(Updates with comment from Kraft.)
Oct. 21, 2026
— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
Northampton County Council President Ken Kraft has checked with other members on not permitting County Executive reports at the start of Council meetings, a move aimed at Tara Zrinski.
Today, Kraft told me that the county ordinance about meeting agendas does not provide a slot for an Executive’s Report.
“Do I follow the law or do I keep letting her stand up there and talk?” Kraft said in a text message.
The news about the potential change first came from Lehigh Valley Ramblings, the local news blog that covers Northampton County courts and government better than traditional media.
If Kraft is making up a list of banned speakers, I have a few nominees. I’d start with people who stand up and say, “I wasn’t planning to speak tonight, but was moved by the ponderous greatness of my thoughts to share them for five minutes.”
So with an audience of perhaps 60 people present and watching online, that five minutes equals 300 person minutes, five hours of human existence wiped out by one person’s pomposity.
Zrinski’s presentations do go on a bit long, as the Executive rarely sticks to a script. Kraft values brevity in meetings, and it is a County Council meeting, not an Executive meeting.
Bernie O’Hare of Lehigh Valley Ramblings finds the reports to be useful. Kraft apparently finds them to be long. I think a time limit could resolve the issue.
I would also like to see the county’s five-minute speaking limit for members of the public cut to three minutes. If somebody can’t make a point in 45 seconds, let’s face it, it’s not going to happen.
Despite Kraft’s move, Zrinski will be able to speak during the public-comment section of the meeting.
The right to address the government is sacred in America, but it’s abused by many. People bring up nonsense, such as the price of eggs or their cable bill (I’m not making this up) and a few speakers appear to be off their medicines.
Others want to talk at length about things that have nothing to do with local government. There were the goofballs who kept talking to Bethlehem City Council about war in the Middle East. Luckily they’ve moved on to some new cause and don’t show up anymore.
Residents have the right to speak before Council, but why some of them want to is a mystery. Often, residents bring up important issues. Sometimes, a person just wants to hold others captive with their private obsessions.
The result: meetings are long, boring and regular people don’t attend and don’t pay attention to government.
