County Executive Phillips Armstrong is running for re-election. “I’m throwing my hat into the ring,” he said dramatically, doffing a fedora and tossing it to the floor before presenting his annual state of Lehigh County address at Coca Cola Stadium March 5.

“The State of Lehigh County is excellent,” he then began.

Armstrong spoke with pride about the Moody’s Bond Rating of AA enjoyed by Lehigh County.

He said he was pleased by the spirit of compromise that led to a balanced budget for 2020.

He encouraged everyone’s participation in the 2020 Census because 79 percent of the income for the budget comes from federal and state tax revenue. “These funds are decreased, maintained or increased based on the Census count.”

Armstrong then turned his attention to the county’s infrastructure. He said the Coplay-Northampton bridge was “completed ahead of schedule.” Other achievements: closer to completion for designs of the new Cedarbrook Nursing and Rehabilitation wing and of the old Lehigh County Courthouse.

Regarding Cedarbrook, he said, “An action plan has been implement to maintain the four-star ranking and strong quality of care rating among customer satisfaction.” He said it ranks as the 20th best nursing home in the state as rated by Newsweek’s Best Nursing Homes 2020 issue.

The newly consolidated 911 system that integrated the county with Allentown got a shout-out for “increased overall efficiency across a larger scale for all county residents.” Armstrong also noted the new juvenile holding cell and the beginning of a new engineering study for the government center parking garage.

Armstrong mentioned the Blue Guardian Program, a follow-up service for those that were administered naloxone. Programs such as this reflect law enforcement’s move from a punitive approach to one more attuned to treatment for drug abuse.

He spoke a new initiative to help homeless veterans in the Lehigh Valley.

“Lehigh County is proud to continue serving veteran programs on a local, state, and federal level,” said Armstrong. “Although there was a reduction in federal funding, Lehigh County reached out to local municipalities for assistance. $200,000 of state grant funding was recently secured with the help of Pa. Senator Pat Browne [and the help of] the Community Foundation of the Lehigh Valley.”

“Now individuals and corporations can make charitable gifts to the Lehigh Valley Veterans Homeless fund care of the Community Fund of the Lehigh Valley,” said Armstrong.

He spoke about the change in the election law that adds “mail-in” voting traditional absentee voting. “This is an addition to our new paper trail voting system implemented by Lehigh County in 2019.” He said the new systems in place will ensure privacy and integrity for future elections.

Armstrong gave a nod to the new contract with Highmark for a new health and prescription plan that resulted in over $1 million in savings over last year.

In a nod to the County’s strong unions, he noted that a new county ordinance returns collective bargaining negotiating authority to the county executive.

“Conversion to LED lighting technology over the span of the next several years will [reduce] in-house energy costs about 40 to 50 percent,” said Armstrong.

Farm land preservation, according to Armstrong, is “approaching a huge milestone at 25,000 acres of farmland preserved.” He said this places Lehigh County at number four in total number of farmlands preserved and number five in total acres preserved in Pennsylvania.

He closed his comments to a near capacity crowd of employees, vendors, and supporter by noting that Lehigh County has 2,010 full-time employees, hundreds of part-time employees, and volunteers who serve 368,100 residents. He said Lehigh County is the fourth fastest-growing county in the state and one of only 20 counties that has increased its population.