UPDATED: Callahan Slams Mayor at Democratic City Council Candidate Forum

Yesterday afternoon, thanks to the Bethlehem City Democratic Committee, five Democrats seeking three seats on Bethlehem City Council participated in a forum at the Bethlehem Steel union hall. Had he been there Dr. Oz would have turned into a Democrat after trying the charcuterie board laid out by Steelworker Union boss Jerry Green. There was even coffee and cookies. But not many Democrats. Though it was raining cats and dogs, I only counted about 35 people. That's a pretty poor turnout in a city of 75,000, It's really bad when you consider that Bethlehem only has about 6 Republicans, one of whom is my wayward brother.  The event was filmed, so you can watch it here, once it's ready. I'd recommend you do so because it changed the way I look at them.  

Before  going into this forum, let me remind you that two Republicans - Tom Ginther and  Devin Brunges - are also running. So this race will continue into the general election. 

The five Democratic candidates are Richard "Ricky" Butler, a Marine turned mortgage broker;  Bryan  Callahan , a driving school owner and former City Council member; Michael Colon, a two-term City Council member and Gracedale admissions manager; Celeste Dee, a political consultant for Democratic candidates; and Colleen Laird, Moravian's chief information officer and former board member of Bethlehem's Food Co-Operative. 

My two criticisms of this forum? First, candidates were given too little time to respond to questions. They needed more time and fewer questions. Second, this should have been publicized more on social media.  One couple told me they only knew about this event because of my blog. It should have been posted weekly on Facebook for three weeks before the event. 

All seven current City Council members were there, either in person or via Zoom. Judicial hopeful Brian Panella came, and even had to interject himself at one point to prevent Colon from answering a legislative question because a quorum of City Council was present. District Attorney Terry Houck, who has pretty much been everywhere throughout this campaign, was in the audience. I was surprised to see Easton City Council candidate Frank Pintabone and Palmer Tp Supervisor candidate Baron Vanderburg. "I came to learn," said Pintabone. "I came for the cookies," joked Vanderburg. 

Absent were both Northampton County Controller candidates, DA hopeful Steve Baratta and Ken Kraft, who is running for Northampton County Council to represent the Bethlehem District. Oh yeah, Mayor Willie Reynolds was MIA as well. 

I was very disappointed in Michael Colon, the current City Council President. He has served two terms and knows better than most what issues the City has faced over the past eight years. Instead of answering direct questions with direct answers, he tried to be all things to all people. When you do that, you're nothing to anyone. "I agree with a lot of what was said," was his usual refrain. At one point, he said that he sometimes votes with Council member on given issues, but for different reasons. He failed to specify what these issues are or what his reasoning was.  He avoided questions. What happened to you, Michael? 

The most forceful speaker was Bryan Callahan. He pointedly asked why Bethlehem City Council has failed to act as a check and balance on a supposedly transparent Mayor who refuses to answer phone calls, texts or emails. "He's unavailable," noted Callahan. He asked why  Reynolds stopped the open door policy that former Mayor Bob Donchez used, at least once a month, to hear from everyday people. 

Callahan slammed a City Council that preferred to discuss matters in the back room instead of having debates out in the open, which incidentally is what the Sunshine Act demands. "Everybody talks about transparency; let's have the debates in front of the people."

He also caustically challenged a city that supposedly has a climate action plan but has done nothing about the proposed doubling of the Bethlehem Landfill. If this happens a murky soup of rainwater and garbage will soon be sliming its way down the side of a mountain. He noted that Bethlehem is the only surrounding community that has taken no stand.  

Colon weakly responded, "Don't mistake our silence as a stamp of approval." Really? I'd say it's worse. It's complete hypocrisy. 

Callahan also was critical of a City Council that failed to seek any accountability from a Mayor who used his office to scare away developers who wanted to bid on three properties owned by St. John's Windish Evangelical Lutheran Church, and who even had the parking authority threaten to condemn these sites to prevent Lehigh from purchasing the tracts for more money than the city was willing to pay.  

While Callahan was forceful, and perhaps a bit angry at times, Colleen Laird was a walking encyclopedia.  I have rarely seen a person as knowledgeable as she is about urban issues. She's been a community volunteer at Bethlehem's Food Co-Op and the Girl Scouts. She was hesitant about running, but her daughter said, "Mom, you've got to do this! You taught our group the democracy badge." 

In a conversation with me and at yesterday's forum. Laird stressed the importance of communication, noting that's her job at Moravian. 

I'm bothered that she has been endorsed by Mayor Reynolds. I think no Council candidate should seek the Mayor's endorsement when a Council member is supposed to be a check and balance against overreaching.  She has insisted she is an "independent thinker" who will disagree with the Mayor and her Council colleagues at times. 

Notwithstanding this concern, she clearly brought more to the table than other candidates in terms of pure knowledge and ideas. When responding to a question about Bethlehem's air and water quality, she just started firing off solutions: using the environmental justice steering committee; reduction of impervious surfaces (instead of the black top the City just used at Sun Inn); inventive green space; incentivize local transportation, etc. (she was going faster than I could write).\

Some of her ideas are a bit much for me. For example, she wants to use social workers to "advocate higher level change," whatever that means. She also thinks City Council should inject itself into prison reform and cash bail, which makes me wonder why she's running for city and not county office.  As knowledgeable as she is, she's apparently unaware that Northampton County has not had cash bail for 24 separate nonviolent offenses for at least 5 years. As for prison reform, she should tour the county jails to get more perspective.

Though I may disagree with her take on some things, I respect the knowledge she brings and appreciate her transparency. 

My third favorite candidate is Ricky Butler. In Easton, Frank Pintabone likes to say, "I'm from the neighborhood and I'm for the neighborhood." I got that same vibe from South Sider Ricky Butler. 

Unlike Laird, he does not to proclaim that he is an "ally." He already is biracial, like much of the south side. He understands what fentanyl can do. His sister overdosed and died. He likes community policing, where neighbors know the cops and cops know the neighborhood.  He agrees with Callahan that there's a serious information gap in the city. He would oppose having 911 dispatchers decide whether to send cops or social workers to respond to calls, which is currently under consideration in Allentown. He'd like to encourage more mon 'n pop stores on neighborhood corners.

Celeste Dee had a suggestion in response to a question about food deserts. She thinks LANTA  should create a shopping loop to bring people from the south side to groceries. She's apparently unaware that LANTA does that now. She also said ArtsQuest should have farmers;' markets. I believe it already does. 

The three candidates I liked best were Callahan, Laird and Butler. 

Updated 2:00 pm: You can now view a YouTube video that captures most of the forum.