“Our community has made great strides in rebuilding itself after the closing of Bethlehem Steel. I am proud of everything we have accomplished during my time on City Council but more work remains. That is why I am running for re-election”.
Reynolds lists these accomplishments during his time on City Council:
- Supporting economic development projects that have led to over $2 billion dollars in economic development including the City Revitalization and Improvement Zone (CRIZ), Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance program (LERTA), and Tax Incremental Financing zone (TIF) (1)
- Working with colleagues on City Council to cut over $6 million dollars from the City Budget (2)
- Helping to create Bethlehem’s Human Relations Commission in an effort to protect all Bethlehem residents from discrimination in employment, housing, schools and public accommodations (3)
- Protecting Bethlehem’s drinking water by supporting the conservation of 22,000 acres of land in the City’s watershed (4,5)
- Supporting successful City efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of the City by 30 percent through the implementation of initiatives associated with the standards set forth by the City of Bethlehem’s Climate Protection Agreement (6)
- Being accessible to Bethlehem citizens and attending weekly community meetings in an effort to help improve the efficiency of city services
- Being a vocal advocate for state legislation supporting marriage equality, environmental protection, and increased funding for the Bethlehem Area School District
If re-elected, Reynolds stated that he would continue to develop targeted policies to support:
- Economic redevelopment and revitalization efforts throughout the city of Bethlehem
- Public safety efforts in every neighborhood and area of the city of Bethlehem
- Programs to improve the efficient and cost effective delivery of City services
- Initiatives to maintain and enhance the high quality of life in the city of Bethlehem including increasing inspection and code enforcement
- Accessibility and transparency of city government by attending community and neighborhood meetings
Reynolds' official announcement will be on Thursday February 19th from 5:30 to 7:30 PM at the Bethlehem Brew Works (bottom floor) located at 569 Main Street in Bethlehem.
For more information on the campaign, please check out www.jwilliamreynolds.org.
Sources (supplied by Reynolds):
1 – http://articles.mcall.com/2013-11-19/news/mc-bethlehem-criz-application-20131118_1_bethlehem-steel-criz-neighborhood-improvement-zone
2 - https://www.bethlehem-pa.gov/citycouncil/meetings/archive/2010/Backup/122110/index.html
3 - http://articles.mcall.com/2011-06-21/news/mc-bethlehem-city-council-anti-discri20110621_1_orientation-and-gender-identity-discrimination-sexual-orientation
4 - http://articles.mcall.com/2008-08-22/news/4173473_1_wildlands-conservancy-nature-conservancy-open-space
5 - https://www.bethlehem-pa.gov/citycouncil/meetings/archive/2010/Minutes/2010-10-19.html
6 – http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf/2013/10/bethlehem_streetlights_upgrade.html
10 comments:
He left out:
texting while citizens speak
being jc's boy
the fact that he has a hot girl friend
hiring jc's ex admin assist as the new unqualified city clerk
back stabbing the current mayor
his association with dobbler d
being in charge of dem inbreeding in the city
"hiring jc's ex admin assist as the new unqualified city clerk"
Seems that this is an attack on an innocent civilian.
And what makes her unqualified? She was the executive assistant to 2 mayors in the City of Bethlehem for 14 years. She is more than qualified to be city clerk.
Just like Spirk is more than qualified to be given the council solicitor job after dumping Spadoni. We know who pulls the strings.
Tool bag
Willie has been a strong Councilman who works hard and takes his job very seriously. He deserves reelection in my opinion. As for the attack on the city clerk hire, that is nonsense. Cindy leaves behind big shoes to fill, but few people work harder, care more about the city and its residents,or knows more about the inner working of city hall than the new City Clerk. Sad that anyone would question her qualifications or integrity.
Since the attack on the new City Clerk is anonymous, it means nothing./
Little willie aka Callahan. Has one agenda. Step on everyone' s feet until he thinks he will be mayor. He learned from the scum of Bethlehem politics. The guy that lost to John Brown. Need I say more?
Yeah, you could say your name. If you can't do that, your personal attack is meaningless.
I'm responding to the comments made by Folklore. For starters, a literary observation. "Folklore," as commonly defined, is sometimes wrong. Friday the 13th is not unlucky. Shaving one's hair does not make it grow back thicker or darker. Passing along a story from person to person does not make it factual.
Now back to the claims that this particular Folklore made about Councilman Reynolds.
1. "Texting while citizens were speaking." Do you know for a fact that this occurred? Did you actually see the device? I attend council meetings regularly and have not seen him do this. But for the sake of argument, does this supposed texting occur at every meeting or only occasionally? Again, for the sake of argument, could it be that this "texting" involves fact-checking a questionable claim made by a speaker? Again, for the sake of argument, does any of this matter?
2. "Being JC's boy." I assume you are referring to John Callahan rather than Jesus Christ. I know Councilman Reynolds. He is beholden to no one. Mr. Callahan is no longer mayor. He now is in the corporate world and, from what I've heard from independent sources, is not involved in city politics.
3. "That he has a hot girlfriend." Assuming you are correct (and you are not), so what? A person's marital or dating status has no bearing on a person's official capacity. Grow up.
4. "Hiring an unqualified city clerk." Wrong. The new city clerk served as with success as administrative assistant to the mayor for many years.
5. "Backstabbing the current mayor." You cite no examples. That alone makes your comments unworthy. From what I've heard from independent sources, Councilman Reynolds and Mayor Donchez met about a year ago to discuss areas of mutual agreement.
6. "His association with dobbler d." What the hell is that? If you’re going to throw accusations, at least explain what you’re talking about.
7. "Being in charge of inbreeding in the city." I'll take this in three parts.
If you're talking about elective office, the last time the Republicans ran a full slate of candidates, the voters rejected every one. A Republican ran for council in 2013. He lost.
If you're talking about the Democratic primaries, the 2013 primary had six candidates running for four seats. The voters made their selection. One of the seats was closely contested.
If you're referring to supposed "inbreeding" in city hall, would you fire a city employee because he or she happens to marry a coworker? Would you fire an employee whose spouse has a sibling who becomes married to someone who works for the city? I was happily employed for a Fortune 500 company. The employment application did not ask whether I had a parent, sibling, niece, nephew, cousin, grandparent or in-law who worked for the company. The issue was moot. The company wanted to know whether I had the training, experience and capability to do the job, not who I was related to. Are you suggesting that a Fortune 500 company is deficient when it comes to hiring practices?
Also you should be aware that the mayor, not city council, hires employees. The mayor nominates department heads. The council confirms or rejects the nominee. Under a recent council resolution, council's involvement in all other employee hiring is limited to accepting or rejecting the mayor's recommendation. Council wanted to have some degree of control over city spending. This policy does not apply to public safety employees. Under the previous policy, the mayor alone was responsible for hiring.
Before you comment in the future, get your facts straight. And have the decency to use your name if you throw reckless accusations.
Frank Baran
36 W. Spruce St.
City of Bethlehem
P.S.: I'm using the tagline line "Anonymous" only because I don't have a Google account.
Yawn, more of the same. The Callahan gang posse vs. The Morganelli crew. This is Bethlehem politics.
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