Here are some takeways from a Lehigh Valley mayoral forum on ... - The Morning Call

Here are some takeways from a Lehigh Valley mayoral forum on climate and more at Lafayette College

Allentown uses zero renewable energy; its buildings are heated either by electric or natural gas.

Even when the city invested more than $1 million from a 2009 federal grant in solar panels for one of its buildings, Mayor Matt Tuerk said Tuesday, the panels were never activated.

“They never took the next step; they didn’t plan appropriately,” he said.

Tuerk, who became mayor last year, said he has come upon other instances of how Allentown failed to deal with climate change.

“Some are quite embarrassing, honestly,” he said, in front of a friendly audience of about 60 people, including the mayors of Bethlehem and Easton.

“My colleagues are doing better,” he said of Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds and Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. “They will be helping us do better.”

The three mayors, who this year formed a “three-city coalition” to address major issues such as climate change, spoke Tuesday during an Urban Land Institute forum at Lafayette College.

The mayors spent most of their individual presentations on climate issues and how each community has been dealing with the concerns — or in Allentown’s case faltering in its effort. But Tuerk touted the city’s vast park system (“the lungs of our city”) and is encouraged that a 2021 environmental advisory committee report will be expanded.

Housing and homelessness, which the mayors also highlighted in February as an area to find shared solutions, also came up in a question-and-answer session at the end of the 90-minute event. Here are some takeaways from those questions.

On how the three mayors coalition will specifically help with climate action:

Tuerk said it starts with building trust among each other and discussing issues. The three mayors started a text thread to check in with each other as questions arise, he said.

Reynolds said the cities are talking with area institutional partners whose territories include the urban cores, such as Lehigh Valley and St. Luke’s University health networks. He said including them will enable the cities to be part of regional conversations on major issues.

On how cities can better serve the underserved and youth, and how the leaders can communicate best with both groups:

All three said communicating is a challenge, with just about any group.

Reynolds, a former teacher in Allentown School District, said it comes down to understanding the “trust deficit” that exists with minority communities.

Tuerk said Allentown, which has a population that’s 55% Hispanic, is looking for ways to communicate with minorities and the poor about sustainability matters. However, “the youth have a different attitude toward environmental justice and sustainability that allows us to expand those conversations,” he said.

On the mayors’ initiatives to deal with affordable housing and homelessness:

Reynolds said Bethlehem will release a housing strategy study in the next couple of months to provide a long-term vision.

“But none of that really matters unless people start to realize what a crisis it is,” he said.

Panto said the cities alone cannot address affordable housing issues, noting Lehigh Valley Planning Commission estimates the region is currently 9,000 housing units short. He said home prices and rentals are high throughout the area.

“Why is it only the cities that have to address the poverty-level people?” Panto said. “The three of us got together to address it, because at least the three of us collectively are better than one.” The Morning Call examined affordable housing in the Lehigh Valley last month in a series “Room for More?”

Tuerk and Reynolds are in the second year of their first terms. Panto, who has served six terms, including four consecutively since 2008, easily won last week’s Democratic primary election and is expected to be reelected in November, barring a Republican challenge.

The trio hopes the coalition will extend beyond their time in office. “Mayors change, except in Easton,” Reynolds said, prompting laughter.

Morning Call reporter Anthony Salamone can be reached at asalamone@mcall.com.