The Lehigh County Board of Commissioners met Feb. 11 for the first bimonthly meeting in February.

Getting off to a late start as the committee meetings ran over time, the board meeting itself didn’t adjourn until just after 11 p.m. The evening’s meeting featured lively and passionate discussions and sharing of opinions by both the individual commissioners, as well as dozens of members of the public.

Before the controversial conversations began, there were first a few items on the agenda reviewed. These include deferring the meeting minutes from the Jan. 28 meeting as they were unable to post them 24 hours in advance.

Under chair’s review, Chair Geoff Brace updated the audience that public parking for those in attendance at the meetings will now be available at no cost off Seventh Street at Walnut Street. This service lot provides increased accessibility and maintains higher visibility.

Also during chair’s review, Brace explained there has indeed been a task force created specific to assisting those individuals whose health care has been disrupted. The task force includes Brace, Commissioners Sarah Fevig and Jon Irons, Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel and several others from both the administration and community. The county can expect to receive updates pertaining to the task force’s activity and successes at future commissioner meetings.

Fevig was yielded the floor to express her displeasure with the fact “county leaders, inclusive of four of our county commissioners, had signed a letter which had been published calling on industrial property owners not to do business with ICE.” She clarified she was not afforded the option to sign and expressed openly, “This is not how government should work.”

During citizen’s input on non-agenda items, several individuals spoke out in support of virtual hearings for nonviolent offenders. Heather Harlan, of Emmaus, took to the podium to relay “access to the courts should not become a trap door to detention.” She and several others expressed their hope the new president judge will be amenable to this initiative.

Several citizens also spoke out calling for Siegel to remember and respect the office to which he was elected. Seemingly referencing content published on the Lehigh County Executive Facebook page, members of the county were saddened by the level of name calling directed at the Republican Party. Throughout the evening as well, many of the commissioners dedicated a statement or two toward this topic, making it clear Siegel’s formal publication of these opinions were harsh and uncalled for.

Commissioner Antonio Pineda even went so far as to look at Siegel when asking, “Am I manically evil and cruel?”

There were many appointments on the agenda for the evening’s meeting, all of whom came with positive recommendations from the governance committee and were subsequently appointed unanimously by the board. These included the appointments of Justin Grimshaw and Jeanne McNeill to the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority, as well as appointments of Dennis J. Geiger, Benjamin T. Iobst and Henry R. Moore to the Mental Health/Intellectual Disabilities Board.

Matthew Schneider, Thomas L. Gettings, Arthur A. Swallow, Peter Wisser and Steve Bachman were appointed to the Sterling Raber Agricultural Land Preservation Board.

Caren Lowrey was newly appointed to the Drug and Alcohol Advisory Board, while Alicia Conjour, Grace Chehoud-Vangelo and Charles Roca were reappointed.

Susan J. Hausman was appointed to the Children & Youth Advisory Council and E. Harry McGuirk and Mark C. Bartholomew were appointed to the Lehigh County Industrial Development Authority.

Lastly, Minal Amin was present in the audience to receive her successful appointment to the Lehigh County Authority.

Moving on to old business, the board received a second reading of three bills. Bill 2026-02 approved change of use of American Rescue Plan Subgrant Funds which were previously allocated to Ripple Community, Inc. that will now fund the acquisition of a multifamily property located at West Gordon Street in Allentown.

Bill 2026-03 approved the donation of a 2010 Chevrolet Express 3500 van to the Pennsylvania Animal Response Team for use by the Lehigh Valley County Animal Response Team. This van was previously owned by the coroner’s office and there was no longer a need for this vehicle.

Bill 2026-04 approved a grant with PPL Electric Utilities Corporation to construct, reconstruct, operate and maintain its electric and communication facilities on a property along Route 873 in Slatington.

In new business, the motion to approve the 2026 commissioner memberships was unanimously approved. The full list and details of these memberships is available to the public for viewing on BoardDocs.

The main topic of the evening was centered around a resolution sponsored by Brace and Irons, Zach Cole-Borghi and Fevig. Resolution 2026-04 was brought to the board and aims to denounce the rise of fascism and authoritarianism in the United States. With this, it also affirms the commitment of the board of commissioners to defend threatened constitutional rights of Lehigh County residents.

Irons began the discussion by stating this “challenges us to all think more deeply and find space to encounter the very real and local impacts of the Trump administration.” He emphasized this resolution has the ability to write itself as a historical record and called upon the board to support this “symbolic piece of speech unequivocally naming the rise and reality of fascism in America today and committing to stand up against it as it sets its sights on our county and our constituents.”

Brace echoed support of this resolution as he indicated the actions of the federal government impact the county and its residents, leaving the board members desperately trying to navigate the fallout. As problem solvers, this is what they do, but he expressed they have “an obligation to speak about how state government, federal government and their actions have harmed the work of the county.”

Speaking up to oppose the verbiage of the resolution, several commissioners took time to communicate the ill intent of the nonbinding resolution. During her time, Fevig withdrew her sponsorship for the resolution.

Commissioner Ron Beitler indicated there are better uses of their time and more nonpartisan initiatives worth devoting the board’s full attention and focus.

Pineda passionately conveyed his belief “this is the most outwardly partisan, divisive action that this board has brought forward, and that is extremely disappointing and disheartening.”

Troubled by the divide this resolution was creating, Commissioner April Riddick made a motion to table the resolution so they can truly produce one the entire board can agree upon and then resubmit. Beitler seconded the motion.

After comments were made again, Beitler then rescinded his second to the motion, only to have it quickly seconded by a different commissioner. A roll-call vote on the motion to table the resolution failed with six commissioners opposing and three in favor. The three commissioners favoring the motion to table included Beitler, Brace and Pineda.

Given the failing motion to table, Pineda then made a new motion for an amendment to the resolution which has been so highly contested and debated by both the board and the public. Beitler seconded this motion. The amendment yielded even further discussion, but essentially removed much of the language of the original resolution and aimed to condemn fascism, all authoritarianism, far left and far right ideologies. The roll call vote failed 7-2, with Pineda and Beitler the only two in favor.

With yet another motion failed, this left the board to vote on the original verbiage of Resolution 2026-04. A roll-call vote on this resolution passed, 5-4 in favor of passing the resolution. The commissioners in opposition included Beitler, Pineda, Dan Hartzell and Fevig.

The final two resolutions were less contested and both received positive recommendations in committee.

Resolution 2026-05 approved adjustments for the 2026 contract year to the fifth amended and restated agreement with Magellan Behavioral Health of Pennsylvania, Inc.

Resolution 2026-06 approved the continuation of the contract with Magellan Behavioral Health of Pennsylvania, Inc. for the seventh year. Both were unanimously adopted by all nine commissioners.

The meeting concluded with three bills receiving first reading, but the long-awaited motion to adjourn took place 11:13 p.m.

The next bimonthly meeting will take place 7:30 p.m. Feb. 25.