Fate of Gracedale in Voters' Hands

If you've followed the local news at all in the past few months, seen the stories.

Northampton County wants to sell Gracedale, the based in Upper Nazareth. A group of citizens that hopes to prevent the sale hasthe matter on the ballot. 

Here's how it reads:

Vote Yes or No

"The county nursing home, known as Gracedale, shall not be sold and/or leased by the County of Northampton for a period of five (5) years from the date of the approval of this initiative."

Like I said, we've written about this before, and have run a few opinion pieces on the issue.

Northampton County Controller Steve Barron has argued against it, while columnists and Bernie O'Hare have argued for it.

The Lehigh Valley Tea Party published a voters guide last week that asks County Executive John Stoffa and Mario Martinez -- leader of the group opposing the sale -- the same series of questions. Not surprisingly, a lot of their answers were very different.

There's also a guide that the Morning Call published that lays out a lot of the debate surrounding the sale.

And remember: even though state law keeps third-party/independent voters from voting in most primary races, anyone who's a registered voter can have a say on Gracedale.

The Gracedale issue is informing this year's county council races as well. In most primary races, the candidates are unopposed, except for the Easton area's District II, where Republican Councilman Mike Dowd -- who is in favor of selling Gracedale -- faces a challenge from Bill Whitman, a school administrator who opposes the sale.

Whoever wins today will face Democrat Robert Werner in the fall. District II includes Easton, Wilson, West Easton, Tatamy, Stockertown and Glendon, as well as Palmer, Forks and Williams townships.