Latest in a series of posts about the Bethlehem Police

Latest in a series of posts about the Bethlehem Police

If you’ve been following Gadfly’s coverage of the butt end of the December 1 City Council meeting, he left you with Councilman Callahan in the middle.

Where Councilpersons Reynolds, Van Wirt, and Waldron took aim.

We have suspicion that Councilman Callahan is the source of the “fake controversy,” outrage that he’s driving a wedge between Council members, and belief that his intention is to separate himself from the rest of Council in regard to support for the police.

Councilman Reynolds (4 mins.)

• better idea of where this fake controversy came from and how it got pushed to this point
• [conversations with other Council members] we all had our suspicions.
• pick and choose [quotes]
• [About the Community Engagement Initiative] A lot of people are feeling pain, and we are trying hear different people’s perspectives
• A lot of the comments that night, some we agree with, some we disagree with.
• [Long meeting, lot of people talking] You do not have to own every comment made.
• Different people have different perspectives.
• [Conversation with a police officer]
• A lot of discussion over past six months is not . . . slogans, or how we make people look bad . . . [but] how do we move past that for the betterment of society.
• You have a 4hr meeting and somebody says O they agree with this and they don’t agree with that so on and so forth — that’s not a serious way to look at these issues.

Councilwoman Van Wirt (2 mins.)

• [Thanks to other Councilmembers for their words] to promote unity and healing.
• [Thanks to Councilwoman Crampsie Smith] for the dichotomy that is a good Councilmember, which is that you can do both things at once.
• Indeed, that is the definition of a good Council member, being able to do both things at once, both sides of the coin.
• Usually, I don’t respond to Mr. Callahan . . .
• But I am outraged at his behavior . . . driving a wedge that doesn’t exist in between Council members and causing such pain and fear among our fellow citizens.
• His words have been divisive and inflammatory, self-serving, and distorted.
• What we need is unity.
• Finding someone using such a painful topic for their own gain, I find reprehensible and I’m embarrassed.
• For him to take words and distort them, I find reprehensible.

President Waldron (2 mins.)

• mixing and matching different quotes from callers and Council members that may or may not have anything to do with each other
• out of context look pretty damning, and I think that’s exactly what you are doing right now, inciting a lot of the rhetoric that’s been going on
• After a lot of the rhetoric that’s been going on and the emails we’ve been getting . . . facebook posts that have been circulating there’s been a lot of misinformation and a lot of quotes being taken out of context.
• I’ve had an opportunity to correspond with a few people . . .they thanked me for clarifying the record and said they were misinformed.
• . . . intent to separate you from the rest of your Council members as if you are the only one who is standing up for the police department when clearly every one on this Council supports the police department.
• There’s no proposals to defund . . . supporting [the police department] 100%.
  

Latest in a series of posts about the Bethlehem Police

Councilman Callahan got himself in the middle, a not unusual position for him, by providing his explanation of the genesis of the Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance and the callers the night of the December 1 Council meeting.

That genesis, he said, was a combination of the tough defunding/abolition statements by commenters at the July 7 meeting plus sympathetic and supportive responses to them especially by Councilpersons Reynolds and Van Wirt.

Councilman Callahan went to the July 7 primary source and quoted passages from the Councilpersons to back up his point.

He explained that he wasn’t trying to differentiate himself from others on Council, but he wanted the record to show that such statements were made, statements that would concern some citizens, and Gadfly believes that Councilman Callahan was implying that if it weren’t for pushback at the August 11 meeting, there might have been amendments affecting the police department from the more liberal members of Council.

Certain members of Council “re-prioritized” after pushback, he said.

This, you will recognize, is the narrative of the LVGNA.

5 mins.

• I agree with a lot of the comments that Grace Crampsie Smith made.
• All of us agree . . . very unfortunate deaths of those individuals..
• Some of those cases, I believe it was murder.
• I’m totally supportive of the police in our city, but I understand why the Black Lives Matter movement came up . . . supported that movement.
• I don’t know the group that you are talking about [Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance].
• Obvious some of the residents of the city were concerned that some of the comments that were made at the July 7th meeting  . . .
• No one on Council right now is making any amendments to defund the police department, but, let’s be honest, that was not the case at the July 7 meeting.
• [reads comments from public at the July 7 meeting]
• Based on comments made at that meeting . . .
• [reads direct quotes from Councilpeople Reynolds and Van Wirt at the July 7 meeting]
• Those are the comments that were made and that’s the genesis of some of the phone calls that were coming in tonight.
• I don’t know about any threats, and I apologize to Ms. Crampsie Smith if anybody attacked her.
• [People who called in tonight] felt there were some pretty radical comments made at the July 7 meeting and there were some comments by Council members that backed up that.
• I’m just quoting from the record.
• That’s where the genesis of that was.
• Nobody should be inciting any type of violence against anybody, or any type of fear . . .
• We’re talking about the Bethlehem police department [not Wisconsin, Minnesota, etc.].
• Our police department hasn’t really had any ____?___ since the Hirko settlement . . . national accreditation.
• [Concerns of people who called my house came from comments by Council people Reynolds and Van Wirt]
• Those were direct quotes from the Council meeting.
• I just want it on the record that those comments were made by those two individuals.

2 mins.

• [Mr. Waldron], I think what happened was in that following Council meeting there was a lot of pushback
• I was the only one at that time — I’m not trying to differentiate myself from any Council members — I said very plainly we are not defunding the police department.
• There was a lot of pushback and [Councilers Reynolds and Van Wirt] had a re-prioritization of their thoughts.
• [repeats comments of Van Wirt from July 7]
• That’s a direct quote; I’m not putting words in anybody’s mouth.
• If anybody thinks the context is wrong, please go and check.
• [Gives time marks on video for each Council person] Judge for yourself on the context.

2mins.

• I agree . . . empathy . . . seeing from both sides of the issue.
• All I was saying — I don’t know any of the callers who called in, I don’t know why anybody thinks I had anything to do with it, I didn’t encourage anybody, if you want to blame me for that, you may, I had nothing to do with it, I don’t know anybody who called in — I’m just trying to correct the record.
• I encourage all the residents, go look at the July 7 video and make up your own decision.
• I’m not putting words in anybody’s mouth, go look at the meeting.
• It wasn’t till after that meeting [August 11 public safety meeting] . . . when there was pushback and everybody kind of took a step back from their comments . . .
• For everybody to pretend that those comments weren’t made is very disingenuous.
• Make up your own mind.
• Had there not been pushback from the community . . .
• I don’t know anybody that called tonight . . .
• Had there not been the pushback, some of the more liberal people on our Council . . .
• When it comes to our police safety, I think some of the comments that those two Council members made that night were not welcome.

2 mins.

• Mr. Reynolds, I agree with you about the emotional and reactionary response.
• I plainly said, right away, immediately, we are not going to defund the police department.
• My point is that some of you reacted . . . very reactionary and emotional responses to what was being said that night instead of thinking through the process.
• I stated right away, we’re not defunding the police department.
• I’m not trying to embarrass anybody, but everybody’s trying to back walk.
• Just like these comments weren’t made. They clearly were made.
• I felt they were reactionary and emotional responses from you.
• If anybody is offended by me quoting . . . I apologize.
• But I encourage city residents to watch the video.

Latest in a series of posts about the Bethlehem Police

The sense of injustice that most Council members felt at the actions by the Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance might best be registered by the response by Councilman Colon the night of the December 1 Council meeting.

In his more than two years of Council watching, Gadfly never saw Councilman Colon so exasperated.

The always pleasant, always cheery, always even tempered, always brief Councilman was, in Gadfly’s view, quite a bit off his equilibrium in his longest commentary in Gadfly’s tenure (8 mins.). Not, it seemed to Gadfly, “appalled and angry” like Councilwoman Crampsie Smith, but pained and frustrated.

• What I heard tonight was a lot of fear but not a lot of understanding.
• As Councilmembers we are tasked with looking at things from everybody who calls in and understanding that life looks a lot different depending on what lens you are looking at it from.
• This heightened sense of fear that we heard tonight . . . where’s this coming from? . . . what’s driving some of this? . . .
• this idea that there’s a nefarious, clandestine, undermining of the police department and beyond our police department our City’s sense of feeling safe in our residents’ own homes . . . and drumming up the sense that looming around the corner is us, the City Council, with this plot to kinda push Bethlehem over a cliff into chaos.
• And we hear these anecdotal notions of other cities and what’s going on . . .
• this idea that if it weren’t for Council being called out that we were ready to unplug the energy of Bethlehem . . .
• or that conversations going back to over the summer where we tried to understand where people were coming from . . .
• people who feel that they are walking around with targets on their backs, whether real or perceived . . .
• we heard tonight, some people who say that they can’t call the police
• then on the other end of the spectrum people who feel that they can’t go to bed at night because they don’t know if there’s going to be someone to call if they need help.
• Or to the brave men and women who actually punch a clock every day and put on a badge feeling that they aren’t being supported or that they are walking around with a target on their back . . .
• A lot of this fear, but not a lot of understanding.
• Talking about something that happened more recently, we all lauded an appointment that came before us with our new Chief of Police, Chief Kott, that passed unanimously, without question, not only did everyone vote in favor of Chief Kott, everyone sung her praise, justly so . . .
• After the new year we should have conversations about hiring practices within the police department, promotions within the police department, what police responses look like, what our policies . . . and also visit the pilot program with the Health Bureau . . .
• Previous to this fury of emails we had already established that at a budget hearing that we were not taking any positions away from the police department.
• It’s a matter of understanding comprehensively how we operate a city . . .
• I invite . . . anyone interested in learning anything, tune in.
• Don’t just take it from a Facebook post, get it from the source, tune in to a Council meeting . . .
• We’re getting emails from people telling us not to do something that we have not had discussions to do.
• Acknowledging that there are people who think different than you not that they are trying to plunge Bethlehem into an anarchist state but that they want to look at things in a certain way to accomplish goals.
• And that’s not going to happen overnight . . . these things don’t happen with a flip of the switch.
• hope that we as a Council, outside of some of the other forces that be . . . continue to offer understanding of each other, of the different perspectives, and really try to diminish fears out there . . .
• that we are behind closed doors in the shadows plotting to turn Bethlehem into some sort of chaotic city, which there’s nothing to support that.

Latest in a series of posts about the Bethlehem Police

“I can do both. I can sympathize with people of color and the hurt and pain they are feeling, and I can also support the police. They are not mutually exclusive things.”
Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith

Last week was a quite busy week for your city government and thus for Gadfly. A regular City Council meeting and the final budget hearing. Lots of interactions by our elected officials, the kinds of things that are not only important for us but also give us a good view of our elected officials. Gadfly will try to provide a few more scenes from the City Council meeting today to catch up on that one anyway.

The response from City Council members at the December 1 City Council meeting to the full court press that the Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance put on to obstruct Council’s suspected conspiracy to defund the police was vigorous.

Led off by Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith in strong words that were praised by her colleagues (5 mins.):

• No one on Council has ever proposed eliminating the police.
• That has been the message sent out to the community over the past days and weeks, and that is unfortunate.
• Many on Council have been hurt and moved by the pain and hurt that people of color have experienced.
• This doesn’t mean that we are anti-police.
• In my personal and professional life I have had many friends and clients and students who have been victims of systemic racism.
• I see them, and their hurts, and I sympathize, but I can do both.
• I can sympathize with people of color and the hurt and pain they are feeling, and I can also support the police. They are not mutually exclusive things.
• And that needs to be clear to the community and the individuals and the groups that are spreading falsehoods about me and my fellow Council people.
• [Council supported resolution for supplies for police.]
• [She enrolled in the Bethlehem Citizens Police Academy to get a better feel for what police do.]
• [Have been meeting with police since June about how to improve the quality of services and officer training.]
• The biggest concern I have . . . is the falsehoods circulated by individuals such as the Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance.
• They have instilled fear in our community needlessly at time when we should be encouraging and supporting of others, especially like the elderly, crime victims, and those with PTSD, etc.
• [Personal experience, daughter of a police chief, knows the stress.]
• I saw my father get hurt and have a heart attack in the line of duty and almost die when I was 10 years old.

“She claims she’s not for eliminating the police but she wrote the resolution that gives radical Marxists direct influence over City policy and policing.”
The LVGNA “coffee cup” brochure

• I saw the stress that that job took on him and I saw him go to an early grave because of the stress.
• I am appalled, I am angered by the individuals and the groups that say I and my fellow Councilman do not support the police.
• My father was a police chief and frankly I feel you are spitting on his grave by saying I do not support the police.
• You can insult me, you can attack me personally, but don’t attack my family and that is what you are doing.
• [Other family members in police work.]
• I have nothing but complete respect, love, and admiration for them.
• I would just ask that the individuals and groups that are spreading these falsehoods please consider the ramifications of your actions.
• The one thing that is most upsetting is that you are instilling fear needlessly in innocent citizens of our community.

The claim that the Community Engagement Initiative Councilwoman Crampsie Smith co-sponsored with Councilman Reynolds gives direct influence to anybody much less radical Marxists is false.

Latest in a series of posts about the Bethlehem Police

Gadfly has liberally quoted recent voices from the Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance without comment.

But he does not agree with them.

Here is some of his thinking on that.

• LVGNA’s two highly placed but unnamed sources who indicated City Council was conspiratorially plotting as a bloc to “defund” the police department were wrong.
• In fact, two Council members were immediately on record weeks ago as totally opposed to “defunding.”
• Gadfly followers would know that he, who looks forward to comprehensive discussion but not necessarily “defunding,” has been whining precisely about Council inaction and saw no movement toward a vote of any kind.
• People paying attention would know that there would be no vote on the police department funding at the regularly scheduled Council meeting December 1, that if there were to be any voting at all it would happen at the budget hearing December 3 and the final vote would not be till December 15.
• Thus, LVGNA created a false sense of crisis for December 1.
• People paying attention would know that Council is planning public meetings with and about the police in January, and if there were to be any change in the way policing is done, it surely would not happen till after that public discussion.
• People paying attention would know that, on their own initiative, the police have instituted a pilot program involving a social worker, without any “defunding,” to be sure, but precisely in the kind of direction that “defunders” would like to see them go.
• That said, the new Chief has basically recognized that there is a problem to be addressed and Council and police seem to be working cooperatively not antagonistically.
• The notion fostered by LVGNA that people need to rally at the barricades to defend the police and save public safety from dissolution seems a false narrative.
• LVGNA has perpetuated the notion of “defunding” — admittedly a poor term to begin with (which is the reason why Gadfly tends to put it in quotes) — as a mindless or Marxist attack on the police rather than a good faith attempt to address some problems by re-imagining how policing is done.
• Those who call for “defunding” are not monolithic. Gadfly spent several posts on the “abolitionist” who presented at the NCC conference in October. He saw change gradual as public safety moved to a new structure.
• The notion that “defunders” or “abolitionists” want an immediate end to police departments, throwing civilization into chaos, returning us to the law of the jungle, misunderstands the movement.
• There were extreme public statements made against the police July 7 — that, yes, gave even Gadfly the shakes — but his response, like those expressed by some members of Council, was to try to understand the basis of such rhetoric not immediately condemn it. That seemed the neighborly thing to do, and certainly would be the role of a Council charged with representing the entire community.
• Since that time those speaking for change in public safety have been quite moderate both in tone and idea. Gadfly has come to think of them as mainstream “defunders.”
• In contrast, we find the LVGNA facebook pages filled with extreme hostility: Council members are characterized as “big city leftists,” supporters of “BLM, Antifa, and the criminal element,” toxic, disgusting, Socialist, simple minded, disgraceful, shameful.
• And we find callers referred to as “radical Marxist anarchists.”
• The kind of language hardly conducive to the good conversation that builds community.
• The LVGNA seems to believe that police should be allowed to operate without oversight, especially by the body legislatively charged with doing so.
• In short, Gadfly has a hard time seeing that LVGNA is doing any good. In fact, quite the contrary.

Without a doubt, the main thing that Gadfly has noticed in the recent self-styled LVGNA march to victory is what is not there.

Not a mention of George Floyd. Nor the other names on the necrology of tragic police encounters with people of color.

Not a mention of awareness of where and why the “defunding” movement started.

Not a mention of the problem the movement is trying to address.

It’s generally agreed that the “defunding” movement began with the 2014 killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.

And in the past six months it crescendo’d with a series of such events spanning George Floyd to Walter Wallace.

If you don’t try to understand the trauma of these events, you will never understand the “radicals.”

LVGNA has 7000 signatories to a petition to defend the police. LVGNA could do a lot of good with that following.

Gadfly has suggested starting a conversation based on a specific “first contact” situation between the police and a member of the community.

Here’s how he put it after his discussion of LVGNA’s “coffee cup” brochure.

Does LVGNA see no first contact problem that needs to be addressed? Gadfly would be curious to know the basis for such a view. That would be good conversation.

Or does LVGNA see a first contact problem and have a solution (such as more training handled internally by a department) but are objecting to “defunding” and/or to the presence of BLM? That would be good conversation too.

Such a conversation would better prepare us for the meetings Council will host with and about the police in January.

Latest in a series of posts about the Bethlehem Police

Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance

Thursday, December 3

conclusion

 

Latest in a series of posts about the Bethlehem Police

Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance

Wednesday, December 2

to be concluded

Latest in a series of posts about the Bethlehem Police

Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance

Wednesday, December 2

 

to be continued . . .

Latest in a series of posts about the Bethlehem Police

Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance

Wednesday, December 2

to be continued . . .

Latest in a series of posts about the Bethlehem Police

Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance

Tuesday, December 1

to be continued . . .

Latest in a series of posts about the Bethlehem Police

Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance

Monday, November 30

The Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance gets air time to seek followers and arouse action

Tuesday, December 1

to be continued . . .

Latest in a series of posts about the Bethlehem Police

ref: Residents support police, reject defunding
ref: Residents who support modifying the police budget

• Good for LVGNA [Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance] people for recognizing the threat to the police planned by Council & alerting neighbors.
• Bias?
• Nelson got 11 minutes to drone on, while Waldron cut into Ragni before 5 minutes — why???
• Yeah, Waldron consistently favors Stand UP [Lehigh Valley Stands Up] callers. Back in that long meeting he called down Ragni while letting Ochs go on & on for over 15 minutes.
• Ochs was meeting behind the scenes with some of the council members.
• Why did they [other Council members] make Callahan the villain?
• Yeah, all Callahan did was point out what was said.
• At the July 7th meeting they [Council members] accommodated LVSU [Lehigh Valley Stands Up] demands, including complete abolish[ing] of policing.
• LVSU put the pressure on meeting after meeting.
• They [LVGNA] were accused of fear mongering? There was reason to fear police defunding based upon this radical group pulling the strings of council.
• Yeah, it was only Tuesday night they said they were not going to put forth an amendment!!!
• If they’d said that before, it would have been a different story Tuesday.
• Yeah, LVGNA would have been fools not to speak out to defend the police.
• Since the BLM protests . . .

Latest in a series of posts about the Bethlehem Police

Largely through the efforts of the Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance, public comment was lively at Tuesday night’s City Council meeting and focused on the police part of the City budget discussions.

Word was out — unreliably — that a move was afoot on Council to “defund” the police department and perhaps that a vote would be taken, and the majority of the callers expressed their support for the department and disapproval of any attempt to “defund” the department.

Here are those voices. Gadfly encourages you to listen. If the audio clips are hard to hear, click to the video of the meeting for better quality.

Gadfly’s text is not meant to be exact or complete. Listening best.

See how these callers support their positions.

If your time is limited, Gadfly’s picks on which to focus would be George and Greg.

———-

Steve McGowan (3 mins.) (min. 6:15)

Concerned about full funding for the police. Family moved here from crime-filled city. Love this town. Thanks you for making us feel safe. Shook up by incident in which daughters’ school door was shot through. Professionals and essential workers insecure with the way the world is these days. Police presence at Musik-Fest a huge deal. Incident where there wasn’t. Brawl. Grabbed daughter and ran away. Opportunists look for opportunities where there are no police. Thank you. Wish more support for police. Grandfather was a cop. Police essential for well-being and safety of our community. Thanks to police for doing what they do in thee difficult times.

Michelle Dalgren (2 mins.) (min. 9:34)

Glad we’re just talking about rumors here. Long-time resident. I love our country. I love our city. I support the police. They have a lot of honor and should have a lot of respect from all of us. They’re going through a rough time. It’s a great time to support police and make sure they have what they need for training and accountability. They are first and last line of defense. Daughter with car trouble, officer on the scene and got her going. Lehigh Valley is nice area and we can show leadership to the rest of the country if we go in a positive direction.

Margot (3 mins.) (min. 20:06)

Thank you for your service to the city. Life-long resident of the Valley. I’m calling because I heard there was an effort to defund our police. Reassuring that that is not happening. I highly value the Bethlehem police department. Exceptional. Have had great interactions with police. Terrific interactions. Great reputations in the LV. One of the best departments in the Valley. Want to make sure that they are funded and even a little more. Public safety is paramount. I as a tax payer support your efforts.

Lucy Lennon (5 mins.) (min. 24:10)

Total and heartfelt support of our police department. Extremely blessed by leadership. Good men and women who work hard to keep community safe. Department is 1 of 800 of 17,000 nationwide with accreditation. Statewide only 120 of 824 departments have it. Only 4% nationwide have dual accreditation like we do.  Only 24 complaints out of 61,000+ calls. 2 complaints a month. Lots of time and effort put in on their own volunteering, fundraising, etc. Good humans. We are blessed. If you are looking for funding, take back department head raises. City Forester, Zoning inspectors, etc. I hope you will look deeper into the budget. Don’t cut police and fire. They keep historic neighborhoods quiet, deal with crazy domestic calls, etc. Mentally ill. They know how to deal, that’s what trained to do. If you don’t support them, you should be ashamed of yourselves. They are doing a great job despite what I hear from some of you. They make our city a great place to live.

 Michael Sasser (3 mins.) (min. 40:30)

Very happy not defunding and that police are getting raises. Our police deserve it. Military kid, lived many, many place. Bethlehem police best I’ve ever encountered. Best in state. Very proud. Bethlehem lately built on tourism. We can have best festivals and etc but if people aren’t safe, it’s all for naught. Extremely happy we’re not defunding. Proof in the pudding. Reading articles every day about cities like Portland, etc., where there’s a direct correlation between defunding/devaluing of police, mass retirements, and crime has spiked upward. New York City used to be great place to take a family. Mass exodus there. More police, safer we are.

George Roxandich (4 mins.) (min. 43:52)

Reading comments by other people (from survey?). May be no current proposals to defund, it’s obvious that sympathies of some council members are with radicals to undermine or re-structure the police force. It’s stunning that City Council would make one of these radical groups with no practical knowledge of policing de facto subcommittees of the Council. Anyone afraid to call the police shouldn’t call the police, they should call anybody they feel comfortable calling. And see what happens. Sending a social worker to a domestic violence call, not good even for police. Words of comfort and consolation inadequate in these volatile situations. The folks who are trying to defund the police departments have other agendas in their minds. A lot of these activists became activists because they were conditioned to be activists. It’s very easy to be pulled into these organizations. Violence we see elsewhere hasn’t come here yet because we have what we need from the police and the community. But other cities have said the same thing til it turns on them.

Greg Ragni (5 mins.) (min. 47:48)

Much has been made of tone of political statements and how much words matter. If simply relating quotes elected officials make upsets them, maybe they should think more carefully about what they say. I’ll spare Council the pain of hearing their own quotes in favor of hearing the voice of the people. Over 7,000 signed a petition to defend the police department from defunding and many left comments representatives should hear. [Reads series of vivid comments.] Hopefully from those voices of your constituents you get the idea.

Carrie (5 mins.) (min. 1:08:20)

Defunding an emotional issue for us. Events across the nation riveting and troubling. Reminded about how important police are to us. Accountability is at the core, for everyone not just the police. We are 50% of situations. We choose how we respond. Choose well. Although our police great, 911 is not only option if you don’t want to encounter police. If in mental health crisis, both Lehigh and Northampton county have hot lines. Mental health assistance offered at county level. Majority of people feel 911 ok. Gives crisis intervention numbers. Thanks Chief DiLuzio for decades of service. Shares more comments by respondents to the petition to defend police. Thanks you for hearing the majority of Bethlehem residents with common sense and belief in our police force.

Latest in a series of posts about the Bethlehem Police

ref: The Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance also in full-court press as budget vote nears

Thank you for curating, Gadfly. Debate is missing, in spite of  your effort.

Obviously two sides so opposed – like our federal political parties – could only benefit from committing to listening to each other’s scientifically supported view points with a promise to listen and act based on democratic norms.

That is a hard thing to hear for those suffering under the legacy of 400 YEARS of racial, social, cultural, economic and medical oppression. This is a fact that can not be denied, though it is ignored and challenged and belittled.

Ignorance of its importance is being made known, especially recently by the young who perhaps don’t have the material wealth and social power to fear losing. But what is RIGHT?

We had been a country that prided itself on standing up against bullies, or so we’d been taught. I (a 54 year old) – like so many – agree that now is the time to use our voices on behalf of all. This must include those oppressed with the hope of righting our nation’s egregious wrongs, as much as possible.

BLM protests – joined by all creeds – have been largely non-violent – 93% (according to the report by US Crisis Monitor cited by Time, USA Today, Washington Post, and others) – in spite of the unquantifiable violence done on their ancestors their CONTEMPORARIES, and themselves.

If one thinks this is inaccurate, the democratic, civilized, educated norm is that one cites sources AND DEBATES; one does NOT write or yell “fake news” with any integrity.

Yes, corporate media must be checked, just like the powers and branches of government that can be bought much more easily as a result of the 2010 Citizens United ruling that allowed unlimited corporate funding of elections leading to undocumented “dark money”. (1) Fair and reasonable political influence? Phooey. Three Americans have more wealth than the least wealthy 50%. (2) Good at what they do? Certainly. Good FOR what they do? Much less so.

But that sweeping “fake news” cry is not only dishonest, it is lazy, undemocratic, ill-intentioned, and inhumane considering the suffering that has created the need to demand justice.

State your position HONESTLY, not in a partisan (one-sided) vacuum outside of society. Labeling all people willing to speak out for transparency and discussion “Marxists” is fascist oppression of free speech and McCarthy-esque, shameful (and likely libelous* and slanderous*).

*Where would this stand legally considering the recent Gunther Walsh radio bit and the online posters that have been shared?

To BE better, we have to DEMAND better, and then ACT better.

(1) https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/citizens-united-explained

(2) https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/noahkirsch/2017/11/09/the-3-richest-americans-hold-more-wealth-than-bottom-50-of-country-study-finds/amp/

Greg Zahm

Latest in a series of posts about the Bethlehem Police

President Waldron began last night’s City Council meeting with a brief announcement that, despite rumor (think Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance), there is “no will among Council members to defund or eliminate the police department.”

President Waldron asked Council members to submit amendments to the budget for discussion at the Thursday budget meeting by Monday, and none were received relating to the police (sounds like there is something coming related to the Fire Department, however).

Even before going to a longish list of callers in the comment space of the meeting, President Waldron wanted to “assure” the public that Council “will not be amending or making any changes” to the police department budget for 2021.

“It is our intention,” he said, “as Bethlehem City Council to continue to support all of the employees of the City of Bethlehem, including the police department.”

The police department budget, President Waldron said, is, in fact, larger than last year mostly because of a 3% salary increase, like all of the 600+ City employees.

The salary of elected officials remains the same, no increase.

President Waldron’s announcement took some of the drama away from the subsequent string of pro-police callers, for the Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance was in a kind of blitz mode during the previous 36 hours or so, including the appearance on the Bobby Gunther Walsh radio show and including the skewering of Councilwoman Van Wirt in the image Gadfly posted for you yesterday right before the meeting.

The meeting was robust both at the beginning from callers (overwhelmingly against “defunding” but powerful voices on the other side too) and at the end (the spirited interaction among the Council people).

Given some time, Gadfly will provide details and audio clips as usual, but, of course, in the meantime, you can go to the video (begin min. 1:46:00 with Councilwoman Crampsie Smith’s passion and eloquence for the Council interplay at the end).

Also, in the meantime, Gadfly suggests that you go to the Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance Facebook page to see their reaction to the meeting.

Yes, go there. Whew!

Latest in a series of posts about the Bethlehem Police

Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance is racing on all cylinders for tonight’s meeting.

Go to their Facebook page, Gadfly encourages you!

An image like this (sorry, Gadfly can’t get a print-readable image — sigh), you’ll find.

And video.

And probably more since last Gadfly looked.

Promises to rock tonight at the meeting.

Latest in a series of posts about the Bethlehem Police

ref: The need for quality conversation

from the LVGNA facebook page:

Latest in a series of posts about the Bethlehem Police

ref: The Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance gets air time to seek followers and rouse action

Gadfly:

No responses?

Silence compels questions: are we self absorbed, overwhelmed, fatigued of divisiveness, hopeless, angry? Where is the willingness to discuss, rather than to name-call and inflame? There is a cause for everything, usually multiple.

But “Marxists”, “Master Plan”, “Infiltrating the government”, “Far Left”, “Ring Leader” and “Power Grab”? Are we divided so thoroughly that we revert to what is arguably slanderous and libelous rhetoric rather than embrace free speech – so long as it is morally and scientifically defensible –  and the differences that allow us to evolve?

Where is the city effort to bring us together? Where are those digital message boards to inform our neighbors how to attend council meetings? We have an idea that many more would attend with appropriate, more capable publication.

It is an incredibly tough time, but this is obviously important and we managed one (?) virtual meeting. It is perverted somewhat not standing face to face, but aren’t we capable of taking responsibility for those ill chosen words and actions, the risks of dialogue and being human, without forever hating? We must believe we are.

I believe in our community. There is so much good taking place.

If we commit to asking each other what we need to know, listening and challenging and supporting and respecting honest answers. Not shouting down or bullying. Those are American, democratic values – however arguably unequally enjoyed and defended – that unite us.

Who’s willing to work?

Greg Zahm

Latest in a series of posts about the Bethlehem Police

Quality public policy starts with quality public conversation.
Glen Ragni, July 21

ref: “We encourage Council not to proceed recklessly”
ref: The Bethlehem conversations on defunding the police (7): Greg
ref: The Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance gets air time to seek followers and rouse action

Yesterday Glen and Carrie of the Lehigh Valley Good Neighbors Alliance were on the Bobby Gunther Walsh radio show to alert local residents of possible action related to the Bethlehem police in the current budget hearings, encouraging people concerned about “defunding” the police to make their voices heard at tonight’s City Council meeting and Thursday’s last budget hearing.

Gadfly loves good discussion, good argument, good conversation.

And he has complimented Glen for his comments to that effect July 21 and August 11.

“Quality public policy starts with quality public conversation” has common sense bumper-sticker clarity and concision.

Gadfly is not sure when the Good Neighbors group was formed — perhaps after August 11? — but he has been disappointed in the rhetoric lately coming out under the aegis of LVGNA.

And he was disappointed in yesterday’s conversation with Gunther and wonders what call-in comment from LVGNA supporters tonight and Thursday will be like as a result.

First, there was a failure during the show segment to recognize and communicate to others that “defunding the police” simply means reducing police department budgets and redistributing those funds towards essential social services that are often underfunded, such as housing, education, employment, mental health care, and youth services.

LVGNA has recently called attention to the fact that the police answer c. 60,000 calls a year. If the number of calls were reduced to 55,000 or 50,000 by siphoning off some mental health and other type non-criminal calls without compromising public safety, would some reduction in the police budget be unreasonable? That’s the kind of thing mainstream “defunders” are talking about.

Next, Marxism gets mentioned a half-dozen times on the Gunther show.

What has Marxism got to do with moving funds to social workers or the Health Bureau?

To Gadfly the repeated references to Marxism on the show seem an odd throwback to the Cold War. What Gadfly hears is echoes of the 1950s hysteria: there’s a Communist cell (“a small noisy, vocal group”) in Bethlehem pushing a Stalinist 5-year plan (“they have a master plan for us”) involving brain-washing (“Dr. Roy is indoctrinating your kids”), with the idea of “infiltrating” (ha! when is this word ever used except in relation to Communists) our government — we’re in an epic battle between the forces of GOOD and EVIL right here in our “home town” — a struggle to the death “to repel a Marxist crusade to destroy our quality of life.”

Gladfly had a flashback while listening to the radio show to standing out in front of the Drexel Hill Furniture Co. in the early 1950s watching the McCarthy Hearings on one of the few televisions in town set up in the showroom window.

Moreover, can’t we dispense with incendiary labels like leftist, activist, radical activist and, instead, refer to our fellow residents who don’t share our views by name — as individuals — and show we respect their views by understanding them?

And do we need ad hominem slurs like “she’s a doctor, as if I give a blank”? Or “self-proclaimed expert”?

How, Gadfly wants to know, is what Gunther’s listeners heard yesterday fostering the “quality public conversation” that develops “quality public policy”?