Editor:

Kudos to Bethlehem councilmembers Grace Crampsie-Smith and Bryan Callahan, as well as IAFF 735 Union President Louis Jimenez, for their efforts to restore four firefighter positions in the city’s 2026 budget.

They sought to begin to right the wrongs of the prior two city administrations who axed a fire station and several firefighters from the force.

Following this year’s debate over restoring the four firefighters cut by Mayor Bob Donchez, and supported by then Councilman J. William Reynolds, was a painful reminder of why public officials should always make safety the priority in local government. That need was identified in a study completed by the IAFF Union. Instead, Reynolds preferred adding a secretary and neighborhood organizer in Community Development over protecting the public by restoring those four firefighters in a city growing in both population and physical development.

The irony is that elected officials who would not support making cuts so that four firefighters could be hired, not only voted against the best interests of the community at large, but they also opposed their own best interests as residents themselves.

Dana Grubb

Bethlehem