Each of the four candidates running for Lower Saucon Township Council promise things will change if they win the election.
While council’s makeup won’t change dramatically — regardless of the results, Democrats will remain in the majority — the two Democrats and two Republicans hoping to fill the two seats being vacated say they will work with the other council members to put an end to the township’s famously contentious meetings.
The last two years have featured polarizing disputes in the township — over funding Hellertown Area Library and Bethlehem Landfill’s attempt to expand, among other issues — that led to a shift in power in the 2023 election, which ushered in the Democratic majority on the five-member board in 2024.
It’s made for important decisions that have drawn dozens of residents to Council meetings, which often explode into something out of an old daytime “trash TV” show, and sometimes last for hours, into the early-morning hours of the next day.
The four candidates — Democrats Chad G. Heimbecker and Hunter Gress, and Republicans Cheyenne Reiman and Donna Louder — agree that decorum at meetings has to change. The winners will succeed two Republicans who did not seek reelection, Jason Banonis and Thomas Carocci.
The GOP pair have been a central part of numerous boisterous exchanges with the three Democrats on Council — President Laura Ray, Vice President Victoria Opthof-Cordaro and longtime member Priscilla deLeon — that at times include swearing and other insults.
“I do not condone the behavior of the current Republican council members,” said Louder, the only candidate who previously served on Council. “But I do feel that they were a voice for Republican voters, especially with financial information and keeping things transparent. But their behavior was atrocious.”
“It’s the opposite of productive. It’s not beneficial to residents and taxpayers, or a productive use of council people’s time to be arguing and disagreeing.” said Gress, at 21 the youngest candidate. “Productive disagreement is a part of democracy, but name-calling and telling people to shut up, they don’t have a place.”
The candidates say they have the antidote for the verbal venom at meetings.
Heimbecker said his career as a consultant has taught him to work together with others. “In consulting, I have worked with hundreds of companies, with varieties of personalities, energy and approaches,” he said, “and you try to harmonize and bring that all together, so the job can get done. The job here is to manage and invest in our community.”
Reiman said she hopes Council would present ideas civilly and based on fact rather than conjecture or opinion, and she would like members to be open to residents’ ideas. “That’s how we’re going to arrive at the best outcome for the community,” she said.
She and the other three vying for council seats agree that working at compromise and consensus needs to occur with the Democratic members, whose terms expire in 2027
“I don’t care what party someone is,” Reiman said. “I don’t care how they’re registered. I care about their ideas and intentions, and how they want the municipality to land. That [Louder] is Republican doesn’t mean I have to side with her. And with the Democrats, I don’t have to disagree with them because of their party affiliation. I would like to treat them with the same respect that I hope they would treat me.”
Added Heimbecker: “If we can find a common ground, understanding what the problem is, we should be able to come together.”
The four candidates
The candidates’ brief bios are here, listed in the order their names appear on the Northampton County ballot:
Democrat Chad G. Heimbecker, 47, works in information technology and web development, operating his own consulting business since 2007. Since 2023, he has been a member of the Lower Saucon Township Environmental Advisory Committee. An Allentown native who moved to Lower Saucon Township in 2013, he also has nearly 30 years of experience in road safety and served on the Greater СŷƵ Chamber of Commerce’s Transportation Committee.
Democrat Hunter Gress, 21, is a welder for Norfolk Southern Corp., volunteer firefighter with Lower Saucon Fire Rescue, an Eagle Scout and “a proud union worker.” He grew up in Lower Saucon and graduated from Saucon Valley High School.
Republican Cheyenne Reiman, 38, is a real estate broker who owns a brokerage company in Hellertown. She has lived nearly her entire life in the Saucon Valley. A Bethlehem Catholic High School alumnus, she earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Cedar Crest College before moving into real estate. She calls it a blessing to raise her family in the same community she grew up.
Republican Donna Louder, 65, served from 2016-19 on Lower Saucon Council. A retired health care professional, she has lived exclusively in Lower Saucon and attended Saucon Valley schools. She is also a Northampton Community College alumnus.
Contact Morning Call reporter Anthony Salamone at asalamone@mcall.com.
