Month: December 2019

Proposed zoning ordinance dusts off the Airbnb issue

logo Latest in a series of posts on Airbnb and short-term lodging logo

Short-term lodging, short-term rentals, home-sharing: sometimes conveniently referred to by the short-hand of Airbnb, the company with which this practice is most associated.

Airbnb locations in Bethlehem

“The Uber of the hospitality market, Airbnb acts as an online broker, connecting people who need a place to stay with hosts who have a spare bedroom, apartment or a full house to rent.”
————

The Airbnb issue is before us again. It’s been out of sight for over a year. Brought back by a proposal introduced at the Planning Commission December 12 for a change in the zoning code to complement an ordinance passed last year.

We’re going to spend several posts on this proposal. So it’s time to refresh ourselves on the background.

Click Airbnb under Topics on the right-hand Gadfly sidebar for access to previous posts.

For a deep background timeline, see: The Airbnb Controversy (1)

Though the roots of this controversy long precede Gadfly-becoming-Gadfly, the issue seems to have begun with neighbors’ reacting to a specific Bethlehem couple in the Northside historical district renting their home (and then homes) on a short-term basis.

In the next post we will want to ask why all of us should be attentive to what’s happening in one section of the City.

Charles Malinchak, “Bethlehem planners delay recommendations on short-term lodging changes.” Morning Call, December 13, 2019.

Bethlehem is considering a proposal to regulate short-term rentals — akin to renting rooms or whole houses to overnight guests — in its zoning code for the first time. While the city has an ordinance to license such uses, the new ordinance would actually spell out in what zoning districts they can be.

The proposed changes are in an zoning amendment aimed at what is being called “short-term lodging” which the commission discussed, but members determined at least two sections of the regulations need to be fined tuned. The two questions the commission requested be looked into further were how many days per year the home or room can be rented and what zoning districts should the activity be permitted.

According to a copy of the proposal, a short-term lodging facility is a single family home occupied by the owner who rents no more than two bedrooms for up to 30 days. The home would not be licensed as a hotel or a bed and breakfast and no exterior alterations or expansions of the home would be permitted to expand the rental operation, according to the amendment. The areas where the rental activity would be permitted or with a special exception permit include the following zoning districts: rural residential, single family residential and medium and high density residential.

Hotel Bethlehem Co-Partner and city resident Bruce Haines told the Planning Commission that the amendment doesn’t really mesh with an existing ordinance regulating housing. “The point is, these places need to be single family homes where the visitor has access to the entire house like the kitchen, living room and dining room,’’ he said after the meeting. One of the problems, he said, is that several homes in the center city historic district are already operating under the pretense of short-term lodging but are actually apartments with no access to the rest of the house.

The commission will continue discussion of the issue and possibly make recommendations at its January meeting. Those recommendations would be forwarded to City Council. The city began looking at the zoning issue after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court case earlier this year that ruled in favor a Monroe County municipality’s zoning of short-term lodging. The city’s current licensing ordinance is under appeal in Northampton County Court.

The ordinance was created after residents complained about the houses being rented out in their neighborhoods. Critics say they have no problem with homeowners licensed to rent out a bedroom or their house to overnight guests, but oppose investors buying homes for that sole purpose, creating a commercial intrusion into their neighborhood.

to be continued . . .

Councilman Callahan proposing a wage equality ordinance

Councilman Callahan will be introducing this “wage equality” ordinance at Council next Tuesday night. Click the link for the full text.

Callahan Wage Equality Ordinance

“The premise of this ordinance is that salary offers should be based upon the specific job responsibilities of a position, and not based upon an applicant’s prior wage history, so as to avoid the perpetuation of gender wage inequalities.”

This idea has been aborning for a while. Gadfly first heard Councilman Callahan talk about it a meeting of Bethlehem Democrats last February. He provides good context.

See also: Nicole Radzievich, “Councilman Bryan Callahan wants to stop Bethlehem businesses from asking job applicants this question.” Morning Call, January 31, 2019.

Callahan 2

The City does have a whistleblower protection policy, but . . .

logo Latest in a series of posts on Ethics and City Government logo

Here’s a good review of the latest developments in what Gadfly has been calling the ethics case (see Ethics under Topics on the sidebar for all the posts in this thread):

Douglas Graves, “Conflict with city hall costs Callahan.” Bethlehem Press, December 11, 2019.

———–

So Gadfly has had one eye on the past in this ethics controversy. That is, why did the 3  City employees troubled by alleged official encouragement of inspectors to delay the issuance of permits feel they had to go to Councilman Callahan? Did they not have other options within the City system that might have avoided the “contentious spectacle” that we are experiencing?

As we detailed two posts ago in this series, President Waldron pointed out two options: one through the City Human Resources department, the other the Controller hotline.

And as we also detailed in that previous post, the location of a hotline on the Controller web site is not prominently visible, though a hotline is appropriate there because the Controller is an independent official, a step outside the City structure, and thus, on the surface, a more objective investigator. But perhaps more importantly, the voice record on the hotline might not ensure the kind of privacy essential when it comes to employees reporting wrongs.

Here’s what we’ve been able to determine so far about the City Human Resources procedures regarding whistleblowing:

Whistleblower

This policy applies after the fact of whistleblowing. There is nothing about how to blow the whistle, who investigates the whistleblowing, or how the whistleblower’s privacy is protected.

Important matters.

Thus, as Gadfly noted in that previous post, he doesn’t share President Waldron’s confidence that City structures in place are adequate enough.

So Gadfly’s one eye on the past is simultaneously an eye on the future. (How is that possible silly Gadfly?)

We want to avoid the present spectacle in the future.

So the proper people should be using this occasion to think hard about whether we need some specific policy and practice changes in the City Hall administrative structure.

Now Gadfly’s other eye is on the present and will be looking to see if we learn about new developments at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

Will the allegations of an improper slowdown and/or the improper behavior with the Parking Authority be forwarded to the State Ethics Commission? Or is there some plan to investigate them at the local level?

ArtsQuest plan to add artistic value to our community

Gadfly knows it’s going to be a good day when he can find “turn and grind” and “artistic grit” in his morning newspaper headlines!

And Gadfly is not only likin’ the words about but also the concept behind ArtsQuest’s latest development project.

See if you agree.

And don’t miss refreshing yourself in the second article on how “the scorched land where capitalists once sought profit is now known for its artistic value to the community.”

John J. Moser, “ArtsQuest to turn Bethlehem Steel’s massive former Turn and Grind building into program and festival center.” Morning Call, December 12, 2019.

Bethlehem Steel’s massive Turn and Grind Shop, long viewed by ArtsQuest as a jewel on the South Bethlehem SteelStacks campus, will be revitalized into a programming, exhibit and festival venue, the nonprofit arts organization announced Thursday. The renovated 26,000-square-foot brick structure, adjacent to the SteelStacks Visitor Center, will be called The Air Products Atrium at the Turn & Grind Center. Work on what ArtsQuest called “one of the most unique buildings in South Side Bethlehem,” will start with $1.5 million pledged by the foundation of Lehigh Valley industrial gas company Air Products, it was announced.

But the work would include a 14,000-square-foot public programming space that could feature nationally touring education programs, science- and arts-related exhibits, and theater and dance performances.

“The growing collaboration between Air Products and ArtsQuest will result in increased arts programming, performances, exhibitions and experiences for tens of thousands of residents and visitors annually,” a news release said. It noted that Air Products was among the initial partners for SteelStacks and is the title sponsor of its Air Products Town Square.

The Air Products grant also will fund a 4,000-square-foot wing of the Cultural Center, to be called The Air Products MakerSpace, that will be open to local artists, innovators, entrepreneurs and the public, and give them tools, materials, educational opportunities and technologies to “discover, build and create together,” ArtsQuest said.

Also funded from that will be the Cultural Center’s Air Products Visiting Artist Studio. It will seek to provide “an inspirational environment away from the restrictions and pressures of an artist’s regular routines, providing opportunities to work on projects, offer workshops and programs at area schools, and show their work in exhibitions.”

The new Air Products Atrium at the Turn & Grind Center would “welcome thousands of students, professionals, community members and festival attendees annually to SteelStacks,” a news release said.

ArtsQuest said the vision for the Cultural Center and Turn & Grind Center appealed to Air Products and its foundation because of the proposed buildings’ community programming, its ability to help attract and retain a creative workforce, and its enhancement of the quality of life in the region.

“Air Products is committed to the Lehigh Valley and we have a responsibility to be supportive of the local communities where we live and work,” said Air Products Chief Financial Officer Scott Crocco, an Air Products Foundation trustee.

The MakerSpace will be a self-directed learning zone for activities related to science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics, that encourages cross-generational learning. It will include sheet metal, metal machining and welding, woodworking, 3-D printing, laser engraving and digital design and a fabrication lab.

The Visiting Artist Studio will be a space designed to let artists develop their work and explore ideas, while helping to establish the Cultural Center and South Side Bethlehem as destinations to see world-class artists.

Nicole Radzievich, “How artistic grit reinvented the Bethlehem Steel plant and the South Side.” Morning Call, December 13, 2019.

ArtsQuest’s announcement Thursday of a new entertainment venue proposed for the former Turn-and-Grind Shop is just the latest project in a vision that began more than 20 years ago to recast the Bethlehem Steel’s shuttered hometown plant.

The transformation began in earnest a decade ago when the Las Vegas Sands opened a casino, priming the pump for development on the rest of a nearly 130-acre swath of the old plant property between the Fahy and Minsi Trail bridges.

The articles of impeachment

Only once before has Gadfly posted on national doings, preferring to focus just on trying to make a positive impact on Bethlehem, where, perhaps, more things bind us than divide us.

But this is one of those times when we are compelled to look outward.

As always, Gadfly says go to the primary source. Here are the impeachment articles from NPR, without spin or commentary.

Gadfly knows what he’s going to be reading and thinking about this morning.

Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States,
for high crimes and misdemeanors

A pedestrian/biking bridge: “The possible is a big deal”

logo Latest in a series of posts on Walkability and Bikeability logo

Doug Roysdon is a member of the Bethlehem Pedestrian-Biking Bridge Committee.

A Note on the Pedestrian/Biking Bridge

Like Festival Unbound, the pedestrian/biking bridge project is focused on a unified vision of the future city. At its core is the concept of a wholly contemporary “walking city” serving the needs of a pedestrian and biking population. In a series of public meetings on the bridge, a seemingly unending flow of connections associated with the bridge were advanced by Bethlehem citizens.  Among them are:

Reconnection of the city to its river for environmental and recreational purposes

The creation of a pedestrian cultural hub between Sand Island and the Banana Factory

Joining Historic Bethlehem and the Industrial History Museum — an advanced walking tour of Bethlehem History

Expansion of running and walking marathons, charitable events and city promotions

Social and communal links between Lehigh University and Moravian College

Connecting downtown businesses to South Side attractions

Creating a new, more physical  dimension to Bethlehem tourism

Opening new real estate markets for people dedicated to inner city life

Creating a safe,  environmental corridor from Illick’s Mill to the Greenway for walkers and bikers

Providing a superior walking experience in support of senior living in Bethlehem

Linking downtown festivals to both sides of the river

Creating an exciting new platform for night life in Bethlehem

Promoting the integration of Bethlehem’s diverse cultures

Producing a vital link in the rail trail network of Eastern Pennsylvania

Opening of the river banks to cultural and commercial activity

And more…….

Would a pedestrian/biking bridge make all these good things magically happen? No…..

A pedestrian/biking bridge would  make them possible.  The possible is a big deal.

Doug

The Bethlehem Parking Authority asks for detailed proposal from Council on a free parking pilot program

logo 137th in a series of posts on parking logo

The Parking Authority Board meets today: 4PM at their headquarters.

See the memo below: the exec dir did move immediately after the October 23 Board meeting to contact City Council about the free parking pilot program suggested by Councilwoman Van Wirt.

Gadfly — certainly skeptical of BPA’s intention, for the Board has shown noooo interest in such a program — sees the memo as an attempt to stifle the idea with a daunting homework assignment.

He’d have hoped for a meeting of the Board with interested Council members out of which a cooperative plan for a pilot might have emerged.

Of related interest is the provision for free parking in the Northside downtown for the holidays: see https://bethpark.org/news.

BPA pilot

Our ethics ordinance

logo Latest in a series of posts on Ethics and City Government logo

Gadfly mentioned in a previous post that the Council ethics link had not made the migration from the old City web site to the new one.

Business Administrator Eric Evans has acted to remedy that situation. The link will soon be restored on the Disclosure page.

In the meantime, a follower provided the missing link.

ethics

Ordinance passed May 2017.

This was the result of a wider Ethics discussion at that time.

Councilwoman Van Wirt (and others perhaps) talked of returning to that wider discussion during election campaign time earlier this year.

Gadfly would look forward to that conversation.

Recent goings on should have put us in the mood.

How would you like to see our elected officials held accountable if you were drafting a new ordinance?

Lehigh Valley is at a tipping point, says Future report

logo The latest in a series of posts relating to the environment, Bethlehem’s Climate
Action Plan, and Bethlehem’s Environmental Advisory Council  logo

The full version of FutureLV: The Regional Plan can be found at LVPC.org.

Gadfly suggests that we try to get our heads around these big ideas that are swirling all around us.

When a major report like this comes out, Gadfly wishes that there was some formal public response from our Administration and our planning people to acknowledge the report, to indicate their involvement in and/or awareness of the process that produced it, but especially what it means specifically for us.

Is a report like this shaping thinking and decisions at City Hall?

Some soundbites:

  • The Lehigh Valley is at a tipping point.
  • The central mission of FutureLV is striking a delicate balance between successful growth and necessary preservation.
  • At the heart of the plan is a “centers and corridors” concept that, essentially, recommends building up what’s already been developed.
  • It directs new development and redevelopment to 57 activity centers where people live, work, shop or play, and the corridors that connect them.
  • It will mean more mixed-use development.
  • The plan includes $2.5 billion in transportation funding for roads, bridges, trails and sidewalks. It’s simply not enough.
  • Ultimately, it means denser centers. Before anyone curses that D word, know that density is a good thing.
  • The thing people liked most about living in the region is its parks, trails and recreation areas, and the number two thing was its farmlands and natural resources. Those things have come to define our character and identity.
  • Our environment has become a key part of our identity.

Becky Bradley, “How to strike a balance between growth and preservation.” Morning Call, December 1, 2019.

The Lehigh Valley is such a successful region that 4,000 to 6,000 more people arrive every year to take advantage of its unique character, beautiful landscape and high quality of life. But how do we preserve all that good, while managing all that growth? Well, we’ve been working on that for close to three years. The result of that work — along with input and ideas from literally thousands of people from across Lehigh and Northampton counties — is FutureLV: The Regional Plan.

FutureLV is a blueprint designed to guide the region to 2045 and beyond. The fact is, the Lehigh Valley is at a tipping point. We’re not only growing fast in people, but we’re developing fast. The e-commerce boom has clearly overheated our warehousing market, but we’re also seeing growing development in almost every area, from commercial to residential to industrial. Even brick and mortar retail development continues, despite the ominous threat of online shopping and the associated “retail apocalypse,” written about by every major financial publication from The Wall Street Journal to Money magazine.

The central mission of FutureLV is striking a delicate balance between successful growth and necessary preservation.

At the heart of the plan is a “centers and corridors” concept that, essentially, recommends building up what’s already been developed. It means taking advantage of the sewer, water, road, gas, electric, technology and building infrastructure that’s already built. It directs new development and redevelopment to 57 activity centers where people live, work, shop or play, and the corridors that connect them. These range from downtown Allentown to Portland’s business district to Madison Farms in Bethlehem Township.

It will mean more mixed-use development where residential, commercial and retail can co-exist, more walkable neighborhoods where pedestrians, bicyclists and people with disabilities don’t feel unsafe crossing an intersection, more bike and bus lanes and a more connected transportation system.

The plan includes $2.5 billion in transportation funding for roads, bridges, trails and sidewalks. It’s simply not enough. We’ve already identified $4 billion in projects that need done, but aren’t funded. So, we’ll have to be creative and efficient in spending the money we have, while working hard to improve that funding picture.

Ultimately, it means denser centers. Before anyone curses that D word, know that density is a good thing. It puts activity and foot traffic where our neighborhoods and businesses need it most. It will also make our public transit network more efficient and, in the long run, might even be the ticket to light rail.

More importantly, it will save us from ourselves. It will keep us from building homes, big box stores and, yes, warehouses on farm fields or open space or along roads where they don’t make sense, economically or otherwise.

So why is saving the environment important to saving the Lehigh Valley? Two reasons out of a thousand: People told us it is, and it adds value to our economy and region as a whole.

In a survey taken by nearly 1,100 residents last year, the thing people liked most about living in the region is its parks, trails and recreation areas, and the number two thing was its farmlands and natural resources. Those things have come to define our character and identity and are why thousands of people every day drive long distances from jobs to get back here.

But more importantly, saving our environment and making the region more resilient makes sense, and dollars and cents. Our Return on Environment report in 2014 showed that our environment — trees, streams, open space and more — returned more than $1 billion a year in value in the form of reduced health care costs, cleaner air and water and in general a more livable environment. The point is, our environment has become a key part of our identity. Saving it is just as important as growing our economy, maintaining our roads and providing every Lehigh Valley resident with an opportunity for a good life.

It’s Wednesday, December 11, do you know where your local Climate Action Plan is?

Bethlehem Moment: Mr. Schwab Comes to Bethlehem

logo Latest in a series of posts on Bethlehem Moments logo

Bethlehem Moment 17
City Council
December 3, 2019

Robert W. Bilheimer
General Manager
Industrial Archives & Library

video
audio

Bethlehem Moment: January 1, 1905

 Mr. President, members of City Council, Mr. Mayor, ladies and gentlemen.  My name is Robert Bilheimer, and I am general manager of the Industrial Archives & Library, a Private Operating Foundation based here in Bethlehem and organized as an independent institution to collect, organize, conserve and preserve industrial records and to make them available for education and research to historians, scholars, and the public.  It’s a pleasure to be here tonight to see so many familiar faces and to present my “Bethlehem Moment.”

I take you back almost exactly 115 years ago.  It’s a chilly day in early January 1905.  A train from New York City pulling a private railcar, The Loretto, slowly pulls into Union Station in South Bethlehem.  And, yes, it’s the borough of South Bethlehem, for Bethlehem is not yet a single unified city.  Just the year before in 1904, the Borough of Bethlehem, Northampton County, had annexed the Borough of West Bethlehem, Lehigh County, but Bethlehem and South Bethlehem were still very much separate communities.  In time, a man on that train would do much to change that, but that was not why he had come to town.

As the train comes to a stop, out of The Loretto steps Charles M. Schwab, his reputation preceding him – at age 19, chief engineer of the Carnegie Steel Works at Braddock, Pa.; general superintendent of the famous Carnegie Edgar Thompson Works at age 27; Bilheimer 2president of Carnegie Steel Company at just 35; and the former first president of this nation’s first billion-dollar corporation, United States Steel Corporation.  He was a titan of industry, one of America’s most distinguished citizens and one of the wealthiest.

Schwab had had a recent falling out with J. P. Morgan, Judge Elbert Gary and the Board at U.S. Steel, and he had come to town to take the reins of a new entity, the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, the key asset of which was the Bethlehem Steel Company and its single steel plant in South Bethlehem.  Just one month before, in December of 1904, Schwab had founded Bethlehem Steel Corporation out of the ashes of the failed United States Shipbuilding Corporation, which had included the Bethlehem Steel Company and a handful of shipyards on the East Coast and the famous Union Iron Works in San Francisco – itself the builder of some of America’s earliest steel warships, including Admiral Dewey’s cruiser U.S.S. Olympia and the battleship Oregon.

Call it a bit of Schwab bravado, one-upmanship, or just Schwab’s typical desire to “do something else, yet,” as he liked to say, Schwab was bound and determined to go out and build a bigger and better U.S. Steel – and Bethlehem was his vehicle.  He was very much a man on a mission, and he got started right away.

Concerned that Bethlehem Steel’s fortunes were too closely tied to military contracts – Bethlehem had enjoyed great success as the birthplace of the American defense industry in the late 19th century when it developed America’s first heavy forging complex and supplied all the armor plate, big guns and ordnance for the modern U.S. Navy – Schwab was looking for ways to diversify Bethlehem’s commercial, non-military product line.  He found his answer overseas.

Early in 1905, Schwab secured the rights to the Grey Mill Process, a revolutionary but unproven process developed by Englishman Henry Grey for continuously rolling a wide-flange beam, or structural shape.  Up to that point, structural shapes were rolled in pieces and bolted together, thus limiting their strength and utility.  People in the steel industry said, “Charlie, you’re crazy, it’ll never work.”  Schwab, ever ready for a challenge, believed otherwise and literally bet the company on it.  He said at the time, “boys, if we are going to go bust, we’re going to go bust big.”  Well, it did work, and in 1908, the age of the skyscraper came into its own, right here in Bethlehem.  The sky was now the limit and Bethlehem became the “go to” for structural steel and construction engineering expertise for the next 90 years.

Also in the crowd that day to welcome Schwab to Bethlehem was a young engineer and a rising star at Bethlehem Steel, Eugene G. Grace.  An 1899 graduate of Lehigh University, Bilheimer 3Grace joined Bethlehem Steel that year as a crane operator, making $1.80 per day.  By the time Schwab arrived in Bethlehem, Grace had advanced to superintendent of yards and transportation.  Grace’s abilities quickly caught Schwab’s eye, and like the young Charlie Schwab at Carnegie Steel, Eugene Grace began a meteoric rise at Bethlehem Steel.

After a stint in Cuba reorganizing Bethlehem’s iron ore mines there and successfully directing the development of the Grey Mill project, Grace advanced in rapid succession to general superintendent of the Bethlehem Plant in 1906 and then general manager in 1908.  By 1911 he was named a vice president and director of Bethlehem Steel Corporation, president of Bethlehem Steel Company in 1913 and then president of Bethlehem Steel Corporation in 1916, where he effectively ran the corporation for the next 41 years.

Schwab would slowly recede from the day-to-day management of the company and would die in 1939 and Grace would become chairman in 1945.  But Schwab and Grace, two of this country’s greatest industrialists would together build one of the most remarkable and significant industrial organizations of the 20th century.

Before he even bought a home here, Schwab spent six months living and working twenty hours a day out of his private railcar to get the new company started.  And, with Grace’s help, together they took a single-plant money-losing steel company and built it into the second largest steelmaker in the country and the largest shipbuilder in the world through two World Wars and into the 1950s.

Dubbed “The Arsenal of Democracy” and arguably America’s most important defense contractor through both World Wars, Bethlehem’s industrial output was staggering.  Bethlehem built nearly 3,000 ships during that period, including 1,121 alone in World Bilheimer 4War II in what was the largest and most diverse shipbuilding campaign in world history.  Mr. Grace pledged that Bethlehem would build a ship-a-day by the end of the war – and delivered — with an amazing 380 in 1943!  Bethlehem’s shipyards also repaired and/or converted an astounding 30,000 other ships during World War II.

Coming out of Bethlehem shipyards in the 20th Century were warships and commercial vessels of every class and size including America’s first aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Lexington and six other Essex Class carriers, six battleships, scores of heavy cruisers, light cruisers, destroyers, destroyer escorts, troopships, auxiliaries, landing craft, tankers and super tankers, America’s first Liberty Ship – the S.S. Patrick Henry, cruise liners, America’s first nuclear-powered surface warship, the U.S.S. Long Beach and eventually, off-shore oil rig platforms.

It was quite a record.  But that’s only part of the story!  For not only did Bethlehem Steel play a pivotal role in defending this country, but it also helped build the very landscape Bilheimer 5of our modern world and the infrastructure to transport its citizens.  Out of Bethlehem’s mills came such landmark structures — many also fabricated and erected by its diverse workforce – as The Golden Gate Bridge, The George Washington Bridge, The Ben Franklin and Walt Whitman Bridges in Philadelphia, The Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Plaza, Madison Square Garden and The Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington D.C., Los Angeles City Hall and the locks of the Panama Canal.

Mr. Schwab and Bethlehem Steel also played a key role here at home, with Schwab’s instrumental role in merging the two boroughs into our modern City of Bethlehem in 1917 and his leadership in linking the two sides of the river via the Hill-to-Hill Bridge.  And you don’t have to look any further than Bethlehem’s magnificent public water system to see one of the many, many large and small ways that the company has touched our community.

Bethlehem was not just another steel company under founder Charles Schwab’s tutelage.  Bethlehem Steel was a paragon of American industry that helped touch society and shape our country in many diverse ways, perhaps none grander than playing a central role in winning World War I.  Proof is in the words of David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of Great Britain, who after the war said, “Charles Schwab was the first American to help us.  He gave us the necessary equipment to continue the war to a successful ending for the Allies.”

And it all started that day, when Mr. Schwab came to Bethlehem.

Thank you!

About the Industrial Archives & Library

Established in 2015, the Industrial Archives & Library (IAL), is a 501(c)(3), private operating foundation located in Bethlehem, Pa., organized as an independent institution to collect, organize, conserve and preserve industrial records and to make them available for education and research to historians, scholars, and the public.  Current holdings include records relating to banking, slate quarrying, coal mining, silk and textiles, steel, shipbuilding, transportation and railroads.  IAL also houses an oral history program and offers repository services for corporate and industrial records.

“Preserving Historical Records for the Ages”

For More Information: Robert W. Bilheimer, General Manager, Industrial Archives & Library (610) 868-1115  bilheimer@industrialarchives.org

Bilheimer 1

 

Is Gadfly the only one who didn’t know we have a City hotline?

logo The latest in a series of posts on the City web site logo

Gadfly was startled when President Waldron called attention to a City hotline during the Council meeting last week.

A hotline?!

See the Controller page of the City web site.

Never knew.

Sounds like it may be a recent addition, for the text reads, “Our office is pleased to announce the activation of a hotline for the City of Bethlehem.”

It’s purpose: “This hotline will be for all tips from employees and residents of the city, as well as any other interested parties concerned with the efficiency and effectiveness of the city government.”

Now this hotline is not for our day-to-day problems — potholes and the like.

We have the Service Center for that kind of stuff. Gadfly hasn’t used the Service Center yet but will gradually get to it as he familiarizes himself with the new web site.

Given the function of a Controller, Gadfly figures this hotline — on which you can be anonymous if you want — is the place to report matters like waste, improper behavior by City personnel, and illegality in fiscal matters.

But President Waldron spoke if it as useful for a variety of matters like the employee disgruntlement about permit issuance we have been following lately.

In any event, Gadfly didn’t know about this hotline and figured if he didn’t, you might not know either.

Sounds like a good thing, an important thing to be aware of.

Gadfly will put a link to it on the right-hand sidebar.

Just one thing. Isn’t the hotline kind of buried there on the Controller page? If you had something to report and were looking for a place to do it, would you look there?

Gadfly wonders if the hotline presence and existence shouldn’t be more prominently displayed up front on the web site.

He can think of a reason why not to make it more visible in that way but for now thinks the positive effect would outweigh the potentially negative.

Competition for the Tasteless Architecture Award

logo Latest in a series of posts about neighborhoods logo

“But the city has no jurisdiction over architectural style.”
Dan Church

“Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers,” laments Vivien Leigh as Blanche DuBois in the classic A Streetcar Named Desire film.

Jerry reminds us that we depend a lot of times on the kindness of developers.

And sometimes the developer is not a stranger. The owner of 548 lives right there.

Jerry DiGiulio, “Bethlehem buildings don’t fit historic neighborhood.” Morning Call, December 9, 2019.

I thought the Skyline West project in Bethlehem had the Tasteless Architecture Award wrapped up, but incredibly a late entry at 548 N. New St. may win. Both are by the same developer/design team. Apparently their aesthetic was greatly influenced by early episodes of “The Jetsons.”

These proposed buildings are in or adjacent to the Historic District of Bethlehem. In researching how it is possible that these buildings could be approved, I found that City Council, the Planning Board and the Zoning Commission have no say over design, unless the building is in the Historic District.

Not to pick on Bethlehem, the same group has a like building proposed for Easton, also in a historic area. Looks like an alien structure giving birth, waiting for the mother ship to call them home. Neighborhood residents appearing before Easton’s Historic District Commission opposed the project. Hopefully, Easton will listen to them.

I hope the people of Bethlehem will Google these buildings, their locations and voice their concerns to the city.

“Neighborhoods are worth fighting for,” Gadfly always says — we must keep making our ideas known.

Further thinking on what’s next in the ethics case

logo Latest in a series of posts on Ethics and City Government logo

Gadfly’s been thinking more overnight about the next move in this ethics case triggered by Councilman Callahan.

Actually, he’s been thinking about what should have been the first move.

As reported in our last two posts in this series, President Waldron is confident that there are City systems in-place and working for handling whistleblower complaints: one through the City Human Resources department, the other the Controller hotline.

Upon reflection, Gadfly is not so confident as President Waldron.

Gadfly took his public comment time at the December 3 meeting to ask why those three City employees went to Councilman Callahan in the first place, giving him a kind of crisis of conscience that caused his (by his own account) barely suppressed anger at Council meetings that ended up exploding in his November 25 press conference.

Why take your complaint or grievance outside City Hall if there are mechanisms designed to resolve them inside City Hall?

President Waldron didn’t ask that question.

Gadfly’s first impulse was to ask where the chain of events that brought us to this “contentious spectacle” (Barbara Diamond’s apt phrase) started so we could address the problem there and (try to) avoid this public mess in the future.

That’s the kind of guy Gadfly is. Backward looking. Sigh.

So if the whistleblowers had two options besides Callahan, why didn’t they use them?

That’s the question some forward-looking City problem-solver should be asking.

There are two broad answers to that question: either the employees didn’t know about the reporting mechanisms inside City Hall or they didn’t trust them.

All Gadfly can find on the City web site about the Human Resources Department is the list of jobs available, not even the name and contact info of the Head of Human Resources. So no whistleblower guidelines can be found there. But since the web site is aimed at the public that lack might not be surprising. If information for a potential whistleblower exists, it is probably in an employee handbook or manual. Gadfly will try to get a copy. He’s very interested in what what kind of system we have set up, especially who does the investigating and what protections there are.

Now the Controller hotline is, on the other hand, aimed at both employees and the public. And it may be new. The Controller web page says it “is pleased to announce the activation of a hotline,” as if it just happened. And thus, if so, if it is new, can we be sure employees know about it? But if you ask Gadfly, he’s surprised anybody finds the hotline. It feels to him buried on the Controller’s page. Gadfly’s not even sure what a Controller does (joke!) and wonders whether the general public or average employee would ever think to look for it there. More thoughts on this later.

Gadfly wonders if employees are periodically reminded of these two options. They should be.

Now knowledge of the two whistleblower options within City Hall is one thing — but trust in them is another.

The hotline can be anonymous, but you leave a voice message that is kept, archived. But maybe that’s tricky. The City workforce is not all that small — 600+ workers — but maybe small enough for your voice to be recognized. Something to think about.

Perhaps evidence of use of each option would help us think about whether there is trust or not.

Gadfly sees that H.R. operates under the Business Administrator, and, of course, the hot line operates under the Controller. Perhaps this “crisis” time would be the absolute right time to review reports done by these entities on whistleblower cases and hotline usage or to compile such reports if they have not been done in order to evaluate the efficacy of both means of resolving employee grievances.

Some appropriate report to the public of such evaluation of effectiveness could certainly then be done.

to be continued . . .

What next in the ethics case?

logo Latest in a series of posts on Ethics and City Government logo

At the December 3 City Council meeting, the Mayor told Councilman Callahan that he would be sending him a letter. Gadfly doesn’t know if that’s been done or not.

(Gadfly’s had his nose in City business for two years now. He wishes people would just automatically “cc:” him on all correspondence and invite him to all confidential meetings.)

But knowing Councilman Callahan’s passion, he’s not going to give up.

So what’s the next step?

Gadfly #1 Stephen Antalics suggests asking the Penna. State Ethics Commission to investigate. Follower Barbara Diamond pointed to that same path during the Q’nA at the Callahan press conference.  Whether that can be done now that the subject of the investigation has been publicly identified, Gadfly is not sure.

 

  • The City is not the forum to handle the problem that’s existing.
  • It can’t be handled fairly because we have two organizations in the City arguing with each other.
  • Who’s the judge?
  • It puts the Mayor in an awkward position to have to deal with one of his employees.
  • Members of Council and the Mayor should cease and desist and stop the discussion immediately . . . and turn it over to the Ethics committee at the State level.
  • Because the procedure has turned into a demeaning and insulting procedure beneath the dignity of the citizens of Bethlehem.
  • We don’t need it, we’re above it.
  • You have an ethics commission at the State.
  • Take it there where it belongs.
  • And stop this in-house quibbling, it’s simple quibbling of the lowest form.
  • Don’t take us back to grade school. We’re all adults. Let’s act that way.

Now in the video clip from the December 3 City Council meeting in the previous post in this series, President Waldron argued firmly against calling on the State Ethics Commission.

Answering a question many of us had, President Waldron determined that there are two local paths that the City employee whistleblowers and Councilman Callahan might have used to trigger an investigation of the possible unethical behavior: the H.R. path and the Controller tip-line path.

But they didn’t — sigh . . .

“There is a whistleblower protection in place . . . We have an H.R. department that investigates those issues . . . There’s policies in place for that . . . There is a system, and as far as I can tell, it is working. So to bring in the state ethics board to research something, I don’t think is necessary because there are policies, there are practices in place. And, additionally, we have a Controller anonymous tip-line . . . to talk about waste or inefficiency or whatever the issue may be . . . So I don’t think we really need to talk about why the system is broken . . . I think the process and policies in place are fair.”

So there were paths for the employee and the Councilman to take with their complaints that would have brought us to a different place.

Would that they had — sigh . . .

So the question is, are those paths viable now that news of the possible dirty laundry seasoned with a fair bit of acrimony has reached the four corners of our town and into the region?

Gadfly invites your thoughts on that, but his instinct is no, aligning with Stephen’s, no, those paths are not viable now.

Gadfly can understand President Waldron’s desire to keep all action in this instance local, “in the family.”

It’s natural and “politic” to be able to say and believe that you can handle things.

And no good comes when outsiders peek under your roof and empty your waste baskets.

But who files the complaint to the Ethics Commission? Could it be an entity like Council? A boss like the Mayor? The aggrieved Councilman Callahan? Or would it have to be the whistlers themselves?

to be continued . . .

 

Councilman Callahan’s inappropriate announcement

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Gadfly,

Councilman Callahan’s public announcement that BPA executive director Kevin Livingston was leaving was completely inappropriate.

Only one person had that right, and that was Mr. Livingston.

Dana Grubb

West Bethlehem history in Rose Garden memorial

logo Latest in a series of posts on local color and Bethlehem Moments logo

Jason Rehm, “History – Rose Garden’s memorial explained.” Bethlehem Press, December 4, 2019.

Rose Garden
photo credit Jason Rehm

“In honor of the men and women of West Bethlehem who served in World War II.”

———–

Followers know Gadfly’s interest in local history and his Bethlehem Moments project, so he is pleased to pass on a link to the latest work by Jason Rehm appearing in the Bethlehem Press. Reach Jason at bethlehemhistory@gmail.com.

The Environmental Advisory Council rocks!

logo The latest in a series of posts relating to the environment, Bethlehem’s Climate
Action Plan, and Bethlehem’s Environmental Advisory Council logo

“Bethlehem Backyards for Wildlife.”

If there was ever an intriguing name, there ’tis!

In posting chair Rothman’s annual report last week, Gadfly said the Environmental Advisory Council was well represented in presentations at the December 3 City Council meeting.

Gadfly is not done with those presentations, no sir, he isn’t.

Bethlehem Backyards for Wildlife is a subcommittee of the EAC.

December 3 was the first time Gadfly learned Backyards’ history and gained a sense of what they do.

He was amazed.

Listen to team leader Martha Christine’s report and share the amazement at everything these six people are doing: Christine, Roseann Amato, Jane Cook, Suzanne Drake, Christy Roydon, Elsa Stahl.

Bethlehem Backyards for Wildlife
Your non-tax dollars valuably at work!

As a faithful Gadfly follower put it truly:

“Unsung contributors to both our community and achieving a better environment.”

 

It’s Monday, December 9, do you know where your local Climate Action Plan is?

Other Council members show warm heart, healthy hope, and a good head

logo Latest in a series of posts on Ethics and City Government logo

Councilman Callahan suggests the possibility of unethical behavior. The Mayor calls him out at a Council meeting. Councilman Callahan returns the favor before the press. Council reprimands Councilman Callahan.

It ain’t over.

The Mayor mentioned sending some sort of letter to Councilman Callahan. Councilman Callahan is the “comeback kid.” He doesn’t give up.

It ain’t over.

We’ve got serious controversy cookin’ here.

The reputations of Mayor Donchez, Councilman Callahan, the head of the Department of Community and Economic Development Alicia Miller Karner, and the City itself are out on a limb.

And the significance of the situation is compounded by the fact that the main antagonists — Councilman Callahan and Councilman Reynolds — may both be candidates for Mayor next time ’round.

Gadfly has said we can learn a lot about leadership qualities from the way people respond to a controversy like this.

Stress reveals the person.

Crisis reveals character.

This is a great opportunity to see what people are made of.

And who might make a great next Mayor.

So we have seen Councilman Callahan and Councilman Reynolds go at it virtually head-to-head and thus have had opportunity to judge their leadership qualities.

What about the rest of Council?

Councilmembers Negron and Colon were silent on the ethics issue at the December 3 meeting, which is not too surprising. Both are normally on the quiet side. In Gadfly’s experience, neither is glib, neither compulsively seeks the spotlight, neither needlessly repeats what’s already been said. Negron voted for the motion, Colon sided with Councilman Callahan, but since both were silent, we cannot know what they were thinking.

However, there’s an interesting range in the responses of the other three Councilmembers, though none touched directly on the central ethical issues of the controversy. Councilwoman Van Wirt apologized to AMK, Councilwoman Crampsie Smith tried to patch the wounds of Callahan’s removal and move Council forward peacefully and cooperatively, and Councilman Waldron — President Waldron — looked at the business side of things: listing the available City mechanisms to handle suggestions of unethical behavior and identifying an obstacle to productive discussion.

Van Wirt showed warm heart, Crampsie Smith healthy hope, and Waldron a good head.

Take this opportunity to complete the circuit of this first round of responses after Councilman Callahan’s challenging press conference.

Listen below.

Paige Van Wirt:

  • This is a tawdry, tawdry business.
  • And we have such better things here in Bethlehem.
  • So the first thing I wanted to say is Ms. Karner, I am so deeply sorry for what you have gone through.
  • We have not always seen eye-to-eye on everything, but this is not how we would treat our City employees who are doing a good job.
  • And while I can’t speak for the rest of Council, I think I do in saying we are deeply sorry for what you have been through here.
  • And thank you for your service to the City.

Grace Crampsie Smith:

  • In my high school . . . our motto is our diversity is our strength.
  • We have students from all over the world, and it’s just wonderful to see the differences in students and co-workers on a daily basis.
  • And I think that here on Council and in our City our diversity is our strength.
  • We all come from different backgrounds and different frame of references, and that’s ok.
  • At the same time, we need to recognize that our diversity is strong, but our similarity is a bond that keeps us together.
  • Our similarities are such that we all love this great City, and we want what’s best.
  • And we all have the privilege and honor to have been voted to represent the City, the citizens of this great City.
  • So that being said, I really hope that moving forward, we can value our diversity, respect each other, treat each other, every one in this room with professionalism and appropriateness.

Adam Waldron:

  • There is a whistleblower protection in place.
  • It’s not something that has to be done on a case-by-case basis, it’s automatic.
  • We have an H.R. department that investigates those issues.
  • There is a policy in place . . . There is a system, and as far as I can tell, it is working.
  • To bring in the state ethics board . . . I don’t think is necessary.
  • Additionally, we have a Controller anonymous tip-line.
  • There is many different outlets . . . there are outlets within the City that do function and serve the purpose of some of the issues that have been brought up tonight.
  • So I don’t think we really need to talk about why the system is broken.
  • I think the process and policies in place are fair.
  • (Speaking now to Councilman Callahan) There are three different issues . . . they get conflated, interwoven, and interchanged at the convenience of you.
  • And I think when that happens, it muddies the waters, and those issues can’t be handled individually.
  • So it’s a bit confusing to follow along.

to be continued . . .

What does removing Councilman Callahan as liaison to the Parking Authority mean?

logo Latest in a series of posts on Ethics and City Government logo

The Bethlehem Press is a weekly, so it’s a beat behind in this article covering the ethics matter, but it is a good refresher on the events.

Douglas Graves, “Council member, mayor clash.” Bethlehem Press, December 4, 2019.

————

Until the end of the December 3 City Council meeting, Councilman Callahan was Council’s “liaison” to the Bethlehem Parking Authority.

At that point, on a motion by Councilman Reynolds that passed 5-2 (Councilman Colon voting with Councilman Callahan in the minority), Councilman Callahan was relieved of that position — “stripped of his role,” as one of our beat reporters put it — as described in our previous post in this series.

What does that mean? What exactly is a “liaison”?

A quick-and-dirty Google search that anybody can do comes up with such applicable definitions of “liaison” as these:

  • a person who establishes and maintains communication for mutual understanding and cooperation
  • a person who is a channel for communication between groups
  • a person who helps organizations or groups to work together and provide information to each other
  • a person who functions as a connection or go-between, as between persons or groups
  • a person who connects two or more separate entities or parts of a whole so that they can work together effectively

Gadfly has always imagined City Council as the hub of city governance as outlined in this modest proposal post months ago, in which he imagined the various elements of city government like the independent Authorities attending and reporting at City Council on a regular basis.

To keep channels of communication open, robust, and lively.

So, as it were, the right-hand knows what the left-hand is doing.

So the idea of Council members as “liaisons” strikes Gadfly as a good one.

Councilman Callahan was liaison to the Bethlehem Parking Authority. The only other Council liaison Gadfly has heard about is Councilman Reynolds’ role with the Environmental Advisory Council, but he is not sure if that is an official role voted on by Council. Gadfly does not remember any other liaisons spoken of in the almost two years he has been Council-watching.

The only BPA meeting that liaison Councilman Callahan attended in the year that Gadfly has been going to those meetings was the August 28 meeting in which the vote was taken on Polk Street Garage that was the occasion of the suggested unethical behavior by AMK and about which it was claimed by Councilman Reynolds that Councilman Callahan acted improperly in asserting bias in the City evaluation report. Councilman Callahan did not speak (or vote, liaisons do not have votes) at that BPA meeting.

In contrast, City Business Administrator Eric Evans attended several meetings during this period as, Gadfly assumes, the City liaison to the BPA.

BPA minutes going back to December 2017 (that’s as far back as they go on the BPA web site) show that the August 28, 2019, meeting was the only BPA meeting that Council liaison Callahan attended in the now two-year period.

Gadfly cannot remember a time in that two-year period that Councilman Callahan officially reported to Council in his role as liaison.

To be fair, not much in-depth business seems to be discussed at BPA meetings, as Gadfly has often noted in these pages, so maybe Councilman Callahan made the judgment that his attendance was not especially worthwhile. But attending only one meeting in two years is noteworthy — one is tempted to say egregiously noteworthy.

Councilman Callahan has said at times at Council, however, that he is in regular personal contact with the BPA Board chairman and the Executive Director. And he has shown himself frequently as “in the know.” So he has been getting BPA information somewhere.

For instance, Gadfly remembers Councilman Callahan reporting that he had such outside-the-public-meetings contact several times a week during the brouhaha over meter fees and violation fines during the middle and end of 2018. There was no meaningful discussion of these matters at the BPA Board meetings during which anyone could know BPA thinking even if present.

For a recent instance, at the December 3 Council meeting Councilman Callahan “leaked” the seemingly confidential information that the BPA Executive Director is leaving his position, seemingly in dissatisfaction — seemingly showing he is privy to inside information and information that perhaps the people it concerned didn’t want revealed.

Liaisons are go-betweens, links, channels, connectors —  a way of each separate body knowing what the other is doing. In that sense, in Gadfly’s perspective, liaisons are utilitarian, passive — usually not policy makers, nor advocates unless so explicitly designated, so explicitly tasked by their home body.

Frankly, Gadfly felt that during that period of 2018 Councilman Callahan was acting more of an advocate for the BPA position rather than just a reporter of it. Maybe that’s a fine line. And certainly “as Councilman” rather than “as liaison,” Councilman Callahan would be free to put forward his own positions. The fact that he was liaison doesn’t mean that he always had to be neutral or quiet.

Councilman Callahan made just such a distinction between speaking as “councilman” and “liaison” just before the vote on Mr. Reynolds’ motion to remove him, as we can see in the last video clip in the previous post in this series — indicating that he would continue to speak about parking matters, for “parking is a very important thing in the City of Bethlehem” and “as all Council members, we all have opinions on parking issues.”

(Note, however, that in that last video clip in the previous post in this series Councilman Callahan suggests that Councilwoman Van Wirt not be allowed to even discuss Parking Authority matters much less vote on such matters. He not only turns the tables by accusing her of something, he ups the ante. Beautiful. Gadfly will return to this point in a later post.)

So what does the successful motion to remove Councilman Callahan as liaison to the Parking Authority really mean?

It will not silence him on BPA issues.

He can still call reports biased that are unfavorable to a business for which his brother works.

It does not look like the motion will change either Council or BPA business one whit. Liaison to the BPA is not that crucial a role.

Rather, to Gadfly the import of Council action is essentially symbolic.

It’s a rebuke, a reprimand, a scolding.

It’s a letter in Councilman Callahan’s file.

It’s a permanent mark on his record.

It’s a red flag waved.

It’s a badge of distrust.

It’s a wagging finger.

It’s dropping one shoe.

It’s a road sign planted.

It’s a shot across the bow.

It’s squinty eyes.

(A faithful follower — ever educative, ever insightful, sometimes critical — likes metaphorical language. These last for him.)

It’s a warning that we are watching you.

This was not a trivial act.

to be continued . . .

Bethlehem, a destination city — but not in the Wind Creek sense

https://www.peacewalk.org/

Lepoco 3

This is how we should think of Bethlehem as a destination city.

Not in a Wind Creek sense.

Time for the annual peace walk.

It’s a busy time of year, you say.

Join or leave the walk at three spots along the way.

You don’t have to be “religious.”

Would you join Gadfly again?

Peace matters.

Next Saturday

This is a good time of year to think of donating to LEPOCO, an unsung Bethlehem treasure.

“Once the public dollars are spent, gathering data for monitoring benefit can be like pulling teeth from a crocodile”

logo Latest post in a series about Wind Creek Casino logo

Dana Grubb is a lifelong resident of the City of Bethlehem who worked 27 years for the City of Bethlehem in the department of community and economic development, as sealer of weights and measures, housing rehabilitation finance specialist, grants administrator, acting director of community and economic development, and deputy director of community development.

Gadfly,

Having administered many economic development grants in my time with the City, I absolutely agree that performance measurements would be extremely important to determine whether there is actually a benefit to the expenditure of public dollars on economic development projects. Philosophically, I have always taken issue how over time public dollars have evolved from paying for public infrastructure in support of development to actually funding the development itself, which I believe banks should be doing.

Grant applications for state and federal funds generally require that public benefit be measured. How many jobs and what kinds of jobs (salaries?) will be created, how many construction jobs were created, what is the projected increase in taxes, is there any spin-off benefit to other local businesses, etc. are the kinds of projections that can make or break an application for funding assistance.

However, once the public dollars are spent, gathering data for monitoring benefit can be like pulling teeth from a crocodile. Cooperation by businesses isn’t stellar. I also used to wonder whether anybody, particularly elected officials, even cared if that data was gathered. After all, the positive press and political benefit of having delivered a grant is all about re-election and public image of “bringing home the bacon” for politicians. As the City’s grants administrator, my leverage to get data dropped drastically once the money was spent to help a business be constructed. Perhaps that has improved over time, but my cynical side tells me that this kind of business development assistance was more about politics than anything else. It’s kind of like your grocer collecting for a charitable cause at check-out and then touting that they contributed $1 million to some cause. They didn’t, you and I and many others did!. Public dollars belong to us and politicians like to act like Santa Claus with everyone else’s money!

So, Peter’s thought is sound, but I’m not so sure whether the cooperation and/or political will exist to pursue data driven results when public dollars go into business development. At least in days past when public infrastructure was built to support that development, the public had a tangible asset in place such as roads, traffic signals, public utilities, landscaping, and information technology infrastructure.

Dana

TIF revisited

logo Latest post in a series about Wind Creek Casino logo

Gadfly:

I think you’re maybe confusing TIF and CRIZ.

The taxes that were captured under the TIF were used on public improvements throughout the TIF area. They were not returned to the casino in any fashion.

The end of the TIF is not a loss to Wind Creek, who pay their real estate taxes no matter if there is a TIF or not. When the TIF expires, those taxes will now go to the BASD, COB, and NC.

There was no direct benefit to the casino unless one considers public infrastructure that was built using TIF funding having a spin-off effect.

For example, completion of the Hoover Mason Trestle or SteelStacks using TIF created an attraction that might draw hotel business, restaurant business or gambling clientele to the casino complex.

The end of the TIF simply means that there will no longer be that public funding component to complete projects like those I mentioned earlier.

Dana Grubb

Thanks, Dana!

Pausing on Peter’s posts

logo Latest post in a series about Wind Creek Casino logo

Peter Crownfield made two comments on posts recently that are easily missed because of the WordPress format for comments — and I’d like to foreground them here.

Peter: Is this [the newly proposed Wind Creek hotel and etcetera] to be a climate-neutral (net zero) building? Is it to be fossil-fuel free? If it doesn’t meet these basics, they should not be allowed to go forward.

We don’t have a real Climate Action Plan in place yet.

But Gadfly thinks we should be thinking that we have a figurative one in place and acting as if it were real.

That is, that every new building now should be held to the rigorous standards of the plan that we will have.

For instance, I’m afraid that the Polk Street Garage will get through without the kind of thinking about solar power that the Environmental Advisory Council folk prompted the Parking Authority about.

The BPA response to the EAC was, to me, far too vague.

For instance, Gadfly is not sure at Planning Commission meetings etc that he hears questions about energy saving design and so forth.

We should be thinking that way even though rules aren’t in place, shouldn’t we?

If Wind Creek doesn’t pass the kind of scrutiny Peter suggests, they should be stopped. No reason why, with their resources, they are not a model of energy efficiency, even without being forced to be.

Gadfly might feel good about Wind Creek’s plans to make Bethlehem the no. 1 destination in the Northeast for a water park if at least their campus was a model in this respect.

Peter: I have not analyzed the TIFs in question, nor have I seen any comprehensive analysis by the city. I have seen quite a few comprehensive studies of TIFs (and similar tax incentive programs) in other areas, and most of them indicate a net loss to the municipalities, even after the TIF ends. I thought Bethlehem was going to start analyzing all these incentive programs in terms of financial results, jobs added, and other predicted benefits.

Yeah.

I would very much like to see a comprehensive analysis of the first 10 years of the Sands, for instance.

These incentive programs come with a lot of promises, a lot of hype — have those things been delivered? I almost feel that such an analysis has to be done by an independent body.

So we’re seeing hype surrounding the recent announcement of Wind Creek’s first major phase.

But what’s our experience with such forecasts?  Can we trust?

A modest proposal: restraining Council repetition

logo 9th in a series of modest proposals logo

Bill Scheirer is an economist who grew up in Bethlehem, spent 40 years in DC, and retired here in 2003. He is a life member of the Committee of 100 on the Federal City and was on the Mayor’s Task Force for the City of Bethlehem Comprehensive Plan, Zoning Ordinance, and Zoning Map.

Gadfly:

As I recall. there are 15 council rules, number 12 of which is that Robert’s Rules applies in all other instances. I would like to propose a Council Rule 16, which would read as follows:

“A councilmember may not state the same fact, opinion, argument, or representation more than twice in the same speech, nor more than three times in the same meeting.”

Councilmembers will find, with this rule modifying Robert’s Rules, that meetings will be shortened not insignificantly and that other councilmembers and members of the press and the public will be more attentive to what they are saying.

Bill
Gadfly #2

Do you suppose that this rule is aimed at any one Council member in particular?