Hansell Vetoes $5 Million Jobs Cut in Lehigh County

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LC Exec Bill Hansell

Despite the lack of power, Lehigh County Executive Bill Hansell convened a news conference on November 1 to announce his veto of a budget amendment approved by a divided, 5-4, Board of Commissioners late last month. Their amendment slashed $5 million from the budget by reducing compensation to the County's workforce. Hansell blasted this jobs cut as "an unnecessary threat made against a work force that is already well under the number of employees that Lehigh County had twenty years ago." He added this cut "serves only to demoralize our staff with threats of furloughs, layoffs and terminations."

In addition to the veto, Hansell reduced non-personnel expenses by $3.5 million from what was contained in his original budget, which he called a compromise to a budget amendment that proposed $5 million.

Supporting Hansell at this news conference were Lehigh County Commissioners Percy Dougherty, David Jones, Dan McCarthy and Brad Osborne. With this support, it appears unlikely that Commissioners will be able to muster the six votes needed to override Hansell.

Also joining Hansell were numerous County officials, from Republican DA Jim Martin to Democratic Sheriff Ron Rossi.

Commissioner Lisa Scheller, part of the five-member coalition who supported a $5 million reduction in employee compensation, filmed part of the news conference and walked out, shaking her head.

District Attorney Jim Martin noted that last month's budget amendment instilled fear of layoffs or pay cuts in the approximately 45 employees under his supervision. "I can tell you that none of them deserve that," he remarked. "They work very diligently and hard on behalf of all of the citizens. He called the $5 million jobs cut, which translates to 100 employees, as unnecessary. "It was not a thoughtful approach," he argued. "If we can't prosecute cases, we can't fulfill our obligations." He commended the "political courage" of the four Commissioners who stood with Hansell

One of these, Dr. Percy Dougherty, a Republican, stated he is now a "marked man," referring to next year's election. A geologist by education, Dr. Dougherty described the budget process in lyrical terms. "The dark clouds that we saw on the horizon weren't the hurricane coming. It was budget season, and it hit us with a flurry, probably more so than the hurricane," he waxed.

Daugherty explained that he supported Hansell's veto because it includes $3.5 million in cuts to non-personnel expenditures. This will still guarantee a $44 reduction to each taxpayer, as was contained in the budget amendment approved by five Commissioners as well as the original budget proposed by Hansell.

Fellow Republican Brad Osborne, who chairs the Board, agreed that the $3.5 million in non-personnel cuts "begins the process of closing the structural imbalance between revenue and expenses in a sustainable way."

Democrat Dan McCarthy, like Dr. Dougherty, also referred to the recent storm. "When you have catastrophes like this, people want government," he stated. "It does have a valid role to play in our society." He complained that the $5 million jobs cut would rob Lehigh County residents of the very people needed to react to crises like Hurricane Sandy. Fellow Democrat David Jones called the indiscriminate jobs cut too much of a "blunt approach."

Commissioners are scheduled to vote on overriding the veto at their November 14 meeting.

The Commissioners who support the $5 million jobs cut are Vic Mazziotti, Scott Ott, Michael Schware, Tom Creighton and Lisa Scheller. Executive Hansell claimed that only Creighton honored his multiple requests for a meeting, although this was disputed by other Commissioners who complained they were not invited to the news conference.