Would Lehigh Valley residents benefit from a merger of Lehigh and Northampton County? John Marquette, one of my more thoughtful readers, posed this question last week. Here's his comment:
"The bigger picture to me is why our two counties could not be consolidated. Picking a name that references neither county (I suggest Lenape) might be the easiest part of the equation. The two counties together have a population of 687,508 as of 2020. Allegheny County (containing Pittsburgh) was just over 1.2 million. Philadelphia city and county have a few hundred thousand more at 1.6 million. There’s strength in unity.
"This kind of also goes back to the struggles facing the users of the Hellertown Area Library who are residents of Lower Saucon. Both Hellertown borough and Lower Saucon are in Northampton County, with Upper Saucon etc. In Lehigh County. The overhead expended for the Hellertown and Upper Saucon systems, their different library districts (county-driven), etc…could be reduced to multiple county branches with all back-office work in the cloud, with savings put back toward public service and additional resources for the community.
"Will I see a single county, a single library system, planning commission, court system, etc., in my lifetime? Doubtful. Would consolidation give us more strength and political clout statewide? Well, Archibald Johnston thought so in the 1910s and we have a unified Bethlehem because of his work."
Without question, Pennsylvania has among the highest number of fragmented governments in the state. We have 67 separate counties and each of those is a hodgepodge of mostly small boroughs and townships. Northampton County alone has 37 separate municipalities.
With this degree of fragmentation, it is virtually impossible to provide oversight. That's how corruption starts.
Of course I'd support a merger of these smaller governments and a combination of the two counties. It would be more efficient, less corrupt and we would definitely have more clout with the state.
Will it happen?
Not in John's lifetime. Certainly not in mine. We are too parochial.
34 comments:
Individual police and fire departments are not sustainable. The Counties offer no solution. A tax rebate is nice but does not solve the volunteer crisis in our fire departments. Too many redundant pieces of equipment. Could we be better served by regional or county-wide emergency services?
How about a poll. Who should run it McClure or Armstrong?
Why not have McClure and Armstrong duke it out for control? Sounds as feasible as Marquette's suggestions for ganging up to get even with Pittsburgh and Philly....
Lehigh was once carved out of Northampton County. We would welcome them back into the fold.
And then the ethnic cleansing begins.
We could start with reducing the 500 or so public school districts in PA - although the teachers union, aka state government would freak out.
That's a laugh. Lehigh county is far too intelligent to accept the norco bumpkins.
Dumbest idea I've ever heard. The point of local counties is to keep local government responsive. Combining two of the larger counties in the Commonwealth would just be bad for both counties. But great virtue signaling with the name.
Bernie can you show me one example of a larger government that is less corrupt and more efficient? For the life of me I can't think of one....
Clout yes. But the others? I don't see it.
At one time, Lehigh County and Northampton County were one County. Northampton County, in 1752, was made up of Northampton, Lehigh, Carbon, Monroe, Pike, Wayne, Luzerne, Lackawanna, Wyoming, Susquehanna, and Sullivan Counties, as well as parts of Bradford, Lycoming, Columbia, and Schuylkill counties. The County seat was in Easton, Northampton county. All of these County's broke away from Northampton County for the idea of promoting efficiency, economy, and effectiveness in their region. It used to take three to four days to travel from the New York State Border to the County Seat of Easton.
@6:28am
I find it laughable how powerful people think the teachers' union really is. Look how many teachers are leaving the profession and how few are going into it.
The reason we don't combine districts is two-fold: 1.) people want their school and their sports teams the way they have always been; 2.) the districts in the middle part of the state that should combine due to enrollment would become massively large geographically.
But sure, it's the teachers who are stopping it.
8:08, I believe I can provide several examples od smaller governments that are more corrupt than they would be if they were larger and received more oversight. Stockertown had a Mayor who was a convicted felon and still works there. Its boro council president is an open racist. Other than this blog, no one has called attention to it. Nazareth refuses to allow noncitizens to speak. UMBT is pretty much a shit show. If there were fewer local governments instead of 37, they would receive more public scrutiny and there would be less corruption.
" The point of local counties is to keep local government responsive. "
This is a valid concern, but I'd argue that combining both counties might make it more responsive. This could be accomplished by making the PT Council members full-time. It could also include an ombudsman whose specific role is to investigate citizen complaints.
Seen from afar it might make sense but not when you live here. I am a Northampton County resident and the thoughts about the criminals aligned with the government in Allentown makes me cringe. All that money going to the dope dealer and that woman who placed a child in a homeless camp to be abused and she is running again for office.
Makes Northampton's silliness at County Council meetings something to be almost tolerable.
Please spare me from worsening any problems we have.
Yea, now I get it. We could make these elected officials full time like our Senators and Representatives so they could better serve us. Brilliant Bernie, simply brilliant. You want better representation? How about term limits?
Combining school districts would also make sense.
Mike McFadden-With advanced age and much experience, I lend you and your readers this sapient advice. Government efficiency is often misinterpreted. Government is never a speedy resolution by minimal cost. Efficient government maximizes citizen participation. More people vote, participate in decisions and seek office in efficient government. That process does not necessarily achieve speed and economy. But, that’s the trade off. That New England town meeting is long and often costly. But, everyone gets a chance to be heard, a right to vote and witness a public deliberation. Corruption never gets a chance. When I entered politics, all you needed was a few dollars for filing fees and energy to knock on doors. We need to keep entry easy for candidates.
If you believe that county governments can merge and produce savings, copy the Massachusetts model. That state has eliminated county government by turning over traditional record keeping functions to the state.
Does that mean I favor eliminating county government? No, county government can have an important purpose. Serving on Easton City Council, I sought 911 service for the city. PUC regulations made such an undertaking impossible. As I discovered with other needed municipal services, county leadership was necessary. I was a candidate for the Charter Study Commission, had a leadership role in the Vote Yes committee and was a candidate for County Council in the first election. I have no desire to eliminate small municipalities and their services, but as time proceeds, more and more public services are out of reach for many small municipalities. A recent example is the increasing cost of firefighting equipment with certain vehicles exceeding seven figures. All of these new warehouses require inspections and equipment beyond the means and capacity of many county communities. There is a role for the county, but others can speculate. Keep our county government, expand citizen participation and encourage candidacy. That makes the system work. Government should never be compared to an industrial production process.
If they combine, Zrinski can run for Grand Poobah.
Mike McFadden, I appreciate your informed comment. Thanks.
Good points except for the teachers being opposed. A county school district would mean a county contract that starts with the best local district contract. A windfall for smaller district teachers.
This would turn into a battle of the haves and the have nots. The have would not want it to happen and the have nots would. Also there would be a death battle among the politicians because in theory you should be able to get rid of half plus of them.
If they do it they should make all of the run again from square one. NO Incumbents.
You realize that the separate governments of Lehigh COUNTY and the CITY of Allentown aren’t the same, right?
Does this mean that Martins Creek, Bangor and Portland Might once again be consider part of Northampton/Lehigh county or would they cut them off and give them to Monroe like has been the joke so many times in the past.
Nothing exists mentally above Tatamy for so many in the Lehigh Valley.
Martins Creek, Bangor and the Slate Belt have many outstanding scholars. Do some research.
I think what the poster meant was people forget those folks are part of Northampton county not that they are stupid lol.
Until a few years ago the planning commission, the economic development group, the chamber never went north of Tatamy for anything. In numerous meeting I sat in with these groups they often joked about the areas mentioned in 7"08 post were somewhere not in the Lehigh Valley. To this day if you try to set up a meeting up there they will do everything thing they can to avoid going north.
8:27 do you have an inferiority complex to project that quickly. The poster at 7:08 meant that very few in the Easton, Bethlehem Allentown area even consider Martins Creek, Bangor, and Portland part of the Lehigh Valley.
What if we the newly merged county is called WAREHOUSE WORLD?
I would also combine Allentown and Bethlehem into one city to eliminate the confusion of those who live on Club Ave.
Bigger is not better, I live in lynn twp, taxes of $42. a year, I am sure many would like more government bigger government, I would rather be cut off from southern lehigh county. Smaller is better except for the politicians.
BO, Northampton County has 38 municipalities. Not 37.
Good one!😆
Take it one step further. Divide each county in two. Then, consolidate all the townships within each county into 1. No need for 62 individual governments. Now, there would be 4 that cover all of the suburban/rural areas.
I have no inferiority complex far from it. Just a proud life long resident of the Slate Belt. If that’s what the original poster meant I apologize and actually agree
Combining the counties is a no brainer that should happen to give us more clout in the state & reduce duplicate positions. Bloated government.
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