Resident Nancy Kutz addressed the West Easton Council last night seeking answers to a rumor circulating that, during Kelly Gross’ tenure as Council President, she did not pay her trash portion of the quarterly sewer/trash bills.
Since it is no longer in litigation I can provide you some information.
It is true. Kelly Gross did not pay the trash portion of her quarterly bills – but that isn’t the end of the story.
Ms. Kutz went on to conclude that Kelly Gross received a pass because she is the daughter of Mayor Gerald Gross, and because the Mayor paid the past due amount, that there was a conflict of interest with that arrangement. She believed that every resident charged late fees should be refunded those monies.
At one point she stated, “Wow, this borough is really, super corrupt.” She later modified that statement when Council President Dan DePaul asked if she was referring to the present Council. “No, I’m not referring to the present Council. I’m referring to the Council in the past,” she responded.
First, let me say that I will not support a refund of late payment penalties to residents because Kelly Gross did not pay her trash portion. While it may be unfair that some had to pay a late fee while she paid no trash bill at all, that fact doesn’t provide justification for forgiveness of late fees for everyone else.
The omission of Kelly’s trash bill was addressed by the new council when it was discovered.
The fact is, Kelly Gross did not receive any special consideration because she is the daughter of the Mayor. Action was taken against her and Councilman Tom Nodoline on a number of questionable deeds that were discovered after the new members of council convened in January of this year.
It shouldn’t be forgotten what the new council faced when we gained access to Borough Hall. Missing computers, no staff, and no transition assistance from the only Councilman who could have provided it. Even the official Borough Seal went missing and had to be replaced. Councilman Tom Nodoline sent us on fools errands looking for computers that he helped carry out of Borough Hall. He disposed of older computers under cover of darkness, it was later discovered. The disposed ones had their hard drives destroyed without approval from a Council quorum, or any evidence of document retention being performed.
Between Kelly Gross and her lap dog, Tom Nodoline, they ran a closed door borough hall and operated on a transparency policy that took full advantage of the RTK Law and the delays allowed.
The omission of the trash portion of the Kelly Gross bill was only one of the discoveries made.
All of it, and I won’t rehash them here, as they can be found elsewhere on this website, was given to our present Solicitor and he was authorized to present it to the appropriate law enforcement agency.
It obviously didn’t put me on Mayor Gross’ “Favorite People” list, as I was among those who thought Kelly Gross (and Councilman Tom Nodoline) should answer for their actions. Not an easy decision for me, as I once thought well of them both.
I still hold Mayor Gross in high regard. At no point, on this matter and others, was there an indication that Mayor Gross had knowledge of what was being done behind the closed doors of the borough office. An office controlled by Kelly Gross and her minion, Councilman Tom Nodoline. No one can convince me that a man who has dedicated 50 years in service to his borough and has no financial difficulties would risk his reputation in order to save a few hundred dollars each year on one of the properties he owns in the borough.
During the Council meeting, responding to Ms. Kutz, I incorrectly assigned a Bible verse to, Deuteronomy 26:4. More accurately it is Deuterononmy 24:16 which states, “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.” In that, my belief is that a father should not be held responsible for the actions of an adult daughter.
Power in West Easton government is controlled by the Council. Because no checks and balances existed due to the lack of a Borough Manager and Secretary during most of Kelly Gross’ tenure as Council President, the opportunity manipulate billings existed.
As a father, I can understand the desire to protect your children. Mayor Gross made restitution for what was owed the Borough, understanding that the payment did not erase the fact that malfeasance had occurred.
Mayor Gross may not have been pleased, but at no time did I feel threatened by retaliation of some sort. Other than an occasional snipe at a Council meeting, usually as a result of misinformation (or lack of a complete quote attributed to me) that he was provided by someone else, he appeared resigned to let the chips fall where they may.
Tom Nodoline, however, continued with his puppet devotion to Kelly Gross – calling my employer for alleged violations of policy, and other petty attempts at retaliation. He will sign his name to any lie and feign friendship with anyone to cover his ass, or avoid being held accountable for his past deeds.
Northampton District Attorney John Morganelli claimed prosecutorial discretion and refused to take action against Kelly Gross or Tom Nodoline for their actions. It wasn’t worth his time or county expense, apparently.
This Council took an appropriate course of action. Evidence regarding a number of issues was prepared by our Solicitor, who turned it over to a higher authority for a determination. Morganelli refused to proceed with it.
If you don’t understand the politics of Mr. Morganelli, we are a small borough in a large county. If we were Easton, a city that would make headlines for a DA seeking higher office at the time, his decision might have been different. 27,000 residents seeking action gets more attention than a little borough of 1250, of which, a 300 voter turnout is a rarity.
Over the last 11 months, much of which was put on this very website, there was never a local newspaper in the audience to cover West Easton and the progress being made, though there was one in attendance last night.
Jim Deegan, Editor of The Express-Times, was at this meeting. Perhaps he was expecting fireworks. He didn’t get them. I think he saw a different Council than he was familiar with in years past. There was no tirade from anyone in the public and no banging gavel from the dais. If Mr. Deegan writes about it, I would hope he makes note of it.
Six members of this 7-member Council have done what it could do with regard to the past. We will work for a better West Easton moving toward the future.
Updated 12/1/16
Disclaimer: On January 4, 2016, the owner of WestEastonPA.com began serving on the West Easton Council following an election. Postings and all content found on this website are the opinions of Matthew A. Dees and may not necessarily represent the opinion of the governing body for The Borough of West Easton.
