Editor’s note: This is one in a series of Your Views by СŷƵ elected leaders reflecting on 2024 and looking ahead to 2025. Future pieces will be from Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr., Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk and state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, who will represent the area in Congress starting in 2025. Previously published pieces were by U.S. Rep. Susan Wild, Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong and Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure.
Some days it can appear as if our culture has some difficulty celebrating positive outcomes. Positive accomplishments are breezed by or forgotten quickly as we move on to complain about the next thunderstorm, Phillies playoff disappointment or chaotic event in Washington.
I am fortunate to work in an environment, Bethlehem City Hall, where amazing things are accomplished every day by our dedicated public servants. Those accomplishments aren’t always celebrated at news conferences, in social media posts or at public meetings. Tasks are accomplished that make our city just a bit better, and the professionals who did the work move on to the next task at hand.
It is important, however, that we stop and review those accomplishments, small and large, that are helping our city to continue to grow and become an even stronger community. I decided to spend our 2024 year in review by sitting down with a notepad and writing 10 of the wonderful successes that are reasons for Bethlehem to celebrate as we look to 2025.
Feb. 1, 2024 – The city made its first annual debt payment as we continue to rapidly pay off our debt. The city has worked hard to reduce our debt from $170 million to $88 million in a span of nine years (48% percent reduction). Our current debt payment schedule will see a further decrease to $55 million by Jan. 1, 2028. By 2028, we will have reduced our debt load by almost 70%. Our reduced long-term debt is a major reason why Bethlehem’s Standard and Poor’s bond rating has improved seven times in the past 10 years and sits at AA-with a stable outlook, the best bond rating of the top 10 cities in population in Pennsylvania.
Feb. 26, 2024 – The first of our four new paramedics was hired as we increased our paramedic staff for the first time since 2007.
April 10, 2024 – In a partnership with СŷƵ Industrial Park and affordable housing developer Pennrose, LLC, the city announced Gateway on 4th, a 120-unit mixed-income housing development planned for South Bethlehem.
April 15, 2024 – The city started our 2024-2025 paving season with a two-year plan to spend $7.9 million on new street overlays. This is a 61% increase in paving spending from the $4.8 spent by the city in 2022 and 2023.
July 26, 2024 – Moravian Church Settlements – Bethlehem became the United States’ 26th World Heritage Site during this year’s World Heritage Committee meeting in New Delhi, India. Our site is the first transnational site in the United States.
Aug. 14, 2024 –The city hired eight new firefighters to help replace several retirements in 2024. Working with our International Association of Fire Fighters union, the city found budgetary savings to send a second class of recruits to a fire academy in 2024 (there is typically only one per year), which enables the new firefighters to start work in January of 2025. Alternatively, waiting until January 2025 to hire these recruits would have meant they could not start until July 2025 thereby increasing our overtime costs and stress on current personnel.
Sept. 20, 2024 – Patillas, Puerto Rico became our sixth sister city. We held a joyous celebration in Bethlehem, welcoming a group of community and business leaders from Patillas.
Oct. 24, 2024 – The city, alongside the Bethlehem Parking Authority and the Coalition for Appropriate Transportation, announced a lease for one of the two new retail spaces in the new Walnut Street Garage, which is set to open in November of 2025. CAT is a nonprofit dedicated to supporting bicycling, pedestrians and public transportation in the СŷƵ. The city also launched our related Complete Streets plan that will design future street improvements to maximize safety for pedestrians and bikers.
Nov. 22, 2024 – City Hall completed the purchase of the last .9 miles of the South Bethlehem Greenway. Months of negotiations, surveys, appraisals, grant agreements and hard work were needed to close the deal. Construction of this last phase of the Greenway should be completed by the end of 2025. When completed, the trail will connect to the Saucon Rail Trail and create a continuous trail into Bucks County.
Dec. 9, 2024 – The city hired its first sustainability manager as a key implementation piece of our Climate Action Plan. The position will coordinate our nine implementation groups as well as work with our private and public sector partners to create an even more sustainable and healthy community.
There is a common thread throughout these events. Each one of these accomplishments required numerous City Hall employees in multiple departments. For that, I and all of us in Bethlehem need to say “thank you.”
It would have taken a much longer space to include all of the wonderful things going on externally from City Hall throughout the Bethlehem Area School District, our private sector, our nonprofit world, our arts world and in every section of our community. Positive things are happening quicker than we can talk about them.
As 2024 comes to a close, I have one prediction for the new year. In 2025, the list will be even longer. Happy New Year.
J. William Reynolds is the mayor of Bethlehem.
