Over 250 Easton Residents File Petition Seeking Resignation of Easton City Council Member Taiba Sultana

Sultana cuffed by Easton police after
alleged assault of adult son

Easton City Council met Wednesday night at the Easton Area Community Center in the west ward. It generally meets once a year in the neighborhoods instead of city hall.  Thugh there is no YouTube video of the meeting, Patsy Hitzel of South Side Civic Ass'n recorded most of the meeting on Facebook. (You can see it here). During this West Ward summit, Council was presented with a petition seeking the immediate resignation of controversial Council member Taiba Sultans. This request, presented by Christine Phillips, was signed by over 250 City residents. Ironically, it included the names of many of the black and brown people whom Sultana claims to champion. 

Here's what Phillips stated, as best as I can transcribe it:

"In the two years that Mrs. Sultan has held her seat in office, she has done very little for the people of the city that she was entrusted to do when she was elected. 

"Since 2022, Mrs. Sultana had shown very little interest in the citizens of this city ... . In 2022, she has missed out of four budget meetings. In December 2023, she missed committee meetings to protest the Menorah lighting in Bethlehem. In January 2024, she missed committee meetings to have her State Rep announcement party. In March 2024, she had her children at the dais during the Council meeting while her husband and adult child were present and were able to sit with them, then proceeded to use the footage of that meeting as a political mudsling opportunity to again disrespect her constituents. On March 27, 2024, she did not appear in person when topics such as the parking issue on Davis Street in Southside was discussed, In April 2024, she did not attend the committee meetings to discuss the quality-of-life issues of parking in the downtown.

"At the end of 2023, South Side residents came to planning to fight three pieces of development that the residents of South Side did not want in the community. She did not attend and of [those meetings] while other Council members showed and addressed the concerns we had ... ."

"She has brought more division in the City and has continuously been combative with her constituents. ... She seems more interested in making headlines addressing national and international business as a priority. 

"Many issues have been raised in South Side Easton and Mrs. Sultana was involved in none of these issues by supporting the residents in finding a solution or attending meetings to object to projects. The many times you've seen Mrs. Sultana on South Side is for her benefit, Seven town homes on Coal Street taking away all green space on an already small lot; a smoke shop less than 215' from another location; selling the same items, wanting to sell synthetic opioids; and a garbage issue in your neighborhood that we reached out for your help. South Side Civisc Ass'n reached out to you about getting benches and tables for the field house about a year ago, and you came back in October to say there was no money in the budget, yet they were notified that they were already ordered and actually [are] waiting in storage to be installed.

"Mrs. Sultana has made false, derogatory statements about the City of Easton police department twice in less than a year by calling them unprofessional, racist [and] politically motivated, and yet again now with a political ad. Her unprofessional behavior and lack of respect, shown multiple times for other members of both Council and public officials, are an indication to all that she does not have the people of Easton's best interests in mind.

"Being an elected official, you are to lead by example 24/7, 365 days a year. Unfortunately, many people who agree with this petition wouldn't sign it for fear of retaliation by [Sultana]. 

"Again, we are demanding that Mrs. Sultana resign as a City of Easton Council member, effective immediately. This should not be a hard decision.to make since she has no respect for the city that pays her ... You've done nothing but pretty much bash everyone who disagrees with you ..."

Earlier that evening, Sultana proved that at least some concerns raised by Phillips are correct. She read into the record a lengthy letter from ACLU objecting to the suspension of licenses to landlords who allow criminal activity in homes they rent Once she finished, Council member Roger Ruggles advised her that legislation has been withdrawn. "She wasn't here," observed Mayor Sal Panto. "It was withdrawn," continued Ruggles. "You read all of that for nothing because it's not in existence any more."

Council member Frank Pintabone said that the legislation would only affect people whose homes are raided for drug sales, illegal weapons, child pornography or human trafficking. It would have no application to women who call police to report abuse "We got to get the criminals out of the neighborhoods," added Mayor Panto. "That's the primary crux of the resolution. ... We're not looking to kick any good people out, we're looking to kick criminals out of the neighborhoods, and as a City Council member, you should be concerned about the crime that's in our neighborhoods."

Sukltana then complained that she wished someone had told her the bill was withdrawn.

After these remarks were made, Sultana asked Council to consider religious holidays when scheduling future meetings and noted that she had to leave a family gathering in Philly to be present. She chose against responding to the petition at the meeting, but later told LehighValleyLive that the petition is politically motivated, part of a smear campaign and "unfounded propaganda." 

She is a candidate for State House.