Lehigh County Commissioners’ Nov. 8 meeting started rough as divisions between administrators and county employees widen. “A week before I was preparing to release my report, I was informed that the executive had altered the 2024 budget for my office to reduce my staff by 25 percent, targeting two of my staff members for termination,” said a tense Mark Pinsley, county controller.

In terms of his staffers’ job security, Pinsley also claimed, “I was made aware that during this same period, Commissioner [Jeffrey] Dutt was, behind closed doors, attempting to whip votes to prevent those positions from being reinstated.”

For these reasons, Pinsley told the board he decided to hold back the release of his controversial report, The Costs of Misdiagnosis, until a non-altered budget was presented. He further said that although the board approved $10,000 for his office to seek outside legal opinion, it was line vetoed by the executive, a move described by Pinsley as his “motivation as being deliberately deceitful. He is fixated on retribution and revenge.”

Dutt responded, “I did hear about the positions but acted nothing on it. I don’t know where you got that information from.”

Dutt further told Pinsley, “I want to make this very very clear. You don’t know me as a person. We’ve only met a couple of times. I don’t think I have a retribution bone in my body.”

Chair Geoff Brace also weighed in on some of the remarks made by Pinsley, one in which he allegedly passed on his duties to Dutt due to a vacation.

Brace made it clear, “I’d like to state on the record that the couple of times that I have been on vacation, I’ve been accessible to everybody. And have acted and functioned as a commissioner at that time. In fact, one afternoon, I even took a phone call from the controller while on vacation. I don’t delegate when I’m on vacation.”

Later in the meeting, another tense exchange occurred between Pinsley and Dutt over a motion on whether it is in the best interest of commissioners to enter into a professional services agreement with Robert M. Stephenson.

Following discussions on what exactly “best interest” means, the board voted no.

Bill 51 passed, allowing for a new contract with Highmark for medical coverage for 2024, 2025 and 2026 for active employees, qualified spouses and employees.

Lehigh County’s Director of Administration, Ed Hozza Jr., told the board, “This is a unique opportunity for the county. The savings are dramatic for our employees.”