Allentown City Council and Lehigh County Joint Workshop on Collaboration – March 9, 2026
Allentown City Council and Lehigh County Joint Workshop on Collaboration – March 9, 2026
On March 9, 2026, the Allentown City Council and the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners held a joint workshop at 11:00 AM to explore areas for improved coordination. The meeting was opened by Council President Santo and included remarks from Mayor Turk, County Executive Josh Siegel, and Commissioner Jeff Brace. No formal votes were taken; the goal was to identify actionable collaboration items for the near term.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Corey Arner (Daybreak shelter, Conference of Churches) emphasized the need for low-barrier services and suggested a hotel-style single-room occupancy (SRO) model for interim housing, noting that shared spaces often lead to conflict. She stressed the importance of relationships and collaboration over bureaucratic processes.
- Rebecca (Sons of Israel) humorously praised the meeting as a “most ambitious crossover” and thanked participants.
Discussion Items
Housing Development
- Commissioner Jeff Brace highlighted the county’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which can be leveraged for projects in municipalities with strong housing plans. He noted that federal HOME funds cannot be used inside Allentown because the city is a direct entitlement community.
- Mark Hartney (Deputy Director of Community and Economic Development) presented the city’s “Welcome Home Allentown” strategic housing plan. He proposed two tools: a land bank (using the Redevelopment Authority to acquire properties through judicial sales before public auction) and LERTA (tax abatement for redevelopment), both requiring coordination with the county and school district to waive outstanding taxes.
- Commissioner April Riddick urged focus on blighted properties, calling for a survey and rehabilitation of existing stock rather than only new construction, citing limited land in Allentown.
- Commissioner Sheila Alvarado emphasized that affordable housing affordability must be tied to actual income levels, not developer definitions. She noted the county’s transfer tax for the housing trust fund is maxed out, so new revenue sources are needed.
- Commissioner Dan Hartzall and Commissioner John Irons stressed that any LERTA should include community benefit agreements and affordability thresholds (e.g., 50-80% AMI).
- Council President Santo added that the city’s new e-transfer tax (passed in December 2025) provides new resources for land bank strategies, and that deed restrictions can help control inventory for homeownership.
- Commissioner Ron Bitler questioned whether the city and county could establish a regular housing coordination meeting; Councilman Pungo suggested an ad hoc task force meeting twice a year.
Homelessness and Weather Response
- Commissioner Brace reviewed the county’s history: prior to recent years, the county only provided behavioral health services, not shelter. The first shelter partnership (Alliance Hall) used general funds, and ARPA dollars expire at the end of 2026.
- David Cinnamon (City Health Director) noted the city lacks physical space for cooling centers in summer, and community organizations (YMCA, library) are strained. He volunteered to lead coordination efforts.
- Christina (Co-chair of the Allentown Commission on Homelessness) reported that the county and city already collaborate via a multidisciplinary team (quarterly meetings) and service hubs, but 11 unsheltered individuals died last year. She called for a countywide (or bicounty) commission on homelessness.
- County Executive Josh Siegel supported hiring a full-time strategic coordinator for homelessness, modeled after Montgomery County’s success in creating 190 transitional housing units through dedicated staff and community engagement.
- Commissioner Sarah Febig noted an existing facility (400 beds, kitchen, bathrooms) in a township that could be repurposed for transitional housing, but NIMBY opposition and zoning issues remain.
- Commissioner Riddick urged out-of-the-box thinking, such as using vacant lots on city edges for managed encampments with business tax incentives.
- Chief of Police (unidentified) highlighted the city’s Community Intervention Specialist (CIS) program since 2017 and a grant studying its effectiveness. He stressed the need for mental health support for first responders.
Community Gardens and Youth Engagement
- Commissioner Ron Bitler proposed expanding the county’s 200 community garden plots (currently only in South Whitehall and Cedar Brook) into urban areas like Allentown to address food deserts. The county already has a coordinator and could partner with PASA for education.
- Council President Santo suggested using the city’s blighted property inventory (approximately 1,000 vacant lots) for gardens, and noted the Allentown School District has space but no coordinator.
- Commissioner Alvarado linked community gardens to youth programs, noting the Boys & Girls Club has advanced hydroponics, and suggested using quality-of-life grants for pilot programs.
- Commissioner Riddick emphasized that small, lesser-known youth organizations also need support, not just the Boys & Girls Club.
Mental Health and Crisis Response Integration
- Commissioner Brace explained the 911 dispatch (county) and police/fire response (municipal) are separated by state law. He called for better integration of mental health services with public safety, noting the 988 crisis system and Pinebrook’s post-response follow-up.
- Chief of Police described the city’s CIS program and CIT training for officers. He encouraged data-led approaches and highlighted the need for mental health support for first responders.
- Health Director Cinnamon asked for greater county involvement in public health paramedic work.
Constituent Services and Communication
- Commissioner Alvarado noted residents often confuse levels of government and lack awareness of resources. She urged translation into Spanish and Syrian, and suggested a regular communication channel between council and commissioners.
- Councilman Pungo proposed a consolidated community calendar to show all events in one place.
- Commissioner Zach Kolborgy emphasized that official websites (city and county) should be the authoritative sources, especially as social media becomes less reliable.
- County Executive Siegel acknowledged the county’s communication infrastructure has been lacking and that a plan is moving forward.
Public Works and Purchasing Collaboration
- Commissioner Bitler raised the potential for joint public works projects (e.g., trail networks, bridge maintenance, salt purchasing).
- Council President Santo noted the city’s public works are underfunded, but executive-level coordination will be pursued.
- County Executive Siegel mentioned ongoing discussions about reference-based pricing for health care (pegging to Medicare) if the city, county, and school districts pool employees, potentially saving $2.5–3 million for the county alone. He also suggested joint purchasing of janitorial supplies.
Other Ideas
- Council President Santo announced the city’s “Allentown Works” program hiring resource navigators to connect residents to jobs and services.
Key Outcomes
- Housing Coordination Task Force: An ad hoc group (city and county elected officials and administrators) will be formed to advance land bank and LERTA policies, with regular meetings (e.g., twice a year). The city will share its “Welcome Home Allentown” plan with the county.
- Blighted Property Survey: The city and county will collaborate on a survey of vacant lots and blighted properties to determine best uses (housing, gardens, parking).
- Homelessness Strategic Coordinator: County Executive Siegel will pursue a full-time (or part-time) coordinator position, possibly shared with Northampton County, to lead regional homeless strategy.
- Homelessness Regional Commission: A countywide (or bicounty) commission on homelessness will be explored, building on the existing Allentown commission.
- LERTA Community Benefits Model: The county will develop community benefit parameters for any future LERTA districts, including affordability thresholds.
- Communication Coordination: A regular information-sharing mechanism between city council and county commissioners will be established (e.g., monthly updates). The city and county will work to improve official websites and cross-link resources.
- Joint Purchasing Exploration: The city and county will explore cooperative purchasing for supplies, health care (reference-based pricing), and other services.
- Next Steps: The two administrations will meet to prioritize action items, with a possible quarterly summit to review progress on measurable deliverables.
Meeting Transcript
All right, uh good evening, everyone, and uh we'll kick this off. We appreciate um uh our IT guy Gerald getting everything set up for us. Um so first I want to welcome all our colleagues uh from the county, um, members of city and county administrations and the public for joining us this evening. I appreciate you guys all taking the time to be here. Uh before we begin, I would also like to recognize the elected officials and department leadership present who make who will help make this uh type of collaboration possible. So first, um Mayor Turk and members of his cabinet, thank you for being here. Uh also like to recognize county executive Josh Siegel uh and members of his administration, uh county commissioners, uh Jeff Brace, uh Zach Kolborgy, April Riddick, uh Ron Bitler, Sarah Febig, Sheila Albarado, Dan Hartzall, John Irons, and unfortunately Antonio Pineda, who couldn't be here this evening, but um a note and we um we'll fill him in later. And also my colleagues, uh city council members, uh Cynthia Mota, Vice President, uh Candida Afa, um Natalie Santos was unable to make it, uh CeC Burlach, uh Jeremy Banger, and Christian Pungo is on his way. So he'll be here in a few. Um so listen, when I began my leadership role back in January, I wanted to prioritize more collaboration uh with our partners at Lehigh County. Uh tonight's workshop is really about one thing, which is working together more intentionally. Um the goal of the session is to identify specific areas where the city and the county can coordinate more effectively and to leave here with a few clearly defined action items that we can follow up on together over the months ahead. Um this is not intended to be a formal legislative meeting. There will be no votes taken tonight. Instead, this is an opportunity for open discussion, shared understanding, and practical problem solving. So we'll briefly explain the format. Um we'll move through a series of focused issue blocks, each centered on a topic where city-county coordination matters. For each section, we'll have short remarks from designated speakers to frame the issue. From there the goal is simple, identify one or two specific action items we believe are worth pursuing and determine who will take the lead on the follow-up. By the end of the meeting, we'll hope to have a small list of concrete next steps rather than just general ideas. Uh start us off, it's helpful to make sure we all share a common understanding of how our respective governments operate and where our responsibilities intersect. I'll begin uh city council um and then I'll turn it over to Commissioner Brace to provide an overview of the county's responsibilities. Um at the city level, council's primary role is legislative. We adopt ordinances and approve the city's budget. City government is responsible for delivering many of the day-to-day services that our residents interact with most directly, including public safety, maintaining our streets, infrastructure maintenance, zoning and land development, parks and recreation and neighborhood services. But many of the challenges facing our community, whether it's housing, public health, mental health services, do not fall neatly within the boundaries of one level of government. They require coordination between the city and the county. That's why conversations like tonight are important. When we understand where our responsibilities overlap and where they complement one another, we can identify opportunities to work more effectively together to deliver for our residents. So thank you. With that, I'll turn it over to Commissioner Grace and for brief overview. Good evening, everybody. I want to say thank you for hosting this. As we were planning our participation as a board of commissioners and the administration, uh noted that I don't think we've been invited to this kind of a conversation. And we dug a little bit into the history of the Board of Commissioners since the Home World Charter went into effect. And we couldn't find any recognition any time where this has happened. So we appreciate Allentown extending that invitation and hope that other municipalities will take that opportunity in the future. County government is an interesting beast in Pennsylvania. And perhaps in Lehigh County, uh that beast is a little bit more different than uh I think folks understand. Um, whereas city government, you know, city council and a mayor relationship makes sense intuitively. We understand how that functions. But in uh county government, um typically the board of commissioners are both a legislative body and the administrative body. And then you have other row officers and elected officials like judges, the coroner, the sheriff, so on and so forth, who fulfill other uh responsibilities on their own, duties that are prescribed under the state constitution and state law. Uh Lehigh County, the commissioners are the legislative body, as city council is in Allentown. The executive is the administrator for that part of county government, but we also have row officers and judges. And they all fulfill duties that are part and parcel to county government, but they are not overseen the same way that perhaps a police department or fire department would be overseen by municipality. Instead, they have duties to the constitution, the uh commonwealth, and to the voters who elect them. Uh, county government is a an approximately 550 million dollar a year operation. 120 million dollars of that is derived from local property taxes. 70% of the revenue that is brought into the county is from outside sources, not property taxes.
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