All nine commissioners were present April 22 for the board meeting which was dominated by discussions pertaining to Bill 2026-14.

This bill proposes a regional youth detention center intergovernmental cooperation agreement to establish a more structured approach to juvenile detention in Lehigh County.

A large showing of concerned citizens attended the meeting to convey specific oppositions to Lehigh County engaging in the agreement.

While the community naysayers in attendance far outweighed the advocates, a few juvenile probation officers and individuals who in some way support the juvenile probation efforts in the county took the chance to vocalize support of the bill.

But before this community input was able to commence, most of the commissioners took time to share their thoughts, as well as provide a clear indication of which way he or she intended to vote.

Clearly in support of the bill, Commissioner Antonio Pineda echoed evidence of support similar to when the bill was first read during the April 8 meeting. In addition to providing yet another summary of the positives the proposal up for vote presents, President Judge Douglas Reichley and chief juvenile probation officer Kevin Miller emphasized the distance and transportation challenges the county currently faces when children in detention are in different facilities and require to be transported to and from for court appointments.

Reichley summarized his support by saying the “reality is that Lehigh County has a need for a secure, reliable, responsibly managed short-term detention bed facility in order to secure … youth who have been identified as committing the most serious kinds of offenses that are under our crimes code until their adjudication and eventual disposition.”

Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel acknowledged the community’s complaints from the prior meeting by admitting there could have been more town halls and opportunity for discussion; however, he “encourages the board to speak with a voice of unity and move forward together” as he would “rather have a publicly-run facility than a for-profit enterprise exploit, ignore and neglect our children.”

Following suit, commissioners Sheila Alvarado, April Riddick, Sarah Fevig, Ron Beitler and Geoff Brace all voiced their support of the multicounty run approach to juvenile detention.

While Alvarado visited the facility and received answers to all her questions, Riddick went out into the community and spoke with individuals who experienced firsthand juvenile detention. Surprised to hear that most of them voiced support for juvenile detention through their own experiences, her support for the bill grew. Fevig voiced agreement with the bill as she feels it meets the needs of today and is comfortable supporting a partnership — one that now includes four additional counties alongside Lehigh County as the announcement of Delaware County joining the effort was dropped on those in attendance at the outset of the meeting. Beitler recognized despite the conflicting opinions felt by those in opposition, the core need to find a “balance between helping kids turn things around and protect the community at large” still prevails.

Brace made known his support of an operation such as this only being managed by government agencies, as well as indicated his belief in the plan to present “the predictability, accountability and responsibility we need for a juvenile detention facility.”

Despite what appeared to be overwhelming support from most members of the board, Commissioner Jon Irons remained steadfast in his opposition. He spoke of his fears and distaste with investing in state violence, as well as making reference to the statistics showing children do not benefit from being separated from their families. Irons attests “building and maintaining a system of incarceration is state violence. And I will not vote for that.”

When it came time for citizens input on the bill, many expressed their disdain towards the fact that the commissioners had clearly already made their decisions. A resident of Allentown and mother who has lived through her son in juvenile detention took to the podium to passionately question the board members, “why did we elect you if you have made your mind before we spoke? Because the vote was done before I touched this podium.”

Several others echoed this sentiment and additionally cited their individual beliefs as to why proceeding with the agreement is a mistake. By and large, the community request from those who opposed Bill 2026-14 was to give pause, stop rushing and to not vote on the bill until the proper due diligence can be performed.

At the conclusion of the last public comment, Brace attempted to take a roll-call vote on the bill. Irons asked for clarification on what precisely was being voted given that the bill before them did not include the surprise fifth participating county and with that an impact to both the annual county cost and diminished number of guaranteed beds.

After some discussion back and forth, Irons made a motion to table the bill to give time for a final agreement and to allow for more community input, as well as consideration towards the victims of juvenile crimes and more feedback from people who have been through the system.

Remotely in attendance, Commissioner Zach Cole-Borghi seconded this motion. And with this specific motion up for discussion, two other commissioners joined the side of giving pause in order to ensure the agreement before them is final and encompassing of all the necessary details.

Despite the yay votes by Commissioners Cole-Borghi, Fevig, Irons and Riddick, the motion to table failed 4-5.

With nothing left but to vote on Bill 2026-14 as originally outlined, the roll call vote revealed six in favor and three opposed. Those opposing the bill now included commissioners Cole-Borghi, Irons and Riddick; however, with the majority voting in favor, the bill passed.

Also on the agenda for the evening, several bills received their second reading and were voted upon.

Bill 2026-15 approved a grant of easement to one county parcel in order to access another county parcel, both located in Upper and Lower Milford townships.

Bill 2026-16 was also approved after some discussions and will amend the personnel policies and procedures manual to add a paid parental leave policy, which will provide for up to eight weeks of paid leave to eligible Lehigh County employees. There were some questions as to how this policy will not bring about added costs to the taxpayers, but Siegel maintains the position is already budgeted for. Regardless, some acknowledgment was given to the idea that while no work is being done in those eight weeks and there is a hit to productivity, the anticipated benefits to retention and work-life balance for county employees seems to outweigh fears towards loss of productivity.

Lastly, Bill 2026-17 was approved without opposition and extended the millage freeze for eligible open space property by another 10 years.

Approaching the four-hour mark, two bills received their first reading under new business and will be voted on during the upcoming May 13 meeting. Additionally, the motion to engage outside council to assist with the formation of a nonprofit corporation to run a child advocacy center was approved without opposition.