Reynolds Lays Out Plan to Bolster Neighborhoods

Democratic mayoral candidate J. William Reynolds on Tuesday laid out a five-point strategy aimed at strengthening Bethlehem’s neighborhoods, the core of which, he said, is to give residents “the resources to make a difference on their own block.”

Among the things Reynolds proposed is re-examination of the city’s rental unit inspection laws with an eye toward increasing the frequency of inspections and cracking down on illegal conversions of single-family homes.

Reynolds also proposed altering the structure of City Council to include a mixture of district and at-large seats to give more of a voice to some underrepresented parts of the city. The Bethlehem Area School Board and Easton City Council both employ such hybrids.

“West Bethlehem has not had a councilman in 16 years and South Bethlehem has only had one council member in the last 16 years and none in the past six years,” said Reynolds, who is currently serving his second term on City Council.

Reynolds laid out his “Winning Our Neighborhoods” plan in Clearview Park, far out in the city’s northwest corner where there is nary a trace of Historic Moravian Bethlehem or Bethlehem Steel. Instead, low-flying airplanes on landing descent made it clear how close this neighborhood sits to Lehigh Valley International Airport.

“I have developed this plan from years of knocking on doors, talking to residents, and thinking about what makes Bethlehem special,” Reynolds said.

“It is time for a new kind of economic development in Bethlehem that gives city residents the ability to increase the well-being of their own neighborhood with the full support of the office of the mayor and city government.”

Reynolds said he plans to build a network of neighborhood committees—one for each neighborhood surrounding a public elementary school—consisting of neighborhood stakeholders and City Hall representatives to discuss and address neighborhood concerns, such as public safety, neighborhood development and beautification and trash and leaf collection.

“One of the biggest challenges we face is finding ways to attract and retain young middle class families to Bethlehem,” Reynolds said. “The WON Committees create a strategy for improving our neighborhoods and providing residents with support over the issues that affect their daily lives while also proactively encouraging citizen participation at the grassroots community level.”

To that end, Reynolds said he plans to start something called Serve Bethlehem, which will be a volunteer program modeled on a program in Pittsburgh “that attempts to recruit volunteers and community partners to participate in service initiatives designed to combat neighborhood issues.”

“Serve Bethlehem would not look to replace any current efforts in our community but rather strengthen, support and unify existing efforts in Bethlehem,” Reynolds said.

Finally, Reynolds said that as mayor he would provide full-throated opposition to hydraulic fracturing of Marcellus Shale deposits to yield natural gas—the process commonly known as “fracking.”

Fracking poses a potential threat to one of Bethlehem’s “prized assets,” its drinking water supply at the Penn Forest Reservoir, about 40 miles north of the city in Carbon County, Reynolds said.

While there are no fracking operations currently in Carbon County, there are extensive shale deposits there and multiple wells have been drilled in neighboring Luzerne County, Reynolds said.

“Too much about the long-term consequences of fracking is unknown,” Reynolds said. “It is for that reason that we cannot sit back and allow the potential damaging of one of our most important and basic city services to occur. The issue of fracking may not only damage our drinking water but also our environment in a way that could affect generations of current and future Bethlehem residents.”

Reynolds is opposed in the Democratic mayoral primary by Councilman Bob Donchez, who is serving his fifth term on City Council. According to his campaign staff, he plans a news conference on Thursday to discuss public safety in Bethlehem.

No Republicans are currently campaigning for mayor, which means the city’s next mayor could be determined in the May 21 Democratic primary. Mayor John Callahan, who has served his mandated maximum two terms, is running for Northampton County executive.