Northampton County Council voted during a special meeting on Dec. 18 to override county executive Lamont McClure’s veto of an ordinance that changes how the county handles competitive negotiations for major contracts.

McClure called the ordinance, which is an amendment to the administrative code, an “impermissible encroachment” on procurement powers granted to the county executive under the home rule charter and warned the council that it could open the county to lawsuits, delay projects, and burden taxpayers.

The amendment allows a member of county council to sit on selection committees that review certain bids. McClure argued that “inconsistent” language about how many council members may serve on a committee could lead to Sunshine Act and Right to Know Law challenges if a quorum participates in committee meetings that are not advertised as public.

McClure also said the ordinance could be used in court by disappointed bidders to challenge awards by the county. “You have the potential for such mischief to cause delays with respect to the procurement process in the county. Those delays could cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars,” he said.

The county council’s solicitor, Christopher Spadoni, said he disagreed with McClure’s veto statement.

Council member Kelly Keegan said the ordinance was “shoved down our throats” and pointed out that it wasn’t even on the agenda for Dec. 4’s council meeting. “This was put on our desk an hour before we were to sit down. I think it’s a slap in the face to our new elected county council members. They should be voting on this,” she said.

David Holland, Jason Boulette, Theresa Fadem, and Nadeem Qayyum – all Democrats – take office Jan. 8.

Council member Ron Heckman supported overriding the veto, commenting that the new council and incoming county executive Tara Zrinski are likely to communicate better with one another than the current council and executive, and can always rescind the amendment. He also expressed long standing unease over instances where the county received only one bid on contracts.

A 6-3 majority on council voted to override the veto. Heckman, council president Lori Vargo Heffner, council vice-president John Goffredo, John Brown, Jeffrey Corpora and Thomas Giovanni voted yes, and Keegan, Ken Kraft and Jeff Warren voted no.