Willie Reynolds and Dana Grubb both seek the Dem nomination for Bethlehem Mayor. LV4All (who agree with them) hosted an endorsement meeting last night. Willie accused Dana of seeking endorsements from local elected officials. Dana responded he had not, and Willie called him a liar.
Bethlehem politics is always ugly, but it usually manifests itself in whisper campaigns or anonymous comments. It never comes from candidates themselves.
Willie's remark is both false and displays poor temperament. He apparently disliked being held accountable for perpetual tax hikes, the elimination of four firefighters and the imposition of a new stormwater fee.
All in the middle of a pandemic.
At this juncture, Reynolds' remark is unavailable on LV4All's Facebook page.
It was a mistake for Willie to say that. Willie is popular with the group of Bethlehem voters who represent much of the base of LV4ALL and he didn't need to go the personal attack route. Dana also has a dedicated support group of Bethlehem residents who are often super voters. This group mostly backs and supports him because of Dana's personal reputation for integrity and his focus on specific City service and financial issues rather than the more general progressive issues that are more of the focus of Willie's campaign. Willie is fortunate that he is facing Dana in just a two person Democratic primary election where more progressive positions gain wider traction among activists than in a general election where taxes and local services often are more important issues in deciding a winner. This primary should be about policy differences between two basically decent and dedicated candidates. Although it had mostly been that way to date, Willie needlessly took a wrong turn last night. I personally do not write off John Kachmar as irrelevant in the general election and the Democratic vote in Bethlehem will also be important to decide the winners in Northampton County races. It will create an increased November risk for the local Democratic Party if the Bethlehem Mayoral primary turns personal and bitter.
ReplyDeleteI donated to Dana. And that LV4... is scary.
ReplyDeleteReynolds is a complete phony and has no backbone what so ever. He will tell you anything you want to hear and then move his position where ever he thinks he can get another vote. Thats not being a leader. When you get to know him you will find out that he is really immature, obnoxious and arrogant and a little bit of a cry baby. He will knock on a lot of doors for a 30 second face to face with you and he will get elected, but if you really knew him you would never vote for him.
ReplyDeleteIf Dana did seek endorsements, what is the issue? Isn't that what you do to win an election? Ask for endorsements and people to vote for you????? I would love to see the debate.
ReplyDeleteI have known Dana for many years, even before I started this blog. His personal integrity is unimpeachable. I am disappointed Willie chose to get ugly and with as group that will endorse him anyway.
ReplyDeleteWho cares about LV4All, its a radical left group, not centered or moderate in any way.
ReplyDeleteYou're right on point with Slick Willie.
DeleteI concede that Willie will be the next mayor of Bethlehem and that isn’t a good thing. Having worked with him, I came to see him as a petulant child who can’t deal with the slightest criticism. Lucky for him that both local newspapers ignore city government and won’t ask him any difficult questions. This display speaks volumes about Willie Reynolds, but it won’t translate to losing the election.
ReplyDeleteWhy was this an issue? So Dana reached out to local officials for an endorsement, no big deal. Not sure why Dana would deny it except for the embarrassment of them turning him down and endorsing Reynolds. Word around town has it he asked PVW and Olga for endorsements. Also may have reached out to Michael Colon.
ReplyDeleteNow Dana is attempting to rewrite history with the spin of his city hall fight, not sure if he is lying, but the media reports of the fight sure do not support his version.
Bethlehem needs change! And not the spare kind.
ReplyDeleteSo 10 years ago Mr. O'Hare wrote a piece attacking Willie for being a rubber stamp for the administration and asking questions like How are you so good? of Mayor Callahan. Yet now, you attack any one on Northampton county council and others who question Lamont McClure and praise the ones that ask him how is he so good. Which O'Hare are we dealing with? Pick a lane Bernie O'Hare.
ReplyDeleteYou can learn all that you need to know about LV4ALL by looking at their endorsement for mayor of the 3rd largest city in PA.
ReplyDeleteWhat a JOKE!!!
An endorsement from this “organization” isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.
If you have half a brain and we’re unfortunate enough to have received an endorsement, you’d be wise to decline! If you sought their endorsement then you have no brain at all.
There should qualifications to pass , let us tests to. Get over to run run for dog catcher.
ReplyDeleteI was initially skeptical about Grubb, incorrectly thinking he was a relic of 1990s "dying Steel" Bethlehem and not relevant. However, it has become clear to me through his focus on actual real-world issues and problems that he knows and cares about what matters in the lives of the typical resident. He knows what will actually make a meaningful change in the services that residents receive for their ever-increasing tax dollars. He speaks in specifics. He will get my vote.
ReplyDeleteReynolds just speaks in generalities and only seems concerned about big picture "progressive" issues and buzz phrases.
I am confident that outside of certain circles of academics, historic district elites, and leftist extremists, typical Bethlehem residents don't actually give a rat's ass about the issues that Reynolds feels are important.
AGREED
DeleteWillie is a loud mouth. Loves to hear himself speak. Whatever happened to Bethlehem being the old gritty/work hard play hard city atmosphere? This is not Austin Hipster TX!
DeleteBernie are you making political campaign adds now on your blog? Leaning very much to the left today, you didnt have had your regimented health care drink v8 today. If you had that may have set you straight down the middle of your virtual Appalachian trail walk today. Keep up the good fight with blindness in site.
ReplyDelete"So 10 years ago Mr. O'Hare wrote a piece attacking Willie for being a rubber stamp for the administration and asking questions like How are you so good? of Mayor Callahan"
ReplyDeleteThis is a bizarre rant. I have been critical and complimentary to both Willie and Callahan. I actually like Willie. I am disappointed in him.
Reynolds has always been an arrogant punk. He stayed in Bethlehem his entire life cause he wouldn't make it anywhere else. He is condescending to the public and shallow as hell. Zero qualifications to be mayor. Soon the city will tax as often as the school district. Hey but he got his so screw everyone else. In fact he is so arrogant he makes your buddy Dertinger seem humble by comparison.
ReplyDeletewe willie reynolds...LOSER GO HOME.......back Dana grubb and you will see change for the people!!!!!!
ReplyDelete"So Dana reached out to local officials for an endorsement, no big deal. Not sure why Dana would deny it except for the embarrassment of them turning him down and endorsing Reynolds. Word around town has it he asked PVW and Olga for endorsements. Also may have reached out to Michael Colon."
ReplyDeleteThis is false. I know this bc I asked him about this long ago when discussing his candidacy. He told me then he was accepting no endorsements from local elected officials. Grubb met with Paige Van Wirt to talk about city issues. He did not meet with Negron or Colon. She misrepresented that meeting to Willie, either intentionally or unintentionally. He relied on her misrepresentation to make his own.
Instead of calling other people liars without foundation, both Willie and Van Wirt need to explain why they think they can impose tax increases annually. They need to explain why they think they can endanger public safety by eliminating four firefighters. Maybe they want to send social workers to fires. They need to explain a stormwater fee that easily could have waited and could have been more fair.
Their failure in this regard shows they are far from progressive. They are elitists and unfortunately are ruining my party.
Bernie:
ReplyDeleteI think Grubb is the one lying to you. He was begging for endorsements from Van Wirt and Olga last year already, and he had Breena Holland and Barbara Diamond pushing Van Wirt to endorse him. Maybe he changed his tune about endorsements after they refused, but he did ask.
Breena and Diamond also tried to hijack the LV4ALL meeting and pushed the group to endorse Dana.
"He stayed in Bethlehem his entire life cause he wouldn't make it anywhere else. He is condescending to the public and shallow as hell. Zero qualifications to be mayor."
ReplyDeleteThis could be said about Dana also. Dana is a lifelong resident of Bethlehem, went to college here, and is extremely condescending. Dana always thinks he's the smartest man in the room. His arrogance when speaking at council meetings is unprecedented.
And if you are concerned about taxes, Dana's plans will increase taxes for many years to come.
"I think Grubb is the one lying to you. He was begging for endorsements from Van Wirt and Olga last year already"
ReplyDeleteI spoke with Dana earl;y this year, before he announced, and he told me then he would seek no endorsements from locally elected officials.
I have yet to hear an explanation of the elitist decision to impose perpetual tax hikes on city residents, eliminate four firefighters and impose a stormwater fee in the middle of a pandemic. All I hear is a personal attack.
If Bethlehem residents really knew Reynolds well, they would never vote for him. He is arrogant and has really thin skin when someone criticizes him. A resident actually went to a Council meeting to voice his disagreement with a vote Reynolds made. Reynolds told him he should move to a local township then.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous at 8:53
ReplyDeleteThis is Breena Holland and you need to get your facts right. Feel free to ask PVW if I ever pushed her to endorse Dana. Additionally, Barbara Diamond was not at the LV4ALL meeting. That was me setting the record straight on WR, because people deserve to know the who they are voting for. A lot of LV4All people don't follow Bethlehem politics closely. Willie has consistently made bad decisions and endeavored to exercise absolute control over council, somewhat successfully for a long time. His newly proclaimed mature and kinder self is awfully convenient and I don't personally think he has earned the support of progressives. But putting that aside, he has no experience inside city hall or running anything but a classroom. We've had a school teacher running the city for 8 years, and if you want more of that kind of leadership, then you should vote for Willie. I want someone to run the city who has a demonstrated commitment to principle and integrity, who I believe is capable of figuring out how to make government function better, and who will do what is best for Bethlehem's South Side, which I think of as the area of our city that currently needs the most attention from city government. That person is not Willie Reynolds. Dana has more experience, more integrity, more ideas about how to actually get something done. He is honest, fair, and actually listens to people who disagree with him. Willie does not do these things unless he needs something from you. Willie speaks in feelgood generalizations and his explanation of how to get things done seems to involve a lot of convening others to do it. They are just not the answers I'm personally looking for. He may be well-intentioned, although I've personally suffered plenty of his vitriol, so I don't think he's well-intentioned about me. Freaking out because people are presenting facts about his own record demonstrates his incapacity. Calling Dana a liar over something that he couldn't actually know to be factually correct demonstrates his tendency to mischaracterize others and protect himself when challenged. He's done this for years. It's not new behavior, just wrapped up in a box that is all about vision and positivity--so long as you agree with him, of course.
I agree with Breena Holland. Now I have to jump off a bridge, lol.
ReplyDeleteBernie, I totally agree with Ms Holland also. What bridge are we meeting at? I couldn't agree more with her statement,"Willie does not do these things unless he needs something from you". That is the most accurate way to describe Reynolds. Everyone that knows him knows he uses people. He hates being questioned and off camera and privately will often talk down to people, as he did to Mr. Grube
ReplyDeleteIn this day and age of fake FACTS it does my heart good to see Breena Holland call out the rumor mongers and alternative fact spinners. I have had dealings with both candidates and I choose to endorse Dana Grubb because he has real world solutions to problems that face the city. Unconstrained development, ignoring existing zoning regulations and destroying our historic district on the southside are just a few of the issues that Mr. Reynolds has noticably failed to address in his campaign. I was once told that any person who has never made a mistake and is always right has relieved the almighty of a terrible burden.
ReplyDelete