The Lehigh Valley

A New Candidate, Crosswell’s Pile of Money, and Bob “Crooksy” Brooks’ Shady Finances Highlight the PA-7 Race

/ Rich Wilkins / Leave a comment
Crosswell raising a pile of money in a DC Bar.

It’s 2026 now. The race for the Democratic nomination to face Ryan Mackenzie will begin to heat up now, and it appears to be expanding. According to Bernie O’Hare, we have two new candidates in the race- Independent Michael Ramon Granados Jr. and Democrat Aiden Alexander Gonzales are entering the fray. Bernie writes of Gonzales:

Gonzalez already has a website that sticks to bread-and-butter issues like jobs, the economy, housing and healthcare. He supports the American Health Act, which places all US citizens in a single-payer system. He also wants to incentivize real estate development (can you say tax breaks) and make it more difficult for foreign buyers to purchase real estate. 

I don’t have word yet that he is running on David Hogg’s Super Pac’s slate, but that is a rumor. He is running on “Medicare for All,” a currently unfinanced plan to put all Americans on a single health care plan together. So that’s possible. As for Granados, the word is that he’s a Republican hatched Trojan horse to crack the Latino vote in the Lehigh Valley even more than it already is. That’s also just a rumor for now.

What’s more than a rumor is Republican Ryan Crosswell’s Q4 fundraising numbers- he reportedly raised $440k in the fourth quarter. That will put him at $1.1 million plus raised to date, an impressive number. Crosswell had been spending almost 40% of his money though, so figure he spent around $160,000 in Q4 and should have around $610k on hand after this. That’s going to be the most money in the field. Is that enough to protect him from Crooksy’s oncoming attacks on Crosswell for being from out of the area and being a Republican? Maybe. Maybe not. Crosswell might be a Republican, a union buster, and- oh just forget it.

Then there’s Bob “Crooksy” Brooks. I have no idea what he raised yet, but he’s going to be substantially behind Crosswell in cash on hand is my bet. Bob’s not very good with money, especially other people’s money. He may not be very good with his own either. Bernie O’Hare reports on his very shady financial disclosure report, and boy, it fits the pattern-

Robert Brooks. –  reports assets and unearned income of at least $963,000. This includes a residential rental property valued at between $250,000 and $500,000 and the stocks in multiple mutual funds.  He reports salaries of $20,000 from Bethlehem and $50,000 from the Pa Professional Firefighter’s Ass’n, as well as business income of $15,000 from his lawn care business. 

He reports debt of between $380,000 and $850,000 based on a residential mortgage, an investment property mortgage, and outstanding debt to Darrell and Linda Crook. He failed to list a $130,000 judgment owed to Carol Wiley, his former mother-in-law, since 2022. 

A title search of Northampton County records reveal that Brooks owns no real estate under his own name, nor is there any recorded mortgage in which he is listed. 

Something is very fishy about Brooks’ disclosure.

Ok, so the guy who stiffed his mother-in-law out of $55,000 owns no real estate and has no mortgage, but he reports both a mortgage and a residential rental property in his report. He also doesn’t list the court ordered debt that he still hasn’t paid back to his former mother-in-law, but you know, that’s just a divorce gone bad, right? There’s always an excuse…

This guy is a ticking time bomb. If Democrats nominate him, Mackenzie and the NRCC will crack his entire life open and leave all of the worst parts out in the open for the public to see, with tens of millions of dollars of spending to make sure you see them. This would be an epic “own goal” of political malpractice.

The race continues…

The Political Winds of Change in the Lehigh Valley

/ Rich Wilkins / Leave a comment

Yesterday I attended the swearing in of Northampton County Executive Tara Zrinski. It was a really nice ceremony, as it always is, and it was packed as it ever is. I’m quite proud of Tara, the county’s first woman to serve as County Executive, as I must admit that eight years ago I would have told you there was no way she’d be Executive, let alone in eight years. She worked really hard, she got pretty good at the politics, and she did it. Perseverance can pay off in this business. I look forward to giving my two cents to her transition team on disability issues in the county, as I hope to help someone else’s life be a little easier.

In Lehigh County, the story was similar. Josh Siegel became the youngest County Executive in PA history. Up until a few years ago, I don’t think I would have predicted this either. Josh had some tough runs for office in Allentown, and he had plenty of critics on the Allentown City Council, but he eventually got himself to the State House in Harrisburg, and he grew with the office. He’s one of the most visionary elected officials in the Lehigh Valley, and I am really looking forward to his tenure.

I should take a moment to congratulate my two friends who finished their terms as the Executives this week, Lamont McClure (Northampton) and Phil Armstrong (Lehigh). I was Executive Director of McClure’s Transition team eight years ago, and I advised him and his wife’s campaigns over the years. Whatever your misgivings are with Lamont’s style, the truth is that he is a remarkably consistent politician who focused on the three issues that the public actually cares about most, in an almost obsessive way- he did not raise taxes once in his eight years, he preserved a record amount of open farmland space, and he kept the county’s nursing home county owned. Yes, there were other political issues, such as supporting passenger rail to New York and Philadelphia, opposing continuing warehouse proliferation, and addressing federal overreach where he was right, but he stuck like glue to his bread and butter issues, and it was good for the public. As for Phil Armstrong, or as anyone who knows him says, “Uncle Phil”- what a fantastic guy. I managed his first run for Executive eight years ago, and I’ll be honest, I didn’t necessarily know we were going to win, but here he is. I think the best compliment anyone can give to him is that he taught and lived in the Whitehall community for decades, and voters of all political stripes came out to support him in big numbers there. Phil preserved and expanded the county nursing home, Cedarbrook, preserved open space, and managed a large, diverse, and sometimes unruly county politically through some major transitional years, particularly some politically tumultuous years in the county’s biggest city (Allentown) during his first term. I haven’t formally worked as an advisor to either in a few years now, but I think we need to all congratulate them on a job well done.

I always enjoy the ceremonies, mostly for the sidebars. The choral group was really good at Northampton. I also got a kick out of seeing who sat by who. I had to ask one aide to a statewide elected official if he was there as a family member (his uncle was being re-sworn in as a magistrate) or in his official capacity, since he was seated with his parents. There were Congressional candidates in the room, some seated with their campaign staff (hey, we all need friends), or whatever randoms sat with them in the back row (why not make friends?), or bothering me along the wall (No one offered my crippled ass a seat, this wearing long pants stuff sucks). There were cabinet officials all over the room, and their seating selections were interesting. There were state and municipal electeds all over the room, and you can tell who they like based on who they sat with (none of them sat with me). My best friend since childhood (who works at the county) was smart enough to not be seen sitting (or I guess standing) next to me, but my poor sister did get stuck with me. As I said, this is the weird stuff that interests me. I keep mental notes.

Anyway, congrats to all. Now on to 2026.

Who Will Lehigh County Dems Pick?

/ Rich Wilkins / Leave a comment

Todays’ the day that Lehigh County Democrats will pick their candidate to replace incoming Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel in his Allentown and Salisbury based 22nd District seat. The candidates are lining up:

Four Democratic candidates — precinct committee person Erlinda Aguilar; Allentown City Councilwoman Ce-Ce Gerlach; Julian Guridy, an aide to state Sen. Nick Miller; and Lewis Shupe, who attempted to launch a congressional campaign in 2024 — submitted their names for consideration ahead of Thursday’s 5 p.m. deadline, Lehigh County Democratic Committee Chair Lori McFarland said.

A fifth, Douglas Kunkle, withdrew his nomination.

Kunkle apparently withdrew out of frustration with the process. Gerlach has also complained about who is and who isn’t an eligible voter, from what I’ve been told. Many expected that. The Allentown City Democrats did fold several years ago, leading to some questions about who is and who isn’t still on the committee, though it actually appears that this isn’t as real of a question as some believed. Jessica Ortiz, who had a Facebook page to run for this seat, did not apply for the Democratic nomination either.

If you put a gun to my head and asked me who is going to win today, well you wouldn’t need the gun, because I would tell you that it will be Julian Guridy. Guridy is publicly supported by Mayor Tuerk, Siegel, and Allentown’s other two Representatives, Mike Schlossberg and Pete Schweyer, and a functioning adult would guess State Senator Nick Miller, Guridy’s current boss. Does anyone think the committee is going to go out of it’s way to embarrass literally every significant elected official at the state level from Allentown? Of course not.

Gerlach is formidable (I don’t know the other two candidates very well, so I can’t comment there) and this is not the end. She has support from most of the more leftist groups in Allentown, and this committee selection is only binding for the February 24th Special Election. She is still more than able to run in the May Primary, and has a base of support for that race.

With all of that said, Guridy is going to win today.

Crooksy’s Crooked Poll

/ Rich Wilkins / Leave a comment

You knew this was coming. Crooksy’s allies released polling, and well, it was garbage. Change Research did the poll entirely online, and juiced it up as far as they could for Crooksy. It was much lower quality than earlier polling that showed Crooksy going nowhere. This garbage push poll omits Mark Pinsley, the race’s real far left-winger altogether, puts Crooksy first in their order, and waters down the other candidates bios about as far as they could. It’s almost like they wanted a result that matched their narrative?

Here’s what Crooksy’s poll said about each candidate:

Bob Brooks was a Bethlehem firefighter for twenty years and is the current president of the Pennsylvania Firefighters Association. As a former dishwasher, bartender, warehouse worker, and now a voice for Pennsylvania’s firefighters, Bob Brooks knows what it takes to fight for working people concerned about rising costs. He wants to make the rich pay their fair share of taxes and tackle rising prices. His broad appeal has won him the endorsement of Governor Josh Shapiro and Bernie Sanders. 

Ryan Crosswell is the son of a special education teacher and small business owner who became a Marine and federal prosecutor. At the Justice Department’s public integrity unit, he investigated corruption in government and had a long track record of prosecutions. When Donal Trump became president, he resigned on principle. He is running for Congress to be a voice in Washington for Pennsylvania families. 

Carol Orbando-Derstine was born in Columbia and immigrated to the US when she was three. After graduating from Penn State, she worked in a Head Start program and became the executive director of two Lehigh Valley non profits. She also worked as a regional manager for U.S. Senator Bob Casey. As the first Latina running in the 7th Congressional District, Carol understands local families’ challenges, and she has the experience to deliver real solutions. 

Lamont McClure is a lawyer and longtime member of the Northampton County Council. He is the current Northampton County Executive and is known for his work to protect workers and address the fentanyl crisis. McClure stopped the sale of the county’s nursing home to a for-profit company and prevented warehouses from destroying hundreds of acres of open space. He has won praise for improving county services.

Now, here’s what the PPP Poll back in the Summer said about all five candidates:

  1. Carol Obando-Derstine, is an engineer who has dedicated her life to her community. Immigrating from Colombia at three, she overcame financial and language barriers and now holds two master’s degrees. She worked in a Head Start program and became executive director of SkillsUSA Council and the Children’s Coalition of the Lehigh Valley and has taught at Northampton Community College. Carol spent nearly a decade working on energy issues at PPL Electric Utilities helping people and companies lower their utility bills. Do you find this a very convincing, somewhat convincing, or not a convincing reason to vote for Carol Obando-Derstine?
  2. Here’s the next one: Ryan Crosswell  is the proud son of a special education teacher and small business owner. After 9/11 he joined the United States Marine Corps, and he still serves as a Lt. Col. in the Marine Corps Reserve. After the Marines, Ryan became a federal prosecutor, serving in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Baton Rouge, San Diego, and Washington, D.C., prosecuting fraudsters, violent criminals, and drug traffickers. Most recently, Ryan served in the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section but resigned rather than following politically motivated orders. Do you find this a very convincing, somewhat convincing, or not a convincing reason to vote for Ryan Crosswell?
  3. Here’s the next one: Mark Pinsley is the Lehigh County Controller and a local small business owner. He put himself through college by enlisting in the Army Reserves and working for his grandfather’s business, then raised money to start his own company after graduation. Prior to becoming Controller, he served as a South Whitehall Township Commissioner. As Lehigh County Controller, he has investigated Children and Youth Services to help parents who had their kids taken away without cause, and he has saved the county millions in healthcare spending. Do you find this a very convincing, somewhat convincing, or not a convincing reason to vote for Mark Pinsley?
  4. Here’s the next one: Lamont McClure is the current County Executive in Northampton County and is endorsed by many labor unions. Raised in Carbon County, McClure earned his law degree and fought in court to hold large corporations accountable, including working on behalf of former steelworkers who were poisoned by asbestos for 17 years and getting opioid manufacturers to pay for the damage they caused. As county executive, he led the effort to get 25 million for small businesses in the county to help them survive during the pandemic, he fought for working people, passed seven budgets without a tax increase and cutting property taxes, protected Gracedale nursing home from being sold to a for-profit corporation which would put our seniors at risk, and preserved over 3,800 acres of farmland.  Do you find this a very convincing, somewhat convincing, or not a convincing reason to vote for Lamont McClure?
  5. Here’s the next one: Bob Brooks is president of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association and a small business owner. He served more than 20 years as a firefighter and EMT for the city of Bethlehem before retiring in March. He has taken on many public safety leadership positions locally and statewide, including on Gov. Josh Shapiro’s transition committee on emergency management as a member of the Pennsylvania State Fire Advisory Board. He has coached many levels of baseball in the community, most recently at Nazareth Area High School.

So, I’m going to give you a bit of truth- removing Pinsley really makes this new poll absolute garbage. Mark isn’t dropping out, he has told the minions from Harrisburg as much. He’s also the candidate who would represent the biggest challenge to the Bernie Sanders endorsement of Crooksy. I guess if you removed that guy, put Crooksy first, give him the only bio even close to what any of them are going to say about themselves, and put the initial front-runner last, while leading off by calling him a lawyer and a politician, sure, maybe Crooksy does well. But if you’re going to do that, why not lead by calling Crooksy a deadbeat and Crosswell a Republican. About the only common ground in the two polls is Carol’s bio being similar, and she polls decently well in both.

Look, I think it’s fairly obvious that Crooksy’s team had this poll done, and McClure’s team was behind the first one. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure either out. Neither really tested negatives on each other, and this poll doesn’t include anything about negatives on Crosswell. At least the PPP Poll didn’t try to put McClure first and dumb down anybody’s bio though. This poll isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.

None of this really matters, because even the best message still relies on money. You have to have enough money to tell someone your story before you even can hope they’ll believe it. You also have to hope no one else has enough money to tell people the down side of your story. In other words, will anyone have the money to tell the story I’ve told you about Crooksy? If the answer is no, then all of this is irrelevant. I guess you know my view of the guy, and again, if no one puts the money behind that, what does that matter? If McClure can cobble together a half-million dollars to tell his good bio, sure, I still think he wins this. That is, unless someone else has a 4:1 spending advantage on him. So basically, what I’m telling you is, unless independent expenditures and super pacs come into this primary, I doubt anyone actually spends enough money on their own to move this race.

The Governor’s Endorsement of Crooksy is all About 2028 Politics

/ Rich Wilkins / 1 Comment
Josh Shapiro endorsed Bob “Crooksy” Brooks for Congress yesterday. The comments on the article’s Facebook page were brutal. I announced this a while back, I guess the Governor just wanted to put it out there at a time of year when less people were paying attention. I wonder why, why, why, why, why, and why he would want to do that?

If Bob Brooks is the nominee of the Democratic Party in PA-7, Republicans will swamp him with negative ads defining him as a deadbeat who took money from his mother-in-law and expresses racist beliefs on social media. In any normal time, I’d say that’s disqualifying, but there are a lot of people who would vote for O.J. Simpson if he ran on their party’s ticket right now. Even so, Crooksy is really the only candidate with a strong general election negative to run against, and Republicans are open that they feel most confident they can beat him. They’ll use his personal baggage, his endorsement from Bernie Sanders and other radical left wingers, and even negatives from his career that they have waiting to use. Democrats can’t afford that. Ryan Crosswell is completely unacceptable, but probably can win a general election, if you’re willing to vote for a Republican. There are three Democrats actually from the Lehigh Valley who are Democrats running in this race. We never needed the DCCC to mess this race up with this guy, but sure enough, it happened.

There’s absolutely no evidence that Crooksy brings anything to the table as a candidate, but that’s not what this is about. He raised $300k last quarter? So did like everyone across the river in NJ-7. Any candidate that gets nominated will raise plenty in the general election, and have PACs you’ve never heard of spending on their behalf. All that any of these folks endorsing him cares about is, he is the President of the IAFF’s Pennsylvania organization and the IAFF is really damn good at politics. When the IAFF backs a candidate for President, that candidate usually wins the Democratic nomination, at a minimum. The Governor wants the IAFF to support him in future campaigns, such as for Governor in 2026 and for President in 2028, and let’s be honest, one is more critical right now than the other. It’s very clear this is why this endorsement is happening, and anyone saying otherwise is a liar. Let’s be honest here, otherwise there’s no other reason to step into a competitive primary. Months ago, everyone claimed they would stay out. Plenty of people have appealed to the Governor directly and his insiders, pleading with them to not endorse this guy. None of that mattered, because this isn’t about this race. It’s about 2028.

I know this is an inconvenient truth to publish, but it’s a truth nonetheless. If I was worried about backlash for saying it, I wouldn’t have started in on Crooksy. I knew this from the start and made the decision on my own to write it. I’ve brought the receipts since day one. Frankly, I haven’t wrote the worst stuff, and probably won’t. Unions and elected officials are being pressured from the good ole’ boys club in Harrisburg to fall in line, to crush a primary here. I’m not invested enough in anyone’s success to play that game.

Can An 8-1 Democratic Council Govern in Northampton County?

/ Rich Wilkins / Leave a comment

It’s a cruel, sick, just world. The only Republican left on the Northampton County Council is Tom Giovanni. After running a cynical campaign of memes and attacks on people not running, he didn’t get to put the County GOP Chair in charge of the courthouse after all. He gets to go back to Council and sit quietly by himself as Tara Zrinski serves as the next County Executive. She worked hard, and she earned it.

The rest of the council may not make Giovanni look so bad though. The new chamber will have 8 Democrats in the 9 seats. It still might not be functional. You see, the 8 Democrats don’t necessarily get along, and might not really vote together. How it looks to break out-

  • Ken Kraft, Kelly Keegan, Jeff Warren- These three Democrats generally voted together on Council during the current term.
  • Jason Boulette- He seems pretty normal, has an impressive private sector resume, and doesn’t feel like a bomb thrower.
  • David Holland- I know he used to work at Gracedale, under the private management company. He ran as a Democrat. Most of the ticket didn’t dislike him. I’m cautiously optimistic.
  • Lori Vargo Heffner- The current President of Council won a third term. She got the most votes, after finishing third in the primary. She had a block of three Democrats that were not as friendly to the outgoing Executive, and many times voted with the three Republicans. Two of those Republicans and the two other Democrats are gone, and Lori is now on her own. This does not mean you should assume she will lose votes though. She counts to five better than a lot of these folks, regardless of who she brings on to get there. Her history with the incoming Executive is fairly sour too.
  • Terry Fadem- She basically didn’t engage with the other candidates in this past election and some members think she’s more like Lori than them. Time will tell.
  • Nadeem Qayyum- Look, I’m not getting into the rabbit hole here, but this is madness. Qayyum apparently told people he’s going to come out as a socialist after he got elected, so he must speak more English than other folks think. I don’t really know him, but if he spends most of the next four years bringing up resolutions for “Medicare for All,” for the county to condemn “genocide in Gaza,” and seeking confrontations with ICE, Democrats are going to lose seats soon.

There’s four ways this can go, as I see it-

  1. The first trio work with two of the three (Boulette, Holland, Fadem) or more, and govern.
  2. Lori Vargo Heffner builds an alliance with Giovanni and Fadem, and picks off Holland or Boulette sometimes, and maybe somehow finds ground with Qayyum?
  3. Boulette, Holland, and Fadem stick together and basically choose which way the council goes.
  4. Democrats just vote 8-1 on everything.

I don’t think counting to 5 will be easy on this council. Trying to do a re-assessment or tax increase will not be easy. Increasing spending will not be easy. Future political campaigns will also become a factor in how council works. I really don’t envy whoever these folks elect President, this will be a tough job.

Are You Talkin’ to Me? The Good Ole’ Boys and Girls in Harrisburg Don’t Want the Voters to Choose in PA-7

/ Rich Wilkins / Leave a comment

Last week I met Crooksy in the flesh. I have before, but I know I was not as interested in it then. His campaign manager walked up with him at an event, outside of the actual event, and said to him “this is Rich Wilkins, the guy who writes mean things about you.” You know what, that’s sort of accurate (I write accurate things about him), and it’s actually pretty funny. I said “how do you do,” and moved along. It was cold, but cordial. That’s really all it needed to be. I have said the guy would be inappropriate as a nominee, let alone a Congressman. I stand by that.

Later on in the event, a labor “personality” from a union that backs Crooksy decided to let me know they were unhappy with my coverage of their endorsement. After questioning why I didn’t ask them first if I was right (someone involved told me, why would I?) quite aggressively, I asked a pretty straight forward question- was what I wrote wrong? Their answer- “it didn’t go down the way you wrote it.” I don’t know, if I was going to confront someone like that, I’d probably be able to just say “yes, you were wrong” when asked that. Hey though, I guess sometimes the truth is a problem for some.

Look, I have the least skin in the game of anyone in this whole shenanigan- I don’t work for anyone involved in the race. I’m not going to work for anyone in the race. While I have a preference in the race, there are several candidates I could accept if they won. It has been said to friends of mine that I’m “harming my ability to work” by being so vocal about Crooksy. Huh? I haven’t worked for an actual candidate since before my health scare, almost two years, and I’m not really trying to. I charged my last candidate gas money basically for a couple months of work, because I grew up looking up to them and just wanted to help them through. These people want to blacklist me from a job I don’t want or have? Allegedly I won’t be able to work anymore judicial races, at least at the state level. You wouldn’t believe how badly that has me torn up, I might not be able to go on here (I shouldn’t have to tell you to read that with sarcasm, but yeah.). I didn’t have people attempting to blacklist me from work I don’t do on my 2025 bingo card, but I think this is supposed to scare me or something. Listen, I was almost dead once, you’re going to have to do better than that to scare me now. At least threaten to kneecap my good leg or something, I might blink. I’ve never really socialized with my co-workers much, the ones I am friends with know we’re friends. The rest? Honestly, maybe we’re acquaintances. I find myself more and more at odds with the world a lot of these people are trying to build. My attachment level is pretty low at this point.

These folks are hellbent to make sure people don’t have choices in this primary and don’t hear information about the people they want to thrust onto the voters. They had emissaries up here trying to clear the field and rally support. It didn’t work. They think if voters hear about the candidates, they won’t pick their guy. They’re probably right. What I don’t think they want to realize is, the 9-1-1 calls are coming from inside of their own house. Most of what I write is coming from people they tell it to. You think I found this stuff on my own? I dug up social media posts? I mean, this stuff is fair game, but it was given to me. It came from multiple sources. There’s more of it not yet written. The stuff I knew about the guy is stuff that quite frankly I can’t write, it lacks sources willing to talk about it. At least right now. Look, the total readership of this blog isn’t going to move this primary. I mostly put it out hoping the right reader will see it. I have no grand illusions here. If you want to spend all day mad about it, go right on ahead.

I don’t think I’ll be asking the good ole’ boys and girls out on the Susquehanna for a green light on anything. I mean, God bless, but they just don’t really matter to me. If they did, I’d be writing about them. God knows normal people would cringe if they read that kind of stuff.

Transitions in the Valley

/ Rich Wilkins / Leave a comment
Almost time to swear in new governments.

Come January there will be two new County Executives in the Lehigh Valley. Eight years ago now, I had just managed the election of one, and was chairing the transition of the other. People can say whatever they’d like, but both were successful. One leaves office as everyone’s favorite uncle, a two-term Executive that lead the county through a period of massive change and advancement, and will some day be remembered for vast improvements to Cedarbrook and guiding his county through a global pandemic and societal unrest, while preserving open space and a county nursing home. The other lead for eight years of the same conditions while not raising taxes a dime, preserving a record amount of open space, and keeping Gracedale county home, all while not cutting services. Both are being succeeded by a candidate from their own party.

People liked what they had.

That is now the past tense though. I think both are leaving popular, but most of the public doesn’t like the idea of just “running it back.” Why would they? Times change, society changes, communities need new things. It’s just life. And so we are getting their new transition teams. First, on Northampton County Executive-elect Tara Zrinski’s:

The committee, which will appoint key advisors and set policy priorities for the nascent Zrinski administration, will be chaired by Glenn Reibman, who was county executive from 1998 to 2006.

Zrinski also appointed two other senior leaders to help oversee the process. 

Mark Aurand, an attorney who currently assists Zrinski as deputy controller, will serve as transition chairman. 

Megan Beste, previously a staffer for former U.S. Rep. Susan Wild who now works for Bethlehem consulting firm Taggart Associates, will be the committee’s senior advisor.

The job of managing communications for the committee falls to Kelly Prentice, an Easton resident who works as a writer and marketing strategist.

Four additional members round out the group: Nazareth School Board member Brandon Faust, Northampton Community College environmental studies professor Anita Erdős Forrester, former Colonial Intermediate Unit supervisor and county election commissioner Margie DeRenzis, and controller’s office solicitor Steve Goudsouzian.

The Executive-Elect is also setting out several issues of priority for her team to address:

They are: health and human services, housing and homelessness, economic development, infrastructure, public safety and criminal justice, equity and environmental issues.

In all, the resulting advisory body could grow to include more than 90 people drafted from the worlds of organized labor, finance, law, social services, small business, nonprofits and public advocacy.

I would say this is pretty ambitious. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Some of these are more within the county’s legal range than others, however there are some things the county can do even in areas that are traditionally outside of their realm that can be helpful. I’m particularly interested in the infrastructure, environmental issues, housing, and health and human services areas, so I’m looking forward to see what they say.

Then, we’ve got Lehigh County Executive-Elect Josh Siegel’s transition:

The transition team will be chaired by Jim Irwin, President of the Lehigh Valley Labor Council and Business Agent for the Operating Engineers Local 542 and Samantha Pearson, Director of Development at the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission.

I don’t know Samantha, but I was kind of hard on the LVPC. Knowing Josh, if he picks her, she’ll be solid. As for Jim, he’s an A+ guy. I’m a fan. Josh is organizing his transition into policy areas too.

The transition team consists of the following committees that will begin meeting in December.

Human Services Subcommittee:

  • Chair: Marci Lesko, President and CEO of the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley
  • Kate Cohen: Vice President, Institutional Advancement River Crossing YMCA
  • Marc Rittle, Executive Director, New Bethany
  • Brad Osborne, Former Lehigh County Commissioner & Chair of Board
  • Eric Ruth, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Kellyn Foundation

Housing Subcommittee:

  • Jonathan Strauss, Co-Founder and Partner Cortex Residential
  • Abby Goldfarb, Executive Director, Lehigh Conference of Churches
  • Robert DiLorenzo, Director of Planning and Construction, City Center Group
  • Phil Malitsch, Director of Land Development Tuskes Homes
  • Asher Schiavone, Director of Government Affairs, Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors

Economic Development and Regional Growth Subcommittee:

  • Jason Salus, Montgomery County Treasurer
  • Dave Nasatir, Chair of Firm, Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippell LLP
  • Alex Michaels, President and CEO Discover Lehigh Valley
  • Frank Facchiano is COO and Executive Vice President, Member Relations, Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce
  • Kristin Cahayla-Hoffman, Vice President of Business Development and Attraction, Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation
  • Paul Anthony, Business Manager/Financial Secretary International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 375 and President of the Lehigh Valley Building Trades

Labor/Personnel Subcommittee:

  • Joe Scoboria, Business Representative, AFSCME 13
  • Andy Hilt, Business Agent, SEIU 668 for Lehigh County
  • Danielle Joseph, Executive Vice President, Business & Diversity Councils, Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce
  • Chris Naylor, Legislative and Political Director, UFCW 1776

Public Safety Subcommittee:

  • Allentown Police Chief Charles Roca
  • Jeani Garcia, Director of Operations, Promise Neighborhoods
  • Katarah A Jordan, CEO of Boys and Girls Club of Allentown
  • Jeremy Warmkessel, President of IAFF Local 302
  • Tinku Khanwalkar, Member of Pennsylvania Prison Society, Member of Allentown Environmental Advisory Council focused on environmental sustainability, justice and equity

Local Resilience and Response to Trump Administration:

  • Chair: Jon Iron, Lehigh County Commissioner
  • Jasmine Rivera, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Immigrant Coalition
  • Mary Erdman, Immediate Past President, Lehigh County League of Women Voters
  • Adam Hosey, Policy and Political Director, Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates
  • Nicole Folino, Community Services Manager, Second Harvest Food Bank

I’m intrigued by a lot here. Human services, because that’s what counties do. His economic development team is dynamite. I’m again interested in what the county wants to do to get involved in housing, and obviously what they come up with to respond to the Trump Administration.

Both Executives are being a bit ambitious here, but that’s not a bad thing for someone who just got elected. If you start from the “we can’t do anything” stance, you’ll be asleep in a few months. Josh went heavy on labor, while Tara’s team has a lot more of the core team around her as both Controller and a candidate. They’re solid groups with lots of people I like. I wish them both well.

More Money for the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission? Yeah, No Thanks.

/ Rich Wilkins / 1 Comment
Doesn’t this look like a nice spot for a warehouse to you? Sorry, it’s in Warren County.

Let’s just be clear here- the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission is not going to get it’s $461,375 INCREASE in it’s budget from Northampton County. Even if Council approves the increase in cash at their next meeting, that’s going to get a veto from the Executive. Three of the five Democrats are never going to vote to override that. Councilman Brown said he doesn’t support a tax increase, and I doubt Councilman Goffredo does either. What conservative wants to increase taxes to pay for a regional government body’s staff? Good luck getting to six votes for the tax increase to fund this. It will die at the veto, 5-4.

As it should. Councilman Ken Kraft said it better than me:

“Why do we want to give Lehigh Valley Planning Commission all this money?” demanded Council member Ken Kraft.  “You heard them when they were here. They have a huge budget surplus.” 

Council member John Brown supported an increase and said it was part of the agreement we have with our sister county. But in the eyes of Kraft and many others going back to former Council President Wayne Grube, we are treated more like the ugly red-headed step-sister.

Kraft went on a tear.  “I didn’t tell them to move into a new building. I didn’t tell them to incur all this new debt that they did and I don’t think our taxpayers should pay for that. And 90% of it was in salaries alone. … I think they need to figure out how to pay their bills without handouts. I’m a strong No. …. I can’t believe we’re doing this.” … “It’s ludicrous to give this kind of money to them when they said most of it is for salaries. Remember, they are the people who brought you the warehouses all over the county. They told every one of these little municipalities back in Walt Dealtry’s days, if you remember, to change their zoning and planning to allow what happened. And then in the future, we’re like ‘Oh my God, there’s warehouses and cars and everything everywhere.’ Who gave us that? The LVPC. … They have a lot of reserves. We should have their reserves.”

So there’s a lot here, but the main point is “NO.” I often times think the “we get treated like the little brother” argument is a bit trumped up. Is there some truth to it? Sure, but not as much as people think. Let’s dig into the real meat of this though. LVPC does not dispute that they have cash reserves. They did say most of this money would go to salaries. In what world should we fund salaries for an organization that has cash reserves? How far can their reserves stretch? How much of their reserves were county tax dollars? Current taxpayers don’t need to fund future rainy day funds or current bloated regional bodies. It’s not fair in this economy.

Then there is the whole discussion of warehouses and over development. My Father happens to be a township planner, and well, zoning is actually important. Township planning commissioners have very limited abilities to fight back against over development when zoning was already approved for more development and their Township Supervisors don’t have the stomach to fight against deep pocketed developers in court. Essentially most Planning Commissions in municipalities end up simply making sure developers dot their I’d and cross their T’s when they want to make a giant sum or money on a former farm land. If you’re lucky you can get the developer to put in an interchange (route 33 and Tatamy) or maybe give you a little league field (Forks used to love this). If someone buys a piece of land to develop it and has all their legal ducks in a row, they can. Is LVPC responsible for all of the townships being in this position? That’s probably a bit much to claim. Did most of the Lehigh Valley kind of, sort of all zone themselves into this mess in the first place? Yeah, basically. Is there a body that was kind of, sort of supposed to help them avoid that? Yeah, maybe there is.

So I’m a little split on the arguments Kraft made, but he’s generally right- they have money, their reasons for needing more money aren’t really our problem, and maybe, just maybe, this level of government hasn’t worked out all that well for what the residents of the Lehigh Valley would like. I’ll go another step though. Back in the dark ages of the Biden Administration, when infrastructure money became available, there was a shot at connecting up to regional rail from Northampton County to New York City. PennDOT wanted to put a “quiet veto” on that, and basically sought to do so by simultaneously raising the idea of connecting Allentown to SEPTA. The elected County Executive in Northampton County came out and publicly supported AMTRAK to NYC. It’s been alleged by OTHER elected officials that the folks at the LVPC asked them to not seek rail to New York City, because PennDOT would then yank their alleged interest in connecting Allentown to SEPTA (The “other” electeds are from Lehigh County). Neither has happened, nor probably will they, which was really what PennDOT wanted. You see, those bureaucrats stay no matter who is the Governor, and they oppose building anything but highways- even though they build some of the shittiest highways in the country. Even taking everyone at best intentions, they called for killing calls to connect Northampton County and it’s citizens to passenger lines to New York in favor of a never realized passenger line from Lehigh County to Philadelphia. So, in the best of intentioned scenarios you see Kraft’s “little brother” argument with LVPC, and well, he’s right. Worst case? PennDot didn’t want to do shit for anyone in the Lehigh Valley, which is why we have two lane highways all over instead of three way highways, and why we sit in the parking lot called US-22 from 3pm to 6pm every day. PennDOT fat cats keep padding the pension and you get nothing. LVPC either is not picking this up, or has too cushy of a relationship with PennDOT. Either way, if LVPC doesn’t support the objectives of the elected government in Northampton County, why give it extra money beyond what it needs to function?

Why Did Allentown Go With Crooksy Over Carol?

/ Rich Wilkins / Leave a comment

I told you before about a bunch of Allentown elected officials endorsing Crooksy for Congress. All had stayed neutral for months, and even suggested to folks that they planned to stay neutral, or possibly endorse other candidates. Obviously in the end, only one state elected official in the city is still neutral, Senator Nick Miller. So what happened?

Republican Ryan Crosswell and Democrat Carol Obando-Derstine are both from Lehigh County. Mark Pinsley is literally the Lehigh County Treasurer. Crosswell even claims he lives in Allentown, even if he’s out with the night owls in DC. I know what they’re going to say, and that’s half the fun of writing this. Crosswell is a Republican carpetbagger that worked at a union busting firm. Well, that’s true. Pinsley is a far left progressive in their eyes, which is maybe true, but he’s also winning with their voters, so they may want to be careful how bad they diss him. So what about Carol Obando-Derstine? She’s endorsed by former Congresswoman Susan Wild, who they all loyally backed basically from the start in 2018, albeit maybe less vocally than they’re being for Crooksy. She worked for Bob Casey, who they all loyally supported as well, as they should. So what is it about Carol that they don’t like? Is it that she worked for PP&L, and now PP&L is asking the PUC to approve a rate hike? PP&L is currently asking for a 7% rate increase, so I can get them being reluctant to be too friendly to PP&L. The thing is, they didn’t care about that when Obando-Derstine actually worked at PP&L and rate increases were enacted, they liked her there. I doubt that’s the reason. While Crooksy has failed to really gain support from local organized labor on the whole, he has the Allentown Fire Fighters basically running his political operation, and they are objectively good at it. Are they demanding endorsements for Crooksy from anyone who will seek their future support? Or is it the state Democratic Party, run by the Governor’s foot soldiers, who are demanding support for Crooksy? Could it literally be the Governor himself demanded they endorse Crooksy? We’ve known from day one that the good ole’ boys in the Democratic Party have wanted to shove Obando-Derstine out of the race as the only woman running, because they think she’s dangerous to their plot to astroturf Crooksy in. Could it be that people were told they are not allowed to endorse her? They have already put a nasty rumor out in the street that Carol will be dropping out and endorsing Crosswell because of her poor fundraising. Are they trying to make sure no one backs her now?

If we’re being honest, there are only three people with a chance to win this primary, unless the Harrisburg insiders can muscle all resources and support to their flunky, Crooksy. Crosswell might be able to win because he’s raising a lot of money and his cover story for why he’s doing this is heart-warming to primary voters who don’t know better. Obando-Derstine can win this primary too, if her supporters put up an IE for her and she doesn’t get knee capped as “unelectable” for either her PP&L time or for the “sin” of being an immigrant woman in the era of Trump. And then there’s Lamont McClure, who can win because he’s actually won some elections around here and the voters like him a lot more than the party good ole’ boys do. Crooksy can only win this race if he can get McClure, and probably Obando-Derstine, out of this race too. Otherwise he starts out too unknown to win any part of this district by a large enough margin to win. They know they can’t get Crosswell out of this race, because his Republican out-of-town donors don’t care what the Governor thinks, or any other Democrat for that matter. They know they can’t get Pinsley out of the race either, because the guy habitually loves to run for something. They know they can’t get Crooksy nominated, to ultimately lose the general election, unless they get the actual Democrats from the actual Lehigh Valley to drop out. If they can pull that off, then a bigot, socialist, that stiffs his mother-in-law can maybe, just maybe win. If we race to the bottom, we’ll find something lower.