Editor’s Note: The Morning Call solicited Your Views from the two candidates in the race for the Lehigh County executive’s seat, Josh Siegel, a Democrat who is a state representative for the 22nd House District, and Roger MacLean, a Republican who is a former Allentown police chief, county detective and City Council member. The candidates were asked to discuss the main issues they feel are facing the county, and how they would approach them. They were further asked to focus on their plans, rather than attacking their opponent.
Your Views from the Northampton County candidates for executive were published Wednesday.
I believe like many people, I feel a constant sense of dread and anxiety about the trajectory and direction of the country. Our politics is broken, dysfunctional and needlessly divisive. Instead of a purposeful direction, we get perpetual outrage.
I’m alarmed by the rhetoric labeling our fellow Americans as vermin, enemies from within and gnats — it’s dehumanizing and dangerous. I see troops in the streets of American cities, efforts to disparage peaceful demonstrations as terrorism or criminal, attacks on freedom of speech and the very fabric of our society. I worry about the devastating and destructive cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that will leave children, veterans and our seniors sicker and hungrier and poorer.
Our neighbors are hurting, they’re afraid, anxious and uncertain about the future. They see neither party as up to the task or capable of providing answers and they’re losing faith in government and institutions to deliver for them and their families.
That’s why I’m running for Lehigh County executive. Pete Buttigieg once said, “Our salvation really will come from the local.” I believe that in an era of division and gridlock, the best place to rebuild faith in government and create a new path forward is local government.
We need a new generation of leadership that is committed to building a new politics, that’s about answers and not anger, solutions and not scapegoats. Our community and our residents deserve a clear and moral direction — not more division. I call that vision One Lehigh. It’s grounded in the spirit of what made this region so successful.
I think the Lehigh Valley owes its success to partnership and not partisanship. A generation ago, leaders like Don Cunningham and Pat Browne, among other Democrats and Republicans, worked together to transform the Lehigh Valley. We went from an area in industrial decline and struggle to a thriving region with three vibrant downtowns, great school districts and an incredible quality of life that attracts new residents, businesses and development.
My vision is about bold leadership that acts with urgency to tackle the challenges we face today, that threaten to undermine our region’s success and future and serves as a backstop against the chaos, corruption and cruelty in Washington.
We need to start with our housing affordability crisis. I want to work with local municipalities to zone for smart, strategic and more walkable mixed-use communities and infill development. We need to increase supply to address the critical shortage that is driving up prices and work with developers to create more starter homes. I also believe the public sector needs to step up using our housing authorities to build more attainable housing and buy older inventory before large out-of-state corporations purchase them and increase rents.
We need an all-of-the-above approach — private, nonprofit and public — to get the job done. Lehigh County should not be a luxury good; seniors deserve to downsize and live next to their grandchildren, young families deserve that first house, and teachers, police officers and firefighters should be able to live in the communities they serve. No one should be priced out.
We need to regionalize police and fire services to put more boots on the streets and reduce costs for local taxpayers at the same time and continue to preserve farmland and open space.
I’ll also protect democracy and expand access to the ballot box. It’s no secret that the Trump administration wants to spread lies and disinformation about elections, from mail-in ballots to drop boxes. I want to expand safe and secure drop boxes beyond the five we currently have and invest in ballot on-demand or early voting sites so residents have more ways to cast their ballot and exercise their right to vote. The county executive should be a champion for voting and unafraid to tell this administration that it will never interfere with your right to vote.
I’ll also defend our critical services like mental health, addiction treatment and our public nursing home, Cedarbrook from the devastation of Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill cuts. We need an executive with the courage and vision to plan for a financially uncertain future that protects our seniors from burdensome property taxes and preserves the critical services that care for our vulnerable children and elderly. We can’t afford to let our neighbors suffer. That requires collaboration and partnerships like those in Providence, Rhode Island, or Boston, where large nonprofits voluntarily contribute millions to help pay for mutually beneficial programs like housing or public safety initiatives.
I believe together, we can reject the failed politics of the past and rediscover our sense of community. Lehigh County should aspire to be an example of unity and cooperation. No one has to do worse for someone else to do better. I think we can build a county where no one is left behind.
This is a contributed opinion column. Josh Siegel is a Pennsylvania House of Representatives member from District 22. The views expressed in this piece are those of its individual author and should not be interpreted as reflecting the views of this publication. Do you have a perspective to share? Learn more about how we handle guest opinion submissions at themorningcall.com/opinions.