Grace Crampsie Smith, a member of Bethlehem City Council, announced last week that she is running for Mayor. I expected a similar announcement from incumbent Willie Reynolds, but he and many other local government officials were dealing with the confusion caused by an OMB freeze on federal spending, which was later rescinded. Though he's made no announcement, I expect him to run. I'm unsure whether any Republicans are up for it, but I expect to see a Democratic primary. Campaign finance reports for last year are in, and they can certainly shed some light on who is backing them and why.
Reynolds report (you can read it here) reveals that he pulled in $94,400 in campaign contributions last year, although $40,000 of that is a loan to himself. He starts the election year with a $96.951.30 treasury.
Contributions of $1,000 or more came from the following sources: KTMC PAC - $5000 (I believe this is a law firm that specializes in class action lawsuits; Matthew Bieber - $5,000 (software consultant); Richard Master -$5,000 (a business owner who has produced two documentaries about healthcare; Randy Galliotto (owner of Alloy5 architectural firm); Jack and Marian Spirk - $3,000 (Spirk is City Solicitor); Murat Guzal - $2,500 (Turkish businessman who is both a philanthropist and Democratic donor); Bob Donchez - $2,500 (Reynolds' predecessor as Mayor); Jim Broughal - $2,000 (Bethlehem lawyer specializing in municipal law); Plamenta Ayazou - $2,000 (Monocacy Builders); Diana Morganelli - $2,000 (Judge Morganelli's wife); King Spry - $1,500 (Bethlehem law firm); Borko Milosev - $1,000 (property manager); Kevin Kinross - $1,000 (Democratic strategist and business leader from Pittsburgh); Charles Marcon - $1,000 (construction); IBEW - $1,000; and Placido Corpora - $1,000 (Bethlehem businessman).
Crampsie Smith's report (you can read it here) tells us she has $30,415.29 available and that she raised $23,630 in 2024. Most of this - $16,000 - comes from trade unions IUPAT, IUOE, IBEW: Plumbers; and Laborers Local 1174. She also received $1,000 from Donald Kaas (commercial lawyer).
Please feel free to review the links to these reports and make any observations you think relevant about these contributors or their interest. This is what I call participatory journalism.
Is it appropriate for the solicitor to be making campaign donations to the Mayor?
ReplyDeleteIs it appropriate for department heads to be making donations to the mayor?
Deletehe has First Amendment rights too
DeleteEntirely legal and by no means unethical. It is a political position,. not just a legal one.
DeleteSmith is wasting her time money and reputation. Wee Willie is the dynasty selected mayor. She needs to understand where her place is in the monarchy and wait her turn.
ReplyDeleteEvans is next after reynolds. Everyone knows Bethlehemites love their former teachers.
ReplyDeleteWe need Callahan. Hasn't been a decent mayor since JC.
ReplyDeleteBonnie Johnnie's no awa',
DeleteSafely owre the friendly main;
Mony a heart will break in twa,
Should he no' come back again.
Will ye no come back again?
Will ye no come back again?
Better lo'ed ye canna be,
Will ye no come back again?
Ye trusted in your Hieland men,
They trusted you, dear Johnnie;
They kent you hiding in the glen.
Your cleadin' was but barely.
We watched you in the gloamin' hour,
We watched thee in the mornin' grey;
Tho' thirty thousand pounds they'd gie,
Oh, there was nane that wad betray
With apologies to Charles the Pretender
Judging from the lists of donors, Wee Willie appears to be the bigger slimeball of the two, and by quite a bit. Kinross is a Democrat operative with ties to Fast Eddie Rendell, Michael Nutter, and Mike Bloomberg. No need for a guy from Pittsburgh to donate money to a candidate in Bethlehem. Reynolds should be disqualified based solely on that. Get that garbage out of here.
ReplyDeleteI will repeat here what I said in my other post about campaign finance. I am not interested in comments about why any of the candidates are great or are terrible. I have already rejected a slew of the usual comments that blame Democrats for everything. Your assignment is to look at who supports a candidate monetarily and explain why. If you can't do that, you really are not helping anyone.
ReplyDelete'Assignment' Come on Bern. How can we determine why a donor supports a candidate? We the people do not know ones agenda!
DeleteRaising my eyebrows at the 40k loan. That's a lot of clams to fork out for a 90k a year job?
ReplyDeleteHis wife is a doctor. He married above his means.
DeleteReynolds report is very interesting. In the past, he was always taking money from the Benners, Peruccis, Petruccis, and Roncas of the world. Now he has moved on to Rocco of Monocacy and Borko as his big developer donors, and Alloy 5 as a major donor. I am surprised that the Serfass construction guys are not listed. Willie made a big push for the rezoning of the IQE building for them.
ReplyDeleteThats probably where the $40,000 cash came from.
DeleteHe didn't make a push to rezone. He barely engaged in that conversation.
DeleteI will publish no comments that fail to relate to these campaign finance reports, but poetry is always allowed, lol.
ReplyDeleteI try. If only I could translate Latin, and not just Highlandese
Delete“I think that I,
DeleteShall never see,
A poem as lovely,
As Willie.”
How’s that?
A solicitation for his campaign by the current mayor with a self-addressed, stamped envelope came to me a few weeks ago. Not sure how he got my new address unless he put 73-cent stamps on all SASEs to all registered Ds who voted in the city.
ReplyDeleteGiven the planning and zoning department dysfunction I have experienced in the last six months, I’ll be casting my vote for Crampsie Smith. Also because she had the good sense to recognize that our city cannot have a foreign policy and that non-residents and persons without specific business before council need to be deprioritized in favor of residents during courtesy of the floor.
It's always informative to see which politicians use campaign donations made to them that they then use to play political influencer in other races. I know it's legal, but it also tells me who the really cheap bastards are because they don't use their own funds to support a candidate of choice. They rarely use their own money. It's just one more problem with campaign finance laws. I understand that it would be difficult to return prorated funds to so many donors's. That's why we chose 3 local non-profits to share equally in the remaining funds from my campaign account four years ago. I felt the account should be closed out in the most beneficial, practical and legal way possible. It wasn't a lot of money, but at least the community benefitted by our choice to do this.
ReplyDeleteMr Grubb. No amount of money can buy someone such as yourself. Upstanding and to the point. No run around. No bullshit. Though it may be legal, it is downright very arrogant to receive a donation from the city solicitor. Not surprising.
DeleteIt's a shame you didn't win- Reynolds is a DEI disgrace!
DeleteBernie, please explain why one would take out a loan for their own campaign.
ReplyDelete"Bernie, please explain why one would take out a loan for their own campaign."
DeleteThe campaign finance reports don't indicate that he's taken out a loan for his campaign. Rather, it shows he's loaned his campaign committee $40k of his own money. His committee can then spend the money, but he can also choose to repay that loan to himself. So with his 40k, Reynolds' committee has over 90k.
For example, if he spends 70k on this race, he can repay the loan (give himself) 20k back.
Interesting mix on Reynolds' report: CEO Emeritus of Bethlehem Steel, the president of LCCC and her husband (they do not live in Bethlehem), a candidate for Northampton County Exec. and her partner (do not live in Bethlehem), and two Moravian Univ. math professors.
ReplyDeleteIf a Republican jumps in the race, Grace may have a chance. Otherwise, she’s toast. It pains me to say that because Willie is a PITA who thinks he is some big political player. The poster who mentioned the hierarchy is absolutely right and that is both disgusting and disappointing. Grace IS the right choice.
ReplyDeleteSurprised Diana donated. Normally she doesn’t do that but maybe John approved it.
ReplyDeleteJohn approved it because he cant give money as a judge.
DeleteYou honestly think it was a loan and not a cash donation under the table? Really?
ReplyDeleteFor the life of me, I don't understand how a once beautiful city is controlled by a handful of grifters.
ReplyDeleteEaston has overtaken Bethlehem as the crown jewel of the LV- with the only sane Democrat as Mayor!
ReplyDeleteWee Willie is so delusional. Honestly he is so woke and such a dorky dude.
DeleteWhere do you see the CEO Emeritus of Beth Steel donated as Bernie did not report that? How much did he give.
ReplyDeleteIf you follow the link to the report you will see the contribution. I reported contributions of $1,000 or greater for both candidates.
Delete