Thursday, May 16, 2013
Letter writer says two Lower Macungie Board of Commissioner candidates are trying to fool the voters.
To the editor: Republican voters in Lower Macungie beware when heading to the polls for the May 21 Republican Primary. Two candidates for Lower Macungie Township Commissioner, Ron Beitler and Brian Higgins, are long-time Democrats turned Republican trying to fool voters into believing they subscribe to Republican principles. Their motivation looks like political opportunism at its worst. Just look at their political history. Higgins ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for East Penn School Board in 2011. In a self prepared campaign profile, Higgins stated he would consider supporting tax increases. He also refused to sign a ‘no tax hike’ pledge. Beitler was president of the Young Democrats in college. He’s supported Democrats like …
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Letter writer encourages Lower Mac electorate to consider candidates not associated with any realty groups on May 21.
To the Editor: I am a resident of Lower Macungie Township (LMT) and as such will vote on May 21 for candidates seeking to fill three upcoming vacancies for commissioner on our 5-member board. Recently, in the mail, I received three newsletters titled The Lower Macungie Advocate. Each claims to be “A Voter Information Publication of the Alliance for a Better Pennsylvania.” The small print on the address label says it was paid for by the Alliance which is affiliated with the PA Association of Realtors. The three “advocate publications” are devoted entirely to extolling the achievements of three candidates who are currently commissioners on the LMT Board: Ron Eichenberg, Roger Reis, and Ryan Conrad, all seeking re-election to a 2nd term. …
Sunday, May 12, 2013
The problem with playing the 'R' card in Lower Macungie Township is that history may just repeat itself.
To the editor: At a recent "Meet the Candidates Night," Commissioners Ryan Conrad, Roger Reis and Ron Eichenberg made their re-election strategy perfectly clear: Find a way to get the electorate to focus more on the word Republican rather than on the word Realtor. If one is to suggest that Lower Macungie politics is really about being the most Republican, perhaps the Republicans of Lower Macungie Township need to be reminded of the 2003 Lehigh County Commissioners Republican Primary. Previous to that primary, then-county commissioner, Roger Reis, was one of the major players in the 70 percent tax hike budget in 2003. As a result, he was not endorsed by the Republican Party chairman and was defeated by the Republican voters at the polls…
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Charles Ballard defines and theorizes on demagogues.
- OPINION
-
Tuesday, March 26
By Charles Ballard, President, East Penn School Board Merriam-Webster defines a demagogue as a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power. The word comes from ancient Greece, where the nature of Athenian Greek politics meant that politicians, in order to secure their political power, often appealed solely to popular interests. Demagogues exploit a fundamental weakness of democracy. People have power in a democracy, but nothing stops people from giving that power to someone who appeals to the emotions, prejudices and ignorance of the less educated people of a population. These types of leaders do not appeal to reason or rationality. Instead, they appeal to class divisions, or play upon …
40.537169
-75.506229
800 Pine St, Emmaus, PA
East Penn School District Administrative Offices
/articles/we-have-met-the-enemy-and-it-is-us-why-we-don-t-have-better-candidates
/locations/9109300
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Ordinances must be revised to facilitate Smart Growth, and that takes time.
- OPINION
-
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
To the Editor: An article appeared in the newspaper two weeks ago about the Board of Commissioner’s (BOC) efforts to pursue smart growth strategies and I was really disappointed to see that some in the community believe it's "too late" to take action. In my opinion, that is extremely short sighted. How can we possible improve and make progress if we maintain that kind of attitude? We still have an opportunity to employ smart growth principles into any future development that comes into Lower Macungie Township and when existing properties are redeveloped. In the past, community leaders would often talk about smart growth but often fell short of taking the steps toward adopting principles and putting them into action. Contrast that to …
40.526141
-75.54878
Lower Macungie Township Building
3400 Brookside Rd, Macungie, PA
/articles/letter-to-the-editor-never-too-late-for-smart-growth
1828410
/locations/7986713
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Ron Beitler deserves to be appointed to the Lower Macungie Township Board of Parks & Recreation, she says.
- OPINION
-
Sunday, September 30, 2012
To the Editor: It’s a sad day when pettiness denies a committed citizen an appointment to a Lower Macungie Township volunteer service committee. Ron Beitler has excellent leadership skills and would be a fine addition to any township committee. It seems the big egos of the majority of the Lower Macungie Township Board of Commissioners are easily pricked. They exhibit disdain for anyone who disagrees with their actions. Actions that have been consistently questionable. President Ron Eichenberg is suspect of the most self-serving actions of all. As a realtor, Eichenberg has listed two township properties that are being sought by developers. These properties are the subject of discussion between the developers and the Board of Commissioners. …
40.520585
-75.546749
Dries Do-It Center
3580 Brookside Rd # 7, Macungie, PA
/articles/letter-to-the-editor-eichenberg-deserves-to-be-replaced
1647151
/locations/7936502
Monday, July 9, 2012
John Boyle of Emmaus writes to thank the East Penn Board of School Directors for maintaining quality of education while keeping tax increase low with 2012-2013 budget.
- OPINION
-
Monday, July 9, 2012
To the editor: I would like to express my appreciation to the East Penn School Board Directors for the 6-3 vote to approve the 2012-2013 Final Budget. This budget maintains the high quality of education provided by the district while keeping the tax increase at a low 1.3% (just over a $40 yearly increase for the average homeowner). It is important to understand that this budget was passed during a very difficult economic climate. Like all public schools, our district continues to feel the effects of the nearly $1 billion in state cuts from a year ago. School districts across the state are laying off staff, cutting programs, and raising taxes at an alarming rate. Nearby Parkland just passed a budget that increases taxes 3.67% despite …
Thursday, June 28, 2012
The writer would like the mayor to attend the next council meeting.
- GOVERNMENT
-
Thursday, June 28, 2012
To the Editor: My Challenge to the Mayor of the Borough of Macungie is to have the decency to come to the next meeting on July 2. Meet with the citizens who voted for you and put you in office. Then we can have a discussion on the 24/7 proposal and put it to rest. I hope we have a strong showing of the citizens as well. John L. Long, Macungie homeowner and taxpayer Editor's Note: Macungie Borough Council meets at 7:30 p.m. July 2 in the meeting room of the Macungie Institute.
40.51187
-75.54783
Macungie Institute
510 E Main St, Macungie, PA
/articles/letter-to-the-editor-a-plea-to-the-mayor-of-macungie
1827864
/locations/7335696
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Friends for the Protection of Lower Macungie Township has every intention of paying its bills.
- GOVERNMENT
-
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
To the Editor: Friends for Protection of Lower Macungie Township takes our responsibility of handling donations from the community very seriously. To date we've raised more than $20,000, mostly in small donations from more than 50 community members through events and online. This is why we are challenging what we believe to be unnecessary fees billed to the appellants by the township. We will continue our policy of vigorously vetting all bills before authorizing any expenditure of money we collect. We owe this to the members of the community whom trust us to administer the legal fund on behalf of the residents. All contributions collected are used solely to underwrite legal costs of the appellants in appeal procedures. Further, we believe …
Monday, December 12, 2011
East Penn School Board member says vouchers are Harrisburg's latest attempt to pull the wool over taxpayers' eyes.
- OPINION
-
Monday, December 12, 2011
To the Editor: For years, the legislature has bamboozled voters with a simple ploy. They tell you that they haven't raised taxes, then they send mandates they won't pay for down to local school boards that are forced to raise property taxes to pay for them. Even worse, legislators then turn around and blame school boards for the problem of high property taxes. The truth is, because of this ploy, districts like East Penn now get less than 20 percent of their budgets from the state, and local taxpayers are stuck for over 80 percent of the cost, when it used to be a 50-50 split. Now that taxpayer righteous anger about property taxes is making that ploy unusable, the legislature is trying a new one, vouchers. Claiming to be a solution for low-…
Noah Bodie
3:56 pm on Sunday, May 19, 2013
Linda, I'm not insinuating that they are ruining the quality of life, they ARE ruining the quality of life and the numbers do not lie. I was at candidates night, their were the biggest examples of wolves in sheep's clothing that I have ever seen. I was so disgusted with the lies and manure that they were shoveling that I had to leave that that I was so enraged with how little regard and respect … more ›