Gracedale Debate Continues

Gracedale dominated the discussion at Northampton County Council's Thursday night meeting, with a two hour debate that referenced everything from Hubert Humphrey to the postal service to methods of warding off snakes.

But in the end, council took no action on the business at hand: an ordinance introduced by members Ann McHale and Lamont McClure that would have prohibited the for five years.

Council voted 5-4 to table the ordinance, because there are still pending legal challenges to a referendum on the sale of Gracedale.

“There’s still litigation that clouds any decision we make," said Councilman Ron Angle, who supports the sale. 

He and blogger (and Patch contributor) Bernie O'Hare had gone to court to keep the sale from , arguing there were flaws in the way the signatures were collected.

Earlier this week, Northampton County Judge Stephen Baratta ruled that the sale can go on the ballot. O'Hare has appealed the decision; County Executive John Stoffa said Thursday he's not sure what he'll do. Either way, that's two potential appeals out there, meaning council -- a majority of it, anyway -- didn't want to act just yet.

But before that vote came public comments from people on of the issue.

Among them was former state Rep. Rich Grucela who is against the sale. He provided the Humphrey quote, that the "moral test of government" is how it treats its elderly residents.

"I truly believe that a creative, progressive county adminstration could operate that institution," Grucela, who once served on county council said.

He added that in his last contested election, he won by a margin of 17,000 votes. More than that many people have signed the Gracedale petitions, Grucela noted. If something has that many supporters, it's worth paying attention to, he told council.

Brian Eichfeld, a Hellertown resident who in the past has represented the Lehigh Valley Tea Party at council meetings, said he thinks there's too much misinformation at work for people to get an accurate picture before they vote.

He recalled going to vote last year and hearing from people who were against the sale that a private Gracedale would "want to put people out on the street."

People in the audience jeered at this. There was a lot of jeering and catcalling Thursday night, much of it directed at Angle.

"I don't know how I became the whipping boy for you people," he said, during a lengthy discourse defending his position.