At its May 8 meeting, Lehigh County Board of Commissioners defeated, by a vote of 4-5, a major step in getting the renovation of the Cedarbrook Senior Care and Rehabilitation facility started. Commissioners gave a first reading to a resolution that “indicates [commissioners’] support for a facility plan, which meets the facility standards set forth by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.”

The resolution would have authorized county personnel “to take all such further action including any necessary transfer of funds and to execute additional documents” as appropriate to carry out the project.

“We will have a five-star facility out there,” Commissioner Dr. Percy Dougherty said. “Not only in terms of the services, but the physical plant. This will get us off of the eight ball and move us forward in terms of getting something done at Cedarbrook.”

Commissioner Geoff Brace supported the resolution but cautioned “anyone who supports it should be prepared to enact legislation to support Cedarbrook’s future operations.”

Resolution No. 2019-3, sponsored by Republican Commissioners Amanda Holt and Dougherty, had four yes votes by Brace, Dougherty, Holt and Amy Zanelli. The five no votes were from Nathan Brown, Marc Grammes, Dan Hartzell, Marty Nothstein and Brad Osborne.

A second Cedarbrook-related resolution, No. 2019-34, faired better, with an 8-1 passing; Holt cast the no vote.

Its intent “is to indicate the board of commissioners’ commitment to the phase one renovation of Cedarbrook Senior Care and Rehabilitation while identifying other major financial issues currently facing the county of Lehigh.”

Before going to a vote, commissioners voted to strip out language revealing how much the approved expenditures would affect tax rate millage.

It provides $34 million for miscellaneous capital projects and $47 million for Cedarbrook rehabilitation costs. Brown cautioned once the county decides to go through with this project, “there comes a cost - and that cost is going to be a tax increase somewhere down the line, either this year or next year.”

In discussion of the resolution, Nothstein said there will be a $6.1 million “structural deficit” in the fiscal year 2019 year-end projection.

“That needs to be fixed,” Nothstein said.

Nothstein also characterized the million-dollar numbers in the resolution as “random numbers” being “thrown around.”

“We have to be smart with this,” he said.

This drew a sharp rebuke from Zanelli: “I’m a little surprised by your comment because this isn’t new. You voted two years ago to have this project. We had an opportunity at our last budget hearing to not have the deficit, but now we’re up here complaining that we have a deficit that you voted to have. It’s not appropriate.

“I’m very happy the board is going to start actually doing work toward investments the board promised the people we would do. This deficit is the fault of the people sitting right at this table,” she said.

Last year, Republican commissioners rejected Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong’s 2019 budget.

Numerous staffers from the Lehigh County Human Services Department again attended the meeting. The department employees have been pressing the commissioners to increase staffing for the department, which has responsibility for child welfare in the county. They have been working without a contract with the county since January.

“When tragedy strikes - and by tragedy, I mean when someone dies - there will be a public outcry,” SEIU 668 Shop Steward Frank Gerlach said, speaking to the commissioners.

He said people will start asking questions and pointing fingers.

“It’s very easy to point a finger at a worker and make them a scapegoat. And that has happened,” he said. “For three-and-a-half years, we have built a very long, public, documented paper trail of our effort to bring these needs to light. When it happens, the responsibility will lie where it belongs - with administrators and elected officials.

“We’re ringing the bell; we need the help. It’s not hyperbole. It’s the reality of what we deal with every day,” Gerlach said.