On Friday, I told you that Zach Cole-Borghi, an elected Lehigh County Commissioner and Bethlehem City's Right to Know Officer, had been arrested at City Hall on Thursday on drug-related charges. Quite obviously, when a public official is accused of criminal activity, the public should know Solicitor. But Stephane Steward, Bethlehem's City Council Solicitor, would prefer to keep you in the dark. She has instructed Council members that if they receive any inquiries, they are to respond with "no comment."
I would like to know the basis for this "legal" advice. She does not represent Cole-Borghi. She does not even represent Bethlehem. She represents City Council. Individually, they have as much right as you or I do to slam or defend Cole-Borgi, who worked for the City and not for them.
What I suspect is that Council President Michael Colon, who is afraid of his own shadow and has the backbone of a jellyfish, wants to circle the wagons and Steward has dutifully attempted to muzzle them.
Here's her email.
Hello Council members,
I just read of the arrest of Zach Cole-Borghi on the WFMZ website, and I wanted to reach out to offer guidance and to answer any questions you may have regarding comments by Council members. Insofar as Bryan and Grace were contacted and offered the limited comments that they did in the article I read, brief and general comments like theirs, acknowledging the arrest or calling it unfortunate, are fine. That said, if any of you are contacted further, I recommend that if you respond, you do so with 'no comment'. This is the best course of action when faced with a pending criminal matter. My guidance is the same regardless of the forum and would extend to Council meetings and any other opportunities or requests for comment.
I hope you all have an enjoyable Labor Day weekend, and I look forward to seeing you Tuesday evening.
Thank you,
Stephanie
Standard response. Not news worthy.
ReplyDeleteIt's very difficult to find anyone at 10E. Church that actually has a pair.
ReplyDeleteThe dumbing down and wimping out of city hall and council began when Donchez became mayor. Wee Willie has taken it to new heights. Council chambers are now known as the puppet center.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty good advice, that even a disbarred lawyer should agree with. It's an ONGOING criminal investigation. Comments should be withheld as to not muddy the judicial waters. Duh.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I'm concerned, the Council Solicitor offered good, common sense advice. The public should be told what happened, of course. But, the incident and follow-up actions should stand on their own merit. NOT colorized by today's weaponized new media.
ReplyDeleteTaking things out of context, editing out details as they were actually stated and written is now commonplace. Best to keep out of these matters and avoid what can now only be considered untrustworthy media representatives.
Journalism now is likely to be more interested in creating ammunition than just offering reliable and un-retouched information. Beware that spider web. Turn the other way.
6:35, I'll disagree. This is not legal advice, but is political advice and an attempt to keep the public in the dark.
DeleteWhat’s worse, this or Wilson still doing absolutely nothing about Margle being caught with cocaine twice this summer?
ReplyDeleteWho appointed him RTK Officer? How does one become Bethlehem's RTK Officer?
ReplyDeleteOne of Reynolds first moves when he became Mayor was to fire the existing Right to Know officer and replace him with Broghi.This was Reynolds boy that he put in.Reynolds owns this 100%
DeleteStephanie Steward is textbook Northampton County. IMO, part of the soft corruption that is par for the course in our court system. Specifically, Stephanie is employed by the Court to “administer” several of its “Specialty” courts. Essentially she acts as the de facto judge for the programs on a day-to-day basis -IMO. She also has a job with a private law firm that also regularly practices in front of the same bench that employs her. She practices regularly for private clients in front of a court that trusts her so much it lets her run their most precious programs. Anywhere else, this would be seen as a blatant conflict of interest IMO.
ReplyDeleteI was under the impression that she gave that job up when she went into private practice. Apparently, I was wrong. I believe it would be easy for her to avoid a conflict interest, but the best way to avoid it would be by resigning that position.
DeleteMost officials in city hall don't have shadows. They are afraid of them.
ReplyDeleteCity hall is a mess. Turnover rate continues. Besides the obvious 2 council is in the Mayors pocket.
Deletewhy not mention he is a Democrat? If he was a Republican I bet it would be in your post more than once.
ReplyDeleteI never mentioned his political party in my story yesterday or today. I assumed that most people don't need to be told that anyone from his district, which includes parts of Allentown, W Bethlehem, Ftn Hill, Catty and Hanover LC, would be a Democrat. But I should have mentioned his party in my story on Friday, Valid criticism. But not today bc today's story is about the city council solicitor and her unconstitutional attempt to muzzle council.
DeleteSS - obvious DEI hire
ReplyDeleteThe memo was unnecessary unless, of course, there is cause to believe there is more related news coming from City Hall. BTW, who bought the pound of marijuana?
ReplyDeleteBernie, in one of the news articles I read the city's HR director was quoted as saying that he was no longer employed by the city. If that is the case, who cares what any other elected officials say about the situation at this point?
ReplyDeleteGood point, Dana. Anyone want to guess how the HR person got her job?
DeleteAs a former HR guy, it is the policy of any employer not to comment positively or negatively on a former employee except to give hire and fire dates. Most hiring organizations know not to publicly ask much more. Back-channel conversations are a different matter yet still a risk. Stephanie’s response supported the city-as-employer.
DeleteShe does not represent the City. She represents City Council, a different animal. She was not giving what I consider legal advice at all.
DeleteBecause many are quite interested in who would have appointed such an alleged criminal who is charged with providing illegal substances to the area. It's baffling. Questions should be asked and answered in an effort to prevent this from ever happening again. Transparency in government is essential to democracy.
DeleteShhhhhhhhh , keep it quiet. Dont say anything. Everybody just pretend it didn't happen. LOL
DeleteIs Bernie mad that good legal advice was given here?
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely correct on Mike Colon, I believe, and that’s why Mr. Reynolds likes him in the council president role. I would think this is a bigger problem for Lehigh County but there must be more to this matter. Concerning that WFMZ apparently was misinformed about the scope and severity of the matter or chose to make it initially less than it apparently is.
ReplyDeleteWee Willie is trying to muzzle Bryan and Grace since he's the one who hired this guy and donated to his campaign. Just shows how most of Council is a puppet for him along with their Solicitor.
ReplyDeleteThe solicitor communicated what numerous solicitor's have done for any number of boards and governmental units when something like this occurs.
ReplyDeleteNothing to see there.
The actual story and how it plays out is another matter completely, and the public should be very interested.