Just two days after President Donald Trump delivered his own State of the Union, Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel presented his 2026 State of Lehigh County Address at the PNC Club Level at Coca-Cola Park, Allentown.

The Feb. 26 program featured networking and attendance by many business, community and government leaders, including Sen. Jarrett Coleman, R-16th, Sen. Nick Miller, D-14th, Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-132nd, former Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong and several of the Lehigh County Commissioners.

Siegel kicked off his address stating the path forward “requires honesty and transparency.” Referencing the current chaos in Washington, he spoke of the ability to make change at the local level and the need to demonstrate consensus.

“We must meet this moment with action and urgency,” Siegel said.

Detailing his mission, he started with addressing the financials and expressing budgets to be moral documents.

Siegel highlighted the county’s current track puts them at risk to have to borrow, further emphasizing “we have done more with less for too long.”

Not wanting to balance budgets any longer with cutting services, Siegel pledged to fight for investment in the county’s services. He also referred to an effort already underway which studies Allegheny County’s success in diversifying to reduce property taxes and rather successfully invest in cultural and other local assets to generate revenue.

Another one of Siegel’s missions will be to address the housing affordability crisis.

He detailed the cost and time savings of buying existing inventory of multifamily complexes as opposed to building new housing structures. Siegel received resounding support from the audience when it came to his plan to declare homelessness a disaster, an emergency, via an executive order.

He cites that the Community Corrections Center has sat vacant since COVID and alone could functionally end homelessness with its 400 beds. He hopes to work with the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners to open a role for a strategic homeless coordinator.

Throughout the address, Siegel emphasized the “One Lehigh” mindset, stating “all 25 municipalities deserve attention” and every community matters. To this very point, Siegel proposed making family vacations this year a staycation rather than jetting off to foreign lands and tropical paradises. He has partnered with Discover Lehigh Valley to launch a staycation campaign and illuminated staying and shopping local reinvests dollars back into the local community.

Advocating for paid family medical leave, Siegel explained he aims to institute eight weeks of paid family leave for Lehigh County employees. This initiative creates a social safety net where workers are valued and do not have to choose between caring for loved ones versus paying rent.

“Lehigh County will not sit idle,” Siegel declared.

In the face of changing times and a challenging federal climate, the new Lehigh County Executive has pledged to make sure people can keep their health care. Working on the task force with Chairperson Geoff Brace of the Commissioners and other community advocates, he will make sure Lehigh County residents are connected to the resources they need.

“Modernizing communications is a necessity,” and one of the first areas of focus will be updating the Lehigh County website. He outlines the county moving towards regionalization for emergency services and preparing policies and procedures to maintain the integrity of our polling places.

As Siegel neared the end of the address, he states, “democracy is messy, disagreement is good.”

He indicated the solution to an unhealthy foundation is a government that delivers and can restore faith in leadership, and how better than to honor America’s 250th anniversary than by committing to build a better community?