SHARE THIS

In May of last year I wrote about Councilman Nodoline’s questionable conduct in using a Council meeting to promote his candidate for Council and urging voters at that meeting to vote for that individual. In my post, I questioned his ethics in using public resources for political promotion.

Now, I question his principles. It seems he has no limit when seeking to get even, for his puppet master having had his puppet strings cut, against his wishes.

Beyond the arena of politics, he attempted to have a disciplinary action started against me at my place of employment. I suppose it was an attempt to have me fired, for what other reason would a councilman have to report another councilman to his employer?

He reported me to Human Resources, for having my school bus parked in front of Borough Hall.

What he didn’t know was that my supervisor was already aware of it and why I was there. I should also note for you, I wasn’t being paid by my employer during that time.

My employer, CIU 20, has been quite obliging in assisting me in performing my civic duties, when they are able. Just recently, the Director of CIU 20 approved a day off that they didn’t have to grant me, so that I could attend a training weekend for newly elected officials. Something I thanked them for at the last Council meeting.

Why was I at Borough Hall? There was a computer problem that morning and it was hoped that what little knowledge I possess might correct it in short order. A computer problem that was probably the only one he isn’t neck deep in already, when it comes to the computer problems that exist.

Petty. Vindictive. Spiteful. These are only a few of the words that come to mind when I think about an elected official calling the employer of a fellow sitting Councilman in order to jeopardize his means of making a living.

Politics is dirty, but there is nothing dirtier than trying to put another person out of a job, through spite. And with Mr. Nodoline’s own time spent at Borough Hall sitting with the former Council President, while actually on the clock of his own employer, he is hardly one who should be throwing that stone.

It’s childish and I would expect better from a grown man in a leadership role.

Especially considering that I have done my best not to affect the employment of someone he is close to that has resorted to sending messages through Facebook, to those I work with, requiring me to answer questions from multiple people who show them to me and ask if what is written is true. These are people I risked my job for, when leading a union organization and then was elected their Shop Steward, until resigning to take a Council seat. Most respect me for that and they know I try to do my best for those I serve.

That person sending the Facebook messages is also a co-worker and with the copies of those messages in my possession and this latest incident I could easily file a complaint of harassment at our place of work. That would mean the person I accused would likely be out of work for at least two weeks without pay during the investigation and if my employer finds that I was harassed, the possible loss of their job. For, you see, the harassment policy at my workplace doesn’t care if I’m a public official. It only cares how it affects my relationships at the workplace and whether I perceive myself as being harassed.

So far, my “thick skin” coat I’ve put on since taking office has allowed me to let it slide, but this latest incident has worn it thin and I won’t tolerate it much longer. All I’ve asked so far of my employer is to give a reminder to this person of the harassment policy. I’m hoping that will be enough to put an end to it.

What really burns my ass is that Councilman Nodoline continues to play the “Got-ya” game. Starting with his feigned concern about people electrocuting themselves and burning their house down from a review of a Generator Power Transfer Switch I previously wrote, that gained no traction and was laughed at by most who heard him say it. Couple that with bringing up some past decision of the Zoning Board that has no authority to enforce conditions of a variance, once it is granted.

I could have reciprocated. Wasting time to search for permits and inspections for all the work I know he has done in his house, but do I really care? No. I’m not playing the “Got-ya” game. I wouldn’t care if anyone on Council installed an in-ground swimming pool in their basement, as long as the purchase didn’t come out of the General Fund.

I doubt there is a person in the Borough who hasn’t done some type of work that required a permit and inspection. If you’ve replaced a single basin sink with a double, installed a garbage disposal, added an additional breaker to your service panel, enlarged an entrance door, or done a lot of things you are capable of doing as a homeowner, you likely violated some code. Personally, if you burn your house down or flood your basement because of it, that is between you and your insurance company.

What Councilman Tom Nodoline doesn’t realize is that he is burning a bridge with me that he shouldn’t.

I am one of the very small minority on Council arguing to give him time to find his way out of the quagmire of the blinding loyalty he has to a former Councilperson. That he may yet be a man… with his own mind, doing what he believes is best for West Easton, rather than just blindly following the will of someone else, might still be possible for him.

Calling my employer makes me wonder if he has that ability. It makes me wonder if he shouldn’t be left to fend for himself when the time comes, but if Darth Vader was able to return from the Dark Side, maybe there is hope for Tom.