Returned % of Return
Candidates:
300 35 12%
Poll Workers:
700 285 41%
Voters:
400 50 13%
Total:
1400 370 26%

General Observations

1) Not all of the questions were answered on all surveys.

2) Some questions had more than one answer selected.

3) One survey question asked about an election that has not occurred yet.

4) Poll Workers were most responsive.

5) Many positive comments were received regarding all aspects of the process including Voter Registration office, the use of the machines, training, etc.

6) All comments are available for anyone who would like to read them, it consist of 49 pages, which is the reason for this summary.

7) Many people in all categories would have appreciated a self- address stamped envelope for returning the survey.

8) 55 of surveys were returned as undeliverable.

Candidate Survey

1) The overwhelming majority of candidates who responded were either running for Municipal Office (20) or for the School Board (11).

2) All candidates who had contact with Voter Registration in advance of the decision to run for office had either a totally positive (15) or a mostly positive (5) experience.

3) The process of obtaining forms from Voter Registration was totally positive (20), mostly positive (5) and somewhat negative (2) for the candidates.

4) About half the candidates (13) felt tabulations were available in a timely manner. Two felt they were not timely and another thirteen said it did not apply to them.

5) All comments except for two were quite complimentary of the Voter Registration office stating they are very professional, helpful, courteous and knowledgeable.

6) The two negative comments had to do with a candidate being told the incorrect number of signatures needed on a petition and the other was regarding not having forms ready to be picked up after being told they would be available.

7) Several suggestions were made including:

a. Additional copies of forms should be available
b. Use of the website for forms and or availability of candidate information
c. Condense and consolidate petition information but make it thorough and easy to understand.
d. Make voter list available
e. Extend the hours of operation for the Voter’s office prior to petition periods.

8) Other issues/concerns for the Citizens Action Committee include:

f. Committee should remain positive and focus on future elections.
g. Paper receipt of the vote cast
h. Make the process of challenging a petition easier.
i. Petition form could be clearer
j. Recognize mistake will happen and deal with them constructively as they arise.
k. One candidate was unable to get absentee ballots for his campaign.
l. All information made available to public as soon as possible.
m. Review and reject property tax increase.
n. Straight ticket screen changed.

9) Although some of the candidates summated their name and address, only one specifically requested to be contacted. (see attached)

Voter Survey

1) The majority of voters rate level of confidence in Voter Registration as very good (16) or a good (23) experience with Voter Registration. Ten voters selected either good nor bad. No negative comments regarding the Voter Registration office.

2) Two Voters had difficulties with registering to vote.

3) Only 13 voters visited the Registration office in the Wolf Building. Three had neither a good nor bad experience and the remainder had either a very good (8) or a good (5) experience.

4) All the voters who visited the office felt the staff was welcoming, courteous, and helpful and all received the information they were seeking.

5) Twelve voters emailed or called the office and all were attended to promptly and received the information they requested except one. One stated he tried to arrange a class to visit and was responded to in a rather rude response about public access to the sample voting machine.

6) Rating their experience with Voter Registration, 14 were very good, 23 good and 8 were neither good nor bad, no bad experiences reported.

7) The problems the voters encountered were mostly with the machines and privacy issues. Two people had an issue with provisional ballots.

a. Was the vote cast recorded and counted correctly?
b. An individual seems to be "hovering" around voters looking at votes
c. Problem with write ins.
d. Didn’t like the suggestion to vote by party.
e. Form not available for one individual to vote, he was able to cast his vote.

8) Most reported their experience with using the new machines as either very good (16) or good (20). Seven people selected neither good nor bad and four people had a bad experience.

f. Would like to see paper trail.
g. Liked old machines better.
h. Concerns about hacking/inaccurate recording and counting of votes.

9) Most voters (30) are satisfied with the machines. Some (5) are not and some (14) are not sure.

10) Interestingly, 30 voters are satisfied with the machines but only 27 of them are confident their vote was recorded accurately. Two people do not think their vote was recorded properly and 16 voters are not sure.

11) General comments made by the voters include:

i. Upgrade the entire process to make it more appealing to individual to encourage voting.
j. Older children should be allow to accompany adults so they can learn the process
k. Why can vote in Spanish or English when you must pass a test to become a citizen and have the right to vote and the test is in English?
l. Some workers well trained, others were not well trained.
m. Should have included a self-address stamped envelope with the survey.
n. Inadequate parking at polling location, consider new location due to population growth of the area.
o. Stop tax hikes, no reassessment.
p. Make Election Day a holiday to make it easier for everyone to vote.
q. When are we going to move up PA’s primary?
r. What is the upside A?

Poll Workers

1) The overall experience for poll workers was good (139). 96 were very good, 34 were neither good nor bad, 13 bad and one very bad.

2) Specific problems were in the following categories:

a. Voter Registration problems (66)
i. Voters not properly registered.
ii. Could not get assistance for long periods of time when needed.
iii. Decisions made without Voter Registration assistance since they were not accessible.
iv. Early morning and closing times were difficult to reach the office.
v. Add additional dedicated lines to Registration office
b. Machine problems (70)
i. Master machine not accepting USB from other machines.
ii. Old machines easier.
iii. Screens not clear to users
iv. Slow and tricky tabulation process
v. Machines not working/shutdowns/reboots
vi. Not enough machines
vii. Need additional training to handle specific problems
viii. Touch screen sensitivity
ix. Machines should be on legs not tables
x. Hoods over the machines break off.
xi. Machines attached too closely together and the cords cause obstructions for walking.
xii. Cable holding machines together broke.
c. Voter Registration not accessible (50)
d. Lack of Provisional Ballots (2)
e. Privacy concerns (34)
i. Voters would like a curtain around the machine
ii. Screen can be seen when assisting voters.
iii. Other votes could see who voters had selected.
iv. Middle machine had the least privacy
f. Voter not knowing how to use the machine (164)
i. Apprehension of voters
g. Straight ticket "suggestion" was highly opposed by voters who relayed their concerns to the poll workers.
i. Some voters accidentally voted straight ticket when they didn’t want to and it could not be fixed.
ii. Change location of straight party ticket – not on first screen
h. Location issues were prevalent.
i. Sites too small to accommodate number of voters.
ii. Parking and the use of handicap parking
iii. Voters showed up and the wrong polling place
iv. Maps should be made available
v. Motor Vehicle registration sending people to wrong location
vi. Voter not having registration card to verify location
vii. Listing of all voters should be available
viii. Site entrance from the road not clear
ix. People who were registered not in the book.

3) Some positive comments:

i. Knowledgeable staff working together
j. Voters responded well to new procedures after an explanation
k. Smooth, quick process with the new machines.

4) Misc. Comments:

l. Long wait to see the results.
m. Many people commented about this being a new process that takes time and experience for everyone to make it a smooth procedure.
n. People writing in "characters" for the write ins. (i.e. Mickey Mouse, etc.)
o. A practice machine should be available for voters while they are waiting.
p. Poll worker jobs should be spread out more evenly.
q. Voting should be by mail in only, like Oregon.
r. Absentee and write in votes take too long to count at the end of the day, maybe do it sooner?
s. Hours are too long and the pay is too little.
t. Had to wait in line a long time to turn in results at the Courthouse.
u. Not enough people working.
v. Voter books need updated with correct data.
w. Voter’s sign registration book in pencil, permanent ink should be used.
x. District with 2 congressional districts had no written instruction on how to account for both districts when tallying results.
y. One voter’s screen displayed "vote not cast" and was unable to cast another vote.
z. Paper trail needed, give vote receipt to voters.

5) Most (153) felt the tabulation process was mostly simple. 82 people said it was simple, 42 somewhat difficult and only 14 felt it was difficult.

aa. Voter Registration Office was difficult to contact.
bb. Master machine had problems tabulation and recognizing the USB stick.
cc. Absentee count was difficult and time consuming.
dd. Absentee should not be able to change their mind and come in and vote.
ee. Tabulation process difficult and takes too long.
ff. Not always clear how many and what kind of tapes go on each tally sheet.
gg. Instruction sheets not clear and concise.
hh. Count absentee ballots before closing would be helpful.
ii. Workers should be told of any errors so they can correct it next time.

6) Regarding training, 97 workers felt is was comprehensive, 157 pretty good, 20 somewhat sketchy and 9 felt it was difficult.

jj. Refresher course would be helpful.
kk. More hands-on training.
ll. Minimum of 2 sessions should be required.
mm. Pay is too little for the amount of work and the time required.
nn. Training room was a zerox copy room that was inadequate for proper training.
oo. Paperwork and procedures not covering the Judge of Elections training.
pp. Training not taken seriously, too cutesy.
qq. Explanation of what we are allowed to do to assist voters.
rr. Process of depositing correct forms into correct envelopes too cumbersome, should be done at the courthouse.
ss. Training staff should wear ties and look professional. Voting is a serious matter.
tt. Should have a duty list and job description for each worker.
uu. Spend more time on how to resolve problems.
vv. Too many poll workers chose not to go to the training offered and therefore were unprepared and not of much use to everyone else.

7) General Comments and Suggestions:

ww. Self addressed, stamped envelopes should have been included to increase the return rate.
xx. Try to encourage younger poll workers. It is difficult for the elderly to put in such long days
yy. A school principle made an inappropriate comment about the use of the school for voting is a danger and imposition. We should not be teaching this message to our children.
zz. Survey should be sent closer to the election while thoughts are still fresh.
aaa. Voting machines should be tested by a user to avoid problems.
bbb. For the May 2007 Primary, please make sure provisions are in order for Independents to vote on ballot questions (IE. Act I for property tax reduction to fund schools).
ccc. Would like to be contacted. (See attached survey for Info)

Rendell's Reform Address on 3/26 to Pa Press Club

2007-03-29T06:56:00.000-07:00

Thank you all.

Thanks Peter, and you know I always stay away from the intercene workings, political workings, of any organization, but I guess this is about my fourth or fifth time here at this luncheon, and I am shocked and dismayed that it appears that [the Philadelphia Daily News’] John Baer has been overthrown. [Audience laughter]

He’s sitting out in the audience looking very lonely and lacking in power and importance. [More laughter] And truth be told, the only reason that I accepted the invitation is because of this deep fear that I and all of my colleagues in elective office have of John. [laughter]

Well it’s a pleasure to be back and I know that all of you are going to have a lot of questions that will range on a whole number of issues, so I will try to be relatively brief, but the topic I wanted to talk to you about today is one that is extraordinarily important and one that the press in Pennsylvania has not only shown a great interest in, but has been a tremendous participant in achieving some real progress.

You know over the last year, year-and-a-half we have seen the reform movement come very far in Pennsylvania - certainly in the primary election of lat year and to some extent in the general election, certainly in some of the reforms that are aborning right now. The press has been a prime mover in all of that, and I want you to know how strongly I applaud your efforts in making these things happen, and in bringing some facts and circumstances to light that were an important precedent to making these things happen.

No better example was the long fight waged by the members of the media to get the records of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA). Those records revealed what I thought was a shocking and dismaying pattern of abuse, a pattern of abuse that is in the process of being changed in part – and those changes will be official probably with this week’s board meeting – but, literally, those changes are the tip of the iceberg of what needs to be done. We have to, in fact, build an entirely new culture over in PHEAA.

Even in the articles -once the material was, once the court case was won and the materials rolled out – even in the articles, PHEAA spokesmen kept defending what was done because they tried to say, “We compete with all of these private agencies, and we’re a essentially a private agency, and we have to be if we’re going to compete.”

No they’re not. They never have been, never will be, and until they start thinking like a public agency and understand that their duty is first and foremost - not to themselves, not to the board members - but first and foremost to the students, the college students of Pennsylvania, and their families, no culture, no amount of changes will make a difference.

I still believe there is much, much work that has to be done at PHEAA, but I want to commend the press. With that long and hard battle, we would never have had the impetus to bring those changes about.

Now some of you may think that it’s odd to hear me praising the press, but I’ve always believed, because I can and have been hard on you in the past, but I always believed that the press has an important role to play in disseminating to the citizens what their government does.
My only beef, and it’s been a substantial one, is that the dissemination to the citizens about what government does comes in one mode: when government screws up the press properly and appropriately conveys that to the citizens, but it doesn’t convey good news, it doesn’t convey what the government is doing right.

You know I said during last year when we started achieving the highest rate, the number of employed people in Pennsylvania, in the history of the commonwealth. This happened month after month after month. This happened 18 of the last 19 months.

But when it first happened, we barely got an article on page three of the business section.
I said [back then] if we had achieved – or I guess achieved wouldn’t be the word – but if we had reached the lowest level of jobs in the commonwealth’s history, does anybody believe for a moment that that monthly report would have been on the third page of the business section? Not at all. It would have been headlined on the front page.

Take an issue not quite as important or widespread as economic development and growth: childhood obesity. It is an issue on which a lot of articles have been written and there’s tremendous amount of citizen interest - I get asked about it by citizens often as I go across the state. And nowhere has it been written or conveyed to the citizens that Pennsylvania is one of the three states that are used as a national model for the programs that both the Department of Education and the Department of Health have instituted to begin dealing with diet and exercise and things such as that.

That has not in any way been reported to the citizens.

The problem of childhood obesity is written about every other week by the press, but none of the good news about what the state has done has been conveyed by the press.

But, having said that, I still think this is a good occasion as we talk about the reform movement, to take a deep breath , to understand that the press in Pennsylvania has more than fulfilled its traditional role of letting the public know what goes on with the government. And it has been a tremendous plus.

I also want to congratulate some of my colleagues in the public sector for taking steps to deal with the problem of reform.

I want to congratulate new [House] Speaker Dennis O’Brien [R-Philadelphia] for the efforts he has put together with Rep. [Josh] Shapiro [D-Montgomery] and [Rep.David] Steil [R-Bucks], veteran reformers like [Rep.] Kathy Manderino [D-Philadelphia] and [Rep.] Curt Schroder [R-Chester], they have been focusing on reform and they [the House of Representatives] have adopted a package that, although not necessarily perfect, certainly has taken a lot of good steps and almost moved us light years from where we used to be.

I thank Sen. [Joe] Scarnati [R-Jefferson] and [Sen. Dominic] Pileggi [R-Delaware] in the Senate, Sen. [Robert] Mellow [D-Lackawanna] also deserves credit, for the reforms that they have taken and instituted [in the Senate].

These are important first steps, and it is always difficult to go down the road of reform because there are many oxen that are still being gored.

But legislative leaders have gotten the message, and, I think, are willing to take the bull by the horns and move forward.

What I am about to suggest today will be over the next year, maybe the next year-and-a-half, the true test of how committed we are to reform in Pennsylvania. Because I think reform is more than just about what you get paid. I think reform is about opening up the process to make government better, to give the citizens more input into governing itself, to produce a better product.

I think we need to make some legislative changes and some changes to our state constitution to get where we want to go, fully.

Again, that doesn’t diminish the work that the press has done, the work that political leaders, like the Speaker and the senators have done, these are all significant steps in the right direction. But if we’re going to get to where we need to go, we have to do much more.

It is good that both the House and the Senate have begun to do something that deals with our open records problem, but we need a strong open records law passed into law soon.

Let me begin by saying you all know that a 2002 report ranked our [Pennsylvania’s] Freedom of Information law forty-seventh out of the fifty states in the nation. The only two states that we outperformed – Alabama and South Dakota – each received a score of zero. So it’s clear we have some work to do.

In 2003, some improvements were put into place that ensured speedy access to records that were subject to Right-to-Know statutes, but obviously the key question still remains, is what is a reasonable definition of what records are subject to Right-to-Know and the breadth of government and quasi-government agencies required to comply with out Right-to-Know law.
Since taking office, since I took office, we have received more than 5,000 Right-to-Know requests. Due to the constraints of the current law, we’ve denied about 50 percent of those requests. Even though many of those denials were mandated by law, they denied reasonable public access, and in about 50 percent of the 50 percent that we denied, our agencies turned over records notwithstanding, not under the Freedom of Information Act or the open records act, but just because we thought it was an important and correct thing to do.

The administration has been for about four or five months working on a draft bill. We have submitted the draft bill. We actually received a draft bill from the Publishers Association. We looked at their draft bill, prepared out own, and our proposal, first and foremost, shifts the burden so that if an agency does not believe that a record can be released, it has the burden to document that it is not a public record, and the permissible framework for denial is substantially narrowed to matters of public security or personal safety.

It virtually opens up every governmental body and every quasi-governmental body to the jurisdiction and the mandates of the open records act. It creates an Office of Public Records advocate to create guidelines and hear appeals, to make written decisions and offer training to public officials and employees.

Last Friday we sent out invitations to 43 external organizations that would be directly or indirectly affected by out new law to review the draft of the law, to make proposals and suggestions and improvements to our draft. Working with these external stakeholders, it is our hope to have legislation to forward to the House and the Senate April of this year.
I think it is crucial that we have an open records law that clearly applies to everything we do. The PHEAA example is absolutely the most telling. For an agency to delay for well over a year-and-a-half the dissemination of records that involve spending the public’s money is absolutely unconscionable. We see what has happened those records got subject to the light of day. Reform and change happened at a breakneck pace.

I would, again, submit to you that the reform and change is scratching the surface - it is not nearly significant. The culture of PHEAA has to change. The attitude of PHEAA has to change. I think the hierarchy and the structure of PHEAA has to change.

But I have agreed with Sen. [Sena] Logan [D-Allegheny] and Rep. [William] Adolph [R-Delaware] to give them some time – not a long time – to see what changes they intend to bring about and what changes they intend to propose before I go forward and do anything else.
Next I think we need to change the way we select our judges, our appellate judges.

Pennsylvania is one of only six states that elects all of its judges in partisan political elections.
To make lawyers or judges from lower courts campaign for office, to make them raise money is an absurd procedure. First of all, in raising money, the only one’s interested in giving money to a judicial election are lawyers, who will appear before those judges, or businesses that happen to be the subject of a great deal of litigation. So virtually everyone who gives money in those races has some direct ax to grind, has some influence that they want to bring about, by contributing money to a judge’s campaign.

We go through the fiction of isolating judges by saying they’re not allowed to solicit money themselves, nor are they allowed to know who contributed money, or how much is contributed to their campaigns. Ludicrous. Don’t think for a moment that a judge doesn’t know. It is absolutely a system that couldn’t be designed worse.

My wife, Judge Rendell, will routinely, if asked by another party, will routinely disqualify herself if the litigant or the lawyers appearing before her have made substantial contributions to my campaign. If we did that in Pennsylvania, no matters would be heard. Literally. The appeals process would grind to a halt. It is ungodly what we do.

Are we taking away the citizens’ right to vote? You know whenever you poll this issue, the citizens are very, very guarded about losing their right to vote.

Well I remember when Good Judges Pennsylvania, the group that’s been trying to achieve merit selection for a long time, they hired a pollster to do exit polls, and in that election we were electing three Commonwealth Court judges, five Superior Court judges and two Supreme Court judges – it was an unusual confluence of events. They polled people within two minutes after they voted and they asked them to name any of the judges that they had voted for, any of the judges, including Supreme Court. Fifty-eight percent of the people could name one, 12 percent of the people could name two. And they had just cast nine votes … so there is no question that we need to go to a different system.

If you look at just what happened in this election, in this election that we haven’t even had our primary, there were two judges on the Democratic side that received “highly qualified” recommendations – Debra Todd from Allegheny County and Darnell Jones from Philadelphia. Darnell Jones happens to be a minority.

For the longest time, minority leaders said, “We don’t want merit selection because it’s going to take away the peoples’ right to vote.”

I said, “Hey, take a look at the members of our appellate courts, doesn’t seem you’re doing so hot with the right to vote.”

Darnell Jones was, despite the fact that I supported him, Darnell Jones was rejected by the Democratic State Committee. Rejected for a candidate that didn’t score nearly as highly qualified in the review process by the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

It makes absolutely no sense the way we do it.

So I propose, and we will be submitting to the Legislature, the beginning of what will be, necessarily, be a change to our constitution. Our bill will establish a merit selection of judges for Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth, Superior and Supreme courts. Our proposal will establish an appellate nomination commission made up of 14 members – 4 appointed by the governor, 4 appointed by the General Assembly and 6 members of the general public representing law school deans, business organizations, labor organizations, civic organizations, professional organizations and public safety organizations.

When any judicial vacancy in our appellate courts occurs, this independent commission will be responsible for submitting to the governor a list of nominees who have demonstrated integrity, judicial temperament professional competence and commitment to the community. They can submit to the governor a list of not greater than five, not less than two. Once the governor selects the nominee, the Senate will have 15 days to give the appointment a vote. If the Senate fails to act, the nomination will be final. If the Senate rejects three straight nominees coming from the governor’s selection from that list, then the commission will make its own final appointment to fill the vacancy.

This, of course, will need a constitutional amendment because it’s a basic change in the way we select our judges.

Next, we need to turn our attention to some of the structural changes we need in our political process.

Now the House reform caucus has taken a look at those, and they’re planning to examine campaign finance reforms, the size of the Legislature and redistricting.

We’re going to submit to them in a short period of time, our proposals on all three.
Let me start with campaign finance – we can make that change without amending our constitution. We can make that change just statutorily.

Now I grant that having me talk about campaign finance reform may sound a little odd to people.

In fact, when I was mayor of Philadelphia, Sens. [John] McCain [R-Arizona] and [Russ] Feingold [D-Wisconsin] came to Philadelphia to hold a press conference to generate public support for the McCain-Feingold [campaign finance] bill, and I went out and attended the press conference and endorsed the bill.

The Philadelphia Daily News the next day had an editorial that said, “Having Ed Rendell endorse campaign finance reform was like having Ali Baba come out and speak out against thievery.”
I actually thought that was a little harsh, but [Audience laughter] but if [former President] Richard Nixon could be the first person to bring [U.S.] diplomatic relations to communist China, then I can certainly be the governor that spearheads campaign finance reform.
We need it. There is far too much influence in the governmental process by people and organizations with large amounts of money.

My opponent and I in the last election raised $42 million. People didn’t give us that money solely because they liked us or believed in the ideology we stood for.

That’s far too much money to be expended in a public election.

We are only one of 13 states in the nation that fail to place any limits on campaign contributions.
I was just out in Arizona on Saturday – I went out on Friday night and came back Saturday night – and I spent a day with the Democratic Governors Association. The governor of Arizona, Janet Napolitano, runs in a state that limits, if you go the public route, you are limited to $5 contributions for governor, and there are public funds [for the candidates]. I don’t believe that those limitations – Massachusetts has a limit of $500 – I don’t believe that they make sense.
I believe we should have reasonable contribution limits, so out legislation that we’re going to submit to the Legislature places a $5,000 limit on contributions by individuals and political action committees (PACS) in races for governor, statewide offices and local elections for executive in the most expensive places to run – Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.
[We also propose] $2,000 limits on contributions by individuals and PACS for all other elections in the commonwealth, including General Assembly races.

Local governments would be free to enact more stringent limits than the ones we propose. They could not enact limits more generous than what we propose, but could enact more stringent limits.

One of the big problems with campaign finance reform is you have to get at the total number of dollars that can be contributed.

For example, in New Jersey, they had heralded reform in their gubernatorial elections, and no person, individual [or] corporation was allowed to contribute more than $3,700 in a governor’s race. But those same entities were allowed to contribute $25,000 to any county political organization – there are 23 counties in New Jersey – and over $85,000 to the state party organization. You could literally give, if you wanted to, close to $600,000 to help John Jones or Mary Smith become governor of New Jersey, even though your direct contribution to their campaign was limited to $3,700.

So to prevent that from happening in Pennsylvania, our legislation limits the total amount that any person or political action committee can contribute in a two-year campaign cycle to $25,000 for an individual and $50,000 for a PAC. This limit will apply to contributions to candidates, PACs and party committees. As a result, we will limit the impact of any one person or PAC to have a disproportionate impact on the total government.

Let me give you an example of how that works.

Let’s assume the PAC gives $5,000 to the gubernatorial candidate, and let’s say they give $5,000 to the lieutenant governor candidate. They can do that – let’s say they give the governor $5,000 in the primary [election], $5,000 in the general [election], give the lieutenant governor $5,000 in the primary. [That’s] $15,000, in that cycle where we elect a governor, a lieutenant governor and members of the Legislature. That would leave them $35,000, in $2,000 increments, that they could either give to members of the General Assembly or political committees like the Allegheny County Republican Committee or the Philadelphia Democratic State Committee.

All totaled, an individual can only give $25,000 in that cycle, or, if it’s a PAC, $50,000 in that cycle. Without those limits, the individual limit to campaigns are a fraud because they’re too many loophole that you can go around.

Our legislation will also close the loopholes that allow partnerships and shell organizations to make contributions that skirt the law.

It is my hope that this legislation would become effective after the 2008 election cycle. So the first state election that it will be relevant for is 2010.

Redistricting.

Nothing is more important than to change the way we redistrict. Other states have begun that process.

We need to redistrict to get that same type of spirit and the same type of electoral contests in the law, and in actuality, that we had in the primary elections of 2006.

Despite the changes in the primary election, there were very few change in the fall of 2006 – despite the reform movement.

Between 1986 and 2006 – what till you hear these numbers – there were 2,508 House and Senate races. In [those two] decades, only 38 House seats and 7 Senate seats were lost to the challenger party – 2,508 and in those two decades only 38 House seats and 7 Senate seats were lost to the challenging party. That’s 1.8 percent of all seats changed party hands in 20 years – 1.8 percent. Folks, that’s unacceptable.

You know what the Legislature has done and both parties are to blame, and there’s no political gain here. What they’ve done here is protected each other.

Republicans wanted safe Republican seats. Democrats, instead of fighting that and saying, “No, let’s have more contests,” they decide they’d create safe Democratic seats.

When control was the other way around, the flip took place.

We simply cannot do that.

Redistricting should be based on what’s good for the public -what are good geographic limits. We shouldn’t have people in Montgomery County and people way up in northern Lehigh County in the same state senatorial district because they have different needs and different approaches to government. We should try to make the redistricting create districts that are as close as we can in their demographics, as close as we can in their financial status, so that the representative can represent a body of thinking that comes from the public themselves. We should end gerrymandering.

There’s a simple way to do this, and other states, as I said, three or four other states have already gone down these roads.

We need to make the decisions on drawing on the boundaries, we need to take it out of the hands of sitting legislators. Sitting legislators - and a number of them are tremendous people, and I don’t think they have gotten the credit, certainly didn’t get the credit for my first four years for the impressive legislative agenda that was put forth. I think you can make a case that Pennsylvania made more significant changes in economic stimulus, in environment, in education, in tax reform, in healthcare – we made more significant changes in the first four years than any state in the union during that four-year period, and I didn’t do it myself. We had a lot of strong legislative leaders who contributed to that process.

But we all know that self-preservation is the first and most important motivation in the Legislature.

So out proposal takes the state legislative redistricting and places it in the hands of an independent, non-partisan commission. The commission will be made up of nine members, none of whom hold elective office or serve as lobbyists, and where no political party constitutes the majority. This independent commission will create a redistricting plan based on sound representation, not politics. One member will be appointed by the governor, four members will be appointed, one each by the [General Assembly] caucus chairs, and four members appointed by the [Pennsylvania] Supreme Court. Of the four members appointed by the Supreme Court, one from each of the two major political parties, and then the two remaining members must come from non-partisan registrations and independents, or members of other political parties not Democrat or Republican. So no political party will have more than four out of the nine votes.
Neither the Legislature not the governor has the right to approve or reject the independent commission’s redistricting plan. Instead, the plan will be put forward for public comment, and after a public comment period, seven [commission] members have to approve the plan, and the plan can be changed by comments that are approved. Seven members vote to approve the plan, it is approved as final.

Next, shrinking the size of our Legislature – something that has to, in my judgment, be done.
Our Legislature is the second largest in the nation, with more members per capita than any of our peer states. Only New Hampshire has more legislators, and that state has a true part-time citizen assembly.

With the size of our General Assembly not only comes gridlock but also extraordinary costs to the taxpayers. Our General Assembly has an annual budget of $340 million. That’s $1.3 million each, for about 2003 House members and 50 senators, and nearly 3000 staff members - $340 million, $1.3 million each for every senator or House member. I don’t think our democracy would be harmed, by having fewer members.

I know there are concerns that if we reduce the size of Legislature that rural districts will not get proper representation. I believe if you do it on a good plan, do it concurrent with citizen redistricting, I think every element – rural-urban, suburban, big city, small city, mid-sized cities – all of their interests can be protected.

I propose – this also, of course, takes a constitutional amendment – I propose that we set up a commission, and that commission makes the recommendations on the appropriate size for shrinking the state House and the state Senate.

The commission will be made up of six legislators and five members of the public. I think it’s very, very important that the General Assembly itself have the majority stake in deciding this. They can hear from all of us, they can understand that we want this done, but I think it has to be done by themselves.

Once the commission deliberates and comes up with its recommendations, I hope the Legislature moves forward with the necessary constitutional amendment in time to ensure that when the 2010 redistricting is done and put to a vote, we have fewer House members and fewer senators.

I want all of these constitutional amendments, and I have one left to go, all of these constitutional amendments to be focused on, and to be carried out with, the 2010 redistricting. So all of them would impact the Legislature that takes its office in 2012.
Why? For a very simple reason: you can’t do redistricting and two years later reduce the size of the Legislature. That would create total chaos. If you were going to reduce the size of the Legislature, it has to be concurrent with redistricting.

And it has to be done concurrent with the last constitutional amendment that I am proposing, but I think, in many ways, the most important. This constitutional amendment is one that I never believed that I would be publicly in favor of: term limits for legislators.

When I served as mayor of Philadelphia, I didn’t believe in term limits for legislators. When I was elected governor of Pennsylvania, I didn’t believe in term limits for legislators. I believed that the public had the right to make those changes for themselves.

But when you think of the statistics - 1 percent [of] House and Senate seats changed in 20 years – it’s clear that the public doesn’t have the ability because of redistricting - it doesn’t have the ability to make those changes. Secondly, self preservation is too much of a motivating force here.
Now you can say the same thing about governors in their first terms, or legislators, and maybe that’s true. I believe that I took steps, including raising taxes, that we’re obviously not steps designed to appeal to necessarily the prevailing public opinion. I think I did things which created some political risk for me.

Nonetheless, I can’t stand here and tell you that when I did things, the political impact wasn’t a consideration that weighed on my mind. Anyone who tells you that it isn’t is lying to you, is lying to you.

Now I believe in my case, and the vast majority of things that we did, I fought back the tendency to let those political considerations outweigh good policy and good substance for the public. But if I stood here and told you that I never considered the political impact, I’d be lying to you.

Self-preservation is important, and it’s important to all people.

In my case, it was one term or two terms, because of the term limits. I said, and I think some of you will remember from the 2002 campaign, I said during the campaign that I would rather get things accomplished in four years, and take the political risks that would result in me not being re-elected, than to sit around as governor for eight years and do nothing other than appoint a few people to office and have people say “your excellency.”

I believe I lived up to that pledge in my first term, but I knew it was four years or eight years. It wasn’t 12 years or 16 years. I didn’t look down the road. I didn’t look at it as a career – it’s not a career. I think it is important to get back to citizen soldiers.

I think it’s the only way we’re going to have truly pure, honest and effective government.

Are there sacrifices in skill and expertise that we’re going to, that will be a natural consequence of term limits? Absolutely.

We can mitigate them, and our plan – I’ll roll it out in a second – does, in fact, mitigate those, to an extent, but we’ll lose some level of expertise. But we’ve got 3,000 staffers that we’re going to have to help out, right? [Audience laughter]

Our legislation calls … and let me go even further – there’s real anecdotal evidence about this. I don’t know how many of you, after the session in September [2006] on guns [and crime in the House], how many of you read Tom Ferrick’s column in the [Philadelphia] Inquirer.
Tom Ferrick quoted a legislator, a veteran legislator, who said that everybody up here [in the state Capitol] knows that [a] one-gun-a-month limitation makes sense. Think about it. One handgun a month, you can only purchase one handgun a month. It stops straw purchasers. That individual who goes into a store in Philadelphia, in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, in Wyoming County and buys 16 9mm Smith and Wesson automatic pistols. The gun owner knows, the state police know, local police know, the ATF knows. That person is buying 16 of the exact same pistol, handgun, to sell on the streets of the city. To sell to felons and juveniles who can’t buy guns legally. And yet we’re helpless to stop them.

I know the gun-rights folks say, “Well, put a tail on him.” You can’t put tails on people for three or four months. That person takes those guns, puts them in his house and sits on them for four months. Then [he] takes them to the streets of Norristown, Pennsylvania, and sells them for 300 percent of what it cost him to buy – 300 percent. And almost 42 percent of our crime guns are traceable to multiple purchases. When we go back and say to the multiple purchasers, “ Do you know that your gun was used in a homicide to kill Chris Crawford last night?” the original purchaser says, “Ah, geez I’m sorry.”

“Well how did that gun get into that 17-year-old’s hands?”

“Geez, I don’t know, it was stolen from my House.”

“Did you report it?”

“No, the police never do anything about burglaries.”

Well, we have to report the loss of a car - the loss or the theft of a car – but we don’t even have legislation to require us to report the loss or the theft of a gun. If we did, just that one change would make it so much easier to crack down on gun traffickers.

One-gun-a-month says you can’t buy 16 of the same handguns. You have to do it one gun a month. It only applies to handguns. It doesn’t apply to long guns. I t only applies to handguns, and it has no impact on the rights of lawful gun owners who want to use handguns to hunt or want to use handguns to protect themselves or their houses. If you’re single, you can buy 12 handguns a year. If you’re married, you can buy 24 handguns a year.

I remember giving this speech before the gun manufacturers, and their lobbyist raised his hand and said, “Well, what you say makes sense, but what if you want to give guns for Christmas presents?” [Audience laughter]

I said, “I’m not going to comment on the appropriateness of giving someone a handgun in the name of the Lord’s birthday, but we have an answer for that: gift certificates.” [More laughter] One gun a month.

So that law, obviously, should be passed. There is nobody who is sane and rational who would be against one gun a month.

The legislator told Tom Ferrick, “If we voted by a secret ballot, one-gun-a-month would pass by 3 to 1.”

Well we didn’t vote by secret ballot, and when one-gun-a-month went before the September session, it lost 3 to 1. Think about it. Think about it. Why did it lose?

Because our legislators are worried about the NRA [National Rifle Association] and other gun organizations that make the NRA look liberal. They’re worried about that. They’re worried about self-preservation.

Voting money for education. Our legislators know how important it is, but heaven forbid a vote for a tax increase. “I might lose.” It’s self-preservation.

No more self-preservation.

Let’s have legislators that go in there and know they’re going to serve –“Well it’s my fifth year, I’ll either be here for six or eight. What’s the big deal. Let me vote for what I believe is right.”
It’s about time. That’s the way the country was founded. Citizen soldiers.

Thomas Jefferson served as a delegate to the Virginia assembly for four years, and then he went home. He went home, back to his farm. That’s the way it was meant to be.

We wouldn’t be here facing the mess that we’re facing on pensions … do you know that by 2011, coincidentally the year I will no longer be governor, the state budget will increase by $1.1 billion just because of the pension vote we cast in 2000. The motivation for the pension vote in 2000 was not to help state employees. The motivation behind the pension vote of 2000 was to build up legislative pensions. It’s going to cost us $1.1 billion more in 2011’s budget than in 2010’s [budget], because that’s the way they [the Legislature] has it scheduled. That’s when the spike is going to occur.

I’m going to recommend to the Legislature that we take steps to flatten that out, but just think about that. We shouldn’t be worried about pensions. This shouldn’t be a career. This should be a venture by citizen soldiers who want to participate in their democracy. Period.

Can we mitigate against the lose of expertise? Sure we can.

We can’t repeat the mistakes that states like California made. The entire California Legislature turns over every eight years. That’s nuts.

We have to figure out a way, and there’s a way to do it, and that’s to stagger it. So that one-third of the Legislature turns over every two years.

I believe we must have term limits: eight years for representatives and eight years for senator. So if somebody really has the bug to serve, they can serve for eight years as a House members and then run for the Senate and serve for eight years as a senator. By the way, these are total caps. They are not consecutive. They are total caps. Just like the governor cannot run again for governor in Pennsylvania after serving two terms – can’t sit out a couple years and run again – legislators are limited to eight years for their lifetimes in the House and eight years in the Senate. As I said, the term limits will be phased in.

This requires a constitutional amendment and it should also be done for the 2012 election.
So for legislators who have served for more than eight years, they have another six years to contribute. Another six years to get done what they hoped they could get done. We’re not pulling the plug on people precipitously.

Let’s do all of these things: redistricting, smaller size of the Legislature, term limits. Let’s do them in a way that we can have the benefits of all of these things going forward for future generations in the year 2012.

I think it’s workable and it’s doable. I’m counting on the Legislature and the reform movement.
We have, as you know – and you talk about it all of the time – we have 50 new members [in the Legislature]. I’m seeing those 50 new members this afternoon in the [governor’s] residence to spell out these plans to them directly, because many of them ran on similar proposals.

It’s my hope that this reform movement, fueled by the press, that continues to press for change, and by a public that will hopefully be interested in these issues, that in the long term are so much more important than pay raise. If you have term limits, you’re not going to have pay-raise issues. You’re not going to have pension issues.

It’s my hope that the public and the press will keep the momentum going so we can get things done in the next year or year-and-a-half.

Now I’m looking at my good friend Fred Anton [chariman of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers Association], and Fred and I have been friends dating back to my time as [Philadelphia] district attorney. I met with Fred and his group back in 2006 at the beginning of the election cycle. I met with them because I believe in the governmental process. I didn’t think that any of them we’re going to support me. I met with them because I believe in talking with everybody. And truth be told, none of them did support me. But we met and we talked about a lot of these same issues, and Fred will recall that.

Fred’s group wanted the calling of a constitutional convention.

I believe there are dangers in calling a constitutional convention. We’ve looked at this, and I don’t think you can limit the scope of a constitutional convention. I think there are significant dangers and substantive harm that can occur to the commonwealth.

But notwithstanding that, if the Legislature will not take these changes and reforms to heart - if they will not move in the near future to make these reforms a reality – I think I and every other like-minded Pennsylvanian, who seeks to have reform become a reality, is going to have to consider the constitutional convention route.

I don’t think we need it. I think we can do all of this and have it in place by the 2012 election, and benefit generation after generation after generation of Pennsylvanians.

This is an effort, and I don’t want this to become the governor’s effort – it’s the reason why the commission on restructuring, the majority of the appointment are legislators themselves - because I don’t want this to be mine. I don’t want this to be politicized. I don’t want it to be Democrat or Republican. I don’t want it to be us against them. I don’t want it to be rural against urban.

I want it to be Pennsylvanians trying to improve the product of our government. That’s so important.

I think we did wonderful things the last four years. Wonderful things to change the quality of life of Pennsylvanians.

But we could do so much more, and do it in an atmosphere that is so much better, and we’ll be so much more likely to restore confidence of people in their government.

More confidence in the government, means more people will vote, more people will take part in the process.

We’ll have more people like the [Rep.] Josh Shapiros coming to the Legislature, just because it’s the thing to do, and not because it’s a career.

But, gee, wouldn’t it be great to spend eight years trying to change the laws of Pennsylvania and make them better? Absolutely.

You’d be getting idealists from all over. You’d have corporations saying to some of their best young managers, “Go out and run for the Legislature. Get out for four or six years and see what you can do and then come back to us.”

We’d have good people – good women and good men - coming and running for office, not burdened by having to raise tons of money - to go to lobbyists or political action committees to raise money – to be able to get out there and run in a system that rewards competence, ability and the courage of one’s own convictions.

Nothing is more important to future generations than the things that I have talked about today, and all of you have been talking about for a long while.

It’s something that ought to be done. We have to be resolute. We can’t flinch. We’ve got to go down that road, and go down that road with determination and focus.

Thank you all very, very much.

Example Survey for a Candidate

2007-03-28T18:12:00.000-07:00

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Comments:

Do you have any suggestions for actions and/or procedures that would have made it easier for you to acquire materials and register as a candidate?
" - Yes " - No

Comments:

Post-Election
In your opinion, were results tabulations made available to you in a timely manner?
" - Yes " - No " - Not applicable

Comments:

Do you have any other issues/concerns that you would like to see the Citizens Advisory Committee address?

Comments:
If you wish to be contacted by the Citizens Advisory Committee, please provide contact information.

Elections Panel Letter to VanSickle

2007-03-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

February 28, 2007

Mr. Harry Van Sickle, Commissioner
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Department of State
Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation
210 North Office Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120

Dear Mr. Van Sickle,

In early January 2007, the Northampton County Executive formed an ad-hoc, non-partisan advisory committee to research and make recommendations to improve the customer service and performance of the Northampton County Elections Office. This committee has publicly met regularly and listened to various testimonies from citizens, employees, elected officials, and Northampton County Elections Commission board members regarding the above subject material.

Also addressed in the Committee discussions has been the topic of the PA Department of State certification of the Advanced Voting Solutions (AVS) WinVote machines purchased and used by Northampton County. Specifically, the topic of whether or not the voting machine hardware that was certified by the Commonwealth was in fact in the machines received by Northampton County.

At the February 21, 2007 the Committee made a motion to direct the County Administration to send formal communication to the Secretary of State, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania requesting to see the certification of the specific machines used in the last two elections. The Committee wants documentation that the hardware shipped by Advanced Voting Solutions is, in fact, what was approved.

They have requested that this letter ask for a response within 10 days of receipt and for copies of this letter to be sent to the various state legislative representatives from the Lehigh Valley.
The Northampton County Executive and the Voter’s Registration - Citizen’s Advisory Committee thank you in advance for your prompt assistance in this matter.

Sincerely,

John R. Conklin
County Administrator

February 28, 2007 Minutes For Citizens' Advisory Committee

2007-03-02T21:29:00.000-08:00

NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
CITIZEN’S ADVISORY COMMITTEE
In conjunction with
Voter’s Registration Office

Meeting Minutes
February 28, 2007 – 4:00 p.m.

The scheduled meeting of the Citizen’s Advisory Committee was held at 7:00 p.m. on February 28, 2007, in the County Council Meeting Room #307.

WELCOME – Margaret “Peg” Ferraro
Ms. Ferraro welcomed everyone to this meeting.

Roll Call

Mr. Conklin gave the roll and the following members were present:
Jack Bradt Russ Shade NOT PRESENT Greta Browne
Peg Ferraro Richard Benner

Motion to approve minutes from February 21, 2007. Motion seconded. Motion carried.

Courtesy of the Floor

Lawrence Otter, Esq. was present to represent Deb DePaul regarding statements made to the newspaper by panel members and members of the political parties. The process in Pennsylvania for electronic voting machines is outlined by state statute therefore issues should be addressed with the state legislature.

Committee does not want these meetings to become a confrontational forum. It is to be a support network to work through the various issues at hand.

The office previously conducted its own survey. Results were shared with the committee.

Straight party ticket issues, certification of the machines, and the counting of the votes were addressed.

A few people, including Elections Office staff and political party representatives spoke about how the office is run and how political parties are treated. Everyone needs to be treated equal.

Election calendar handed out with deadlines listed. Calendar should be available to the staff and anyone else who may want it. District maps with precinct boundaries either hardcopy or on line would be helpful, which is already in process. Thorough training of all staff is suggested.

Several Election Judges gave positive comments about Deb DePaul and the Elections office as well as the new system in general. John Stoffa was praised for putting leadership ahead of partisanship by forming this committee.

“Best Practices” can be attained by comparing the procedures and results of different counties. In comparison, Northampton County had a much larger margin of error than Lehigh County. Inaccurate counts were posted for 13 days. Ballot design, a discussion about where or not straight party voting is being “encouraged” as opposed to “available” by the first screen on the machine.

Past elections judges training new judges would be a benefit.

Old Business

Letter to Pennsylvania Department of State was distributed to the group. Suggestion to slightly change one of the words in the letter was made; change “assurances” to “documentation”.

Screen layout in Montgomery County shows all the candidates. Northampton County machines have a smaller screen so all the information does not fit on one screen. The committee will make a recommendation to have uniformity across the Commonwealth with regards to the machines and screen views. Deb will try to get as many screen prints as possible to distribute to the group.

Surveys suggestion. Use one as a general survey to be given to everyone (randomly selected voters) and one to be given to specific groups (election judges, parties, poll workers). A check box will be added to the survey to identify which group the individual is associated. Surveys will also be posted on the web for anyone who wishes to fill it out. Surveys will be mailed out early next week pending final approval from the Committee.

New Business:

Next Meeting: March 14, 2007 @ 7:00 PM, County Council Meeting Room 307.

Courtesy of the Floor

Prior to elections, both parties were notified that they may look at the machines. Last election, both parties signed off on the machines. County Executive should investigate what needs to take place in the Voter Registration office. Unofficial counts are just that, unofficial. With 149 Judge of Elections, each having 3 County Workers, there is opportunity for many different answers to the same question.

With 463 voting machines, it takes hours to check each counter and serial number on each of them. Machines are checked 7-10 days prior to Election Day to ensure counters are set to zero. Ballot design is also checked.

One of the Election Judges had an issue. Each individual machine totaled but once each USB was put into the master, it didn’t total. Additional staffing is needed during election times to handle issues that arise.

People need to know the Elections Office is there to help them. Neither AVS nor the Department of State have responded to any requests regarding the machines. The committee’s purpose is to make recommendations only.

Several election office workers spoke. The goal of the Committee and the Elections office should be to work together. Additional phone help is necessary. The S.U.R.E system is being utilized; more are needed to accommodate the incoming requests. The office would like to see signatures on the survey for validation.

Thanks you notes are sent to poll workers by the Elections office and the County Executive.

The letter going out to the State has a return reply requested and a reply date on it. A minor grammatical error on the letter will be corrected before it is sent out. Documents should be proofread before sent out.

Brief synopsis of the Election office was presented.

Recommendation for Counties to change their password each election was mentioned.

There is nothing in the letter from AVS that says the equipment was certified before the election. The County needs assurance the correct steps were taken, regarding machines, before the Election.

Meeting Adjourned.

Motion to adjourn, seconded, meeting adjourned at 9:20 PM.

February 21, 2007 Minutes For Citizens' Advisory Committee

2007-02-23T16:05:00.000-08:00

NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
CITIZEN’S ADVISORY COMMITTEE
In conjunction with
Voter’s Registration Office

Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, February 21, 2007 – 7:00 p.m.

The scheduled meeting of the Citizen’s Advisory Committee was held at 7:00p.m. February 21, 2007, in Court Room # 1.

WELCOME – Margaret “Peg” Ferraro

Ms. Ferraro welcomed everyone to this meeting.

ROLL CALL

Mr. Conklin gave the roll and the following committee members were present:

Margaret “Peg” Ferraro Jack Bradt Russ Shade
Richard Benner Greta Browne

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes from 2/7/07 Motion to approve by Richard Brenner, second by Jack Bradt, motion carried.

Minutes from 2/13/07 Motion to approve by Russ Shade, second by Jack Bradt, motion carried with a note to make sure Greta’s last name is spelled correctly throughout the minutes. There is an e at the end of Browne.

COURTESY OF THE FLOOR

Dr. Alan Brau spoke on three points.
Documentation for certification of the machines used in the November election. We should have verification the machines were certified.
Article in the Press regarding the Dept of State for approval or re-examination. He is currently a Plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Secretary of State because he will not re-examine the machines. After all other remedies were attempted and not properly responded to, a lawsuit was filed.
Would like to get a small committee together to open the machines, see what is inside and see if it matches the specifications for the original certification.
OLD BUINESS

Survey
Survey addresses the two major issues: the voting machines and the operation of the office. Survey should be expanded to include political parties and the sampling of voters. Finalized surveys should be ready by the 2/28/07 meeting. A deadline needs to be set for the surveys to be completed and returned. The group can then reconvene with the survey results and brainstorm a list of recommendations.
Another survey was distributed to group that could be used for everyone with additional questions to target specific groups. A suggestion to put the survey on the website for people to fill out was made.
Need to define to whom the survey will be sent. A 10% return rate is a reasonable expectation.

Voting Machine Software and Hardware
Would like to written communication from the Dept of State acknowledging the machines were certified.
A Motion was made for the committee send formal communication to Secretary of State of Pennsylvania requesting to see the certification of the specific machines used in the last two elections. Motion seconded. All representative of the legislatures of this County should be copied on any amendments. Suggestion will be added to the motion. Letter will ask for a response within 10 days. Pressure will be added if no response is received.
AVS needs to supply the bills and materials for the machines.
All candidate names and pictures appearing on the first screen is something being considered for the future.

Office Operation
Mr. Brenner voiced concerns about communications from the office being poorly written.
Suggest exit interviews be conducted for employees leaving these County positions to determine the reason for the high turn over rate.
The major turn over occurred before Deb DePaul took over the Elections office.
County process is utilized to hire new employees.
Charlie Dent concerned about impartiality when contacting the Elections office.
Newspaper stated they have a difficult time getting information from the Elections office.
Deb responded to the concerns mentioned.
Elections office advised against having a Notary in the office.
The Green Party will be added to the cc list for communications.
County IT department manages the website.
Machine training schedule with be updated on the website.

NEW BUSINESS:

1. Petitions
· Petitions are printed by a print supplier that supplies them to all the counties in the state. The print supplier changes them as dictated by the law, changes of judges, etc. The Dept of State provides the instructions.

COURTESY OF THE FLOOR

A request was made for Mr. Spadoni to research the possibility of making the County Election Board completely non-partisan. (Ex: 2 democrats, 2 republicans and one member from another minority party). Home Rule Charter may need reviewed and possibly amended if the request is accommodate.

ADJOURNMENT:

Ms. Ferraro adjourned the meeting.

NEXT MEETING:

Next meeting: February 28, 2007 at 7:00 County Council Meeting Room

Following meeting: March 14, 2007 County Council Meeting Room

ADOPTED THIS DATE: _____________________________

______________________________
Chairperson

February 7, 2007 Minutes For Citizens' Advisory Committee

2007-02-19T22:28:00.000-08:00

NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
CITIZEN’S ADVISORY COMMITTEE
In conjunction with
Voter’s Registration Office

Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, February 7, 2007 – 7:00 p.m.

The scheduled meeting of the Citizen’s Advisory Committee was held at 7:00 p.m., February 7, 2007, in Court Room # 1.

WELCOME – Margaret “Peg” Ferraro

Ms. Ferraro welcomed everyone to this meeting.

ROLL CALL

Mr. Conklin gave the roll and the following committee members were present:

Margaret “Peg” Ferraro Jack Bradt Richard Shade
Richard Benner Greta Browne NOT PRESENT

Approval of Minutes

One correction on Page 5 under comment - Ms. Browne should have been Joan Rosenthol. Loretta Schiavone should be commended for these great minutes.

Page 2 points out these are wireless voting machines. It is a wireless feature not a wireless machine, which is not allowed by the State.

Minutes approved as amended, and corrected. Motion by Mr.Benner, seconded by Mr. Shade. Motion carried.

Old Business

There was a comment by Mr. Benner concerning the original wireless feature on the machines and subsequently the Department of State did not certify the machine’s wireless feature.

The role of the Election Commission was discussed. Mr. Garvin oversees personnel office and it’s daily activities. Any problems are brought before the Board. The Solicitor’s office is utilized in the case of a legal question. The staff is informed of any updates and changes.
The actual machines themselves were discussed. Technical difficulties were reported to a dedicated telephone number manned with a staff of six people.

The county is divided into 5 zones consisting of 23 districts. A request to break the zones down into smaller areas was made.

Mr. Erney gave a detailed demonstration of the machines. An explanation of how every machine is individually tested was given. Smart cards are programmed for individual districts and will only work on those particular machines. Voters do not handle the smart cards. If the card is removed too soon, the machine may freeze. Information is not lost but the machine needs to be rebooted. This issue will be addressed in upcoming election training.

Machines are certified only by the PA Department of State.

Each machine generates reports. A sample report was generated and shown to the committee.

Staff training was questioned. Instructions sheets were discussed. The process of tallying the votes was explained.

There were complaints regarding the lack of assistance received from the Federal Government in the whole process.

NEW BUSINESS:

There have been accusations that the machines used were not State-certified. The State was questioned about it but has not yet responded.

The screen freezing up of machines was mentioned again.

A suggestion was made to have one or two poll workers on stand by in the event a scheduled worker does not show up. Workers are given a demonstration of the machine and an opportunity to do some hands on training with it.

There is only one federal testing place that the entire nation has to go through.

Training of poll workers discussed a second time. There needs to be a process to ensure each individual is 100% functional regarding the machines.

The tapes coming out of the machines need to be random, not chronological so it is impossible to tell who voted when.

Adjournment:
Ms. Ferraro adjourned the meeting at 8:40 p.m. Motion by Mr. Shade, seconded by Mr. Bradt. Motion carried.

Next meeting: February 13, 2007 @ 4 p.m. County Council Meeting Room

ADOPTED THIS DATE: _____________________________

______________________________
Chairperson

February 13, 2007 Minutes For Citizens' Advisory Committee Minutes

2007-02-16T17:45:00.000-08:00

NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
CITIZEN’S ADVISORY COMMITTEE
In conjunction with
Voter’s Registration Office

Meeting Minutes
February 13, 2007 – 4:00 p.m.

The scheduled meeting of the Citizen’s Advisory Committee was held at 4:00 p.m. on February 13, 2007, in the County Council Meeting Room #307.

Welcome

Mr. Russ Shade called the meeting to order.

Roll Call

Mr. Conklin gave the roll and the following members were present:
Jack Bradt Russ Shade Greta Browne
Peg Ferraro NOT present Richard Benner NOT present

A suggestion was made to postpone approval of last weeks minutes until next week.

Courtesy of the Floor

Alan Brau:

Spoke about a website regarding voting machines, www.blackboxvoting.org. Two issues are at stake, hardware and software. Anytime a change is made to software, the machine needs re-certified. A different version than the certified version was used in the February election. Were the machines re-certified with current version? What types of changes actually require re-certification? Documentation of all software changes needs to be maintained.
The diagram of the certified hardware should be compared with a diagram of the hardware in our machines to ensure consistency.

Russ Shade:

Gave an explanation of how software conversions are numbered.

Old Business

Russ Shade:

Last week we talked about the conversing of the software and how the State was handling it and whether the particular version that we were using was certified or not. We also mentioned the business of the hard ware, which is most disturbing.

John Conklin:

The goal for the unofficial vote count on election night is midnight. Two types of data entry and USB vote tally solutions are being considered, one server for AVS and one multiple-user for manual date entry.
Write-ins are a concern. The information needs to be manually evaluated as to the “intent” of the voter. For election night purposes, a total count by race of the total number of write in for the unofficial tally is needed. AVS will create a file which will be uploaded every few minutes and posted to the County website. Specific write-in names will not be posted on the unofficial vote count reports, but the number of write-ins will be shown.
New reporting features will include information broken down by precinct, machine, and other details not previously obtained. Prior to election night, we need to make sure everything is exactly how we want it.
Some discussion took place regarding the certification of the machines. Both a manual entry and a concurrent electronic entry will be used as a checks and balance.

Suggestions:

The Election department should be divided into two groups. One group to works towards complying with the next election and one group to identify and develop a plan for future elections.

People in numbers would be more effective in convincing legislators to make the appropriate accommodations to make elections run in the most efficient manner.

A letter should be sent to both AVS and the Department of State requesting a bill of materials for the machines. A comparison should be made between the two to ensure the machines meet certification standards.

New Business:

A survey for candidates and poll workers was put together for the committee to take home and review and comment on next week before it is distributed.

A suggestion was made for the Election office to keep a running record of who comes in, at what time and the purpose of their visit.

Meeting Adjourned: Motion by Greta Brown, seconded by Jack Bradt. Motion carried.

January 31 Minutes of Citizens Advisory Commitee

2007-02-06T06:53:00.000-08:00

NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
CITIZEN’S ADVISORY COMMITTEE
In conjunction with
Voter’s Registration Office

Meeting Minutes (Revision)
January 31, 2007 – 7:00 PM

The scheduled meeting of the Citizen’s Advisory Committee was held at 7:00 p.m., on January 31, 2007, in the County Council Room #307.

Welcome – Margaret “Peg” Ferraro
Ms. Ferraro welcomed the committee, Mr. Conklin, Director of Administration, and all participants for attending the second meeting of the committee.

Roll Call
Mr. Conklin gave the roll and the following committee members were present:

Margaret “Peg” Ferraro Russell Shade Greta Browne
Jack Bradt Richard Benner

Approval of Minutes
Ms. Browne noted that her last name is spelled with an “e” at the end.
Ms. Browne suggested that the minutes include comments made by the committee members.

On a motion by Mr. Benner, seconded by Mr. Shade, the minutes were unanimously approved, noting the correction and suggestion.

Courtesy of the Floor
Ms. Ferraro acknowledged the public and accepted comments. There were no comments at this time.

Old Business

Packet of Information from Deborah DePaul
In the absence of Ms. DePaul, Ms. Ferraro advised that any discussions or concerns be addressed at the next meeting when Ms. DePaul would be present. However, Ms. Ferraro mentioned that the information in the packet gave a great deal of insight into the problems facing voters throughout the country as a result of the “Help America Vote” Act.

Committee Meeting Issues
Ms. Ferraro suggested that each subsequent meeting have a specific agenda such as:
voting machines at one meeting, another meeting for discussing the “office” itself.
Ms. Browne commented and discussed her concern regarding interviewing and surveying members of the election commission, county council, and members of the

NC Citizens’ Advisory Committee Page Two January 31, 2007

staff and chairpersons of the political parties as suggested by Mr. Stoffa at the last meeting. Ms Browne’s suggestion was that the committee would arrange for personal interviews with those people mentioned and advise the public of these interviews, however, without jeopardizing the confidentiality of the interview. After each personal interview, if the person consents, they would either attend the committee meeting in person or send a written statement.

In reference to Ms. DePaul’s absence from the meeting, Mr. Conklin mentioned that he would have staff attend if given specific direction and advance notice from the Committee chair for scheduling purposes.

Mr. Bradt expressed the need for the Voter’s Registration Office member(s) to attend the meetings. There are questions only that office can provide in reference to the packet of information Ms. DePaul provided. One issue is the “wireless” voting machines which were originally proposed. They were disallowed by State mandate. Mr. Bradt posed a question as to why they were not allowed to be used. Also, did that have any effect on the results of the last election?

New Business

Election Machines
Ms. Ferraro, after reviewing information in the packet, noted that a Committee was formed to determine what type of machine to be chosen. A wireless machine feature was their choice, but according to the laws of Pennsylvania, it was deemed illegal. “What was the time period in learning of this law in relation to the election date?”

Representative of the Election Commission, Mr. Walter Garvin, Chairman.
Mr. Garvin addressed the Committee.

The committee organized to review and decide which machine to purchase, could not submit an order for the machine they wanted until the Department of State completed the certification process which did not take place until a very late date. The State ultimately did not certify the wireless machine. One of the reasons, as stated by Mr. Garvin, was that information on the wireless machine could be very easily corrupted (counterfeit access even from another room/building) which was determined by one of the state’s consultants, a computer professor from the University of Pittsburgh. Because of this delay, the Committee was required to order a different machine.

Ms. Ferraro inquired as to the role of the Election Commission Board.
Mr. Garvin noted that it oversees the personnel office and its daily activities. If any problems of the office occur it is brought before the Board. They also certify the results of the elections.

NC Citizens’ Advisory Committee Page Three January 31, 2007

Mr. Garvin noted that to certify the votes, the Commission meets after the official vote has been tabulated. The Commission meets four times a year but because of mitigating circumstances, it was necessary to meet more frequently this past year.

In regard to tabulation of votes, Mr. Garvin noted that the machine has an electronic as well as a paper trail record. As a precaution, the paper cannot become a receipt to be given to the voter since the receipt would have the capability to be used as a counterfeit vote.

Mr. Conklin inquired about the USB’s and the issue of inserting them into the mainframe. How are the votes that were not legible handled? Could that be a reason for the confusion in the tally at the last election?

Mr. Garvin could not specifically explain how these kinds of illegible votes were handled and but could be better answered by a computer technician.

Mr. Garvin attended training sessions before the election, which comprised of young and older voters. The opinions expressed by these voters after use was that they found it simple and easy to operate and there were no complaints.

Mr. Benner would like to have the machine at the next meeting along with the representative from the manufacturer, ABS. The Committee members agreed.

Ms. Ferraro raised concerns about the Voter’s Registration Office in reference to the number of staff to handle the busiest times, she expressed concern about the staff being well trained, especially, for voter absentee ballots, and are they comfortable in their responsibilities, and is the office user-friendly, especially for new candidates.

Mr. Benner inquired about the training of the staff and how it was done. Is there a large turnover in this office?

Ms. Browne inquired if the Election Commission is involved in the hiring of the personnel.

Mr. Garvin noted that the applications for the appointment of a new Chief Registrar were forwarded to the Commission and reviewed after which interviews and recommendations were handed to County Human Resources. Staff members of the office are done strictly through Human Resources.

Mr. Bradt made mention that the purpose of this Committee is to address complaints, as directed by County Executive John Stoffa. Mr. Bradt would like to prioritize these complaints. Why were the voters so dissatisfied?

NC Citizens’ Advisory Committee Page Four January 31, 2007

Ms. Browne explained that she has outlined all the issues she is aware of. A copy of these issues was given to everyone.

Voter Registration
o Driver License registration and change of state

Pre-election Outreach
o Absentee ballots

Candidates and Campaigns
o Voter Lists
o Filing Dates and info

Election Day
o Poll workers: training and support
o Machines
· Privacy
· First screen – straight party
o Absentee ballots
o Provisional voting
o Paper trail

Election results

Voting machines
o Wireless features

Mr. Garvin mentioned that this was not his perspective since he did not receive any complaints. Contrarily, he received very positive reaction from the last election. He mentioned that the only problem he heard was concerning residents who registered through PennDot and when they went to vote they became aware that they were not registered at all and the County never received any information about the “voter”.
Ms. Ferraro explained that concerns surrounded the issue of the “straight party” ticket and set up of the computer screens. “Why can’t we see all the names of all the candidates on the first screen.”

Mr. Garvin: The state mandates that a voter have the option of a “straight ticket” vote.

Mr. Bradt expressed his concern over the issue of “Confidentially” when voting and having the machines in an area where others are not able to see while you’re voting. This is of major concern for voters.

Ms. Ferraro inquired whether the machines are being made available in senior centers, libraries, schools, and community centers so that they can be used for training?
NC Citizens’ Advisory Committee Page Five January 31, 2007

Mr. Garvin said that there has been training at senior centers and malls; also the Commission is working with the League of Women Voters. Also, training is available on the website to some extent. The information related to the machines is going to be online for the next election.

Ms. Ferraro asked if schools are being allowed to perform “mock” elections on the new voting machines?

Question and Answer Period was closed and the Committee Members extended thanks to Mr. Garvin.

Comments
Mr. Conklin addressed Mr. Benner advising that the Assistant Solicitor assigned to Voter’s Registration, Christopher Spadoni, has also expressed interest in attending the Committee meetings.

Ms. Browne Joan Rosenthal critiqued the organization, spelling and use of language in the letters being sent out of the Voters Registration office. Letters were not dated. Her concern related to the representation of the County to the voters. Ms. Browne expressed her desire to have more meetings, especially, before the next election. She also would like to have an accounting of the staff’s employment in that office, i.e., new employee, employee leaving, etc.

The Committee agreed that good public relations are the key to a smooth election process.
Mr. Bradt also noted that in his opinion, there is very good work being done in the Voter Registration office.

Ms. Ferraro concurred with Ms. Browne that a letter composition should be properly written according to the rules set by the English grammar, spelling, and language guidelines.

Courtesy of the Floor
Bernie O’Hare, Nazareth PA:

Problems relating to the new election machines by voters are being heard by the Federal government and there is legislation that will create changes. In his opinion, even if there were old lever machines being used, there would have still been problems with the last two elections. Mr. O’Hare feels that the Voter’s Registration office is not user-friendly and creates problems
related to the elections. He expressed disappointment in the fact that absentee voters did not have time to submit their ballot. Also, training time, to learn how to use the machines was not sufficient. In an explanation of a “Provisional Ballot” Mr. O’Hare described, came out of the “America Vote” Act, people were sent away at the polls and not allowed to cast a “Provisional Ballot”. His example was of a woman, a foreigner, who is an American citizen who moved and changed her voter’s registration status to the municipality she was living and when she went to vote with her daughter and husband, who were also registered voters, found out that she was not registered with that municipality, even though they were. She was not allowed to cast a “Provisional Ballot”. Mr. O’Hare stated, “That this is the fault of the Elections Office”. Mr. O’Hare also stated that people were not able to speak to anyone at the elections office on the day of the election to answer questions and provide information. Mr. O’Hare also expressed concern about nepotism and other ethical issues he believes are occurring.

Mr. Failey, an elections poll worker from Forks Township expressed his concern about using personalities in discussions regarding issues of the election.

Mr. Conklin related that issues concerning problems with the email address would be addressed with the County IT department - resolved.

Mr. Stoffa reiterated that he suggests that a one-page survey be conducted for people who ran for office. The question: “ How can the office do better?”

Mr. Stoffa discussed the process in purchasing the machines used in the last election. He described that eleven counties were in process of purchasing the AVS machines and later backed down. Lehigh County was one of them and went with a different manufacturer.

Mr. Stoffa expressed his concern regarding the next election and how we can improve on the next election.

Mr. Benner would like to have the machine and the Representative from AVS machines, Deborah DePaul, and possibly Howard Erney here at the next meeting.

Next Meeting Date – Wednesday, February 7, 2007, 7:00 PM, Court Room #1.

Adjournment
Ms. Ferraro adjourned the meeting at 8:30 PM.

ADOPTED THIS DATE:

January 31, 2007

_________________________________
Chairperson

January 23 Minutes of Citizens' Advisory Committee

2007-01-29T15:05:00.000-08:00

NORTHAMPTON COUNTY
CITIZEN’S ADVISORY COMMITTEE
In conjunction with
Voter’s Registration Office
Organizational Meeting Minutes
January 23, 2007 – 3:00 PM
The organizational kickoff meeting of the Citizen’s Advisory Committee was facilitated by the Northampton County Director of Administration, John Conklin, and comprised of the following non-partisan members:
Margaret "Peg" Ferraro Russell Shade Greta Brown
Jack Bradt Richard Benner
Welcome – John Conklin
Mr. Conklin thanked everyone for attending and for providing their assistance.
Opening Comments:
County Executive, John Stoffa, noted that the cooperative efforts to be achieved by this committee is to have the ultimate goal of overcoming problems that exist in the County of Northampton. The purpose is "to do better"; Mr. Stoffa stated, and these are the recommendations he proposed:
Hold public meetings;
Interview/survey members of the Election Commission, County Council, members of the Staff and Chairpersons of the Political Parties;
Invite public comment;
Determine if a paper trail is needed;
Suggest a process for the format of the voting machine—who determines final approval;
Voting tabulation improvements;
Establish validity of ethics code, if necessary;
Complete a final report in four months;
Derive suggestions by the Committee on how to achieve its goals.
Mr. Stoffa also noted that the Administration office extends its support to Committee members with its staff in preparing documentation, copying, provide meeting space and whatever else is necessary to complete the tasks at hand. Mr. Conklin reiterated that he offers his complete support to the committee.
The next primary election will be held on May 15, 2007.
Mr. Conklin introduced Deborah DePaul, Chief Registrar, Voter’s Registration Office and;
NC Citizens’ Advisory Committee Page Two January 23, 2007
Kimberlee Shoup-Yeahl, Regional Sales Manager of AVS, the voting machine provider.

Introduction of Committee Members – Roll Call
Role call was taken and it was confirmed that all committee members were present.
Courtesy of the Floor
The public was offered an opportunity to present its comments.
There were none forthcoming.
Organizational Business
Mr. Conklin suggested that a Chairman and Co-Chairman be nominated to serve on the committee.
Nominations:
Mr. Bradt nominated Ms. Ferraro for Chairperson, seconded by Mr. Benner.
No further nominations were presented.
Nominations were closed.
Mr. Conklin cast a ballot to elect Ms. Ferraro as Chairperson. The committee unanimously approved.
Richard Benner nominated Russell Shade for Co-Chairperson, seconded by Ms. Ferraro.
No further nominations were presented.
Nominations were closed.
Mr. Conklin cast a ballot to elect Mr. Shade as Co-Chairperson. The committee unanimously approved.

Timeframe for recommendations/findings
Chairperson, Ms. Ferraro resumed the meeting and put forth her items for discussion, including the referenced subject.
Ms. Ferraro polled the committee for a suitable time to conduct meetings and also the frequency of them.
The members unanimously decided that a 7:00 p.m. timeframe on a weekly basis be held in the County Council Room 307 based upon its availability.
The next official meeting date and time will be held on January 31, 2007. Subsequently, the following meeting will be held on February 7, 2007. All meetings will follow the sunshine law by advertising in the local newspapers.

NC Citizens’ Advisory Committee Page Three January 23, 2007

New Business
Ms. Ferraro asked Ms. DePaul to approach the committee to explain the latest information concerning laws and other governing issues by the state. Ms. DePaul provided a packet of information for the committee to review that would explain and provide the latest information.
In an effort to generate interest in the election process, Ms. DePaul noted that she opened her office to colleges in an effort to approach students and encourage them to participate in elections. The PTA’s have also been approached for their assistance in taking part in the election process. One of the problems facing elections is providing a suitable location. The state has mandated very strict rules in the requirements necessary for a location due to the security factor. To date, there are now fifteen (15) schools being used as polling places. One of the issues that seems to indicate the lack of importance on election day is the fact that it is not declared a holiday for schools which demeans the importance of going to the polls to vote. Ms. DePaul emphasized that the state mandates many of the issues that seem to present problems to the voters’ registration office who must carry out their duties and responsibilities accordingly.
Issues of Importance Outlined by the Committee
Voting machine problems (newly computerized)
Timeframe in counting absentee votes – last election it took six weeks
How to resolve issues confronting candidates wanting to run for office
Mr. Conklin noted that County administration is addressing some of the problem issues that are of concern in the coming primary election in May. He will share his information with the committee.
Ms. Ferraro reviewed her agenda for the next meeting and requested suggestions:
To Research the packet of information provided by the registration office;
To put questions together and include comments;
Address and provide solutions connected with the voting machine;
(privacy of the location of the machine within the room…past experience had the monitor in full view of public)
How to encourage more volunteer participation in polling locations and what issues, if any, concern the volunteers at these locations;
What are concerns of other counties on the use of computer voting machines, etc.;
What can be done about the timeframe in counting absentee ballots;
User friendly office….can we obtain information easily at the voter registration office;
Where will the voter registration office be located when Wolf Building is closed;
What are the issues concerning the candidates for election;
What are the Parties’ concerns;
How can we improve the website…..it is important to the public;
How can we improve voter registration and then to get them to come out to vote.
NC Citizens’ Advisory Committee Page Four January 23, 2007

Ms. DePaul noted that the 2000 census report indicated that the population is 267,066 in Northampton County. There are presently 190,000 registered voters. However, the number of voters varies according to the type of election being held.
Ms. Brown respectfully requested that the Committee refer to its body as a non-partisan representation of the voters and not a segregated body. The Committee unanimously agreed. All reference to the members will be "non-partisan".
Courtesy of the Floor
Ms. Ferraro acknowledged a member of the public as follows:
Mary Barkett, 169 Spruce Street, Nazareth, PA 18064.
Ms. Barkett mentioned that she is a Republican Committee volunteer. She indicated that it would be advantageous to have comments from as many different people and many different variables as possible. She thanked the administration for forming the committee and for having this forum for the voters, "the voters are very important".
Ms. Ferraro mentioned that the public may forward questions, concerns, and suggestions to the Administration office where there concerns will be addressed, if possible.
Mr. Conklin noted that a separate email address is set up for this purpose. This address is: voter.info@northamptoncounty.org

Next Meeting Date – Wednesday, January 31, 2007, 7:00 PM, Council Rm #307

Adjournment
Ms. Ferraro adjourned the meeting at 4:00 PM.

ADOPTED THIS DATE:
January 23, 2007

_________________________________
Chairperson

2006-04-26T11:13:00.000-07:00