Easton UnDressed

In Loving Memory

2008-08-23T11:39:00.002-04:00

God Bless You Nadine Loane. I am fortunate to have known you.

From the Mayor,

Saturday, August 23, 2008 10:17 AM

It is with great sadness that I report to you the passing of one of our Easton family members. Nadine Loane, champion for all West Ward residents and respected sate-wide for her leadership of our Weed and Seed Program, passed away last evening after a courageous fight against so many ailments. Her passing at this time makes us wonder how hard she fought to get past her highly successful Summer Nights Program. She was so dedicated to the children and families of her program that she fought even harder to see the program through another year.

Our sympathies go out to her husband Bob, her family and the thousands of lives she touched.

To say she will be missed is an understatement.

Salvatore J. Panto, Jr.
Mayor, City of Easton PA
1 South Third Street
Easton, PA 18042
610.250.6610

Fire Fighters Banned from Local "Hotel"

2008-04-08T21:06:00.005-04:00

Easton fire fighters Michael Krill and Terrance Hand have really done it now. It seems that the opinionated duo have been dubbed persona non grata at the landmark Hotel Lafayette on 4th and Northampton Streets (not to be confused with the beautiful historic Lafayette Inn on Cattell and Monroe Streets).

Apparently, our (Mike's and my) repeated criticism of the "hotel's" conditions have drawn the ire of the establishment's proprietors. In my criticism of the quality of the City's South Side supermarket I opined that "Better isn't always acceptable. The Hotel Lafayette is better than Northampton County Prison, but living in either is no good."(tagboard March 30,2008 8:17 pm). Well it seems that my analogy was the back breaking straw.

Since then the proprietors have made calls to City officials with the goal of censuring Mike and me while also excluding us from our department's safety and familiarization tours of their building.

Now normally I would be laughing my ass off. I mean it's kind of ironic; getting banned from a place you'd never choose to go anyway. I can honestly say I can not recall being thrown out of a worse place.

I have no apologies to offer. To me, it is socially unjust to profit while offering people very low standard shelter. The place is a perpetual eyesore inside and out. It is a shame and a wonder to me that the place has become the hip hangout Easton's middle class music crowd. I wonder how some of the same people who fight for the conditions of the poor on other continents can be so patronizing to the barons of such poor accommodations here in their home. Free Tibet, F#$* Easton!

Yes, I know that this isn't the only place like this in Easton, but worry not-- I garner the same amount of disdain for them all. And yes, we have both been inside. I was there in December.

Your Neighbor

City Council Meeting Audio 02/27/08, 03/12/08, & 03/26/08

2008-04-07T13:25:00.002-04:00

Well, once again I have been off of the ball. Here's the audio for the last three Council Meetings. This is going to be a no-frills presentation of the recordings.

And sorry... Only one agenda.

February 27, 2008 (42 minutes 49 seconds 4.9Mb)
March 12, 2008 (48 minutes 26 seconds 5.5Mb)
March 26, 2008 (58 minutes 22 seconds 5.9Mb)

Agenda March 12, 2008

Just What is "The People's Bussiness"?

2008-02-24T20:31:00.004-05:00

I just caught up on a few days of Bernie O’Hare’s Lehigh Valley Ramblings blog, and what I read gave me the motivation to type this post.

Bernie’s post titled Norco Council Does Its Best to Discourage Citizen Volunteers was all about an issue we are in the midst of here at the city level. Apparently, there was some debate surrounding the approval of people for County authorities, boards, and commissions (ABCs). According to Bernie’s report, two Councilpersons (Charles Dertinger and Diane Neiper) expressed concerns over having to confirm candidates in the manner that they were asked. At the County Council, members are given resumes and the candidates seeking approval are present on induction night.

NOTE: Bernie also mentioned the Council's poor treatment of the appointees. He pointed out that the appointees remained standing as the Council members debated their issues with no apparent regard to the appointees presence or condition. I agree whole-heartedly with Bernie's assessment that poor treatment like that is very discouraging to anyone seeking to voluteer their civic services. (added 02/26/08)

Interestingly, Bernie and I (both huge proponents of open government) do not seem to agree on the level of vetting necessary for (re)appointments to ABCs. O’Hare takes the stand that, “It’s hard enough to get volunteers” and that the posts are “thankless”. Those reasons just happen to be the exact rebuttals we (Bad Apple and me) get any time we advocate for in-person interviews and confirmations of ABC candidates. Last week Councilwoman Elinor Warner was quoted in the Express-Times saying that she does not want to see the process become a “Supreme Court confirmation”.

I disagree with all of those statements. Saying that it is difficult to find candidates for ABCs should not be allowed to end the argument. That rhetoric should not reduce us to the lowest common denominator—accepting whatever names are presented by the administration. First, the solution does not accurately address the problem; it by-passes the problem. A true solution would be geared towards increasing the willingness to participate and increasing the candidate pool. It stands to reason that if we are not getting competition for positions, then we may not be getting the best potential. We need to explore some different approaches to fix this inequity. It is our position that the number one reason for the City’s low level of interest is communication. The methods used to recruit people for ABC positions are underwhelming and lack imagination. We DO NOT and HAVE NOT issued press releases; We DO NOT and HAVE NOT posted vacancies on the web; We DO NOT and HAVE NOT listed vacancies in the Bugler; and most importantly we DO NOT and HAVE NOT publicized what our ABCs do or need.

Labeling civic service (not to be confused with hired civil service) as “thankless” is, in itself, discouraging; and communicates a message that is in direct opposition with the promotion of ABC service.

At best, the reasons are crutches. At the very worst, the reasons serve as gatekeepers; the basis to maintain certain levels of status quo. We have seen over and over again the damage that a King’s reign over appointments can result in. Last year former Senator John Edwards said he wanted to propose what he called "Brownie's Law" requiring that “qualified people, not political hacks, lead key federal agencies” (http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN2721144820070828). We can look a lot closer than New Orleans for examples of appointment discretion gone astray due to the lack of controls that protect the people (“the people being the citizenry not the appointees). Recently we’ve been in the midst of issues with the Easton Housing Authority (junket abuse, HOPE VI housing ratios, and attendance) and the Easton Parking Authority (Riverwalk debt) that center on the qualifications, conduct, and judgment of members. The Mayor himself sites the Zoning Board’s tendency to make decisions that are not in-line with the City’s strategic plans when he discusses the need for ABC improvements.

In October 2007, Mayoral Candidate Panto was asked, “how can we better ensure that the nominated appointees [to ABCs] are qualified and representative of the needs of taxpaying residents?” He answered, “…we will advertise openings by all means possible to recruit as many applicants as possible. We will interview each candidate to review their commitment to the position and the skill set they bring to the appointment. When a decision is made the individual’s name will be submitted to City Council for their approval.”

Then Council Candidate El Warner’s answer to the very same question sums up our viewpoint well. She answered, “…council needs to ensure that openings on the ABCs are somehow advertised – on the city website, in the Bugler, etc. – so that all interested residents have a chance to come forward. Rather than just passing a name onto council for approval, the mayor should be asked to also pass along a list of qualifications, and a letter of interest from the candidate. If necessary, council should also meet with the candidate for a discussion. Strengthening this process should not “scare” away interested citizens, but instead help strengthen the membership of these ABCs.”

And as a Council Candidate Roger Ruggles also states in his response that, “council needs to interview each candidate and identify their expectation of the individual being nominated for that position.” (http://eastonundressed.blogspot.com/2007/10/candidate-question-8-authorities-boards.html)

The first part of that question addresses the importance of the twenty plus ABCs, and it points out the fact that they are “sanctioned city government subdivisions”. The million dollar Parking Authority tab, the two HOPE VI denials (with board conduct sited in the denial correspondence), and the large number of converted single-family homes are definitive proof of how important ABC positions are. We can ill afford to further offend every other Eastonian by trying to avoid offending a person asking to be responsible for our City’s well being. We have the right assess anyone who believes that they are deserving of such public trust.

How can we be assured that every citizen is given proper consideration if we are only presented with the successful applicants? There needs to be a method in place that shows the public exactly how many interested parties apply and proves that each applicant is given the same due diligence. The process of voting for the names presented at Council actually brings appointees closer to being like members of the Supreme Court, because the practice makes it easy for people to be reapproved (with the tiniest of scrutiny) for life.

Some people have expressed concerns over how “open” municipal government should truly be. There are concerns that “opening” means taking control away from the elected officials. It doesn’t. Informing the people and allowing the people comment does not take away the electorate’s responsibility to decide. The politicians will still have to decide; responsibly or otherwise.

Thanks for the text box Bernie!!!

City Council Meeting Audio 02/13/08

2008-02-14T21:13:00.006-05:00

A three hour tour... A three hour tour.
The weather started getting rough the Riverwalk project was tossed,
If not for the courage of a fearless few,
More money would be lost,
More money would be lost.

Our City Controller Tony Bassil reported the results of his audit on the finances of the Easton Parking Authority. His findings; It bleeds!

Somebody's got some 'splainin to do. And your guess is as good as mine as to who it will be. People want heads to roll. But that's just the people. The cockroaches have already started to scatter away from the light on this one.

Another significant item was the tabling of several reappointments and an appointment to various authorities, boards, and commissions. The appointments were slated to be rubber stamped, but upon discussion it was decided that a two week waiting period will be used instead of a public confirmation process. The Mayor said, "I don't think it should be brought before the public. Frankly, we have enough of a hard time to get people to serve on these boards and commissions and authorities. If you start bringing people through here, and having them dragged through the public arena I don't thing we'll get people to be here."

I believe we should bring people through. But that's just me. I want to bear witness to a candidate's (for appointments) qualities and desire to serve.

If you listen reall close, when the Mayor says, "Dragged through the..." you can hear a Councilperson say "the mud". I do apprieciate the Mayor's tact. But I can not get on board with keeping civil service in the shadows. Let the sunshine on the process. Protect us from future Easton Parking Authority debacles.

Heck of a job, Louie!

NOTE: On August 28, 2007, Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards proposed what he called "Brownie's Law" requiring that "qualified people, not political hacks", lead key federal agencies. (Michael D Brown's Wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_D._Brown)

City Grade for the period of 01/24/08 through 02/13/08

Audio Regular Session(3 hours 9 minute 21.6Mb)

Agenda Regular Session

City Council Meeting Audio 01/23/08

2008-02-02T18:03:00.000-05:00

We have both the regular Council sessions and the day before's Conference Meeting. The meetings were pretty straight forward with no contention or consternation. Councilman Warren touted the recently published police statistics. And the public speaking proceedures for City sponsored public meetings was discussed in good detail.

The protection and amplification of the peoples' right to participate had the greatest effect on this period's grade. (Sorry we forgot to post the grade the first btime around)

City Grade for the period of 01/10/08 through 01/23/08

Audio Conference Meeting (44 minutes 15 seconds 5.06Mb)
Audio Regular Session(1 hour 1 minute 7.03Mb)

Agenda Conference Meeting
Agenda Regular Session

On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC, on August 28, 1963

2008-01-21T21:13:00.000-05:00

I Have a Dream.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.
But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Better News, Worse News

2008-01-16T15:56:00.000-05:00

Click to enlarge

City Council Meeting Audio 1/09/08

2008-01-14T13:52:00.000-05:00

This was a relatively short, but very telling meeting. We were shown who was really in control. And we were shown our places.

The first bit of tension to be to be touched upon was the legal question surrounding Mrs Panto's appointment/reappointment to the Charter-made Council seat. We were taken all the way to the end of the table for the ruling. Now keep in mind that the appearance of familiarity; the appearance of a conflict; or the appearance of collusion are not against the rules or the law-- so they may not (of course) be key considerations as we make decisions. And they weren't... Furthermore, any talk of such nonsense will be duly ignored. Mrs Panto's appointment was cleared by the Assistant Solicitor (you see for this ruling the "Solicitor" was too close to the Mayor).

I feel so stupid.

Later in the meeting Roger Ruggles was appointed to Councilman Dan Corpora's vacated seat. There was angst and controversy surrounding the procedure used there to. Mind you, all of the protest, angst, and controversy was sponsored by the same group of advocates/trouble makers (depends on your vantage point).

Now, we could have appointed both Mrs Panto and Mr Ruggles with the very minimum discomfort with just the tiniest bit of thought.

First; the procedures and steps to fill the vacancies should have been posted and made available for everyone's review shortly after the elections.

Second; the charter transition committee should have been convened to go over the FIFTY ONE PAGES of the charter, and address the transition issues like 2.05 (c).

Third; Roger Ruggles should have been voted into the Charter-made position.

Fourth; Pam Panto should have been voted through the vacancy Dan Corpora created.

Yes, there would have still been grumbling over Mr and Mrs Panto serving together, but there would be far fewer elephants in the room.

City Grade for the period of 01/02/08 through 01/09/08

Audio (1 hour 27 minutes 10Mb)

Agenda

Minutes

City Council Farewell and Reorganization Meetings

2008-01-03T19:23:00.000-05:00

Out with the old, in with the old and new...

Last night City council held two meetings. The beginning of the session was the farewell meeting of the City's Third Class City Code Council. The ending was the reorganization meeting for the City's first Home Rule Charter Council.

The evening was mostly ceremonial. The only uncomfortable moments swirled around the appointment of Pam Panto to the newly-made (Home Rule Charter) Council seat.

Now, let me just interject some for-the-record editorial...

For me, the issue has never been Pam Panto serving on Council. The issue is Pam Panto being APPOINTED to City Council WHILE her husband is in-charge of it. As I said to Mrs Panto on election night, it would be different and less controversial if she ran in two years.

Appointments to political positions are arguably the most abused of all political processes. We see it time and time again. Just this last cycle we saw it in D.C. (remember the fine job Brownie did in Louisiana?) and we got a good slaterin' of it at County Council with the appointments of McClure and Branco (the party politics choke hold).

It would have been a hugely symbolic gesture if we could have avoided the appointment of Pam Panto as an issue. It would have made it obvious to any doubters that power was not an issue. As I said to WFMZ, "I know and trust the Pantos and so do hundreds of others, BUT there are a lot more people that have no idea what they are like personally." So for the Pantos to say things like "we're individuals and we think for ourselves" works fine for me, but what about everyone else?

If someone like John Stoffa (whom I do not know personally) told me to trust him enough to appoint his wife (whom I also do not know) to County Council, should I just turn off my scrutinizer and say OK because of his words?

Bottom line. Liking someone is not enough for me to allow them to do something that I would not allow someone I did not know, like, or trust to do.

I accepted the fact that Pam Panto was going to get appointed. And I am fine with it, because I like her and respect her a lot. Is that enough?

What I did not like was the way that Council handled the voting. Nominating one candidate from a field of five (when you have to favor two anyway) injures the democratic notion of one-man one-vote. It creates one-candidate no-vote. The Charter Commission had the foresight to protect Council members' votes from losing significance by instituting the rolling roll-call (the voting order rotates through the members). And, one more thing, when a vote is of that magnitude it would serve us all a lot better if everyone made a statement with their vote. Last night's voting was very discouraging. It was uncomfortable when only one person was nominated the first time, but it was insulting when Jeff Warren nominated Ken Brown. Hmm, the new guy appoints the Vice Mayor. That was a demonstration of power that I hope to never witness in city Hall again.

OK, I wish only the best to our new Council and the Mayor. Mayor Panto's vision for the city is shared by us here at EU.

One more, one more thing... I am officially never giving anymore TV interviews. two minutes of talking about the Charter gets me 10 seconds of somewhat out of context airtime. And as most of you know I can hardly afford the 10lbs that TV adds.

Farewell Session Audio(30 minutes 30 seconds 2.49Mb)

Reorganization session Audio(52 minutes 12 seconds 5.97Mb)

City Council Meeting Audio 12/31/07

2008-01-02T14:32:00.000-05:00

Here it is... The very last Third Class City Code driven City Council/Budget meeting.

Council ratified the 2008 budget at a rare 10am session. There was a short 20 minute break for an Executive Session on a "personnel matter". And a resolution was passed directing the City Controller to audit the Easton Parking Authority's finances.

The audience comments centered on the Easton Parking Authority.

Audio(47 minutes 24 seconds 5.42Mb)
Agenda
Minutes

City Council Appointment Interviews

2007-12-29T16:26:00.000-05:00

Here's the link to the public interview session of the six residents who submitted their interest to be appointed to City Council.

The candidates were interviewed in this order:
John Border
Mike Fleck
Theresa Miller
Pamela Panto
J. Spike Rogan
Roger Ruggles

As many of you may have heard, Spike's used his time to make a very well thought out and mannerly political protest statement. His statement was against having Mayor Sal and Councilwoman Pam Panto serve on the new Council.

Audio (1 hour 10 minutes 8.06Mb)

City Council Meeting Audio 11/14, 11,28, & 12/12/07

2007-12-18T19:06:00.000-05:00

Once again, my apologies.

Here are the last three City Council meetings.

November 14, 2007

The Mayor presented the administration's budget proposal.

Allan Raisman, of Lafayette College, presented his "One-Word" project before Council. Several Lafayette students performed readings of submissions to the project. My personal favorite was the submission for the word "Eventually".

Audio (1 hour 19 minutes 1.02Mb)
Agenda
Minutes

November 28, 2007

John L. Boscia's (a retired City employee) passing was recognized in a resolution.

The Easton Rumblers soccer team was recognized for their undefeated season.

The Planning and Economic Development Director (Barb Kowitz) gave an update on the progress of the Palmeroy and Lincoln Textile projects. Some council members seemed less than satisfied with the report on the projects. There was also vigorous discussion on the obstructed sidewalk in front of the Palmeroy building. The Mayor reported on his meeting with the developers. He was as confident and as supportive as ever in the developers' intentions. There was a good deal of discussion on the development projects and the taxpayers liabilities.

Audio (1 hour 18 minutes 8.96Mb)
Agenda
Minutes

December 12, 2007

Council discussed presenting a non-binding resolution to have the Easton Parking Authority cease spending in relation to the Riverwalk project until a pending financial audit is completed by the City Controller.

The sledding ban was lifted.

Audio (2 hours 2 minutes 14Mb)
Agenda
Minutes

25 Minutes with Mayor Elect Panto

2007-11-07T23:08:00.000-05:00

Sal Panto gave us first shot at a sit down interview. Our interviewer and the Mayor-elect cover 20 questions about things to come.

Congratulations Mr Mayor! We look forward to working with you to create a cleaner and safer Easton.

Interview (25 minutes 38 seconds 2.91Mb)

Your neighbor

Vote

2007-11-06T11:08:00.000-05:00

Ignored, Neglected, and Taken for Granted

2007-11-02T17:06:00.000-04:00

“Why should I vote for candidates that obviously do not care that I am a constituent?”

That is a question all of us Eastonians should be asking ourselves when it’s time to choose between Peg Ferraro and Tony Branco.

One. That’s the number of Ferraro signs I’ve seen within city limits.

Zero. That’s the number of Branco signs I’ve seen in Easton (And coincidentally, that’s also the number of times I’ve encountered either candidate)

I mean, even Mike Dowd stopped by my house when he was petitioning (Although he hasn’t made a campaign knock at my door). Does Branco or Ferraro even know how to get any place in Easton that is not the Government Center?

The interests of Easton’s everyday people are constantly and consistently ignored by people we endorse to advocate for us. I am in no way thrilled at the attention that Easton has received from the Government Center over the past four years—or even the past two that John Stoffa has been at the helm. The “County” (meaning Government Center elected officials) has ignored the very neighborhood that it works in. Streets are seriously damaged from the (completed) construction of the prison expansion. The County has no presence or influence in that neighborhood beyond its campus. Stoffa wants to move the 140 employees in the Governor Wolf building out of the city. And the county government failed to pay special attention to Easton’s needs as the county seat when considering the negative social effects of slots in Northampton County.

They’ll get their votes, but neither Dowd, nor, Ferraro, nor Branco will receive my vote. They didn’t seem to care enough to ask.

Candidate Question #10 Codes

2007-11-02T15:37:00.000-04:00

Question#10: Codes

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?

Strong Neighborhoods Make Strong Cities. Our city is a city of neighborhoods; they are the lifeblood of our city. The strength of those individual neighborhoods creates the vitality of our city. Each neighborhood has its unique characteristics and needs. I know all of our neighborhoods and will assist neighbors in identifying their needs and resources and in mobilizing programs to meet those needs. We will rebuild our city from the neighborhoods up ensuring that the residents play a vital role in the rejuvenation that is so sorely needed in many areas.

To strengthen our neighborhoods we will:

§ Establish the “Clean It and Lien It” program. We will secure vacant structures, cut weeds and grass to reduce rodents and unsightliness and secure the building envelope to prevent further decay. Once the property has been secured we will execute on the lien and either get paid or we will take possession of the structure, sell it to a proven developer who will then sell it as a restored single-family residence.

§ Initiate the “Curb Appeal Task Force” as a part of the Code Department. We will equip the code department with hand held computers loaded with exterior code violations. As they walk down a street they will input, simply by using a stylus, to check off violations such as peeling paint, broken windows, trash, etc. This will eliminate blight and will protect these vacant structures from becoming the problems of the future.

§ Property owners that do not make necessary repairs must be dealt with swiftly but fairly and in a uniformed manner. We will declare war on blighted properties.

§ Initiate discussions with local bankers to create a revolving loan fund to assist low and moderate-income families, especially seniors, in making necessary improvements to their home.

§ Create a “Neighborhood Network” homepage on the city website where residents easily identify what is happening in their neighborhood and how they can be involved in its progress.

§ Encourage more involvement and leadership in the neighborhoods and work with those leaders in creating a comprehensive vision for the city.Actively communicate and meet with neighborhoods on a regular basis holding at least one “town meeting” per quarter in one of the neighborhoods.

The city needs to develop a database of buildings that are determined to be under maintained. This can be accomplished by city officials walking throughout the city and documenting structures that do not meet Article 1193 – Existing Structure Code. This data can be stored on a data collector in the field and then downloaded to a computer system back at city hall. If a structure is identified as violating the Existing Structure Code then a meeting with the structure’s owner needs to be scheduled and a plan developed to bring the structure into compliance. The city should monitor the progress of the plan and if no work is accomplished then the enforcement procedures of the ordinance should be implemented. This plan does take a significant amount of code enforcement officer time but I believe that it will provide for greater citizen cooperation in getting the structure up to code.

An audit of the labor pool and how it is being used will be first on the agenda. The other thing that we need to do during this time is to have all offending property owners sent certified letters stating that they have 30 days to comply with repairs in order to bring their properties up to code. If they do not comply, the city will perform these repairs and either bills the owners, or they will forfeit their properties. Once we know how and where the labor is being used, and where we have extra manpower, then we can proceed with phase two.

Phase two will consist of getting extra manpower from the labor pool to start performing the repairs on the properties that are not following the order. If the properties are vacant, then once the work is started, the property owner will be billed for all manual labor, and administrative labor involved with each property, at the maximum rates allowed by law. These rates are usually called prevailing wage rates. Figure about $100 an hour for general laborers. Once repairs have been completed, the property owner will have 30 days to make restitution, or the city follows through with either a Sheriff's sale, or property seizure, due to foreclosure, or whatever other legal means we have at our dispossal. Average turnaround time for the city to foreclose will be less than 1 year. Considering it has taken the city over 20 years to buy or seize other properties that have been blighted, that is a massive improvement.

Phase three will consist of initially offering to the local neighborhood residents the property at cost. Secondly, offering it to city employees that don't live in the city at cost, so long as they move in and claim it as their primary residence. Thirdly, offering it up for sale at fair market value to the general public. If it goes to the general public, the city makes the highest profit, and brings more money into the coffers, and actually has city employees from the labor pool making money for the city, instead of just being an expense. If it goes to a city employee, or a resident of the neighborhood, then it will still bring a profit, because at the prevailing rate, the city will still be making a profit off of the labor.

This plan may not be 100% perfect, but it is certainly better that what we currently have. The Citizens Oversight Committee will be the most ideal in this aspect, because current employees that are doing the bare minimum for their jobs will step up their work, and stop whining about being overworked, when they know for themselves that they are performing a substandard service.

This question really belongs to the mayoral candidates, who will oversee city hall and its employees. That being said, I do think that the code department needs to be separated from Planning and Economic Development and restructured so there’s more accountability, and so that codes are enforced uniformly. Vacant and decayed properties that can be seized under current law must be seized. I propose then offering those properties to police, fire, and city hall new hires at a discount, in exchange for those new hires agreeing to live in the city and improve the properties. Similar programs have had great effect elsewhere, would induce city employees to live in the city, and would help our neighborhoods.

Candidate Question #9 Enforcement

2007-11-01T16:44:00.000-04:00

Question#9: Enforcement

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?

Government is of laws, not of men. Enforcing the codes of the city must be done in a uniform, fair and consistent manner, regardless of individuals. The Codified Ordinances of the City of Easton contain all of the necessary codes to provide a safe and clean environment for all residents. We will increase the effectiveness of the code department by making the Code Administrator a Cabinet level position directly under the Mayor, using technology for increased efficiency and providing enhanced training for the staff.

Audit the city. Let's give ourselves an audit from stem to stern, from tip to tail, and from head to toe. I propose to remove legislation that is outdated and antiquated. I also propose to follow up on all of the 90 day resolutions that have not been rescinded when they got out of date.

We need new laws, but we need laws with teeth and laws that don't insult the public's intelligence. We need to remove laws that are unenforceable. We need to make sure that the codes department, the board of health, the fire department, and the police department have a working knowledge of the city codes and ordinances. I'm not saying they have to be experts, but experts in their fields, and at the very least a working knowledge of all of the other areas. These departments are our eyes and ears, and need to use a significant amount of common sense when outside to enforce what is enforceable.

Let's make the laws that stick, the laws that will bring in money, and the laws that will protect our citizens.

Some of this would seem to be a matter of cleaning up existing ordinances so that they are enforceable. For example, we currently have an anti-loitering ordinance on the books, but it is my understanding that, as written, the police can’t enforce it. There’s an easy remedy: rewrite the ordinance. More care needs to be taken in writing new ordinances so that they are immediately enforceable and don’t need revision months, and then years, later. Council writes the legislation, the administration must enforce it. Council needs to work more closely with the administration to make sure that laws are enforceable as written, and that ordinances are being enforced down the road.

The answer to this problem would require nearly a book to begin to scratch the surface. More enforcement officers, increased technology, fewer rules, and better education of the public are just a few of the things that can be done to more effectively enforce or trim our excessive number ordinances. We need to also assess what we do to enforce the ordinances. If the punishment for breaking an ordinance is too light then individuals will continue to break the ordinance requiring greater effort in enforcement. If the penalty is too severe we are placing too great a burden on the citizen.

Candidate Question #8 Authorities, Boards, and Commissions

2007-10-31T14:02:00.000-04:00

Question#8: Authorities, Boards, and Commissions

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?

Authorities, Boards and Commissions are an important element of local government. This level allows multitudes of people to become involved in their city, making decisions that affect the future of our city. First and foremost, we will advertise openings by all means possible to recruit as many applicants as possible. We will interview each candidate to review their commitment to the position and the skill set they bring to the appointment. When a decision is made the individual’s name will be submitted to City Council for their approval. We will meet semi-annually, in public, with the members of the ABC’s to review and update the city’s strategic plan and how well we are achieving the goals and objectives.

It is council’s job to vet mayoral candidates for the ABCs. First, council needs to ensure that openings on the ABCs are somehow advertised – on the city website, in the Bugler, etc. – so that all interested residents have a chance to come forward. Rather than just passing a name onto council for approval, the mayor should be asked to also pass along a list of qualifications, and a letter of interest from the candidate. If necessary, council should also meet with the candidate for a discussion. Strengthening this process should not “scare” away interested citizens, but instead help strengthen the membership of these ABCs.

Nominated appointees are typically confirmed by council. I believe that council needs to interview each candidate and identify their expectation of the individual being nominated for that position. Each authority, board, and commission should be assigned to a council member and that council member should monitor the appointee to determine if she/he is meeting the expectations. If they are not a mechanism should be established to allow council to remove an individual from that position.

I just answered that in my previous statement. Citizens Oversight Committee will have the power to remove from office, employees who are doing substandard work. Every department needs to have an annual independent audit. If there is no improvement from one year to the next, without any major problem being the cause, that department needs to be cleaned out and replaced with employees who have not gotten complacent in their jobs.

An idea that I am very fond of and highly in favor of, will be for an annual reapplication of all city employees. It has worked in major corporations, and it will work for city governments too. If we keep applications on file of qualified individuals for at least 1 year at a time, we will be able to replace substandard workers with little effort. The reapplication process is fairly easy and straightforward. Every year each employee must submit a resume for review, to include what accomplishments they have made in the previous year, if they have not grown in their present position, then they will be brought up for review, and other prospective candidates will be interviewed at that time for that job. If another candidate has better qualifications we release the former employee, and hire a new employee. It not only keeps salaries down, but it also better qualifies us as a city of professionals. I am sure that no resident has a problem paying a higher salary for a more qualified individual, if that individual is willing to continue their education and training.

Candidate Question #7 Infrastructure

2007-10-30T16:06:00.000-04:00

Question#7: Infrastructure

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?

I disagree with the basic premise of this question concerning the Water purification plant because the plant is still an asset of the city, still wholly-owned by the City, leased to an Authority of the City, with all members appointed by the Mayor of the City. An asset is something of value that gives the owner a return on the asset. The leasing of the plant is using an asset to get a return; in this case outright lease payments equal to or higher than the amount earned when it was operated by the City and at least $1 million per year during the term of the lease in infrastructure improvements to our water distribution system.

However, I do agree that we cannot allow our assets to deteriorate to the extent of the water plant. There was no capital replacement program in this important asset and much needed service and upgrades needed were delayed for lack of proper capital budgeting. We need to be more proactive in our capital budget planning. Coupled with our multiple-year general fund budget, our 5-year capital replacement budget program will protect our assets for future generations of Eastonians to enjoy.

Additionally, time must be set aside to give employees an opportunity to perform preventative maintenance on equipment, vehicles, buildings, furniture and all other assets of the city.

The failure to reinvest in the maintenance of the city water plant was a key factor, but a factor that was just as key (if not more) was the financial situation of the city where we were not able to borrow the money needed to upgrade the plant. Both of these are significant problems. Our first priority should be to move the city to a very stable financial position. Once we reach this position our bond rating improves and we have the capability to finance the 20+ million dollar renovation to the water plant.

In assessing the city’s assets we can identify our infrastructure and the maintenance required to maintain each asset. The waste water treatment plant is currently in excellent condition and the capacity of the plant is estimated to be sufficient for the next 10 – 15 years. We need to start developing plans now on how that upgrade might occur. Our parks system is extensive and in many cases the parks have fallen into disrepair and in many cases are unsafe for children to play. Our sewage collection system is very old is most likely providing inflow and infiltration into our sanitary collection system increasing flow to the waste water treatment plant. Our road network is being over burdened by increasing traffic. These and other components of the infrastructure of very old cities (like Easton) will be in constant need of repair and replacement. We need to develop a line item in the budget for these repairs and/or replacement of the infrastructure of the city and in addition develop a better management system to manage the entire infrastructure system. This is best accomplished using a geographical information system or GIS. A well developed GIS has been repeatedly shown to increase efficiency of infrastructure management resulting in overall savings. I have significant experience in the development of GIS for local municipalities and have been working with the city to develop a system. Through conducting an inventory of the infrastructure assets, developing plans to provide ongoing maintenance (with budgeted line items) and enhanced management form GIS technology we will be better able to understand what we have, maintain it and manage it.

The simple answer is to stop wasting money on nonsensical projects, and work our wallets closer to our vision. I wish the answer was that easy.

The reality of the situation is that we need not just financial audits of the city, but also performance and structural audits as well. We need to know well in advance, when we are going to need a new fire truck, or street sweeper. We need to know 5 years ahead of time, if it will be cheaper to rent a building for city hall, or to purchase one and maintain it ourselves. We need to remove supervisors who cannot properly run a department, and replace them with qualified individuals that aren't getting these jobs because they're not friends of whatever politician is in office.

The biggest and best thing that can be done is to implement a Citizens Oversight Committee. They will have the power to remove people that are inept or just plain lazy, and to keep this city moving ahead.

The city’s finances need to be put in order so that, should we need a bond issue, our bonds could be rated well enough for such an issue to take place. Improving the tax base by improving property values in undervalued neighborhoods, collecting past due revenue, and cutting consultants out of the budget would all help, but it’s important to note that remedying the projected deficits of the next five to 10 years can’t happen overnight. We need to begin planning now.

Candidate Question #6 Budget

2007-10-29T13:34:00.000-04:00

Question#2: Budget

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

Spending the last sixteen years in senior executive management positions with multi-million dollar budgets I will bring a new perspective to city finances and find ways to reduce the cost of providing services through increased efficiency and innovation. We will shape an Administration that works harder and smarter on behalf of its residents.

To improve fiscal management of the city we will:

§ Develop a multiple year budget for better financial planning and to avoid last minute decisions that react to a financial crisis rather than using solid financial planning to avoid the “December crisis” in our city.

§ Work with the City Treasurer to consolidate all finances under one individual for more effective cost tracking, revenue forecasting and avoid duplication of effort.

§ We will hold finance meetings each month and invite financial leaders and residents to attend and participate.

§ Create an efficiency task force made up of residents, business leaders and city
employees to analyze city services and assist the city in finding new, more-efficient ways of providing services. The task force will conduct a fact-based approach to identifying best practices used in other cities and how they can be incorporated into our city.

§ We will provide incentives to departments that find new ways to cut costs and improve efficiency. Our financial problems can not be addressed from the pockets
of our resident, we must find ways to decrease the size of government and increase the efficiency of services.

§ Decrease the physical size of city hall by at least one floor creating better
communication among staff, easier access for residents and more income for the
city with the additional rental space to the private sector.

§ Better utilization of existing software, or new software, to make sure that all
departments are interfacing to increase the collection percentage of money owed
to the city and to capture money that may be outstanding in other departments.

§ More emphasis on obtaining federal and state grants to fund city projects, training and equipment. We will utilize an experienced grant writer to train city
department heads on researching, writing and obtaining grants.

I can't believe that in all the years the city has been run, nobody has come up with a simple idea such as this, but here goes. Make quarterly meetings mandatory. The quarterly meetings will need to be like this; By the end of December, the treasurer and controller will have met with ALL department heads simultaneously, to have their departments current books in order, and find what is lacking or exceeding, and where. By the end of January, the treasurer and controller will meet with city council and have both basic and detailed breakdowns of each department, and proposed expenses for the following quarter, and an update on where they are within their budgets.

The mayor will be involved with the earlier meetings, and have proposed budgets at the same time as the treasurer and controllers reports. In a meeting or two, taking slightly more time than usual, we should be able to approve a budget for the following year, because we should already be working off of a budget approved at least one year prior to this year.

The basic breakdown will be for the layperson's benefit. The detailed version will be for anyone that wants to do a detailed review of any particular department.

First, I think the city’s fiscal year should be changed to July 1 to June 30, to be in line with state and federal government. In order to effectively budget for 12 months, you really need to have a two-year plan, with a line budget for the first year, and projections for the second. You also need to have a five-year capital plan. Budgeting with both the short and long term in mind will make the annual budget easier and (more importantly) more accurate, and would help to avoid a last-minute scramble each December.

First, I believe that the budgeting process should be over a two year period. This provides for better planning within departments. The Treasurer and/or Director of Finance should develop projections for revenues during that two year time period. The impact of these revenues can then be discussed with all interested parties. As an example in this last budget the increase of parking meter rates was a revenue stream that had limited review by individuals impacted by this increase. As a result the impression that the city is just trying to get money in any way it can was reinforced, several people were upset, and the parking meter rates stayed the same. Discussion of proposed revenue increases or decreases should be presented with time to determine the full impact of the move and to provide the opportunity for input from all those affected by the move.

In the budget process an initial budget for the following year and an overall departmental and individual revenue budget for the second year should be developed within the first 3 months of the new year. This budget would then be published and public comment in the form of hearings would be heard over the next 3 months. The council, mayor’s office and the Treasurer/Director of Finance would develop a revised budget based on public input and updated projections of revenues and expenses for the current year. This process would occur over the next 3 months. A revised budget would then be available near the beginning of September at which time another round of public hearings would take place. This round would be shorter than the first round because it can focus on the changes made to the initial budget. Following the public hearings the mayor, city council, and the Treasurer/Director of Finance would again meet and develop a final budget that would be adopted during the month of December.

Candidate Question #5 Open Government

2007-10-28T13:27:00.000-04:00

Question #5 Open Government

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

Effective communication is an essential ingredient for a better community. The city needs to develop new tools for improving two-way communication with the residents of the city. In addition, various city departments, commissions and boards need to have more meaningful dialogue so that a spirit of cooperation can emerge.

The plan to improve communication and provide for a more transparent local government, we will:

§ Maintain an “Open Door and an Open Mind” Policy that all Department Heads will also follow.

§ Use the city website more effectively to communicate with residents including regular email newsletters. Also, use the city website to announce various city events and economic development projects to keep residents informed. People need to be involved on the front end of all major developments.

§ Work with City Council to suggest a change in the format of the meetings to address city issues in a proactive way. For example, use the workshop session for discussion on a specific topic or issue and invite input. These would be scheduled in advance so residents and interested parties are aware of the opportunity to participate.

§ Host quarterly mayoral neighborhood meetings to meet with residents in a neighborhood setting to receive their input and concerns.

§ Schedule strategic planning workshops with the various Authorities, Boards and Commissions to discuss policies and a common vision and hold them accountable to the goals of the strategic plan.

§ Explore evening or Saturday morning hours for City Hall.We will establish neighborhood “Mayor Hours” at key locations throughout the city at flexible times for the residents.

First, I’d attempt to have either RCN or Service Electric (or both) broadcast council meetings and public hearings live, to make them more accessible to residents. I also think that, whether or not the charter passes, one council meeting each year should be held in each of the residential districts not only for better citizen access to meetings, but to bring elected officials to those neighborhoods. As a publisher, my phone and email has always been public and available; this won’t change. I think one of council’s biggest tasks is to balance power and hold the administration accountable, not only in terms of budget but also in terms of follow-though and mayoral appointments, but you cover these issues in later questions.

I have outlined several things in previous answers including:

1) making city hall more user friendly and opening city hall at least one night a week until 8:00 P.M.
2) development of goals and objectives that are published and reported on to the public annually.
3) promote greater citizen involvement in development and carrying out of policy by formation of citizen committees.

In addition, I personally will be available to the citizens of the city. My home phone number is listed in the phonebook, and I welcome calls form individuals. During my time in office I will spend on the average one evening a week walking through neighborhoods to allow people to voice their opinions in a one-on-one forum. I will encourage city council to hold public meetings in the various neighborhoods of the city in order to gain greater citizen participation.

My city hall voicemail will have my personal and business phone # on the message with a message stating that if you need to contact me, then call me there, because I will rarely check my voicemail at city hall. I will propose legislation that will require a voice response from any city office within 48 hours. Too many times people call in, and a week later call in, and a week later call in, and then hopefully get some sort of an answer to their questions. This is ridiculous. The city employees are employees of the citizens. The citizens are the bosses, and therefore need to be answered to in a timely manner and professional fashion.

I also want to make a Citizens Oversight Committee. This committee will not just review certain departments, but also have the power to fire personnel for poor or improper conduct. This will need to be set out in all of the collective bargaining agreements, but no city employee should be afraid, if they aren't doing anything wrong. It's the employees that are doing wrong things that will fight the hardest against this, and those employees are the ones that will need to be watched the closest.

Candidate Question #4 Strategic Planning

2007-10-26T22:18:00.000-04:00

Question #4 Strategic Planning

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.

Simply put, operating without a strategic master plan in turbulent times commits our city to reactive rather than proactive leadership. Our team has a strategic plan developed with the collaboration of residents, business leaders, civic, religious and community groups over the last six months. This plan will be a start for our administration. It will be a working document that all departments refer to on a daily basis. The plan is flexible to meet the changing needs of our community. We will discuss the plan at each and every quarterly Town Meeting with a written report on the status of each goal and initiative.

We do not need consultants during these difficult times. We need a solid plan based on public input identifying the basics that we need to concentrate on in the next four years. It is time to get our own house in order.

There will be times when a technical consultant may be needed for specific tasks relating to an issue that requires an expertise in certain areas for a specific task. However, it is my sincere belief that a Blue Ribbon Task Force comprised of local and area individuals with a vested interest in our community could have produced the $100,000 Early Intervention Plan that the city commissioned three years ago.

We will take a bottoms-up approach to local government. Local government cannot be a spectator sport; we need residents that have a vested interest in our future helping to shape that future. They are waiting for their invitation into their City Hall.

I would answer this question but if I did I would have to charge you a consultant fee for the advice that I would provide you. Just kidding!

I believe that the new Comprehensive Plan is one of the very first things that are required of the new administration and council. Without a plan we do not know our direction, goals, or objectives as a city. But since the plan is for the city it should be created by the residents of the city. In the same way that we have neighborhood economic development committees we need to assemble regional committees of the city to develop a comprehensive plan. I believe that the new comprehensive plan needs to be developed within 6 months of next year. Citizen input to this plan is critical to develop a consensus on the future direction of the city and to gain citizen cooperation to implement the plan. The plan needs to establish goals and objectives and also develop mechanisms that allow the city government to measure the success of each goal or objective. Reports of the success of the Comprehensive Plan should be made each year by the mayor. The plan should also be updated each year (this should be a minor update) and have a major update every five years.

The first and foremost idea we need to look at is this: We need to know that before we pay one dime for a consultant, for any project, that we have the funds to follow through with whatever they recommend. If we don't have the funds, then there is no need to hire a consultant, and waste even more money on something that will not be followed-up on. The second idea is to have a citizen's advisory committee come up with ideas. Once we have that committee's ideas, if we still feel the need to hire a consultant, then we put in the contract that the consultant must come up with at least 10 -15 ideas not proposed by the committee, and the consultant must also propose ways to get funding for these ideas from other sources, other than the city government. If they do not fulfill these requirements, then they don't get paid. The third idea is to look back at all of the formerly proposed ideas by other consultants in the past. Before we hire a new consultant to go over what a former consultant had said to us 5 -10 years ago, let's make sure that we have already attempted all of the former consultants’ ideas and options.

The WRT study funded over two years ago did provide a strategic plan. Now that plan needs to be followed. This comes under the province of the GEDP, and both council and the mayor need to make sure that the GEDP does its job. Beyond that, I look at the recent zoning rewrite, done by a committee of citizens along with city hall staff, as a model of how strategic planning can be done without simply hiring consultants.

Candidate Question #3 Neighborhoods and Economic Development

2007-10-25T22:07:00.000-04:00

Question #3: Neighborhoods and Economic Development

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.

Our city is a city of neighborhoods; they are the lifeblood of our city. The strength of those individual neighborhoods creates the vitality of our city. Each neighborhood has its unique characteristics and needs. I am a product of our neighborhoods. We will assist neighbors in identifying their needs and resources and in mobilizing programs to meet those needs. We will rebuild our city from the neighborhoods up ensuring that the residents play a key role in the rejuvenation that is so sorely needed in many areas.

Our plan for strengthening neighborhoods will:

§ Establish the “Clean It and Lien It” program. This program will clean our neighborhoods of vacant and deteriorated buildings that decrease the quality of life in the neighborhood. We will clean the property and secure its building exterior, lien the property to recover costs and finally execute on the lien to sell the property to individuals willing to restore the property to a single family home.

§ Establish the “Curb Appeal Task Force” – This program will equip the code enforcement officers with a hand-held PDA loaded with the exterior code violations that give our city a soiled appearance. As they walk down the street they will record properties that do not meet the standard for things like peeling paint; dirty and/or broken windows; trash not properly stored; sidewalks; etc. If we want our neighborhoods to be good, they must look good.

§ We will implement the “Neighborhood Pride Program” in Easton. This effort is a total concentration by every city department in one area during a one-week period of time.

§ Create a part-time position of Director of Neighborhood Development for the purpose of mobilizing neighborhoods to address their concerns and celebrate their strengths. This individual, along with the Mayor, will encourage more involvement and leadership in the neighborhoods. We work with those leaders in creating a comprehensive vision for the city. This individual will also oversee the Neighborhood Pride Program.

§ Create a “Neighborhood Network” homepage on the city website where residents easily identify what is happening in their neighborhood and how they can be involved in its progress.

§ Actively communicate and meet with neighborhoods on a regular basis holding at least one “town meeting” per quarter in one of the neighborhoods.

§ We will create “Mayor Hours” in key locations throughout the city and at flexible times of the day and take City Hall to the people.

First and foremost, we need to get more money into the city coffers. In order to do that, an impact fee on any new development will greatly increase the money for the parks and recreation departments. One of the biggest ideas I have in mind for the neighborhoods, is to propose a resolution to help fund neighborhood gardens. There is vacant property within 2-3 blocks of every single block in this city. Let's get the neighborhoods together to help beautify the area. The other idea I have in mind, is for an adopt a park program. Let's get corporations in to help fund the parks, and keep them clean and up to date.

The main component of my platform is the creation of programs to promote first-time home ownership in the residential neighborhoods to deconvert rentals back to owner-occupancy, and the creation of some sort of tax credit to promote owner-occupancy of one unit in a multi-unit building. This would be funded by pursuing state and federal monies, as well as through a portion of an impact fee charged to developers of larger projects. I believe this will not only make the neighborhoods cleaner and safer, but will also promote economic development by attracting businesses to serve these homeowners.

Neighborhoods throughout the city are very unique and each needs to develop and implement their own plan for economic improvement. I would propose the development of neighborhood committees that could identify the needs of the neighborhood and then develop a plan that could be implemented to achieve the needs. These committees would work in conjunction with various departments of the city to insure that the plans conformed to city zoning, historical, and building criteria. Once the plans are developed the city government working with the citizen committee would work to implement each plan.

As the neighborhood plans are developed the city needs to develop a Comprehensive Economic Development Plan that integrates the plans of each of the neighborhoods while at the same time charts a course for future economic development throughout the city. I believe that the only way that taxes can be significantly lowered in the future is through steady economic development.

City Council Meeting Audio 10/24/07

2007-10-25T20:54:00.000-04:00

What ever he did, that we don't know about, if it were that bad then we would know about it.
-Laini Abraham on the issues behind the Administration's
recomendation to fire Officer Vince Bruneo. (audio 3 minutes 16 seconds 383kb)

City Council was near capacity. Citizens filled the room to save the job of Officer Vince Bruneo. Most of the speakers and attendees were downtown residents and merchants that Vince served. The Mayor lobbied hard to take Bruneo's job, and at one point he let everyone know that there would be no fill-in downtown beat cop as long as Bruneo lingered on the books. (Translation: You want your cop back soon, give me what I want). God Bless the LVEDC!

Council did the city a great service by retaining Bruneo. The man is a credit to his job. Just ask the people he protects.

Audio (2 hours 13.7Mb)
Agenda

Your Neighbor

Candidate Question #2 Finances and Collections

2007-10-25T11:33:00.000-04:00

Question#2: Finances and Collections

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.

The first initiative will be to consolidate all financial matters under a qualified Director of Finance. This consolidation will allow for better tracking of expenses, forecasting of revenues and streamline the collection process. Delinquencies will be reduced with collection calls being made in the first 30 days of non-payment when an effort can be made to pay them. We cannot allow a delinquency to go beyond 60 days because they become harder to collect by the city and harder to pay by the customer. We will be swift but fair in our collection process and problem properties will be identified and a lien will be placed against the property. The lien will then be executed and the property owner will either pay their bill or we will flip the property to a new owner who will pay their fair share.

This administration chose to hire a collection agency to address this problem. Should the new charter pass, the addition of a Director of Finance, the creation of a finance department, and the elimination of the elected treasurer should improve our collection deficiencies. If the new charter doesn’t pass, the treasurer needs to be held more accountable – by the mayor, by council, and by the voters. And a finance department should be created nonetheless, requiring reports on collections and expenditures at each council meeting.

First we need to identify the problems. The first problem is that taxes and fees are too high. We currently pay the highest millage rate of any municipality in Northampton County and second we pay nearly the highest utility fees in the country! When a person on a fixed income is faced with a 16% tax increase when their increase from social security was on the order of 2% they are forced into a decision of what doesn’t get paid. All too often it is the taxes. Another problem is people who can afford to pay but choose not to. This is a very difficult problem. How do we collect from each of these groups without adversely affecting the individual on the fixed income? I believe we need to develop incentives such as long term payment plans which would allow the individual on a fixed income to distribute payments over a 20 year period as an example. This would allow collection of taxes from the estate of the individual but provide a means in which the individual can live in their house without the burden of excessively high taxes. For those who do have the ability to pay we need to be more aggressive in collection of taxes. Not paying real estate taxes suggests that the owner is not maintaining the property and therefore it is a signal for the codes office to insure that the property is meeting all current codes. In addition, council should develop greater financial penalties for over-due bills. The Treasurer’s Office should also implement mechanisms that make it easier for individuals to pay their bills. This includes automatic bill payment and payment through credit cards.

The very best and fastest way to collect, is to immediately go after any and all properties that any delinquent account has. Whithin 90 days, all delinquent accounts WILL, not should, but will, have papers filed against them and be on their way to being seized by the city for Sheriff's sale, or claimed under PA forfeiture of property laws. This would be the fastest and most adventagious way, if only we could force the treasurer to do his job.

An alternate way to get this done, is to bring the treasurer in front of council, and ask for his resignation or else he will be brought up on charges of dereliction of duty, and be forced out of office, and replaced with a competant treasurer. It may not be nice, but when someone continually refuses to do their job, I tend not to be a nice guy.

Candidate Question#1: Human Resources & Management

2007-10-24T12:14:00.000-04:00

Last week we sent out a 10 question questionnaire to the 2 Mayoral and 6 City Council candidates. Exactly half of the candidates took the opportunity to elaborate upon their platforms by answering the questions.

Each day (for the next 10) we will publish one question with all of the candidate responses. The respondents were Sal Panto, El Warner, Bill Timmann, and Roger Ruggles.

Question#1: Human Resources & Management

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

No, I am not satisfied with the way City Hall functions. City Hall has some very dedicated, talented, hard working employees but there are two areas that will be addressed, one on the first day of our Administration and one within the first year. The first is an increase in customer service including attitude, phone call protocol, voice mail etiquette, etc. The second is the fact that the physical facility hinders intra-department communication, cross-training and efficient use of office equipment. We will reduce the size of city hall by at least one floor in our first year to improve interaction between the departments and increase revenue to the city with the additional floor rental.

No, I am not satisfied with the way city hall functions and neither are most of the residents of the city. City hall is not a people friendly place. Most people when entering city hall find it confusing and not a welcoming atmosphere. In addition, the layout of offices in city hall is not conducive to critical communication between departments. I am in favor of consolidating city hall from 5 floors to 4 floors of the Alpha Building, organizing those floors to enhance productivity, and providing a reception area that directs individuals to the proper area for the service desired. This will improve the welcoming atmosphere of city hall, increase productivity, and also provide one additional floor that the city can lease for office space. I also believe that city hall needs to be open at least one night a week until 8:00 P.M. to better serve the residents of the City of Easton.

As stated earlier in this answer a rearrangement of the office space in the Alpha Building will be a significant improvement to interactions between departments. I also believe that we must develop a new Comprehensive Plan for the city. The current plan was adopted in 1997 and is not a document that reflects the current nature of the city. In this new Comprehensive Plan we must identify the interactions between departments and establish mechanisms that will promote that interaction. This will lead to greater efficiency in government, reduce costs and provide efficient service to the public.

Who in their right mind is satisfied with the way city hall functions? The way it functions is one of the biggest reasons that I am running. The short answer is, "NO" I am not satisfied with the way city hall functions.

The issues that need to be addressed are as follows: 1. Mandatory centralization of records. If we can link up all the departments into one centralized server, then when one person or company's name comes up in one department, it will put a flag up in all departments. 2. Streamlining the departments. Instead of having multiple departments doing similar but different jobs, let's combine those departments, and cut back on excessive management. 3. True Cabinet meetings, open to the public. At least 1 time a month, the mayor should be meeting with all of the heads of the departments at once. These meetings should be public record, and open for public comment so that the administration knows and learns what and where it's deficiencies are.

These are just ideas off the top of my head. I am sure that in 4 years, I can come up with a lot more.

I’m not happy with the way city hall functions, but City Council doesn’t run city hall. The departmental directors report to the Mayor. Council committee chairs work with directors, but don’t oversee them, or the departments they run. I would support streamlining city hall and professionalizing human resources in city hall, should the next mayor choose to do so.

The Missing City Council Meetings

2007-10-24T09:54:00.000-04:00

City Council Meeting 08/22/07

The police command staff gave an accreditation presentation. Heidi and Iggy Markow followed with a proposal for a domestic violence memorial in Easton. There was lots of discussion on the domestic animal ordinance.

Audio (2 hours 1 minute 13.8Mb)
Agenda
Minutes

Community Development Block Grant Meeting 09/12/07

This is the first of two CDBG allocation decision meetings. 14 groups petitioned for funds, with the City of Easton being the 14th. The City asked for more than is expected to be alloted. The City's interest in the GEDP and CACLV was once again glossed over.

Audio (49 minutes 30 seconds 5.66Mb)
Minutes

City Council Meeting 09/12/07

The City recognized the accomplishments of the late Elsie Luciano. Police Officer Sam Smith was recognized for his service and retirement. The Police/Shiloh Intramural Basketball program was honored, and Chief Palmer presentented awards. The domestic animal ordinance passed.

Audio (1 hours 34 minute 10.7Mb)
Agenda
Minutes

City Council Meeting 09/26/07

Mr David Woglam of Lafayette's Meyner Center presented the City with the "Meyner Report". The report drew a good deal of comment and discussion.

Audio (1 hours 33 minute 10.7Mb)
Agenda
Minutes

Community Development Block Grant Meeting 10/10/07

The second of two allocation assesment meetings. The City did not adjust its requested funds.

Audio (23 minutes 56 seconds 2.74Mb)
Minutes

City Council Meeting 10/10/07

Council honored the accomplishments of the late Bruce Zanzitis. A resolution passed to waive City fees for the development plan and building construction of the L’il Rovers Field House.

Audio (52 minutes 43 seconds 6.03Mb)
Agenda
Minutes

Group Maps City Access to Healthy Foods

2007-09-05T16:37:00.000-04:00

This is a from National Public Radios archive. My intent is to give some of you another perspective of Easton's supermarket issue.

It's a little more than "mom & pop" and space. This issue is actually a catalyst in diet related disease in people of lower socioeconomic stature.

In a city with greater than 50% rental residents ordering out is a way of life. Our neighborhoods successes are incumbent on our placing higher quality AFFORDABLE goods and services in the neighborhoods.

Your neighbor

By Dan Charles for NPR Day to Day January 31, 2007

Day to Day, January 31, 2007 · A group in Philadelphia is using high-tech mapping technologies to show that people in poor neighborhoods need more places to shop for healthy food.

In the late 1890s, the civil-rights pioneer W.E.B. Du Bois created a map of houses in a narrow strip of central Philadelphia. The map showed houses where African-Americans lived, highlighted and color-coded to indicate their class. For Amy Hillier, professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, Du Bois' map is a professional inspiration.

Hiller is trying to walk in the footsteps of Du Bois. Using a technique called Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Hillier draws maps of urban landscapes built from mounds of data — statistics on wealth in particular neighborhoods, traffic patterns, crime, & anything that has a location.

Hillier's maps are turning out to be very useful for neighborhood activists such as Duane Perry, who founded an organization in Philadelphia called the Food Trust, dedicated to helping city residents gain access to nutritious, affordable, food.

In many urban neighborhoods, particularly low-income ones, well-stocked grocery stores are hard to find. Perry says grocery stores abandoned these neighborhoods in recent decades in favor of suburban areas, where there was more space for big supermarkets and parking lots.

Hillier computed a map that produced a splotch of red across the face of Philadelphia — a broad swath of low-income neighborhoods that lacked places to buy good food. In many of them, people were dying in greater numbers from diet-related diseases.

Duane Perry says when he put that map in front of local leaders, the information hit home in a way he'd never seen before.

Dwight Evans, who chairs the appropriations committee of Pennsylvania state legislature, pushed through a new, $30 million fund that provides subsidies to build supermarkets in neighborhoods that most need them.

"I already knew that there was a problem," Evans says. "The map just made it real. It put a face on it. It was like an exhibit in a courtroom."

More than 20 supermarkets have since opened in Philadelphia and other Pennsylvania cities, with the aid of state funds.

Download audio http://eastonundressed.org/eufiles/audio/food_trust.mp3 (5:04 594kb)

City Council Meeting Audio 08/08/07

2007-08-17T12:11:00.000-04:00

I was absent for the July 25th meeting. All I have to offer is the agenda for that session.

The August 8th meeting began with Easton Police swearing in ceremonies for new officers and two new lieutenants.

Mr Gene Pambianchi (Executive Director, Easton Housing Authority) gave an hour long dissertation on Easton's Hope VI program. Very little was cleared up in that hour. We were basically told that the Hope VI project may look entirely different than the plan we were sold on.

Nadine Loane gave her Weed & Seed annual report. As usual (since she's been involved), the program's accomplishments were both many and admirable.

Candidates in attendance: Ken Brown, Sal Panto, Roger Ruggles, El Warner, & Jeff Warren

Audio (2hour 30 minutes 17.2Mb)

Documents:
Agenda 07/25/07
Agenda 08/08/07
Minutes (when available):
Minutes 07/25/07

You Want Something From Me, I Expect Some Things From You

2007-07-14T23:33:00.000-04:00

Some very important issues have been, and are being, hashed out at various city public meetings this summer.

The City’s work is NEVER done, nor is the people’s.

Question #1: If an Eastonian is running for City Councilperson is it reasonable to expect them to (at a minimum) show up at City Council meetings?

I believe “yes”.

Question #2: Is it necessary for a candidate to engage in dialogue on City issues and to advocate for potential constituents?

I think “certainly”.

Question #3: Should we expect the Mayor and Council members to be at very important public meetings?

I say “absolutely”.

Actually, I am of the mind that candidates should be at EVERY important public meeting, and they should be participants. I am not saying that I think a single candidate should be at every public forum. I am saying that there should be candidates at all of the meetings, and each individual candidate should strive to be at as many important public meetings as possible. And the one’s that do attend should participate.

Let’s analyze this in parts. As a candidate for the City Council of the City of Easton you would like me to cast a ballot for you in the November general election. When I cast a ballot for you I expect that you will represent me, and meet the minimum requirement of attending City Council meetings. How can I, in good faith, trust you to fulfill your basic duties if you do not make a satisfactory effort to do so during your campaign?

If you are not around to gain firsthand accounts of the issues and their disposition why should I wait for you to catch up in January?

If you are not dedicated enough or capable of (for whatever reasons) being at important City meetings then, to me, you are unelectable. And if you are banking on voters not knowing that you are not engaged; you are a fraud, and we all need to question your motives for seeking public office.

OK, I am done with the no shows—on to the silent representation.

I intend to vote for advocates. Meaning I expect my candidates to be actively engaged on my behalf. I will cast my votes based on the way you deal with the City’s issues. It angers me to see smart, articulate citizens withhold their offerings in the name of campaigning. I say start building your record now. Aren’t your neighbors worth it?

In the case of those to whom our trust has been placed, we have a reasonable right to expect you to be where the action is. It is your burden to work for us. And I understand it is not an easy one; but it is, in fact, the one you asked us to bestow upon you.

I was very disappointed to see only one City Council member, and not one member of the administration, present at the two most important Home Rule Charter Commission meetings on July 12th and 14th. These were the meetings where citizens could impact the final disposition of the charter proposal. It was equally disheartening that the four City Council candidates not on the commission failed to participate even by written correspondence in a City issue of such a great magnitude. (Mayoral candidate Gary Bertsch did attend and participate)

The Mayor and City Council members need to be at Charter Commission meetings. After all, the Mayor and Council unanimously endorsed, presented, and voted to place the commission on the ballot in May of 2006.

The final 3 Home Rule Charter Commission meetings are on July 23rd, 24th, and 26th. Written comments are also currently being accepted.

Your Neighbor

Home Rule Charter Commission Public Comment Meetings 07/12/07 & 07/14/07

2007-07-14T20:16:00.000-04:00

The City of Easton Home Rule Charter Commission held two public meetings solely for the purpose of receiving citizen input on the draft charter proposal. The meetings were sparsely attended, but those who did attend and comment gave productive feedback to the commission.

Councilwoman Vulcano was the only elected official in attendance, and the Gary Bertsch was the only city candidate in attendance that was not on the commission (El Warner, Roger Ruggles, and Sal Panto Jr. are Commissioners). Commission Chair, State Representative Robert (Bob) Freeman was in session in Harrisburg (I watched the Saturday session on PCN-- all talk; no action).

Please, read through the draft Charter(http://eastonundressed.org/hr_charter/HRCdraftcharter.pdf) and send the commission your input before July 23, 2007. The draft will be final on July 26, 2007. Email the commission at charterstudy@easton-pa.gov

Audio:
Tuesday, July 12, 2007 (2 hours 13 minutes 15.2Mb)

Saturday, July 14, 2007 (1 hour 08 minutes 7.01Mb)

Your Neighbors

City Council Meeting Audio 7/10/07

2007-07-14T18:50:00.000-04:00

The $30,000.00 proposed closing of North Bank Street dominated the meeting. Council voted down Councilman Corpora's motion to remove the funding from the CDBG reallocation. The vote was 3-2 against the motion (Corpora and Heffley for). The reallocation vote was identical. The "yes" votes offered no comments on their votes; both Councilwoman Heffley and Councilman Corpora explained their decisions.

The proposal to extend the police early retirement incentive for the command staff was unanimously passed. FOP Washington Lodge #17 President Dominick Marraccini requested that council table the vote. No councilperson commented.

Audio (1 hour 26 minutes 9.85Mb)

Documents:
Agenda
Minutes (when available)

Real vs Special: Needs Go Toe to Toe (Again) in Easton

2007-07-09T12:45:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday, 6 p.m., July 10th, Easton’s City Council will convene. On the agenda is the question of how to reallocate CDBG funds from previous years that were not expended.

This money is YOUR tax money.

It should be used to benefit the most Easton residents possible. Several of the reallocations do that as with the request to purchase a sorely needed new command vehicle for the Easton Fire Department. Other requests are not that clear as to benefiting the greatest number of Easton taxpayers.

As a Council Member, I will be voting no to the $30,000+ request to turn the first block of North Bank Street into a pedestrian mall.

While the plan has merit and conforms to my objective of a clean, safe, and green Easton, it does not benefit a great number of Eastonians. The same result could be had by simply closing the block, not refurbishing it.

Easton has greater needs.

It is essential that we do everything we can to take children off the street before they are enticed by gangs and that we do everything we can to curtail drug activity in our neighborhoods.

Requests such as kitchen upgrades for Easton Neighborhood Center (Formerly St. Anthony’s Youth Center) for a new kitchen and air conditioning so that it can more effectively serve meals to children and adults who otherwise go hungry in our city is a priority that cannot be ignored in my opinion. And there are other agency requests that attack the root causes of kids becoming gang members and curtail drug activity. These must be addressed before I can vote for a plan that is attractive but not a priority over our people and neighborhoods.

How do YOU want YOUR tax dollars spent?

Plan to attend this Council meeting.

Carole J. Heffley

Stealing from the Low-Mods and giving to the capable

2007-07-05T12:06:00.000-04:00

It would simply be wrong for the City to reallocate $30,000.00 of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG years 2001 - 2007) funds for the North Bank Street pedestrian walkway project.

The project does not clearly fit any of the three national objectives necessary to be eligible for CDBG funding (as noted by Ed Gepner to Council on September 13, 2007 5min 53 second 691kb Mp3). The project is NOT in response to a public safety need that has developed within 90 days of the request. The project does not meet the requirements of area or “spot” blight redevelopment. And the project will not meet the requirement “that at least 51% of the people benefiting from the project are low and moderate income people.” (Gepner 09/13/07).

“The CDBG entitlement program allocates annual grants to larger cities and urban counties to develop viable communities by providing decent housing, a suitable living environment, and opportunities to expand economic opportunities, principally for low- and moderate-income persons.” (Taken from the HUD CDBG website http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/communitydevelopment/programs/)

As good as this project may seem to anyone. It does not meet the national objectives to be funded though the highly competitive CDBG process.

Our city is far from being short on need. The fact that the entire city qualifies as “low-mod” is a sobering reminder of just how much need we have. This project immediately benefits people with the resources and finances to either own buildings in downtown Easton or to own businesses in downtown Easton. The street is a mere alley that is less than one tenth of a square mile in a city of 4.2 square miles (0.1 mile is 2.38% of 4.2 miles). To spend $30,000.00 of the $315,000.00 reallocation (~10%) on this project like stealing fro 98% of the city.

We can not allow our special interest and self serving selfishness rule. If the street's safety is truly the issue, close it-- by all means. Just find the money elsewhere. We're pretty sure that 4 to 6 poles will cost us a lot less than $30,000.00.

Your neighbors

City Council Meeting Audio 6/27/07

2007-06-28T13:26:00.000-04:00

NEXT DAY SERVICE!!!

There were several important issues hashed over at this meeting. The $33,000.00 proposed closing of North Bank Street, The proposal to extend the police early retirement incentive for the command staff, and the Housing Authority's changes to the Hope VI plan.

The commentary was lively and informative.

Audio:
Meeting (1 hr 28 min 10.0 Mb)

Documents:
Agenda

Minutes: (when available)

Just a note: There were only three City Council candidates in attendance Ken Brown (on Council), El Warner, and Roger Ruggles. To us this is a honest measure of commitment to be a City Council member. Mr Brown has a very good attendance record (he missed one last year to honeymoon). Ms Warner and Mr Ruggles are both members of the Home Rule Charter Commission, and their attendance is also admirable (the HRCC meetings are many times long arduous affairs).

We see the continued absence of Bill Timmann, Peter Melan, and Jeff Warren as indicators of both their ability and willingness to actively participate in the resolution of the City's issues.

Your neighbors

City Council Meeting Audio 5/23/07 & 6/13/07

2007-06-27T15:29:00.000-04:00

Again, I must apologize for my lack of timeliness. My laptop doesn't work well in the pool.

Today I give you the last 2 City Council meetings.

The May 23rd session was a short meeting. Fire Department officers were sworn in, & the mayor rubber stamped another board member.

The June 13th meeting was short but important. Planning held a public hearing to discuss the reallocation of $300,000.00 of leftover CDBG funds. One of the proposed expenditures (closing the 1st block of North Bank Street at $33,000.00) drew a good deal of scrutiny.

Audio:
05/23/07 Meeting (1 hr 17 min 8.85 Mb)
06/13/07 Meeting (1 hr 14 min 8.50 Mb)

Documents:
05/23/07 Agenda
06/13/07 Agenda

Minutes (when available)
05/23/07 Minutes

City Council Meeting Audio 5/09/07

2007-05-21T15:24:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the tardiness. But it's getting nice outside, and the sun glares off of my laptop screen.

This was a relatively short meeting. Council honored two of the City's retirees that passed away. Crime was a topic (3 shootings, one fatal, and one mugging).

Audio:
Regular Meeting (1 hours 40 minutes 11.4Mb)

Documents:
Agenda
Minutes

2007 Primary Candidates' Interviews

2007-05-08T14:58:00.000-04:00

The final three interviews are posted!!!!!
*NOTE: Ken Brown declined to participate in the interviews

This is where we will post audio interviews with candidates for the May 15th primary. The interviews will added as they occur (with the most recent listed first).

Each interview will last 15 to 20 minutes. The questions will be selected from our question pool prior to each interview. The interviews are neutral and issues only.

Send us your questions to add to our question pool. Email eu@eastonundressed.org put “Questions” in the subject line.

Candidates schedule your interviews! Email eu@eastonundressed.org

May 8, 2007, Terrance Hand interviews Bill Timmann(R) primary candidate for Easton City Council. Bill Timmann interview (25 minutes 28 seconds 2.91Mb)
May 7, 2007, Terrance Hand interviews Peter Melan (R) primary candidate for Easton City Council. Peter Melan interview (13 minutes 36 seconds 1.56Mb)
May 7, 2007, Terrance Hand interviews Nadine Loane (D) primary candidate for Easton City Council. Nadine Loane Interview (23 minutes 46 seconds 2.72Mb)
April 16, 2007, Terrance Hand interviews Jeff Warren (D) primary candidate for Easton City Council. Jeff Warren interview (18 minutes 26 seconds 2.1Mb)
April 10, 2007, Terrance Hand interviews Gary Bertsch (R) primary candidate for Easton Mayor. Gary Bertsch interview (12 minutes 53 seconds 1.47Mb)
April 7, 2007, Terrance Hand interviews Sal Panto Jr. (D) primary candidate for Easton Mayor. Sal Panto Jr. interview (14 minutes 37 seconds 1.67Mb)
April 5, 2007, Terrance Hand interviews Roger Ruggles (R) primary candidate for Easton City Council. Roger Ruggles interview (17 minutes 24 seconds 1.99Mb)
April 4, 2007, Terrance Hand interviews Mike Fleck (D) primary candidate for Easton Mayor. Mike Fleck interview (18 minutes 59 seconds 2.23Mb)
April 2, 2007, Terrance Hand interviews Elinor Warner (D) primary candidate for Easton City Council. El Warner interview (14 minutes 26 seconds 1.65Mb)

City Council Meeting Audio 4/25/07

2007-05-06T10:25:00.000-04:00

This meeting was an epic four and a half hours! The first 45 minutes was the City Treasurers report (very disappointing). That was followed by 2 hours and 20 minutes of public comment on the Riverwalk project. The actual meeting was 39 minutes, and it was followed by 40 minutes more of public comment.

Every minute of this meeting was important and interesting. The Treasurers report was very disturbing to me. The Treasurer, his staff, and the Business Administrator spent the majority of the 45 minutes explaining why their performance was the way it is. There wasn't any talk that I can recall about improving performance.

The Riverwalk fight was as heated as it has ever been. It culminated in a borderline fist fight (shouting match) between a councilman and an anti-Riverwalk activist at the 5th floor elevators. Council voted 4 to 1 in favor of the Riverwalk project.

For your convenience (and at great inconvenience to me) I have divided the meeting into segments:

Entire meeting (4 hours 28 minutes 30.7Mb)
Treasurer's report (45 minutes 12 seconds 5.17Mb)
1st comments segment (2 hours 22 minutes 16.2Mb)
Meeting segment (38 minutes 59 seconds 4.46Mb)
2nd comments segment (39 minutes 59 seconds 4.57Mb)

We hope you find this helpful,
Your neighbors

NAACP Candidates' Night

2007-05-04T09:32:00.000-04:00

On Friday, April 20, 2007, the Easton branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People hosted a Candidates' Night at the Third Street Alliance. 15 candidates participated. The candidates were seperated into 4 panels based on the elected office. There were 3 District Justice(Magistrate) candidates, 1 of the 2 Controller candadites, 7 City Council candidates, and all 3 Mayoral hopefuls.

The candidates were allowed short introductions (2 to five minutes dependant on office), and when all of the panel members were introduced a question and answer session followed.

District Justice candidates (15 minutes 59 seconds 1.82Mb)

Brian Monahan
Cindy Greene
Dan Corpora

City Controller candidates (7 minutes 13 seconds 848kb)

Vicky M. Davis (Controller D) (not in attendance)

Tony Bassil (Controller R)

City Council candidates (51 minutes 51 seconds 5.93Mb)

Ken Brown (Council D)

Roger Ruggles (Council R)
Elinore Warner (Council D)

Peter G. Melan (Council R)
Nadine Loane (Council D)

Bill E. Timmann (Council R)
Jeff Warren (Council D)

Mayoral candidates (54 minutes 56 seconds 6.28Mb)

Sal Panto, Jr. (Mayoral D)

Gary Bertsch (Mayoral R)

Michael P. Fleck (Mayoral D)

College Hill Neighborhood Association Candidate's Night (Mayoral)

2007-05-04T08:11:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday, April 17, 2007 our neighbors from the College Hill Neighborhood Association hosted a Candidates' Night for Mayoral candidates.

We did our best to clean up and amplify the audio, but the acoustics of the church and no microphone in the audience made the audience questions difficult to improve. In any event, the candidates can be heard pretty well. We hope this audio is useful to you.

Intro & Gary Bertsch (16 minutes 45 seconds 1.91Mb)
Mike Fleck (18 minutes 35 seconds 2.12Mb)
Sal Panto Jr. (18 minutes 21 seconds 2.10Mb)

Closing Remarks

Gary Bertsch closing (2 minutes 49 seconds 331kb)
Mike Fleck closing (1 minutes 52 seconds 220kb)
Sal Panto Jr. closing (3 minutes 12 seconds 376kb)

APPLY FOR ABSENTEE BALLOT for the primary BEFORE the close of business May 8, 2007
VOTE in the primary May 15, 2007!!!

NAACP Candidates' Night

2007-04-16T08:20:00.000-04:00

Flier

Itinerary

The Easton Branch of the NAACP is hosting a Candidates' Night at the Third Street Alliance (41 N 3rd St Easton, PA 18042 (610) 258-6271) on Friday, April 20, 2007 from 6:00pm until 8:30pm.

The forum is for Easton's Mayoral, City Council, Controller, and Magistrate candidates. There will be 16 candidates participating.

The event will be hosted by WFMZ's Jaciel Cordoba.

The event is organized by the Easton Branch Political Action Committee.

For the Political Action Committee,

Terrance Hand
(610)923-9160
temano@aol.com

City Council Meeting Audio 4/11/07

2007-04-12T21:44:00.000-04:00

We attended another City Council Conference Meeting along with the regular meeting. The conference session was important because the Riverwalk principles were rebutting the citizens group's research and issues on and with the project.

At the conference meeting, the principles decided to have the Easton Parking Authority solicitor, Scott Allinson, present their testimony. He took 15 minutes, and he failed to offer much in the way of references to his statements.

The regular meeting was tension filled. It lasted 2 hours, and all but about 20 minutes was used for public comment. The meeting got heated, parliamentary procedure was tested, and the Riverwalk project was the dominant issue (several residents and business owners spoke for and against it). BA and HOC took on the City's inefficient and unmoderated boards, authorities, and commissions.

Audio:

Conference Meeting (1 hour 16 minutes 8.8Mb)
Regular Meeting (1 hours 54 minutes 13.0Mb)

Documents:

Conference Meeting Agenda
Agenda
Minutes (when available)

City Council Meeting Audio 3/28/07

2007-03-30T16:33:00.000-04:00

This is one of the rare instances that we cover both the City Council Conference Meeting and the regular meeting. The conference session was important because the citizen group opposing the Riverwalk project were given 20 minutes to present their research and issues on and with the project.

The presentation was excellent. Dennis Lieb presented a concise Power Point lecture that addressed the group’s largest issues with the project (we hope to have a copy to post soon).

It really disturbed me and struck me as odd that not one question was asked by Council or the Mayor. But the mayor was quoted rebutting the presentation as “not 100 percent correct.” (Express-Times and The Morning Call)

The regular meeting the following day (March 28, 2007) lasted two and a half hours. The first 40 minutes was citizen comments. Every comment was against the Riverwalk project. Three other major issues were brought up at the meeting; billing problems in the Treasurer’s office, retention of county workers within city limits, and police understaffing.

Audio:
Riverwalk Presentation (20 minutes 2.8Mb)
Conference Meeting (1 hour 5 minutes 7.5Mb)
Regular Meeting (2 hours 29 minutes 17.1Mb)

Documents:
Agenda
Minutes (when available)
Riverwalk Presentation Power Point

REPOST: From Joe Owens' Blog

2007-03-30T14:14:00.000-04:00

I posted a comment in reply to Joe's assessment of our project on his blog. I think he sold us short. But, this is an aquired taste. And we're layered... Like an onion.

Your neighbor

CANDLE, BUGLER AND WHISPERS IN THE DARK

Posted by JOSEPH P. OWENS/THE EXPRESS-TIMES March 27, 2007 18:34PM
Categories: Government

'The bugler stands guard at 'Easton Undressed'I'm hoping to attract the attention of my friends over at Easton Undressed or anyone who is interested in Easton.

The topic of Easton's Peace Candle came up today, for about the 450th time. It was inspired by a mention in an op-ed column written by Carl Golden.

I have one simple question: Do you like the Peace Candle? Yes or no.

You can write more about your memories/experiences with it, but be sure to say if it should stay or go.

While on the topic of Easton Undressed, I want to make good on a promise to one of my buddies who is a regular contributor over there. He asked me to spend time looking at the Web site and give him my opinion on it. His request came after I lambasted anonymous voices on the Web.
Well, I spent time watching the site, and here is what I think.

Too much bellyaching. Too much jibber-jabber. Not enough forthright, objective discussion. Or identifiable, subjective discussion.

Take them one at a time.

* It strikes me as a place for city employees to moan and groan. It's OK to vent, but if you have a problem, why not offer a solution? Generally, it seems it's all about grumbling, which is interesting to a limited audience.

* I don't get the online chats. Is it for insiders only? Are we talking in code? Seems to be more like Instant Messenger stuff than content posted for interested readers.

* I cannot be convinced that the anonymous opinion has anything more than entertainment value. It's easy to go on and say "Phil Mitman's a goober" if you're not putting your name to it.
People take swipes at me, for good reason, but at least my name is on it. Some want to rationalize that certain city residents "can't" use their real names because they'll be targeted for retribution. I wonder if that's what they teach their children. "Don't stand up for something, because someone will only swat you down."

I do like the site's use of audio and commitment to public meetings. That's important.
So, there it is, my two cents on Easton Undressed. I can't wait for the lampoons that will be headed my way.

And in the interest of not just taking a cheap shot, I offer a suggestion. The best community blog I've seen hereabouts thus far has been NewsOverCoffee. The blogger takes extra effort not to make self-serving statements or outlandish remarks about others. He seeks and offers straightforward feedback.

Check it out. And don't forget the Peace Candle. Yes or No?

FUNDRAISER : Weed & Seed

2007-03-30T11:48:00.000-04:00

Weed and Seed’s Cyber Café to Benefit from Pampered Chef® Fundraiser
March 13 thru April 7th

EASTON, PA -- Easton resident Sarah Martin is conducting a Pampered Chef® fundraiser to benefit Weed and Seed’s Cyber Café, located at Christ Lutheran Church, 1100 Ferry Street in Easton. The fundraiser is running from March 13th through April 7th.

The Cyber Café offers safe after school activities for teenagers in Easton’s West Ward neighborhood by providing computer and internet access, homework help and healthy snacks. The Café is open Monday and Thursday, 4 to 7 PM and serves teenagers ages 12 through 18. The Café has served 57 different teenagers since its inception in October, 2007. The Cyber Café is a project of the Weed & Seed TALL Team that was started with a $5,000 project grant.

There are three ways to participate in the fundraiser. First, attend the Cooking Show on Monday, April 2, 7 PM at Christ Lutheran Church, 1100 Ferry Street in Easton where you can come see exciting Pampered Chef® products and recipes in action, learn quick and easy food preparation techniques and receive tips on how to entertain with style and ease – transforming the simple to the spectacular.

The second way to help raise money for the Cyber Cafe is by passing around a catalog among your friends and family and collecting catalog orders through March 31st.

The third way to help is to place an online order by March 31st. To order online, go to www.pamperedchef.biz/HouseofBean, click on Order Products, and then input the name “Weed and Seed,” which will take you directly to Weed and Seed’s fundraiser page.

Pampered Chef® will donate up to 15% of Ms Martin’s fundraising sales to the Cyber Café. The Pampered Chef® will donate an additional $3 for every person booking a Cooking Show during the fundraiser – and Ms Martin will match that donation. She will also donate $5 for each person who and signs up to be a part of her team by joining the Pampered Chef® family.

For more information about Weed & Seed Cyber Café, contact the Tall Team Office at 610-438-8539. For more information about the fundraiser, including how to get catalogs or assistance with placing your order, please call Sarah Martin at 610-360-6510, or email sarahm316@gmail.com.

College Hill Neighborhood Association Candidate's Night (City Council)

2007-03-25T20:21:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday, March 20, 2007 our neighbors from the College Hill Neighborhood Association hosted a Candidates' Night for City Council candidates. This was the first of this election season's candidate forums.

We did our best to clean up and amplify the audio, but the acoustics of the church and no microphone in the audience made the audience questions difficult to improve. In any event, the candidates can be heard pretty well.

We hope this audio is useful to you.

Introduction: Chris Miccio (1 minute 44 seconds 204kb)
Peter Melan (5 minutes 45 seconds 676kb)
Jeff Warren (10 minutes 21 seconds 1.2Mb)
Brian Otto (9 minutes 49 seconds 1.1Mb)
El Warner (12 minutes 55 seconds 1.5b)
Bill Tinmann (20 minutes 18 seconds 2.3Mb)
Ken Brown (20 minutes 46 seconds 2.4b)
Roger Ruggles (26 minutes 31 seconds 3Mb)
Carole Heffley for Nadine Loane (8 minutes 25 seconds 987kb)
Closing remarks: Chris Miccio (3 minutes 04 seconds 360kb)

REGISTER for the primary BEFORE the close of business April 16, 2007
APPLY FOR ABSENTEE BALLOT for the primary BEFORE the close of business May 8, 2007
VOTE in the primary May 15, 2007!!!

Editorial: Them That Fight, Toil Not in Vain

2007-03-15T19:19:00.000-04:00

And I thought my mind was out of control…REALLY Mr. Mayor. Asking the good folks of Easton to let you know when and where something DIDN’T happen. Excuuuuuse me? I may be dim at times, but HUH? What exactly do you mean? Threatening to sic your lawyer on a resident for speaking his mind during his allotted time? Are you out of control? I’m Just Asking.

Many, many thanks to House of Crayons for being our steadfast soldier, for keeping us interested in our city, and especially for speedily putting the City Council audio on this website for those of us who can’t get to the meeting. My entertainment this dreary Thursday morning was to listen to the sheer ridiculousness of council and our super-hero at the helm who nearly went over the City Council table with a single bound. If only we had video to go with this mornings very informative audio.

The garbage talk was more of the same, but those of you who came to talk about Riverwalk are our warriors. Your enthusiasm and courage are unwavering and irresistible. You make me proud to know you. You fight the good fight when some of us get too tired. Thank you from the bottom of my pacemaker.

Our city residents are extraordinary. They are well informed, they volunteer, they sit through endless long drawn-out meetings, they give credit where credit is due and even encourage others to move here and be civil activists. Thanks to the exceptional residents who gave up their Wednesday evening to guard our town.

I for one am looking forward most anxiously to a new regime. Can we elect a new set of fresh faces of intelligent folks who can add and subtract during budget time? A group who can work with the city departments and not against them? Could we possibly elect a collection of interested residents and not just career politicians? I am…

Just Asking

City Council Meeting Audio 3/14/07

2007-03-14T22:37:00.000-04:00

This was a two hour meeting not to be missed. This meeting was SO GOOD that I had to post it right away. The meeting began with some nitty-gritty fiscal controlling as Tony Bassil the City's interim Controller showed us all why he should in fact have, and keep, that position. He discussed practices that he's imparted on the City's offices, and he praised the Purchasing Agent Scott Klablunde for his good practices.

After that we engaged in some worthwhile dialog on board and authority appointments.

Then the fireworks began as Councilwoman Heffley lobbed a shot across the bow of Public Works Director Dave Hopkins. Well being as her attack was a bit out-of-line, and Dave is so darned nice... Well, let's just say that it was not pretty for her. Thousands of people lined up to "Save Dave" (Well 5 or 10 people did). You see Dave Hopkins has a well deserved reputation as a worker who resolves issues.

There was a lot of talk about garbage strewn about the city.

The next round of fireworks came from His Honor the Mayor Phillip B. Mitman who took serious offense at being referred to as a "lame duck mayor." He got so mad that he finished his lashing with a manly, "I wanna show them to my lawyer, PAL!"

That, of course, was fallout from debate on the Riverwalk project.

All-in-all the meeting was very productive.

Audio (2 hours 2 minutes)
Agenda
Minutes

Editorial: Riverwalk Opposition

2007-03-13T17:26:00.000-04:00

We are down to the wire. The Planning Bd., the Zoning Bd., the Historic Architectural Review Board, Mayor Mitman, Gov. Rendell, Lou Ferrone/Easton Parking Authority, Arcadia, Armond Greco/LANTA, The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission and a large part of the Easton community have let the greater Easton community down. Riverwalk is going to be a huge blot on the riverfront, an environmental nightmare, a money pit that will suck the tax payers dry and enrich the developers. Community improvement has nothing to do with this project. It is all about money, power and political positioning. The home owners and residents in downtown Easton will lose their community expectations to land grabbing speculators who leave all the risks up to us, the tax payers and residents. We will have to live with this monster until we move out of town or die. The community must speak out. We need a groundswell of opposition to this project at the following meetings:

City Council work session 6pm tonight, Tues., March 13th.

City Council meeting 6pm, Weds., Mar. 14th.

City Council meeting 6pm, Weds., Mar. 28th.

Everyone must join in by coming to the meetings and speaking out, by contacting everyone who they know who can help in this effort, phone calls, e-mails, letters to the media, contact political representatives and the various organisations, such as LANTA, DRTBC, DRBC, US Corps of Engineers, and environmental groups. Make it a task to have each person you contact to contact three or more others. This needs to happen now. Let the Easton City Council know that there is a very large part of this community who are very disturbed by this project and by the behavior the people who hold the public trust. Thank you for your help.

Bob Johnson

Easton, PA

Former Mayor Sal Panto Officially Announces Candidacy for Mayor

2007-03-04T19:12:00.000-05:00

SAL PANTO FOR MAYOR COMMITTEE
P.O. Box 1395
Easton, PA 18042
www.salpantoformayor.com

Campaign Kick-off Remarks
Ringside Restaurant
March 1, 2007

Thank you Randy.

A special thank you to my lovely wife Pam, who has made all of us proud of her work on City Council. I also want to thank my children, my grand children and family members, especially my mother who couldn’t be here this evening but we are taping it for her to watch later. Hi mom, we love you.

I would also like to thank my employer, Gary Strausser, who is allowing me this opportunity.

Tonight is not about Sal Panto.
Tonight is not about resting on past accomplishments.
Tonight is not about who drops the most literature and puts up the most signs.
Tonight is about the City of Easton and the 27,000 people who live here.
Tonight is about our neighborhoods.
Tonight is about developing the whole town not just the downtown.
Tonight is about the biggest issue important to our citizens: vibrant neighborhoods that are safe and clean.
Tonight is about whom do you want providing leadership not only on a day-to-day basis but also in times of crisis.
Tonight is about identifying and supporting a person that has proven leadership and managerial strength.
Tonight is about identifying and supporting a person that can attract an effective staff, a person that will surround himself with good people and continually challenge them to do better.
Tonight is about endorsing a person who makes good decisions and is willing to spend the enormous amount of time necessary to be an effective Mayor.

Tonight I am here to ask for your support and assistance to be the next Mayor of our city. Many people have asked why I am running and who our opponents would be in this race. I am running for Mayor to help make people’s lives and the neighborhoods in our city better. The fact is that regardless of whom we are running against, our team will be running for the issues near and dear to all of our residents and not against someone. We will be running for neighborhoods that people can be proud to call home, for neighborhoods that are safe and clean, for ensuring that police officers are visible in all parts of town, with no neighborhood left behind.

Easton needs a clean, crime-free, and safe environment that provides effective and efficient services providing a higher quality of life for our residents. We will accomplish this by being a very inclusive administration that brings to the table people from all parts of the city, with a diversity that allows all residents to be represented. We will set attainable goals and develop a plan of action for each goal. We will identify a series of milestones to keep us on track to meet the vision in a reasonable frame of time."

As I travel through our city and talk with people it is the one constant - safety. We will make a safe city our top priority. Our objective is to reduce crime by 15% in the first two years and nuisance crimes by 20%. We will do this by manning our police and fire departments at the level required to accomplish our goal. We will give them the technology and tools not only to fight crime and fire but also to prevent crimes and fires. Effective community policing and code enforcement will help us become more proactive than reactive.

Clean neighborhoods restore pride to an area. Clean neighborhoods create safer neighborhoods. We can no longer tolerate vacant structures that house our gangs and drug dealers. Our objective will be to decrease the number of unsecured vacant properties in each neighborhood by 10% within the first year. We will accomplish this objective with the introduction of our “Clean It and Lien It” program. When the Code department is no longer effective in getting the owner to clean and secure their property and before it gets so bad that it goes before the Vacant Property Review panel we will secure and clean the property. We will then place a lien against the property and act on the lien. If the property is purchased by the city we will look to the private sector for qualified developers to purchase the property and proceeds from the sale of the property will be used to continue the program, a re-investment in our neighborhoods.

To further assure clean neighborhoods by the second year we will launch our “Triple B” – a block-by-block systematic code inspection of the entire city with the worst blocks identified through quarterly neighborhood meetings.

Another goal will be to make our city government better every day. This will be accomplished by:

-Determining a customer service baseline and improving our customer service rating every year.
-Making our city government a model of open, honest, ethical and fiscally responsible government.
-Constantly seeking community input and energizing people to participate in their local government.
-We will always strive to do more with less and hold each department accountable for its performance.
-Surrounding ourselves with the best people and challenge them to do better each and every day.
-Establishing neighborhood-based Mayor office hours to make it easier for residents to voice their opinions, give insight into neighborhood concerns, address problem areas and get people involved in city government.

A final goal I will announce tonight is improve our intergovernmental relationships with surrounding communities and have Easton recognized as an asset for the region. We will work cooperatively to establish partnerships to produce an economy of scale savings in providing services to our residents. On the county, state and federal level we will actively engage in pursuing financial participation in the form of grants with a goal of $500,000 per year.

Throughout this campaign we will continue to establish our goals based on conversations with our residents. We will establish goals for all areas of city management including community development, economic development, youth and recreational activities, financial stability and a long-term vision of what Easton can become.

Today Easton is at a precarious crossroad. Great opportunities are being overshadowed by difficult problems in all areas of service. I know what this city is, I know what this city has been, and I know what it can become. That is why tonight I offer my candidacy for Mayor. I believe I have a lifetime of experience that counts. Experience I will put to work for you.

Thank you.

Gary Bertsch Announces for Mayor

2007-03-02T15:09:00.000-05:00

“Time’s Up: We Need Lasting Positive Changes”

A New Image for Easton

We sell ourselves short with our image. People coming to the City, and those who live here and pay taxes, see empty buildings, both commercial and residential, that often give indications that the City or people don’t care and are satisfied with being mediocre. That is just not us!

I have seen the negative effect one blighted property can have on a block. Too often poor conditions are not only unsafe, but hamper communication and a feeling of neighborhood among residents. Small improvements matter: Trees can be added and sidewalks, parks and playgrounds – even overcrowded alleyways can be cleaned up for positive effect in a neighborhood.

Revenues, Waste & Taxes

Our taxes are outrageous and only keep rising because of the gap between revenues and spending. The City needs to recruit revenue generators including businesses and new residents. We must build a business friendly environment and use creative incentives for people to attain home ownership. We have $1.6 million of uncollected fees owed to us while we scramble for extra quarters from parking meters to cover shortfalls. If these amounts owed to the people of Easton are not paid the properties must have liens placed upon them or face seizure.

Every member of Council, not just the Mayor, must encourage revenue generators to come to Easton. We can align regionally with other communities to promote the region and attract businesses and economic development.

City of Easton spending is out of line with similar communities. Stopping wasteful spending begins with an end to mismanagement of resources. It includes streamlining and/or merging departments, upgrading information systems so that all departments work together efficiently, and getting better value from our extensive legal representation. Ending waste means finding a solution to the overtime crisis and staffing departments at the most efficient levels. The City cannot afford a lack top to bottom efficiency.

Housing

Improved housing stock means encouraging single-family owner occupation and getting vacant properties filled, cleaned up, and back on the tax rolls. A positive initiative is this Spring’s affordable housing tour of Easton and Phillipsburg, a private/public partnership to market homes for sale under $200,000.

We need to be a clean, pedestrian friendly City without prostitution, drugs, noise and other quality of life problems. These are not easy goals, but everyone in the administration, city council, and departments must be committed to it. Housing improves when investments are made.

The police department must work in a coordinated, comprehensive fashion with the residents of each neighborhood, Weed & Seed, and Block Watch to implement Neighborhood Policing. Easton’s image must be one of clean, safe, and a pleasure to live and work in.

Youth & Social Issues

Our biggest asset is our human talent and its potential, but we are being underserved.

Our youth need more attention. They need incentives to pursue more education and acquire skills they need for the work force and to steer clear of the traps of crime and drugs that are killing so many of our young people. We need to inspire and motivate them. As a recruiter that was my job. It still is and probably will always be.

We have seen where collaboration works. Various public, private, and faith-based organizations are working together for the first time in a spirit of partnership. As Mayor, I will encourage our residents, in every neighborhood, to be role models by assuming community leadership positions.

On the other side, our youth who are educated leave for greener pastures of jobs and housing creating a void in the most important area of not only our economy, but our community as well.

Gary D. Bertsch

Butler Street
Easton, Pennsylvania

Age 59

B.S. Political Science & History; Northern State University, Aberdeen, SD

M.S. History (emphasis Latin America); New York University, NY, NY

Presently serve as the Program Manager of the West Ward Neighborhood Partnership (Also Easton’s “Elm Street” Project)

Community Activist; Member of Block Watch and Weed & Seed; Member of NAACP, Arts Community of Easton (ACE), President of Riverside Festival of the Arts, Secretary and Treasurer of the Easton Redevelopment Authority (ERA), Promoter for Boy Scouts of America

Former Captain in the United States Marine Corps

Member of U.S. & Marine Corps Track Team Qualified to compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials (Marathon)

Hired by Ross Perot as a Corporate Recruiter (Worked on Wall Street)

Former Secondary School Educator and Administrator (North Hunterdon School District, Annandale, NJ)

Started and Operated a Successful Business for 15 Years Within the Healthcare Industry

Former General Manager & presently a Partner in a 38-acre industrial site (Former Taylor Wharton Foundry, site of the longest continuous operating industrial operation in North America)

Residential Owner/Property Manager in Easton

City Council Meeting Audio 2/28/07

2007-03-02T14:55:00.000-05:00

We have 2 hours of audio that we are presenting in two parts. The first half hour of this Council meeting was used to swear in four new police officers and one new inspector. The police department leadership also retired a working dog and gave a State of the Department presentation. They explained their manpower, new technology upgrades, and progress towards state accreditation.

The second hour-and-a-half was the regular session. No audience member chose to speak in the beginning of the meeting, but there was a lot of audience comment at the end of the meeting. The key items of discussion were the Riverwalk project and City Council's decision to settle a suit for $500.00 with a criminal.

Captain Vangello sat through the entire meeting in order to to let Council know that the man suing (from jail) was guilty of burglary against a victim whom has since died. The man is accusing the city of false imprisonment. And that the city should not give in to this extortion. Councilwoman Heffley was the only "NO" vote, and she said that she was not in favor of "giving this miscreant a dime." We agree Madame Heffley-- Well said.

I noticed 3 council candidates in attendance (Timmann, Otto, and Melan).

Audio Police Session (31 minutes 32 seconds 3.6Mb)

Audio Regular Meeting (1 hour 33 minutes 10.5Mb)
Agenda
Minutes

Your neighbors.

Jeff Warren Announced (sorry we're late) Council Candidacy

2007-02-23T21:05:00.000-05:00

WARREN ANNOUNCES HIS INTENTION TO SEEK SEAT ON EASTON CITY COUNCIL

EASTON (Jan. 9) – Jeff Warren, resident of the City of Easton, announced today that he will be seeking a seat on Easton City Council during the upcoming 2007 election cycle.

The Democratic candidate and Chief Legislative Assistant for Senator Lisa M. Boscola looks forward to running a positive and issue-oriented campaign. If elected to City Council, Warren will work hard to reduce crime, promote fiscal responsibility, enhance Easton’s economic climate, and make government more open and accessible to the public.

Aside from his employment at Boscola’s office Warren currently serves on the following boards within the Easton community:

· Easton Zoning Hearing Board
· Boys & Girls Club of Easton – Board Member
· Communities In Schools of the Lehigh Valley – Board Member

Warren is a lifelong resident of the Easton area. He graduated from Easton Area High School in 1995 and from Penn State University in 1999.

An Inconvienient Goof

2007-02-23T11:37:00.000-05:00

Editorial: Easton’s Glacial Mass

2007-02-22T18:54:00.000-05:00

I am one that believes our long term climate is being affected by the pollutants we spew into the air. But it is a long term concern that is not of immediate risk to our way of life. Although I concur with Mayor Mitman’s concern for environment, I think there are many other issues here in Easton that may cut short lives. Drug and Gang problems, social decay and property blight to identify a few.

Fighting global warming has its limits though. To treat our snow and ice like you would an endangered species is just going a bit too far. Protecting Easton’s glacial mass has caused many parking and transportation problems in the city. For the good of the city it is time to allow the Easton Ice age to recede.

Are we selfish for putting the convenience of parking within six inches of the curb and getting from the car to the sidewalk without crampons high on our priority lists? Is it too much to expect local government to solve its problems before indulging in the worlds? Maybe our mayor should working on more immediate issues like Easton’s dirty polar ice cap.

Bad Apple
Easton

Editorial: Snow What!?

2007-02-21T19:16:00.000-05:00

Nearly a week after our 6 inch snowfall the streets of Easton are deplorable. The main downtown arteries, as well as, the only ways in and out of the city are still not plowed curb to curb. Not even the metered spaces (that the City wants to raise the fees for) are cleared. If you can get your car in the space you then need to climb over a frozen embankment to get to the meter. How and why is this acceptable? Now I understand why Mayor Mitman spends so much time in Harrisburg. He’s been attending the Governor Rendell School of Snow Removal. The Partners for Livable Communities are probably contemplating charging us another $5,000 to take back the award that we paid for. Keep up the good work Phil.

Partial Observer
Easton

City Council Meeting Audio 2/20/07

2007-02-21T18:53:00.000-05:00

This one and a half hour meeting was well attended. This was a make-up meeting for last week's snowed-out meeting. Three Council candidates were in the audience (Peter Melan, Bill Timmann, and Elinor Warner), one prospective mayoral candidate, and mayoral candidate Sal Panto showed up at the meeting's end.

The parking meter ordnance was given 5 yes votes to extend hours until 6pm, to charge $1.00 at the courthouse meters, and to double some fines. There was some very intelligent commentary on the Riverwalk project. There was also discussion of the recently purchased park plan and the proposed ambassador program.

Audio(1 hour 24 minutes 55 seconds 9.71Mb)
Agenda
Minutes

An Example of What We Stand to Lose

2007-02-19T21:38:00.000-05:00

REMARKS – Members of Audience to President of City Council

Terrance Hand, 623 Chestnut Terrace, thanked Council for their discussion on the Award presentation in Washington DC for the City, and urged Council to repeal the Resolution which would permit the City Clerk not to retain Council meeting tapes.

Mayor Mitman made several comments regarding Mr. Hand’s comments regarding the Award presentation

*Cut and pasted from the approved City Council minutes for January 10, 2007

The minutes are not only incorrect, it hardly reflects what went on during the discussion. Mr Hand did NOT thank Council for their discussion on the award. He thanked Council for NOT DISCUSSING the award.

Listen:
What Hand Really Said:

As to the Mayor's comments...

Mitman rebuts:

That pretty much IS NOT what I imagined when I read, "Mayor Mitman made several comments regarding Mr. Hand’s comments regarding the Award presentation."

Welcome to Easton. We really do make history. And we make it the way we like it.

El Warner Announces City Council Candidacy

2007-02-15T20:34:00.000-05:00

WARNER TO SEEK EASTON CITY COUNCIL SEAT

Elinor Warner announced today that she is running for one of three seats on Easton City Council. Warner, a Democrat, currently serves on the Easton Charter Study Commission, to which she was elected in May 2006. This will be her first run for City Council.

“The next few years will be crucial ones for our city, financially, culturally, and socially,” Warner states. “It’s important that we think about the future we desire for our city, and that we elect legislators who can move us toward that future. I am running for City Council because I believe I have the skills and the vision to move us toward that future while serving our present interests.”

A 1981 graduate of Easton Area High School, Warner graduated Magna Cum Laude from Sweet Briar College in 1985 and has a Master’s and PhD from the University of Virginia. She has a long history of community involvement. She served as Chair of the EHA House Tour in 1997, 1998, 2005 and 2006; has been involved with Easton’s Main Street Initiative since its inception, currently serving as the Chair of the Organization Committee and a member of the Main Street Advisory Board; and is a member of the Board of the Easton Business Association. She is the editor and publisher of The Elucidator, a free local publication.

“Easton has given me a great deal – a sense of place, a sense of community, a sense of home. I think it’s important to give back and to work together toward making this the city that we all know it can be,” states Warner. “We need effective ordinances, we need positive leadership, we need a municipal government that functions smoothly. We need neighborhoods that are clean and safe, for us and for our children. I want to work with the administration toward those goals.”

*This is her official release. EU did not conduct the interview. --HoC

Nadine Loane Announced for City Council

2007-02-12T22:42:00.000-05:00

On Friday, February 9, 2007, Nadine Loane announced her Council candidacy from the gym of the Easton Area Community Center (St Anthony's-- 9th & Washington Streets). Nadine is the director of Easton's Weed & Seed. She took over Weed & Seed after the program was gutted by mismanagement, and has made Easton's Weed & Seed a program to boast about.

The audio is less an announcement and more of an exchange between Nadine and the attendees.

Audio (2.74Mb 24 minutes 1 second)

Republicans Announce for City Council

2007-02-12T21:59:00.000-05:00

At 3:00 PM earlier today, the Easton Republican Committee filled the back dining room at Ashley's Restaurant (229 N 11th Street) to present a slate of four Council candidates. The candidates are Peter Melan of College Hill (Self employed), Brian L. Otto Sr. of the West Ward (Easton Block Watch president), Roger Ruggles (Lafayette Professor, Home Rule Charter Commissioner, and Sewer Authority Commissioner), and Bill Timmann of the South Side (Self employed).

A hand full of questions were asked of the candidates. I asked who the party's Mayoral candidate was; I was told that he would be announcing "in a couple of days".

Audio (2.26 Mb 19 minutes 50 seconds)

Mike Fleck Announces for Mayor

2007-02-06T18:41:00.000-05:00

In a half hour frigid event in front of his Childhood home, Mike Fleck announced his intentions to seek the Democratic mayoral nomination. During the press conference Mike, his father David, Mike's wife Allison, and Mike's campaign manager Evie Gollick all spoke. Fleck also fielded questions from the attendees (most of the questions came from Tracy Jordan and me -- Ed Seiger and Christina Georgiou had no questions).

Audio (16 minutes 35 seconds 1.95Mb)

Electoral Press Conference

2007-02-05T17:27:00.000-05:00

On Friday February 9, 2007 11am I will be holding a press conference at Easton Area Community Center 9th and Washington Streets Easton. I plan to announce my intention to run for Easton City Council. It would be my honor to have your presence at this conference.
Thank You
Nadine

*Nadine Loane is the coordinator of Easton’s Weed and Seed program

Press Release (Mayoral Candidate)

2007-02-02T11:26:00.000-05:00

Michael P. Fleck
922 Butler St.
Easton, PA 18042
Phone (610) 438-5424
Fax (610) 438-5425

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

10 A.M. EDT, February 2nd 2007
Fleck To Make Election Announcement

Michael P. Fleck will be holding a press conference on Tuesday, February 6th 2007 to announce his intentions in the upcoming mayoral election in the City of Easton. The event will be held at 1121 Lehigh St. in Easton, which is the home Mr. Fleck grew up in and will soon be renovating and moving back into to start his family. The press conference will be held at 1:45pm.

You are all invited to hear Fleck’s ideas for the future of Easton and his role in securing that future. Mr. Fleck will discuss his experience including his work with Allentown Mayor, Ed Pawlowski and PA Governor, Ed Rendell. Fleck will also discuss the importance of young experienced energetic leadership for the future of Easton. Mr. Fleck will answer some questions from the media at this event.

Thank you for your time and consideration. Mr. Fleck hopes to see you on Tuesday.

Contact: Spike Rogan

Phone: (610) 438-5424

City Council Meeting Audio 1/24/07

2007-01-26T14:05:00.000-05:00

cAnother almost uneventful meeting. Councilman Corpora was not in attendance. The only real discussion revolved around the Riverwalk Inter model project. The talks sprouted from Bad Apple's remarks on the project and resulted in comments from both Solicitors Schear & Murphy, as well as the Mayor and Councilwoman Heffley. Once again I brought up the destruction of the City Council audio archives no one commented.

Audio (1 hour 16 seconds 8.8Mb)
Agenda
Minutes

Buyers Scarce, Many Condos Are for Rent - New York Times

2007-01-17T16:04:00.000-05:00

Buyers Scarce, Many Condos Are for Rent - New York Times

January 16, 2007
Buyers Scarce, Many Condos Are for Rent
By VIKAS BAJAJ
WASHINGTON — David Franco’s illuminated model of a proposed 10-story condominium tower dominates a sales center that, in spite of the “Now Selling” banner still fluttering outside, is conspicuously closed for business.

“We could have waited it out and kept pushing and pushing,” Mr. Franco said about the decision to abandon plans to sell 180 luxury condominiums with floor-to-ceiling windows offering views of the Washington Monument and Capitol Hill. “But it would have taken significantly longer.”

After six weeks of failing to lure more than a couple of dozen buyers, Mr. Franco and his partner, Jeff Blum, joined the builders of nearly 6,000 condominium units in the Washington metropolitan area who have decided in the last three months to recast their projects as rental apartment buildings.

Since the middle of 2006, the frenzied condominium market here and in several other big cities like Las Vegas, Miami and Boston has collapsed. Once roaring sales have slowed to a trickle, sparse inventory has mushroomed into a glut and soaring prices have flattened out and started falling.

In many cities, banks have significantly scaled back loans to condominium builders. Some have demanded that developers sell half or more of the units in a building before even beginning construction.

In hopes of salvaging something from their costly plans, hundreds of developers like Mr. Franco are looking to the strong market for apartments, planning to rent their units for at least a couple of years while waiting for today’s condo surplus to shrink. Mr. Franco and Mr. Blum hope to break ground on what will be a somewhat less expensive building this spring.

In some cases, developers are even turning older buildings back to rentals after a brief or aborted attempt at condo conversion. Meanwhile, another 2,500 proposed condominiums in the Washington area have been scrapped altogether, according to Delta Associates, a real estate research firm.

The latest salvage operation on the part of condo developers is far from a sure bet, however. Condominium buildings generally cost more to build and operate than those built for apartments from scratch. And while rents are high and rising in most cities, in many cases they still are not sufficient to turn a profit.

Industry analysts also point out that rents may start sagging if too many condos are converted into apartments too quickly. While rents were rising at a robust 6.1 percent annual pace in the Washington area late last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, some buildings in the suburbs have recently started promoting move-in specials and other incentives to lure renters.

“You can do it, but it isn’t as attractive,” Tom Meagher, a Boston real estate consultant, said about converting condos into apartments. “You are not going to get enough rent to cover the cost. You might have to go back and redesign the floor plans.”

In the Boston area, Mr. Meagher is tracking 600 condo projects representing about 49,000 units in various stages, from applying for permits to active construction. While the recent slowdown is forcing developers to consider converting their projects to apartments and offices, he expects as many as a third of them will never be built at all.

Mr. Franco said that he and Mr. Blum were able to cut 10 percent from the costs of their planned building, on land in the trendy U Street corridor. That should be enough to make a profit, he said. Beyond switching to some less expensive materials, they also decided to subdivide some larger units into smaller apartments.

The partners are now going through a similar financial exercise on another proposed building across the street, which was to house 225 condominiums but now could be recast as a rental building as well.

Lenders started tightening the purse strings for the condominium market in early 2006 as sales weakened first in cities like Miami and Las Vegas.

“Did the lenders pull back soon enough?” asked Robert Brennan, managing director of real estate finance at Credit Suisse in New York. “I don’t think we know yet.”

Real estate experts say condos are more susceptible to booms and busts than single-family homes are because they attract more investors who do not intend to live in them and are easier to build than a new subdivision in many cities.

And while there are tentative signs that the worst of the overall housing slump may be easing as builders cut back and interest rates remain relatively modest, condo markets continue to suffer.

Take the owner trying to sell a spacious two-bedroom condo for $879,000 in the former Columbia Hospital for Women, which closed in 2002, in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington. In 2004, the investor was so confident that he would make a handsome resale profit that he told his agent, Thomas P. Murphy, he wanted to buy five condos. Mr. Murphy said he flatly told his client he would only assist him in purchasing one unit in any one building.

“He needs $890,000 to break even, but the offers are at $800,000 to $840,000,” Mr. Murphy said. “He does remember that I told him he was not getting five of them.”

Could he rent the condo? Yes, but that option is not appealing, either. Mr. Murphy estimates that the unit could rent for $4,000 a month, far short of the $6,800 a month the condo costs in mortgage interest, maintenance fees, insurance and taxes.

“They have a choice of how they want to lose it,” Mr. Murphy said of investors and condo developers. “Drip by drip or in one slap.”

Mr. Murphy said he believed condo sales had picked up somewhat lately and he even ran a four-way bidding contest on one well-priced condo in Foggy Bottom, near the State Department. But the supply of newly built condos is so large and so many of them are similar to each other that many sellers are having to sharply cut their asking price. Others have simply given up.

At the end of 2006, 24,200 units were on the market in the Washington area, up from 13,000 at the start of 2005. Sales have slowed to 663 in the fourth quarter of 2006 from 3,520 in the first quarter of 2005, according to Delta Associates. Recorded prices have been flat, which probably masks an effective decline since only the most attractive properties are selling and many owners throw in extra inducements that do not show up in official figures.

One of the few exceptions to the trend is in Manhattan, particularly at the high end. Condo and co-op sales increased to 2,441 in the fourth quarter, from 1,574 a year ago, and inventory was relatively flat at 5,900, said Jonathan J. Miller, an appraiser. Much of the increase can be attributed to a legal change in how sales of co-ops are recorded, but Mr. Miller said a 5.5 percent drop in prices from the third quarter also helped.

Nationally, condominium sales have fallen further than those of single-family properties, 13.6 percent from November 2005 to the same month in 2006; free-standing homes showed a 10.7 percent decline in the same period. Inventories have risen 38.1 percent for condos and 29.6 percent for individual homes, according to the National Association of Realtors. The national median price — half the condos sold for more and half for less — was $224,600 in November, unchanged from November 2005.

But there is no comprehensive, national source of data for new condominiums sales. The Realtors group only measures sales of existing units and the Commerce Department, which tracks sales of new single-family homes, does not collect data on condominiums.

In the recent housing boom, many cities welcomed condos, hoping the young, upper-income set they attract would help revitalize older neighborhoods. In some cities, condominium construction also gave municipal officials an opportunity to demand that developers set aside some units for affordable housing in exchange for zoning and building approvals.

In Washington, the area around 14th and U Streets was one of several formerly run-down neighborhoods to get a facelift largely from new condo projects. The area was once a hub of African-American civic and cultural life, but the neighborhood was ravaged by riots in 1968 after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination and fell into decades of neglect and disrepair.

The area has now become home to trendy cafes, a Whole Foods grocery and other stores. But signs of its hardscrabble past linger on in dilapidated apartment buildings and storefronts. The influx of transplants from nearby Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan has also raised the usual strains that accompany gentrification — rising rents, increased traffic and the displacement of local residents.

Mr. Franco, who lives in the neighborhood, said he was sensitive to those concerns. His company, Level 2 Development, contributed $1 million to help a group of tenants in low-income apartments buy their building as part of a deal with the local government for the approval of his condo project.

He had hoped to take up residence in a 3,200-square-foot corner unit with an expansive terrace, which will now be cut up into smaller rental apartments.

But as he drove around the neighborhood recently pointing out rows of redeveloped buildings, he acknowledged that the market might have reached its limit for now. As an example, he pointed to a used car lot that seemed to be a vestige of a bygone era.

“The reality is not everything can make way for condos,” Mr. Franco said. “This guy may be doing so much business that it has far more value than what a real estate sale can fetch.”

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

Beware of Strangers Bearing Gifts

2007-01-15T23:32:00.000-05:00

Hear him pitch it:

After I read Tracy Jordan’s first article on “the award” being bestowed upon the City of Easton for accomplishing nothing tangible, I immediately researched the Partners for Livable Communities.

It took me all of 5 minutes to find out that they are a municipal consulting organization. And the organization does not hide why they exist. On their webpage they readily offer their Technical Assistance Consulting brochure which clearly catalogs their price list (http://www.livable.com/images/documents/Technical%20Assistance.pdf page 16). It cost $5k to get honored and $10k to join their club for a year. And joining their "Sam's Club for Local Government" allows us the privilege of buying plans, seminars, and other consultation from them.

Mayor Mitman has correctly stated that “The Partners” are a charitable non-profit [501(c)(3)], but his comparison of the organization to ProJeCt of Easton is misleading, and belittles the truly benevolent work of ProJeCt. The partners fit the criteria because of the types of services they SELL.

I am sure the “award” means more to the Mayor than it could ever mean to us taxpayers. A person networked with these guys (their board is politicians, lawyers, and bankers) has some pretty good prospects for future employment.

Their award is a sham-- a Trojan Horse. They are feeding on our collective low city-esteem. They found a slightly bruised community, then they told us how beautiful we were, and promptly asked us to pay for the compliment.

No one really knows how many marginally moral and/or ethical situations will evolve from the Mayor’s $5,000.00 purchase of the “Entrepreneurial American Community Award” from the Partners for Livable Communities. All we really know is that the Mayor expects us to be a lot more gracious and grateful.

Mitman rebuts:

Farenheit 18042

2007-01-15T18:32:00.000-05:00

Hear it happen:

Read the resolution. http://eastonundressed.org/eufiles/resolution213_2006.pdf

Easton is a city where history is so important that we take significant efforts to celebrate and preserve it.

Patrons and residents of Easton have heroically toiled to preserve our architecture.

We Eastonians relish in our attachment to our country’s birth through our annual reading of the Declaration of Independence.

In Easton we do not use “liability” as a reason to destroy aged buildings. If we did there would be vacant lots on the northeast corner of 2nd and Northampton and the northwest corner of 5th and Northampton.

Come Hell or (as we well know) high water the Declaration will be read.

History is such an integral element in our city that we gave it top billing in new logo.

Because of this I must protest Council’s unanimous resolve (Resolution 213-2006 of 12/28/06) to destroy the audio history of City Council proceedings.

To eliminate history in order to avoid liability is not noble. In this, we also eradicate assets. Destroying the audio archive is not a tenet of government transparency. It is comparable to book burning; stinks of cover-up; and is one of the most permanent forms of revisionist history.

The advice that our Council is acting under does not protect the interest of their constituents—it protects them against the interest of their constituents.

Hiding from history is not noble; thus not in the spirit of History- Heritage- Home.

On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC, on August 28, 1963

2007-01-15T17:45:00.000-05:00

City Council Meeting 1/10/07

2007-01-12T22:34:00.000-05:00

We had another short meeting (just over 1 hour). The Mayor and Councilwoman Heffley gushed all over the Mayor's $5,000.00 purchase of an award from a DC municipal consulting organization. There was public comment on the Treasurer's pay and position as well as parking and the destruction of the City Council audio archives.

I know the issue is kind of small, but I am determined to save the City’s recordings of City Council sessions. Apparently Council decided to destroy the entire collection of recordings because someone at City Clerks’ School said it was a good idea. In a town that relishes history this is irreprehensible. I need your help.

Audio (7.7Mb 1 hour 7 minutes)
Agenda
Minutes

Your neighbor

City Council Meeting 12/28/06

2007-01-04T10:24:00.000-05:00

This meeting was a short hour. The budget was passed with a few excuses and disclaimers, but with no discussion of substance. One item of interest was the unanimous passage of a resolution to allow Council to destroy the recordings of our public meetings. This needs to be scrutinized.

Audio (7.4 Mb 1 Hour 5 Minutes)

Holiday Cheer

2006-12-23T01:06:00.000-05:00

Barking Over Parking

2006-12-20T16:26:00.000-05:00

Here are some of same basic reasons that every city gives for
parking meters (or any limited parking enforcement):
Turnover. Ensure that people move their cars every 15
minutes to 5 hours to allow other cars a chance to park (and shop the stores
there.)
Social Engineering. Get people to use pubic transportation
instead of their cars when shopping downtown.
Income. Generate money from the meters. The money from
meters can be significant (especially when there are thousands of meters
installed) however, cities really want people to overstay their parking limit so
they can write parking tickets - this is where they make most of their money. In
Portland a plain parking ticket is $16.00. Some place, like near PGE Park (a
stadium) the basic parking ticket is $40.00!
Portland, in their transportation budget, expects 2.5% of
it to be derived from citations. 2004 Budget was around $54 million dollars.
Thus, around $1 million dollars is expected as income from parking citations
alone.
To encourage people who work downtown NOT to drive their
cars downtown to allow shoppers to park.
Cut down the need to build new roads to handle the traffic
going downtown
Enable the handicap to park easily so they can
shop
Why Parking Meters Should be
Outlawed http://www.taphilo.com/tom/parkingmeters.shtml

Last year (during our policy battles with the State Theatre) I was of the opinion that we should just raise the price of the city’s parking meters. I wanted the City Parking Garage locked down to freebies. And I wanted scofflaws, violators, and ne'er-do-wells ticketed. That was then.

Just a couple of weeks ago we were cornered with an eleventh hour budget proposal to increase parking meters 100% (from $.50/hour to $1.00/hour). My knee-jerk reaction was, “Hell Yeah! Make everyone share the costs.” Residents and business owners crowded City Council Chambers. People stood up and spoke out.

And what happened then...? Well... in Easton they say that my Grinch ears grew three sizes that day!

I heard some opponents to my opinion. No, I really heard some opponents to my opinion. I heard people give solid criticism to the hap-hazardness of the plan. I heard people offer viable alternatives. Here’s the thing… I actually “heard” what they were saying.

Suddenly, mine was not such a well thought out position. And, well, quite frankly; that’s because it was a position of emotion. My agenda is clear—Resident First. In my heart of hearts I believe that the people need to be advocated. When I approached the parking meter issue on adrenaline alone, anyone not for it was against the resident. That was a mistake. Upon future review (and hearing other people) I realized that the issue is not one of extremes.

Yes, the rates need to be increased. They need to be increased for two major reasons—fairness and revenue. Everyone must contribute to the well being of the city; not just now but always. We can not continue to operate the city on the backs of the resident/taxpayer. We discussed this in detail during the Amusement and Mechanical Devices Tax talks. Use-based fees are fair and necessary.

The rhetoric that parking meters are not revenue devices has been bounced around a lot lately. The problem is that the rhetoric is not entirely true. Firstly, it’s made up. Meters exist for whatever reason the owner chooses. The simple fact that revenue is generated from meters invalidates the stance. A more correct statement may be that parking meters don’t have to exist for the sole purpose of revenue generation.

Although it is sometimes disputed, Carl C. Magee, of Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma, is generally credited with originating the parking meter. He filed for
a patent for a "coin controlled parking meter" May 13, 1935. The patent,
#2,118,318, was issued May 24, 1938.

The world's first installed
parking meter was in Oklahoma City, on July 16, 1935. Mr. Magee had been
appointed to the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce traffic committee, and was
assigned the task of solving the parking problems in downtown Oklahoma City.
Apparently, folks who worked in the area were parking on downtown streets,
staying all day, and leaving few spaces for shoppers and others who visited the
central business district.

Magee's solution was to install parking
meters, charge for the use of the parking spaces, and turn over those spaces
that would otherwise have been filled by all day parkers. In addition, the
parking meters would generate revenue for a growing city. It must have worked,
as the idea of metered parking eventually caught on worldwide. From that early
beginning, the use of parking meters by municipalities, colleges and
universities, and private parking facilities has increased to the point that
today, in the United States alone, there are an estimated five million parking
meters in use.

Based on this number, if every parking meter
collected only 25 cents per day, the gross revenues generated by parking meters
in the U.S. for one day would be a staggering 1.25 million dollars
($1,250,000).

Although Magee's mission was to solve parking
problems, it is evident from his patent application that generating revenue was
an important issue from the beginning. In the application, he stated that his
invention related to "meters for measuring the time of occupancy or use of
parking or other space, for the use of which it is desirous an incidental charge
be made upon a time basis."

The Parking Meter Page http://www.ionet.net/~luttrell/history.html

The real shame we have to bear is that we did not address this issue over months. One of the most sensible arguments to the increase I heard was that we lack a plan. And our lack of planning, NOT a couple of quarters, is the limiter in the proposal.

Speakers have pointed out that we need coordinated actions when we address parking. Street parking costs need to compliment garage costs. Garage costs need to be less that ticket fines. Residents need evening exemptions. Overnight parking costs needs to compliment parking costs in destination cities like Philadelphia and Ney York City. Payment needs to be convienient, and taxicab loitering needs to be managed.

The answer is not “to fee or not to fee.” That would be catering to our emotional special interest. The answer is a coordinated, well-mapped parking master plan.

Maybe we need some authority over parking...?

City Council Meeting Audio 12/13/06

2006-12-20T09:51:00.000-05:00

This meeting was dedicated to the interest item de jure—Parking meters. It was a short meet, but there was much traffic on the meters. Most of the speakers represented their business interests, but they; none the less; made some very pertinent arguements that were coupled with some very sensible solutions. There's a lot more to be said about the parking meter issue, and we will dedicate a post to it. The issue touches so many different buttons.

Stu Gallaher was made the City Business Administrator... again. And the attempt to fit former fire Chief Frank Chisesi into his post retirement golden parachute was stiffled by a few questions.The questions pretty much amounted to, "What is this job that he is so uniquely qualified for?" There will be more on that in the next meeting.

Here's the meeting AUDIO (8Mb 1 hour 6 minutes).

Crime Symposium Audio

2006-12-11T12:02:00.000-05:00

The Crime Symposium went well. Our panelists were top-notched. We are already brainstorming our next community events. And as we get more experienced they will only become more useful and fulfilling sessions.

We thank everyone that attended, as well as our distinguished panel members and their organizations.

The audio recordings have been edited, and in keeping with EU’s mandate to extend the reach of public events they are ready for download/listening.

(To download the file to your computer right click on the link and choose “save as”)

Panel 1 - Judiciary
District Attorney: District Attorney John Morganelli
Magistrates: Justice Gay Elwell
County Judges: Judge Stephen G. Baratta
Symposium Introduction and Judiciary Panel Presentations (time 27:45 size 3Mb)
Judiciary Panel Question & Answer (time 26:35 size 3Mb)

Panel 2 – Community/Schools

Block Watch: Brian Otto, President
Weed & Seed: Nadine Loane
Alert Partnership: Mike Adams
School District: Dr. Pat Vulcano
Community/Schools Panel Presentations (time 48:36 size 5.7Mb)
Community/Schools Question & Answer (time 9:28 size 1Mb)

Panel 3 – Enforcement & Reporting
County 911: Richard Teasdale, Director
Lafayette College Public Safety: Hugh Harris, Director
Easton Police: Lieutenant John Remaley
Enforcement & Reporting Panel Presentations (time 34:34 size 4Mb)
Enforcement & Reporting Panel Question & Answer (time 34:34 size 4Mb)

Panel 4 – Gang Presentation
County Sheriff: Deputy Sheriff George Volpe
Gang Awareness Presentation (time 10:56 size 1.3Mb)

Easton Crime Symposium Itinerary

2006-12-07T16:58:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

The first Easton Crime Symposium is Saturday, December 9, 2006 at St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church on 4th & Ferry Sreets (across from the parking garage) in the basement Social Hall. The room is spacious.

If you or anyone you know would benefit from this forum please attend.

Crime Symposium Itinerary

Opening and explanation of the goals Terrance Hand

Panel 1 - Judiciary (1:00 to 1:30) Introduction of Guests: Dan Corpora

District Attorney: property seizures, crime deterrents
Magistrates: Penalty adjudication
County Judges: Rights and restrictions

Panel questions (1:30 to 2:00)

Panel 2 – Community/Schools (2:00 to 2:40) Introduction of Guests: Roger Ruggles

Block Watch: Effectiveness & starting a block watch
Weed & Seed: Tall team, block walks, sit outs
Alert Partnership: Drug prevention/intervention
School District: School Security

Panel questions (2:40 to 3:00)

Panel 3 – Enforcement & Reporting (3:00 to 3:30) Introduction of Guests: Mike Krill

County 911: Crime reporting
Lafayette Security: Campus safety
Easton Police: Property protection, community policing

Panel questions (3:30 to 4:00)

Panel 4 – Gang Presentation (4:00 to 5:30) Introduction of Guests: Terrance Hand
County Sheriff: Gang awareness

Panel questions (time dependent)

Closing Terrance Hand

Panel

Block Watch: Brian Otto, President
Weed & Seed: Nadine Loane
Alert Partnership: Mike Adams
School District: Dr. Pat Vulcano
County 911: Richard Teasdale, Director
Lafayette College Public Safety: Hugh Harris, Director
Easton Police: Lieutenant John Remaley
County Sheriff: Deputy Sheriff George Volpe
District Attorney: District Attorney John Morganelli
Magistrates: Justice Gay Elwell
County Judges: Judge Stephen G. Baratta

City Council Meeting Audio 12/05/06

2006-12-07T15:57:00.000-05:00

It's budget season! And with the budget we get stress. The entire year's worth of fiscal lethargy finds us scrambling to find new stop-gap funding plans. Which means we get treated to the 'budget mantra', "We don't have a choice."

In this year's 'backs against the wall' meetings the special interest item was parking meter fee increases, and the big-ticket item was the lease agreement of the waterworks. The 4 - 1 passing of the lease agreement was round one of what may turn into another ugly Easton fight. And the 'all-of-the-sudden' knee-jerk idea to raise parking meter rates was an excellent display of what happens when we waste the year not studying and planning for the budget. Some smart people got up and presented alternatives that could have been effective and feasible if we would have addressed them earlier.

The tension was high.

A resident mustered the courage to approach Council for help and was belayed by a rule that was not equally enforced. The uncomfortable session was culminated with the Mayor's loss of control as he lambasted a City fire fighter for a statement he made to Council as a citizen-taxpayer.

It was not our finest two hours.

Audio (1 hour 46 minutes 12 Mb)

City Council Meeting Audio 11/28/06

2006-12-01T22:09:00.000-05:00

Today you get two... two... Two meetings in one!
Because it's budget season. I will not have all of the budget hearings this year. And for the first time in the same amount of time I missed a City Council meeting. It was a special session on November 15, 2006, it was combined with the Administration's budget proposal. Hey, its was bound to happen.

The format for the combined meetings is different this year. The Council meeting is held first and the budget workshops are after the adjournment. This effectively keeps the public out of the budget proceedures.

This meeting was a full house marathon for 2 reasons-- The water works lease was slated for vote, and the public safety budget session also occured. The fire and public works unions were well represented along with the police brass.

The water works discussion is a must-listen. The lease is such a large and important endeavor, and it requires as much scrutiny as we can muster. Because it has to be done right. AFSCME Local 447 was well represented by their parent organization District Council 33, but that did not keep some Council members from lambasting the District President for his promise of action if his membership gets unfair treatment. The vote was tabled until Tuesday, December 5, 2006; but as almost anyone involved will tell you-- it's already a done deal.

$252,700
The stress and confinement of budget time makes for some great deals in the City.

Council Meeting Audio (1 hour 51 mins 12.7Mb)

Budget Hearing Audio (1 hour 14 mins 8.4Mb)

City Council Meeting Audio 11/08/06

2006-11-13T21:02:00.000-05:00

This Council meeting was dominated by the mythical Riverwalk project. And; wouldn’t you know it; three more immediate and very important issues slid by in the shadows. The first hour of the meeting was all Riverwalk and almost all against it. By the time the topic was exhausted so were we—the entire audience.

We were too exhausted to object to the final vote on the allocation of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) being done without an itemized disbursement of the funds. (SECTION (a) #9 UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Bill No.106, Allocations for the 2007 CDBG Funds) And guess what…? At least one item of contention was quietly funded.

We were too exhausted to ask what language was being changed in City consultation contracts. And thus we never noticed that the taxpayers protection was being ripped from the pages. The excluded language was noncompetitive hiring clauses that offered restitution to the city coffers if carpet-bagging consulting agencies snatched our employees.

We were too exhausted to notice City Council tip-toeing into agreement with the Suburban Water Authority. And obviously so were the members of AFSCME Local #447, because they were not in attendance to question the General Manager Mr. Roy White about the deal. If it weren’t for Councilwoman Vulcano asking questions to the interest of the city workers the entire audience would have missed the implications of their vote. (SECTION (a) #17 NEW BUSINESS: Bill No. 123, Approving a Lease and Operating Agreement between the City of Easton, and the Easton Suburban Water Authority.)

The word of the day:

obfuscate

The Audio 18.5(Mb). The meeting agenda 56(kb).

Your neighbors

Easton UnPlugged Audio Blog (Podcast) #10 (SEASON 2)

2006-11-07T14:09:00.000-05:00

I do not know if this is worth the wait, but WE'RE BACK!

Bad Apple and House of Crayons are joined by the political color-queen Just Asking for an ear-splitting one hour and forty minute state of the city chat. The podcast starts with a recap of the last 6 months, and eventually gets into more current events. The big ticket topics are the business Administrator's ship-jumping and the Mayor first draft budget.

The show is long because we felt like we owed you something. Audio (11Mb)

Your neighbors

Easton Neighbors for Responsible Development

2006-11-06T11:54:00.000-05:00

Save Easton's Academy Hill, Skyline, and Riverfront
Easton Neighbors for Responsible Development
Contact: Phyllis Johnson at (610) 923-0517 or Charles Klabunde at (610) 252-1938

Did you know that the proposed Intermodal/Riverwalk project—being rushed through City Hall right now—is a $25–40-million, taxpayer-subsidized development to be located on Larry Holmes Drive at Church Street, and it will:

Ø Be twice the height and bulk of the Eastonian (former Hotel Easton) and consist of a pre-cast concrete mega-structure covering half a city block—a building that belongs more in Las Vegas or Miami than Easton—with an open parking garage for cars and buses (visible to the street) and seven levels above that for 147 luxury condos and a few stores located in the parking structure and mostly invisible to pedestrians?

Ø Dwarf the surrounding historic neighborhood of restored homes, businesses, and attractions (including Easton’s oldest building—the Bachmann Public House, now closed and in limbo) and overshadow our beautiful skyline of church steeples and bell towers, completely blocking the irreplaceable views of both the Governor Wolf Building (formerly Easton High School) as well as the last remaining structure of Easton’s first public school, Easton Union Academy, on Academy Hill—Easton landmarks of civic pride and national significance for well over a century?

Ø Be exempt from paying taxes for the next four years (through 2010) while being subsidized by $14+ million of our tax dollars—in part a loan with payments due soon that threaten to bankrupt the City, contribute to an imminent 15% tax hike, and lead to the elimination of vital public safety positions and equipment for police officers and firefighters?

Ø Add far more than 500 cars and 35 diesel buses a day to this location as well as numerous delivery trucks and service vehicles (a loading dock and major entrance/exit for buses and cars is planned parallel to Church Street) that will cause traffic jams and a dangerous intersection—rated a "D" by PennDot (one step above an "F,” the worst rating)?

Ø Supply fewer than 100 new parking spaces for area residents, shoppers, visitors, and commuters at a cost to taxpayers of $140,000 each (at least 400 spaces will be permanently reserved for condo owners and building workers as well as current personnel of the Governor Wolf Building)—causing overflow of vehicles to residential streets?

Ø Cast deep morning shadows over nearby houses and afternoon shadows over Riverside Park; make adjacent houses less economically viable by taking their property, views, air, and light; turn the Governor Wolf Building into a white elephant without adequate parking and no views toward the river (only views of the back of the new building and passing buses and cars below); and take away most of the adjacent green spaces needed for street shade trees and other landscape plantings for sight and noise buffering required by law?

Ø Increase flooding downtown and downriver because it provides no mitigation for stormwater runoff or groundwater recharge, paves over the entire lot with impermeable asphalt and concrete surfaces, ignores U.S. Army Corps of Engineer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources regulations, and covers part of the former bed of Bushkill Creek, an area that is riddled with sinkholes?

Ø Have no possibility of future connection with inter-city trains or provision for other kinds of true "intermodal" transportation other than cars and buses—yet is being built just one block from the former Easton bus terminal and a few more blocks from the former freight rail station, either of which could be restored at a fraction of the cost?

Ø Eliminate the public sidewalk on Church Street (as well as street shade trees and landscaping) and erect a 13-foot-deep concrete balcony that overhangs the public sidewalk just 17 feet overhead—hiding the shops above and creating the perfect sheltered haven for criminal activity, gang "tagging," and vagrancy at the gateway to our City?

Ø Look to Easton taxpayers for even more public funding to improve Riverside Park access and provide additional parking in the park on Larry Holmes Drive for the building’s tenants and visitors?

Ø Set a precedent for more anything-goes, publicly subsidized development on both sides of our riverfront?

John Bry, an urban planning and economic development expert from Harrisburg, spoke in Easton recently and called such parking garages a multi-million dollar waste of taxpayer money that never pay for themselves nor generate economic activity. No one ever visited any city because of its great parking garages. This is not the way to build our economic future by mortgaging our assets and selling out the twin legacies of our historic skyline and public riverfront.

Action is needed now! Express your opinion at these upcoming meetings: Planning Board, Historic District Commission, and Shade Tree Commission (visit http://www.easton-pa.gov/ or telephone 610-250-6600 for details). Urge your neighbors to write Mayor Mitman (pbm@easton-pa.gov), members of City Council, County Executive Stoffa, your state representatives, and Governor Rendell, and tell them you want reasonable development in the City of Easton that preserves our heritage and environment and brings real economic benefits, affordable housing, and well-paying jobs to all our neighborhoods. Planning for the Intermodal/Riverwalk development project has already cost taxpayers one-half million dollars. If the condo market sinks any further, the developer will either cut and run or demand even more public funds—either way leaving us holding the bag. Our tax money is too precious to squander on subsidizing luxury condos and private parking.

Get the Facts on the Intermodal/Riverwalk Development Projectand Contact your Elected City, State, and Federal Representatives

Say “NO” to:
Ø A 15% property tax hike to finance $14 million for luxury condos and their private parking while eliminating public safety positions and equipment for police officers and firefighters

Ø Increased downtown and downriver flooding

Ø More dangerous concentrations of trucks, traffic, and congestion on our streets

Ø Obliterating the irreplaceable views and usefulness of the more than century-old Governor Wolf Building (former Easton High School) and its bell tower as well as the Easton Union Academy Building (Easton’s oldest extant public school structure)—local, state, and national monuments to public education

Ø Overshadowing our streets, homes, businesses, and parks with oversized development that violates the guidelines of the U.S. Secretary of the Interior and Easton’s own Historic District Commission for our downtown, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Ø Ruining our distinctive and historic skyline that has been a source of civic pride and an attraction to visitors and new residents for over 200 years

Ø Taking public space, light, and air for private gain

Ø The most destructive development project in Easton since 1960s and 1970s “urban renewal” leveled our riverfront neighborhoods

Say “YES” to:
Ø “Green architecture” that is environmentally sound and meets stormwater runoff and groundwater recharge standards of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Pennsylvania Department of Natural Resources and Conservation

Ø A pedestrian and bicycle friendly downtown for residents, shoppers, and visitors

Ø Following federal, state, and local guidelines and laws for historic preservation, street shade trees, and landscape buffering

Ø Keeping the Governor Wolf Building and the Easton Union Academy Building as public assets and landmarks of public education and civic pride

Ø Preserving our heritage, skyline, and riverfront

Ø Public hearings and discussion as well as appeals to the Zoning and Planning Boards with, balanced, complete, and accurate information

Ø Investigative reporting by our local newspapers and other news media

Ø Renovating our existing housing stock and pursuing economic development and job creation for all neighborhoods in our City

Ø Seeking creative alternatives for this historically and environmentally sensitive site

Ø Transferring the $14 million in public funding to another location more suited for this development and allowing for true intermodal public transportation, including rail connections

Ø Smart growth and development that includes informed, comprehensive planning and land use

Editor's Note: Although we are not confident in the success of a bus depot beneath luxury condominiums, our lack of confidence is for different reasons than the Easton Neighbors for Responsible Development. As we've mentioned bus stations are not desireable places. And with things being the way they are in Easton it is not reasonable to assume that we will be able keep a bus station clean and safe. We have predicted that the intermodel project will never come to fruition-- it's brochureware. What we are destined to get from this pitch parade is over 100 fewer employees in the city and another very large, very empty building. -HoC

Easton Dressed #2

2006-11-01T15:25:00.000-05:00

I’m not the oldest Eastonian. Easton has only hosted me for just over 20 years. I am a transplant (not to be confused with a carpet bagger—I consider Easton my home, not some place of opportunity). And while my history here is relatively short, I do have memories of places and things that just aren’t anymore.

I remember Woolworth’s off of the Circle, bowling down at Heritage Lanes, and Frinzi’s when they had good food. And I fondly remember and solemnly miss the service and quality from Mr. Lenny Albaneese.

To those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to do business at 1217 Washington Street, I offer my apologies. 1217 Washington Street was the address of Giacomo’s Italian Specialty. And the doors of this fine neighborhood establishment closed for-good on Sunday, October 15, 2006. I apologize because if I was more aware I would have been able to advise you to stop by this neighborhood institution. I also would have been able to visit Mrs. Famularo in the store one more time and grab up some of her pepper shooters and the world’s best cannolis.

All is not lost. You can still get her pepper shooters and the world’s best cannolis. You may even be able to meet Mrs. Fumularo. You’re just going to have to do it at Giacomo's on the Hill at 700 Cattell Street.

The store on the Hill is one of my favorite places in the city too. It’s run by Mr. Giacomo and Mrs. Gina Fumularo’s sons Sal and Mario.

I feel bad, because I took the store for granted; like we do so many things in Easton. I thought Giacomo’s would be there whenever I chose to go and now it’s not.

I will visit Sal and Mario a lot more, because I don’t go to Giacomo’s enough.

Your neighbor

City Council Meeting Audio 10/25/06

2006-10-26T18:53:00.000-04:00

The Mayor’s office presented their first stab at the 2007 budget. And, as expected, it was chock-full of financial increases with significant reductions in service. Council members reserved their comments on the proposal, but some residents spoke out.

The quick and dirty on the Mayor’s proposal is a 3 mil (16%) tax increase; double the parking meter fees; cut 5 public works employees, 3 police, and 2 fire; only open Eddyside pool for a short season, and increase garbage fees while allowing less garbage at the curb.

The meeting was just over 2 hours long. Audio 14.7Mb

Meet the New Boss...

2006-10-24T22:35:00.000-04:00

Hello Neighbors,

Got a little historical reading assignment for us. Click the link to read how our mayor and his top aide presented the City's financial status to the press, residents, and the police arbitration board back in April of 1981.

My personal favorite is when he stated that "...the city would be bankrupt in four or five years" and then went on to say, "I may have overstated the case because we were in arbitration."

The more things stay the same, the more they stay the same.

(Click on image for file)

Top Ten Mitman Administration Re-election Slogans

2006-10-19T20:41:00.000-04:00

10. Look at how good things are!

9. Don't you worry your pretty little head about issues.

8. Offering you the best consultants that money can buy.

7. We'll give you real economic development even if we have to ignore every resident in the City to do it.

6. Let us show you just how much we DON'T know!

5. I lived in the West Ward for a few days.

4. We won't address any problem until we absolutely have to.

3. I won't pay any fee, fine, or tax that I expect you to pay.

2. We guarantee that we will fill each City director's position (at least) twice.

1. We promise you less service and higher taxes.

City Council Meeting Audio 10/11/06

2006-10-19T20:10:00.000-04:00

My apologies neighbors, I forgot to post last week’s City Council meeting.

The meeting was started with the second of two Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) public hearings. There were public comments concerning the proposed distribution of the CDBG funds vis-à-vis charity organizations and the City. There was discussion over whether it was necessary to purchase a vehicle for the Fire Department that was to be used mainly for Public Works.

The pre meeting public comments were dominated by trash talk. Recycling and the new contract were issues. The contract with Raritan Valley got a positive vote. A lawyer from one of the competing garbage companies made statements questioning Raritan’s bond solvency.

During the final public comment session at the end of the meeting a Council member answered a residents cry for enforcement and assistance with criminal activity and loitering by (once again—different Council member) suggesting the resident look into starting a block watch. Good answer! Thanks for the help and wisdom. The most unusual, entertaining, and ironic public comment was made by a “Super American” from Bethlehem Township who approached the podium wearing a sleeveless Minutemen tee-shirt that read, “Americans defending Americans”. His issue was immigration and he pointed out the workers working on the Sweet Shop while talking about unsafe working environments.

The meeting is 2 hours and nine minutes. Audio (14.7Mb)

Easton Dressed #1

2006-10-16T23:29:00.000-04:00

It’s been a while since I cataloged anything that I love, or for that matter even enjoy, about Easton. More and more people’s first criticism of me is that I only complain. And while that criticism is not the complete and correct assessment of me, it is valid; because I do exercise my right to complain frequently.

I make it a rule to mix problem solving in with any problem I point out. And BA and I have stated time and time again that we believe press conferences are the proper venues for relishing and praising, while Council meetings are the most important venue to find and fix problems.

That being said, I have to agree with my critics, people need to see and hear about Easton’s best. While I will still contest that this type of recognition should not overshadow issue resolution at City Council meetings, I think we at EU need to concede more space towards promotion of the place we love—Easton, Pennsylvania.

I’m sure at least one of the two of you reading this is wondering what brought on this change of heart. Well, to put it simply—lunch. I would guess that seventy five to ninety percent of my week is spent in the City. I live here; I work here, my wife works here, and my daughter goes to school here. I, naturally, eat; drink; shop; and recreate within the city limits a whole lot.

Last week I had to purchase a gift for an Easton charity event. We decided that a $50.00 gift certificate from one of the City’s restaurants was appropriate. So, I chose Sette Luna. I decided to make my trip a two-for-one and took care of the day’s lunch.

This turned out to be one of the most unexpectedly pleasant meals I have had in a while. I pride myself on my lack of pretense, and I am not very easily impressed. At Sette Luna I needed to be neither pretentious nor easily impressed. That was because I was in a place that “just does it right”. The food excelled in every way—“just enough” and uniquely appetizing. My meal started with their calamari which was served in a very tasty peppery-flavored tomato sauce. The sauce is so good that you instinctively use the aromatic house-made bread to sop it dry. I followed that up with one of the restaurants signature Panini sandwiches, The Eastonian. The sandwich was by no means a “gut buster”, but the owners must possess some secret sating formula, because it was” just right”. It was made up of the “just right” mix of Italian meats, cheese, and some greens with a small cucumber-tomato salad that helped each bite of the sandwich taste like a first bite.

The service only made things better as it was pleasant and subtly detailed. The room did not make me feel like a stranger in Easton, and it gave a comforting ambiance for touring visitors. I have eaten at Sette Luna a couple of times prior to this visit. Each of those times with company, and I had not the slightest hesitation at eating there alone (As a matter of fact, I had lunch there by myself three days later). The music was not obnoxious, and it did not make me feel either unrefined or unhip. They did things “right”. The servers are polite, accessible, and not in your face. I was most impressed as I witnessed an owner casually bus a table as if it were no big deal. They get it—“just right”.

While not easily impressed; I was easily impressed with the service provided by our neighbors at Sette Luna. And if I were pressed for an improvement criticism, I would ask for a children’s’ menu (the Little House of Crayons doesn't dig spices).

I love Easton, as well as many of you. So, from now on I will regularly pimp some of our goods, greats, and bests. That is, of course, in between working towards our mission.

To provide a clean, crime-free, and safe environment with competitive services
that allows residents to enjoy a high quality of life, while providing commerce
an environment to thrive.

Sette Luna
219 Ferry StreetEaston, PA 18042
610-253-8888
Mon. - Tues.: 11:30 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Wed. - Thurs.: 11:30 - 9:30 p.m.
Fri.: 11:30 - 10:30 p.m.
Sat.: noon - 10:30 p.m.
Sun.: 4 - 9 p.m.

Good Comments Deserve Comment

2006-10-05T18:57:00.000-04:00

LatinTeacher said...
You have answered my query. I agree in some ways. I think that having a city run water authority will bring in more money to the city (via water leases) and have the added benefit of removing some overhead and liability that the current system does not provide. I am not sure, though I fear some flaming may arise from this comment, why having the union is necessarily a good thing. I understand that unions help protect workers and help to negotiate when employers are being unfair. However, there comes a time when the union becomes a blind protector - fighting for things that seem dubitable at best. The city workers in this case would get to keep their jobs, as you state. But the new water authority, as a separate entity, would be allowed to create new hiring practices or keep it union or try some. The cry of privatization prevents the real issue from being heard.

First off let me just say, Latin Teacher I have read your profile, and I would like to welcome you to our great city. I, like you, am a transplant (Philly native), not to be confused with a carpet bagger.

I agree with your "blind protector" statement, and if that were the case I would be the first to fight it. But that is not the case with any of the citys 3 labor unions. Let me restate something I posted to the tag board a couple of days ago:

OK one more blurb about Unions. I did not mean to imply that all unions are doing good for the people. Because some have been divisive in their stinginess and have run prices through the roof and industries out of the country. Some have been too obstinate to promote changes in their industry's business model (B. Steel) and let their futures fade away. IN EASTON, the 3 bargaining units/unions we have are still on the useful side of the labor continuum. They protect against short cuts and unfair practices. BUT WE MUST TAKE HEED OF THIS, when our unions are no longer filled with people that have a vested interest in Easton's financial well being, we stand the chance of being fleeced (food for thought). Make Easton more livable, and employ a good number of residents. posted 4 Oct 06, 06:42 PM

You make the assumption that the city has hiring practice issues related to the water plant and the workers represented by AFSCME Local 447. That is not the case. Yes, the City does have hiring practice issues, just none related to this topic.

The current administration champions shortcuts to financial solvency. Every solution to any problem we have experienced has involved cutting or selling off assets. There are council members onboard with this philosophy too; Council President Vulcano has stated to me more than once that the City is not in the real estate business. That has been the guiding thought process behind the selling of a considerable amount of City owned property. The Mayor's office is working to cut employees/benefits. Their issue is that a overwhelming majority of the City's funds are spent on employees. We say, "No shit, Sherlock!" And here we come again to one of EU's major points-- Easton is A CITY. The purpose of city government is to return tax dollars to residents in the form of ESSENTIAL SERVICES. And this is where our disconnect is with the City leaders.

Mind you, this issue is not one of us complaining without offering solutions. We offer the same solutions over and over. We need to generate revenue, modernize, and enforce. The city is owed in excess of one million dollars in unpaid water bills. The number was $1.6 million a year ago. This is the elephant in the room. We don't enforce any ordnances that can drive revenue. BA has been lobbying for years to get the fire department to recover funds from insurance companies. The Bussiness Adminstrator's reasoning for not wanting to accept credit card bill paying was that the "City would have to pay a percentage". We gave away free parking for a week days after closing a swimming pool and cutting 3 fire fighters, 3 police officers, and 3-5 public works employees. And we fought for two years to convince the other four council members that then Councilman Mike Fleck's idea to reinstitute the Amusement and Mechanical Devices Tax was a good financial decision (too bad we screwed that up too-- $252,700). Close the pools, cut police, cut fire, cut public works, lease the water plant, sell the trash trucks, HIRE CONSULTANTS.

No Latin Teacher, the issue is not organized labor. The issue is essential services. We do NOT get what we pay for.

Thanks for the comments,

Your neighbors

A Challenge to All of Us

2006-10-03T11:44:00.000-04:00

Tag Board Tension

It is my suggestion to all here in the EUniverse to reread and absorb Our Neighbors’ last post entitled The EU Manifesto. After nearly 8 weeks of unscheduled hiatus, I am back reading the tag board and am not amused. Not because the writers don’t have a right to state their endless complaints, but because they offer no solutions. If we here in the EUniverse are going to change things we have to offer up a pound of wisdom every now and then-- Concrete, viable solutions. When we go to City Council meetings are we offering resolutions to the problems for which we complain? I’m Just Asking.

On the street, I am told that EU is a bunch of people talking about nothing. Well folks, this isn’t Seinfeld. The masses can’t get past the tag board before they click onto their next order of business. If we as a group are going to go on and on, let’s give the readers real statistics from real sources, then solutions that the Council can use. We can be a forum for endless ranting or a forum for change. What’s it going to be folks?

I’m Just Asking.

Answers to your "Comments" questions

2006-10-03T10:42:00.000-04:00

On Monday, October 2, 2006 two questions were put to us via the "Comments" links after posts.

The first from LatinTeacher asks, "So, do you agree with the Union position or with the proposal?"

This comment was posted to the August 23 Council meeting post. We assume that the question is refering to the proposed "water lease".

Our answer is niether (totally). We like something in between. We see no reason why the city should cease to employ the 20 or so water employees in their current jobs. Their jobs will still exist in the same capacities under Surburban Water. And since we keep hearing how this is in no way a privatization, because the Authority is a City agency, it makes a lot of sense to share the responsibility and keep an active grasp on our asset-- The water plant.

The union employees in both water and sewage have been managed by outside agencies for years. So, an arguement that management other that the City's over the City's employees is moot.

Making those employees choose between working at their trained positions or leaving the union is union busting as an aside. For the Administration it is a back door win-win. If they remain in the bargaining unit the workforce will allow positions to exist until attrition eliminates them, or if they keep their jobs the staffing immediatly disapears from the City. Well, what does that leave us the taxpayer with... A depleted bargaining unit (AFSCME Local 447) that can no longer stand up for the safety and fairness of working people. Translation, fewer and fewer people to maintain our parks, streets, City vehicles, and monitor codes. Not a win for my house. WE NEED THE WORKERS OF AFSCME LOCAL 447, AND WE NEED MORE THAN WE HAVE NOW. Our basic City services are failing or have failed.

The jobs are filled, and the workers are organized... Let them stay that way. It really does protect the City.

The next question is from r.moshki and r.moshki asks, "How do you plan to carry out your "mission"? "

We work EVERYDAY to accomplish our mission. BA, our contributers, and I concentrate on being involved and helping others to be involved. Our continual participation in City Council is to set an example to other residents. People need to know that those meetings are a real resource to accomplishing better living in Easton. Our stalwart presensence is also an example of strengths of persistence-- people need to see that sometimes it takes a bit more that just popping in on one meeting to get results.

We communicate and encourage communication through editorials. We stand up against bad policy, abuses of ethics, blight, and crime; and we stand beside our neighbors when they do the same. We actively participate in worthwhile community events, and we spread the word to help the events flourish.

In short we are active good neighbors.

PS

As I write this we are planning a EU community summit that we want to be a City crime symposium. So stay tuned.

Thanks for the questions.

We look forward to being a good neighbor to you soon!

Your neighbors

The EU Manifesto

2006-09-29T21:58:00.000-04:00

A whole lot of people do not really get what we here at Easton UnDressed are trying to accomplish. So let me “lay it bare”. I am the House of Crayons or HOC, my partner here is Badapple or BA. We started this blog on October 17, 2005. When I said the words, “Let’s start a blog”—I had never actually laid eyes on a web log (blog). I Googled the word “blog” and selected Google’s Blogger client as the home for our blog. A few hours later EU was live.

We chose our psuedo-anonymity for a few reasons. At first, we were not sure what we would write; and we needed a shield. But as the mission was taking shape our pen names served totally different purposes. The first was to emphasize the message over the messengers-- we did not want EU to be about us two; we wanted it to be about us 26,000. And the last by-product of our secret identities was (and is) the pure entertainment value-- It is an EU hobby; trying to figure out who is who.

When we began EU the issue de jure was the City’s proposal to let the State Theatre slide on its final two years of a one million dollar loan from the taxpayers of Easton. That balance has become our mantra $252,700.00. You can read all about that tragedy here.

The first blog post was pretty much a rant. And over the next few weeks we started to mold the EUniverse. Our intent was (and still is) to create an interactive information clearinghouse on all things and issues Easton. In those first weeks we piled on the content. We did top 10 lists, posted comics, added pictures, and ran polls. But the two most effective pieces of content we added were, without a doubt, audio files (public meetings and our podcast) and the infamous tag board.

Let me start with the tag board…
The tag board is an application that is actually not a part of the blog. The board we currently use is the third tag board we’ve used. The first was free crap, the second-- conveniently named Tag Board --was only slightly more reliable, and the third has been a charm at $2.00/month the cbox tag board has been stalwart.
Now, we have discovered that; for the most part; the tag board has served as the blog’s gatekeeper. Some people are so challenged by the reverse scrolling and automatic updating that they give up on EU before delving into any other content we offer. Others are drugged by the almost-instant gratification of the tag board. Now, some of the latter group overindulges in the tag board when they discover it. Our researchers are unsure of how their overindulgence effects their long term participation in the EUniverse. But our third subset; the instant gratifiers in-moderation; are what we’ve come to consider "the tone". "The tone" of the tag board is an indicator of a few things. 1) Current events 2) Interesting topicality and 3) Blog posts.
We never—actually, I never intended for the tag board to dominate the blog like it does. I’m not so sure about my partner BA (Queen of the Chat) though. But it is what it is.

The most entertaining aspect of the EUniverse is Easton UnPlugged; our podcast. In this, BA and I relax with refreshments and friends while we discuss the current Eastonian issues. We record and syndicate/podcast our sessions as a regular feature. The podcasts have been on hold for the summer months, but we are gearing up for a more robust season 2. Stay tuned!

The meat and potatoes of Easton UnDressed is the blog posts. We have worked extremely hard to make our posts items of truth. We cite our information meticulously, and we post the cited documents and recordings. Our recordings are what really set us apart from other blogs. We have built a useful library of press conferences and public meetings, and our uninterrupted string of City Council meetings is the jewel of our collection.

That’s the blog… Easton UnDressed, EU, the EUniverse in a nut shell. Those are our tools, and our manifesto really begins here…

What we are, what we are about… BA and I are patriots; Eastonian patriots. We, along with a core group of fellow Epatriots, have dedicated ourselves to maintaining and protecting our home, Easton. We promote the very basic principles of “clean and safe”. Clean and safe streets along with ethical and secure governing. We use the pneumonic “iIA!” (interest, Ideas, ACTION!) to direct our efforts. We are activists, pundits, and good neighbors. Our focus is simple and direct for a reason; we mean to accomplish our mission.

Our Mission

To provide a clean, crime-free, and safe environment with competitive services that allows residents to enjoy a high quality of life, while providing commerce an environment to thrive.

Your neighbors

"Good Things" Vs "Problems"

2006-09-29T15:23:00.000-04:00

We have noticed a rather disturbing trend in regards to public comments during City Council meetings. More and more we see people that come to the microphone berated and vilified by public officials. Because we express our concerns about the city, we have to endure indignation and anger.

We should not be the focus of that indignation and anger. We go there as messengers. We see problems and come seeking solutions. We are not there just to complain. We are there seeking help from Council and the Mayor-- Help and guidance to solve our city’s problems.

Council members continually attempt to rebut our concerns with dissertations on the “good things” about Easton, and there is no denying that there are many “good things” about Easton. But a “good thing” from my perspective is a goal that has been accomplished. A “good thing” stands alone as a mark of success. “Good Things” have already received the required investment of time, energy and money; either by the City, a group(s), or individuals.

A “problem”, on the other hand, is something that effects citizens in a negative way and has not found solution. It may not have yet been identified as something that needs attention. “Problems” have not yet received the necessary investments.

A “good thing” is an ending that will be recognized, and it will usually lose the spotlight quickly. However, if we allow ourselves to bask and gloat in the spotlight of a “good thing” for too long we will waste precious time necessary to change more “problems” into “good things”.

Our elected officials must realize that this means that public comments will be disproportionately spent on “problems”… This is not specific to Easton, and this is not a bad thing. It is just part of the process of moving a “problem” to a “good thing”. Ignoring the “problem“ will cause it to be repeated over and over again, instead of evolving it into a “good thing”.

A “problem” in itself should not reflect poorly on an elected official, but a lack of interest or concern by an official will. You are our leaders; you need to lead us in converting “problems” into “good things”. Standing in the spotlight too long only blinds you to “problems” that require your investment.

BadApple

City Council Meeting Audio 09/27/06

2006-09-29T13:14:00.000-04:00

We experienced some technical difficulty in this short 1 hour Council meeting. 5 minutes of audio is missing (Terrance Hand's pool summary). The meeting was ended with a 5 minute statement from the City Clerk. The Fire Chief also gave a summary of the fire departments business (during the public safety committee report-- after the 1st public comment segment).

Audio (6.25Mb)

Your neighbors

CRIME ON THE HILL

2006-09-19T21:45:00.000-04:00

College Hill is a mixed-use neighborhood, comprised of residences, commercial properties, city parks, and Lafayette College. We all expect to know if there is crime in our neighborhood so that we may protect our properties and ourselves.

In the past few weeks there have been at least four car thefts in College Hill. Two vehicles were damaged by hit and run. Another vehicle was vandalized and contents were stolen. This is just the news that we have been told by the victims that we know; there must be more crime than this. Isn’t this worthy of a story? I’m just asking.

The residents of College Hill should know that they are not safe. This is not the invulnerable neighborhood it once was. We must lock our doors, buy a big dog, and put our cars in our garages…if we have one.

Is it possible that our current City administration has reduced Police staffing to its very limits? Such limits, allowing criminals to work quite freely here on the Hill?

Why doesn’t the Express-Times report crimes in College Hill? Does the City withhold this information from the Express-Times or does the Express-Times just withhold it from us?

I’m Just Asking.

City Council Meeting Audio 09/13/06 (The Meeting of Love)

2006-09-16T21:16:00.000-04:00

This meeting is in two parts, because the first hour was the VERY IMPORTANT 1st of 2 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) public hearings. Audio(6Mb)

This meeting was disturbing to us in more ways than one. Council and the Administration had a pretty long and very praise-filled exchange with the police brass. Several speakers were chewed out by Council for expressing disdain, and HOC/EU took a blasting from an unsatisfied West Ward neighbor. Audio (14.4Mb)

Your Neighbors

City Council Water Hearing 09/12/2006

2006-09-13T16:24:00.000-04:00

Here is the audio of last evening’s City Council public hearing on the water works proposal. The hearing was an hour long. There was no presentation or comment from the Mayor’s office. Missy Corrado President of AFSCME Local 447 very eloquently represented her union. They also received excellent support from their parent organization, AFSCME District Council 33.

Council members reserved MOST of their comments until the public was finished.

Audio (8Mb)

City Council Meeting Audio 08/23/06

2006-08-30T19:39:00.000-04:00

In this meeting you will hear the question, "How do you know the woman was a prostitute?"
Oh, and the question was prefaced with, "Not to be confrontational, but..."

This is a short but none-the-less entertaining meeting. All of the good stuff is at the end of the meeting.

Audio (8.7Mb)

City Council Meeting Audio 08/09/06

2006-08-10T17:07:00.000-04:00

A two hour meeting.

Our Councillors and Mayor spent about an hour pretending all was right in Easton. The ice was shattered by the realities of drugs and threats on the 300 block of Berwick St.

Mrs Pat Gibson (FOR THE THIRD TIME IN TWO MONTHS) brought her concerns to the City bosses. This time she brought her neighbors. The issue was the hour of "real" meeting.

Curt Eally's comments were notable.

Audio (14.5Mb)