About admin

Born and raised in Lower Macungie Township in the village of East Texas. B.A. in Political Science from Slippery Rock University. Co-owner of Bar None Weddings & Entertainment. I love and care about my hometown and frequently blog about local issues that I think are important.

Election Integrity Legislation

I recently co-sponsored legislation to purchase equipment & software upgrades for more efficient ballot processing critical to support large elections, such as the upcoming 2024 Presidential Election. As you may know County government is charged with conducting elections. We do this despite challenges created by the State Legislature. Note: The State makes the rules. We are charged with conducting elections based on them.

So, whatever you think of the enactment of Act 77 in 2019 (Mail in Voting), counties are where the responsibility to conduct elections happens based on rules made at the state level.

To continuously address challenges created by these laws including pre-canvassing and tight deadlines we support our elections office with new equipment, training & software. This batch helps in several ways. One area is tightening up the chain of custody for equipment with a system utilizing RF trackers, security bags etc. Another is online training for poll workers that election staff can track for completeness. Lastly, we’re upgrading and purchasing new and faster scanning equipment.

All these items ensure Lehigh Co. can continue to conduct efficient, fair & transparent elections.

Overview here.

2023 recap and 2024 reorganization meeting.

Last night, the County Of Lehigh BOC reorganized to kick off the new year. President Judge Johnson swore in 4 new Commissioners. In addition to welcoming new faces, we retained our leadership team, re-electing Chair Geoff Brace and Vice Chair Jeff Dutt. Notably, our leadership team remains bipartisan.ย The Chair is from the majority party and the Vice Chair from the minority party. I supported both unanimous votes.

This was a no-brainer with everything we were able to accomplish last year working with leadership including Executive Armstrong and his team. This reflected effective governance.

Notable items and initiatives from 2023 include:

โœ…๐๐จ ๐“๐š๐ฑ ๐ˆ๐ง๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ฌ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ’ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ž๐ญ: Which included a forecast for no tax increases for the foreseeable future. Hand in hand with with the executive branch we continue working to lay out and move forward the comprehensive capital plan. The plan continues to prioritize Cedarbrook the County nursing home.

โœ…๐…๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐Ÿ๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ž๐ ๐‹๐ž๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ก ๐‚๐จ. ๐…๐š๐ซ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ž๐ซ๐ฏ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ฆ: This past year we’re on track (some farms are still in the process of settling) to preserve 12 new farms totaling 650 acres. This included the first preserved farm in Whitehall Township.

โœ…๐๐ฎ๐›๐ฅ๐ข๐œ ๐’๐š๐Ÿ๐ž๐ญ๐ฒ: We passed a bond supporting an upgraded digital radio system for first responders. Changing what is now an analog radio system to a completely digital one.

โœ…๐“๐š๐ฑ ๐‚๐ซ๐ž๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐…๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐‘๐ž๐ฌ๐ฉ๐จ๐ง๐๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ: We established a County Real Estate Tax Credit for Active Lehigh County Volunteer Firefighters residing in LC. As of a few days ago 168 Lehigh Co. Firefighters are taking advantage of this program. Commissioner Pineda and I were co-sponsors. Pineda did alot of the legwork to get this going.

โœ…๐‘๐ž๐๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ฅ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ž๐ง๐ญ: We reconstituted Lehigh County Redevelopment Authority.

โœ…๐‹๐ž๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ก ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ ๐‰๐š๐ข๐ฅ: We established the Stepping UP Initiative to Reduce the Number of People with Mental Illnesses in Lehigh Co. Jail. And also expanded GED and other education opportunities in LCJ. Special thanks to outgoing Commissioner Bob Elbich for his work on the Stepping Up Program.

โœ…๐“๐š๐ค๐ข๐ง๐  ๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐‚๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ ๐„๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฒ๐ž๐ž๐ฌ: We enacted temporary Wage Increases for 24/7 operations.

โœ…๐‘๐ž๐ ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐š๐ฅ ๐‹๐š๐ง๐ ๐”๐ฌ๐ž ๐๐ฅ๐š๐ง๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ : We moved forward funding of a regional planning initiative for the northwest tier communities. This is an item I am sponsoring.

โœ…๐‘๐ž๐œ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง: Announced the D&L Trail and River Drive Multimodal Corridor. (Lehigh County will maintain trails associated with the project)

๐€๐ฅ๐ฌ๐จ, ๐œ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐š๐ญ๐ฌ ๐š๐ฅ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ง๐ž๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ง ๐ข๐ง ๐‘๐จ๐ฐ ๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ข๐œ๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ:
Gavin Holihan – District Attorney
Dan Buglio – Coronor Lehigh County Coroner’s Office & Forensic Center
Michelle Graupner – Clerk of Judicial Records
Looking forward to working with you all.

ID’s important to reduce recidivism

County Government deals with many institutions and areas of government that aren’t always front of mind to the general public. One such institution is the Lehigh County Jail.

Courts are a core County function. Adding an 11th Judge is an obligation.

The Issue
At this weeks County BOC I voted in favor of authorizing Chair Brace to draft a letter of support for SB 361 a judicial compliment bill pending in Harrisburg. If added to the bill an 11th Judge in Lehigh Co. would take office in 2026. A Judge has not been added to the Lehigh Co. Court of Common Pleas for almost 20 years.

President Judge Johnson on behalf of all 10 current Court of Common Pleas Judges made the request along with a compelling argument including increasing complexities and volume of caseloads. But the most straight forward rationale is simply the fact that our population continues to increase. Since 2004 when a 10th Judge was added the County population has increased by 20% resulting in an increased demand on the courts. Further, over the next 3 decades the LVPC is forecasting this trend to continue. Valley wide LVPC predicts another 100,000 residents. The majority in Lehigh County. According to Judge Johnsons letter, Judges in Lehigh carry some of the highest caseloads among 3rd class counties despite having as many as 5 fewer Judges. He also cited a now almost 10 year old steady that in 2004 concluded the County required 10.59 Judges. Again, the population has increased since then and will continue to. Important to remember, the window to take action on these items only comes every few years.

Why is this necessary? Why does this matter? And why is the cost necessary? The way I see this, the US Constitution obliges us. The 6th amendment deals with the rights of the accused. This includes impartial Juries, a public trial and one without un-necessary delays. Courts are a core function of County government and among our prime responsibilities. Basically, this is core rule of law stuff we’re considering.

As a matter of background, I’m often pushing back on (even if well meaning) efforts by some to engage Lehigh county government in areas that are “outside of our lane”. This happens fairly often in County Gov because our responsibilities are so clearly defined. What we deal with and what we don’t deal with are specifically laid out.

As per the expense, yes this is going to be a significant expense. But it’s within our core functions and so it’s not just validated but required and necessary. A constitutional obligation.

The Cost
While the state bears (in theory) the cost of salaries, ancillary costs are high estimated at over 400,000 dollars a year. This includes operating costs (software, transcriptions etc) and personnel costs (support staff + sheriff wages).

Looping back to the Judge salary, while the state is obligated to fund it (70k per year) in recent allocations they have not entirely. Most recently only funding at a level of 45k per Judge. As judges are added across the state, the allocation pool has not increased. A problem is that while counties like Lehigh have seen increasing populations across the majority of the state most have seen decreases. Counties with decreasing population have not reduced their number of Judges even if possibly warranted based on population and caseload. This means everyone gets less pie. Including those who need it.

Property Tax Assessment appeals should remain free.

I voted ‘๐๐Ž’ last night on a County Bill to establish fees for property tax assessment appeals. The reason I voted this way is as follows:

First the big picture. Property taxes are enacted at 3 levels of government. Municipal, County & Schools. Link to a relevant article. Coincidence it was in the The Morning Call today. Talks about how the current system forces all the burden on the back of homeowners.

Same with schools. Opinion held by many is that public schools are overly-reliant on local funding (๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ณ๐˜ฆ๐˜ข๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ณ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜บ ๐˜ต๐˜ข๐˜น๐˜ฆ๐˜ด), in large part because the state does not cover a fair share. In fact, this issue is the subject of a longstanding lawsuit cosigned by several low income PA school districts. Clear the burden government places on homeowners at its current trajectory untenable.

To bring it back home, though reforming these local & state issues are not within the purview of County Government, the fact that the county is the entity that determines assessments ties us into the big picture. Assessments along with millage rates determine tax bills. Property owners are at the mercy of this.

Few understand the process of seeking appeals and most just accept assessments as correct and accurate. For those who are lucky enough to understand the process and believe their assessments are inaccurate I’m not in favor of ๐€๐๐˜ barrier to appeal. Certainly not a fee that impacts lower income residents disproportionately. Note: 25-30% of appeals are indeed successful. With procedures involving administrative fees such as zoning hearing boards, building permits etc. the request is initiated by the person seeking to build. An assessment is initiated by Government. You have no choice. The appeal is a defense of a taxation initiated by government. Taxpayers should not have to pay to defend against the power of government.ย 

I also noted tonight that each year 150-225 homes are lost to sheriff, upset or judicial sales. These are folks who can’t afford the property tax burdens of one or multiple taxing entities and lost their homes.

Note: I would have supported a fee in the case of no show appeals. Which is apparently a problem. These are instances where a resident files an appeal application then no shows the hearing. In this case staff time (and taxpayer money) is wasted in prep.

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU!

First, I want to personally thank all the fine folks who ran for local office this cycle including my opponent Mark Fedorov for Lehigh County Commissioner, District 2 who ran a well fought but clean campaign. Very clear to see he put in a ton of work into it and ran for the right reasons. There seemed to be a chance I was going to be unopposed for a bit but Mark jumped in and offered voters a choice. When voters have choices it’s better for our local democracy. I was hoping to meet Mark at the polls yesterday but didn’t run into him. I’ve heard he’s a good guy and appreciate the issues focused campaign he ran. Running for local office is a HUGE commitment of time, treasure and personal bandwidth. I sincerely appreciate all the folks who ran for local positions from school boards on up.

Next, I want to thank ๐Ÿ™ every single volunteer who helped me with this race. A quick count I did just now tallied nearly โ—100โ— people who helped in some fashion. From donations, canvassing to poll helpers. It’s even more if I count those who shared posts and made kind remarks on social media etc. And of course those who helped pass the Lower Macungie Open Space Referendum which garnered a resounding 60% yes votes.

Today, I’ll be out to gathering up signs. Tomorrow the work begins. In fact, late last night was already texting some folks about how we can begin to drive a conversation about regional sanitary sewer mandates and associated financial obligations. This is something that impacts each D2 community and an issue the county must take a lead in. In fact, this is a huge issue for just about every one of Lehigh Counties 25 municipalities.

And of course, my last few weeks as a Lower Mac Commissioner the work begins right away game-planning how we move forward the new open space funding! We’ve already scheduled a special meeting of the BOC to discuss as a group moving immediately on preservation priorities. I’ll talk more about this in the next few weeks. Lastly, serving in Lower Mac has been one of the most rewarding jobs of my life. The last 8 years have gone by so fast. We accomplished so much. But it wasn’t done alone and I’ll talk about that also in my last few weeks in this office.

Morning Call County Commissioner Campaign Interview 10/11

I was interviewed by the Morning Call this AM for my candidacy for Lehigh County Commissioner. I want to thank the paper for covering these critical local elections despite having to do so with less and less reporters. Below are the the areas Morning Call readers indicated they were most interested in and therefore were the subject of most of the interview.

Why I am running? I spoke with the reporter about my reasons for seeking this office. First, I spoke about the fact that in 8-years as a Lower Macungie Commissioner we’ve accomplished many of the major goals we set out to achieve. We preserved a historic amount of farmland, removed warehouses from the zoning code, delivered balanced budgets, enacted a residential property tax reduction and adopted a new zoning code that works hand in hand with preservation efforts while guiding economic development to areas of the township where infrastructure already exists. So, I feel really comfortable leaving my position in Lower Mac. As someone who believes in term limits, I think folks should seek office with a clear platform and goals, work to achieve those goals and then move on. So now, I’m looking now forward to the challenges of County Government which touches so many important areas. From Health and Human services, overseeing local elections, to law enforcement, the court system, land use, the county jail and the county parks system.

1.) Land Use, Warehouses & Farmland Preservation.

โ€ข First of all, as a County Commissioner I want to carry Percy Doughertyโ€™s banner as Commissioner focused on land use and quality of life issues. Percy for decades along with Sterling Raber for a long time were the Commissioners most engaged in farmland and land use issues over the last 30 years. The board will miss Percyโ€™s expertise and passion for the area. This is something I hope to continue.

โ€ข Warehouses โ€“ I want to work as a County Commissioner with fellow commissioners and the LVPC to continue advocating with State Elected officials for meaningful municipal planning code reform in an effort to give communities facing intense development pressure more tools to enact local control for more balanced growth. This is something I already have done as a township commissioner, but serving as a county commissioner will offer a bigger platform for advocacy.

 

โ€ข Farmland Preservation โ€“ I will always work to ensure the county program remains fully funded. Iโ€™ve served as a member of the Lehigh County Farmland Preservation Board for several years.

2.) Election Integrity

โ€ข Lehigh County had no major issues that I am aware of and locally I accept the reported results of the 2020 election. The Lehigh County Voter Registration office did an admirable job under very tough circumstances given they had to deal with rapidly evolving laws at the last minute. Local audits and state audits already occur to verify election results.

โ€ขย While I do think the 2020 election results were accurate, I believe we have an obligation to always work to always find ways to make elections even more secure. One area I have concern is with overnight 24/7 drop box located downtown. District drop boxes were located inside secured lobbies and limited to certain hours. The downtown box however was open overnight which I donโ€™t think is the most secure arrangement. Additionally, cameras utilized to monitor the downtown box overnight had technical issues and residents did not have access to the video.

 

3.) Budget

โ€ข The biggest consideration coming over the next few years relative to the county budget is possible consideration of a bi-county health bureau. The decision when itโ€™s made needs to be data driven as opposed to political or emotional. The cost to taxpayers is estimated around $1.6 million a year. Throughout the pandemic compared to other counties with bureaus, Lehigh County fared measurably better. One example is vaccination rates. This is in large part thanks to our two world class health networks. Would a county bureau be redundant with existing services? At this time I have not heard a convincing argument regarding how creating another bureaucracy would serve our residents better than existing entities already do. Instead of creating another government department we should explore additional partnerships with existing health bureaus and the local health networks.

4.) Other areas:

I spoke about my endorsements from law enforcement, Percy Dougherty and a myriad of local municipal officials who support our campaign.

 

Condemn Capitol violence but also condemn seditious rhetoric .

Four years ago Iโ€™d say there would be close to zero chance finding myself in a position of shielding my four year old daughter from the television so she does not see images of a riotous incursion by a mob forcing itself into the Capitol Building on American soil. Whatโ€™s jarring about it particularly is Iโ€™ve made efforts to start teaching her basic civics. I think this is important from a very young age. Sheโ€™s seen pictures of the Capital. She understands itโ€™s an important and meaningful building. So no, I donโ€™t want her to see images of it under siege. Not even as a teachable moment. Sheโ€™s too young.
Itโ€™s unthinkable. We’ve gone backwards as a Nation in this respect. If you have a conservative viewpoint as I do, whatever policy gains made last few years no matter how important (an example from my perspective the appointment of conservative SCOTUS judges was immensely important)… are now costing the Nation its soul. It didn’t have to be this way. We’re being ripped apart.
We are not better off.
Next, if you condemn this violence as I see so many politicians scrambling to do you MUST also condemn the seditious rhetoric from any and all sources that led us to this sad moment in history. That is the most patriotic thing you can do right now. This behavior can never be normalized.
I’m driven by a desire to do good here in our local community. So, I’ve always felt that posts about national issues hurt my ability to do that since some folks always respond to them irrationally. However, history will look back at this moment as one that separated patriots who love our country with political opportunitists. I often think about the Country we are passing on to our children. For the first time in decades we are failing to give them better.
๏ฟผThis is moral and ethical imperative territory. Yes, this is mostly directed at some fellow Republican elected officials. Stand not only against the violence but also seditious rhetoric. This was cause and effect. When water is heated, molecules start moving.

2020 Community Survey Results

Over 900 township residents took this poll in the Spring of 2020. I created it so residents can give Commissioners feedback on our community. It included general and specific issues as well as guidance on what we should focus on in 2020 and beyond.

The survey used an established and reputable survey app. Residents had to provide a valid email and the polling app only allowed 1 vote person. (Note, some questions have fewer responses because questions were able to be skipped.)ย 

Poll was open to Lower Mac residents ONLY. Here were the results:

1.) Lower Macungie has very lowย residential property taxes. The rate is among the lowest in the state for a suburban community our size. Part of how property taxes are kept so low in Lower Mac is our use of a homestead exclusion.

Do you know if you qualify for the homestead exclusion to reduce yourย township property tax bill?ย 

 

2.) How important is it to keep the homestead reduction in place as a way to ensure township property taxes remain low while ensuring impactful commercial entities (like existing warehouses and shopping centers) pay a fair share?

 

3.) Through various strategies, Lower Macungie has successfully and permanently preserved over 500-acres of farmland and open space last 5-years. This includes the 190-acre Weiner Farm located adjacent to Sauerkraut Ln, Brookside Rd and Macungie Rd. This is the largest preservation effort of its kind in Lehigh Valley history. The property was under immediate threat of being developed with over 250+ homes if action wasn’t taken.

Should the Township continue preservation efforts?

 

4.) If you chose YES to the previous question and believe Lower Macungie should continueย preservation efforts:

If another major preservation effort was identified BUT would require a small tax increase AND if it would include a sunset provision so the taxย automaticallyย repealed after a specific goal is completed, would you support a targeted tax via referendum for theย specificย purposeย of farmland or open space preservation?

 

5.) Rank these possible Lower Mac initiatives in order of importance. (1 was highest priority, 6 was lowest priority)

 

6.) Lower Macungie gets our local police protection from the Pennsylvania State Police. Are you happy with the service Pennsylvania State Troopers provide to our community?

 

7.) A goal is to better market Lower Macungie as it’s own economic entity and unique place to live, work and play. In terms of economic development (*in appropriate locations) what should we focus on for our community as part of these efforts?ย Check all boxes you agree with. Leave blank ones you do not.

8.) An ongoing project, Lower Macungie Township has spent several million dollars expanding the community center with an additional gym and more community room space. This was paid for primarily through use of a line of credit.

Do you support this?

 

9.) In 2017 Lower Macungie Commissioners made new warehouses illegal in most all Township areas. This includes Industrial and Light Industrial districts where they were previously allowed. No new warehouse applications can be submitted in these areas.

Do you support the townships removal of warehouses from the zoning code?

10.) Over the last few years, Lower Macungie Commissionersย deniedย several controversial land development applications that the Board of Commissioners felt were too impactful for the neighborhoods proposed. In some cases, the Township was sued and had to defend its decision.

Is it worthwhile for the township to spend public dollars defending decisions to deny certain impactful land development applications?

 

11.) Lower Macungie has a 1400+ acre park system. What are your priorities for the park system? Choose your top priorities. Leave blank items you do not feel should be a priority.

The choices were (since some were long and cut off on the graph below)

 

 

10.) Overall, how would you categorize Lower Macungie as a place to live?

11.) Are Lower Macungie Commissioners doing a good job?ย Do you feel like you are being represented well?

Resolution to revoke Gov. emergency order passed. What does it mean?

Trying to understand how last nights vote in the state legislature impacts the shutdown immediately and why the upcoming legal fight concerns constitutional checks & balances. There is a ton of conflicting information to wade through. I hope this helps. I always try to present info on this blog and social media without political theatrics.

As we all now know, last night the State Senate and House passed a resolution to terminate the emergency Gov. Tom Wolf issued in March. (This probably should have been done 2 weeks ago)

What does this mean?

โ€ข Short term nothing changes. At least not in terms of immediately ending the shutdown or the Governors phased reopening plans.

A Wolf spokesperson stated: “this resolution does not affect the Secretary of Healthโ€™s order including business closure orders, building safety orders, and business safety orders, and therefore the Administrationโ€™s phased reopening plan and associated orders would remain in place even if it passes”

This shapes up a coming court battle. The Governor on one side and those who supported the resolution on the other are framing up their legal arguments on what this means since the Governor is not expected to sign a termination declaration. And it appears the whole thing will be sorted out by the courts which will take time.

Opponents to terminating the emergency declaration have expressed concern about losing federal aid. The problem with this is that the need for federal aid is because of a government imposed shutdown. End the shutdown and we will no longer need massive federal aid packages. This sort of becomes a chicken and the egg argument.

โ€ข From a local standpoint, I’ve written my thoughts on the continued shutdown and further Lower Macungie Commissioners unanimously approved and sent a resolution to the Governor asking him to “to accelerate the opening of Lehigh County businesses and industries, specifically business and industries in Lower Macungie Township, at the earliest possible date and in the most expeditious manner possible.” We were the first community to do so. At least one other has since done the same.

In Lower Macungie, sadly we’ve seen 34 deaths due to Covid-19 or Covid 19 RELATED issues (compounded with other issues). 32 of these have been in long care facilities with the average age being over 80. It’s very clear the highest risk has been and remains with one very specific segment of our community where yes, extreme caution is still warranted. This is a reason we spearheaded a volunteer effort over the last 4 weeks to get hand sanitizer into the hands of township senior citizens over the age of 80.

โ€ข Coequal branches of Government and seperation of powers. Beyond that, and just as important in my opinion this is a going to be a critical court decision on Constitutional balance of power and co-equal branches of Government. I’ve been writing for years on my blog about concerns in virtually all levels of government from Federal, to State to local County with erosion of constitutional checks and balances.

Executive overreach is a major problem and has eroded constitutional checks and balances. A future decision on this issue could go a long way to re-establishing co-equal branches in the state of PA.

When the dust settles and even earlier I hope to advocate for the proposed constitutional amendment that would require legislative assent to a disaster emergency declaration after 30 days. This would go a long way to restoring a constitutional check on futures issues like this.ย