Nazareth's Culture of Corruption

Strye at Myrtle Beach in March

Last week, Nazareth Mayor Carl Strye was charged with falsifying records and skimming $8,000 from Nazareth Vigilance Hose Co. when he was President there. This is something he admitted during Grand Jury testimony in January. He's hoping for ARD, a special program for first offenders. But he refuses to resign. Displaying no remorse, he has told reporters that he can still somehow supervise the police department and actually presents himself as a victim. He complains that the whole affair should have been handled "in house instead of at the courthouse." He points to overwhelming support from his Facebook pals. These sycophants include Council members and people like Main Street manager Stephanie Varrone, who has 20,000 reasons to like him. Outside this closed circle, people want Falsify Strye gone.

He's been ordered to stay away from the Vig, where he did his skimming. But for over a year, he's been spending more and more time at the the Holy Family Social Club, ingratiating himself with another social club that has had its share of gambling problems over the years. If you wanted something done, you could meet Falisify Strye there and buy him a few drinks. Want the cops to intervene in a dispute with your neighbor? I know for a fact that he has intervened in several police matters directly as a result of these visits.

He was holding court there as recently as last night.

"Bingo!" he cried as he managed to win.

Strye at Flyers

Now Strye does take care of Holy Family, too. Behind that social club is an alleyway. Beck Street, which extends about three blocks to nowhere. Strye made sure that a nice fresh coat of macadam was laid down last year, even though only one home actually faces this alley In the meantime, driving around the circle is like driving on a washboard.

On New Year's Eve, Falsfy Strye sat at the head table for that club's year-end celebration. He went to every table and handed each a bottle of champagne. "Compliments of the Borough of Nazareth," he'd say

Let's hope that he was just falsifyin', and that the Borough did not actually buy this booze.

I could ask Interim Secretary and Treasurer Glenn Steckman, but I'm hearing he's already flown the coop and is hoping to get picked up by Reading.

I won't run down whether Nazareth bought this booze, but do know there is a culture of corruption.

Since the beginning of this year, Strye has been on thee trips and to a Flyers' game.

"Thanks Reno for the ticket," he said on January 25 when he was at The Flyers' game. In early March, he flew to Kentucky, where he watched his granddaughter play in a volleyball tournament Later in the month, it was a three-day golf tournament at Myrtle Beach that also included Nazareth Public Works Director Bob Reimer. "Thank you Don B. And Joe Mac!" His latest trip, earlier this month, was to Las Vegas. He claimed that was for business.

Falsify Strye seems to regards the entire Borough of Nazareth as one gigantic social club. I'm surprised he hasn't set up poker machines in the circle. Borough Council is right there with him. Last October, they voted unanimously to apply for a $52,900 gaming grant from Monroe County for improvements at the American Legion. That's where Larry Sroudt, a Council member, works as a bartender. That club is routinely hit with gambling violations. In fact, Stoudt was himself placed on ARD for interfering with a state gambling investigation aimed at social clubs. They effectively voted to subsidize an illegal gambling operation with money from Mount Airy Lodge, a legal operation.

There was no attempt to seek money for its police or fire operations.

Speaking of police, "Commissioner" Randy Miller was brought in to make life miserable for cops who are actually interested in enforcing the law evenly. In July, he pushed for and got retired Bethlehem cop Joseph Gross, who acted as his IA guy in Bethlehem. This is the guy who tickets people at Mass, engages in 70 mph chases through borough streets and fails to respond to back up requests when shots are fired. .

In addition to failing to respond as a back up when someone exercised his second amendment rights against hermit crabs, he also failed to respond when Officer Kyle Stout [no relation to Larry Stoudt] encountered a man who was exercising his second amendment right to throw a M-80 at someone's home. Stout was punched in the jaw and forced to use pepper spray to subdue his assailant. Back up Gross didn't show up until Stout was handcuffing the assailant.

Gross tells other cops that he will be Nazareth's next chief when Randy Miller goes to Emmaus, where he expects to take over

In the meantime, Officer Stout is leaving Nazareth for Wilson Borough. Police Officers who know they have to work with Gross call off.

Gross, incidentally, has applied to join Nazareth's social clubs.

This is just some of what I'd call a culture of corruption in Nazareth. This is without looking at the strange relationship between the borough and its money-making ambulance company or its sewer authority. Those are separate stories.