At the Bethlehem City Council meeting on Tuesday, several local residents made public comments about the Israel-Hamas conflict. Council members and residents also discussed salary increases for members of city government.
Israel-Hamas conflict
Early Tuesday morning, Israel launched airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, causing the death of more than 400 Palestinians and violating a recent ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
Harry Faber, a student at Moravian University, made a public comment at the meeting about the conflict. He said he expects public officials to take action, and he’s waiting for a ceasefire resolution and a written statement.
“Our federal government enabled and permitted the terrorist attack against sleeping children and civilians at 4 a.m.,” Faber said.
He also said the conflict in the Middle East affects everybody, so change is dependent on each individual person.
Bill Shire, a Bethlehem resident, said Israel’s demands for hostages to be released before negotiations begin is “an excuse to resume the bombing.”
Some residents also made comments about Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian former graduate student at Columbia University who was arrested by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement on March 8.
Faber said Khalil was kidnapped at his apartment by federal immigration authorities despite being a permanent, legal resident and is being held in prison “for his political speech.”
He added there is no evidence that Khalil has broken the law, and he is not being charged with a crime. Faber also said this incident could have larger implications.
“If you are disloyal to Trump, or you’re organizing against Trump’s political agenda, your speech could be criminalized,” he said.“What we allow our federal government to do, the violence that we normalize, is us essentially digging our own graves.”
Salary ordinances
The Bethlehem City Council also voted on ordinances to raise the salaries of the mayor, city controller and city councilmembers at the meeting.
Faber spoke against these ordinances and said an increase in salary would not attract better council members, nor solve the root of local issues that city government is meant to address.
“The problem itself isn’t how much money you have,” Faber said. “It’s that our system, despite being so abundant in resources, is not providing for the people.”
Artie Curatola, a Bethlehem resident, said it’s possible to have many effective, productive people on the city council without any salary.
“Don’t accept any money,” Curatola said. “Give yourself to be here. Show that you love the people, that you’re for the people.”
Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds, who was not in attendance, and City Controller George Yasso both opposed raising their positions’ salaries.
Yasso said at the meeting he considers his service a calling, an honor and a privilege rather than a career or obligation.
He also said he opposed the raise in salary because he had submitted his petition for reelection and felt it was unfair to encourage a salary increase that he expected to benefit from.
“How would I have any credibility with anybody in the city that pays taxes, the very people that I’m sworn to represent as a fiduciary agent, if I sit and say nothing and then only to individually benefit later on?” Yasso said.
Yasso and John Spirk, a Bethlehem city solicitor, said Reynolds intended to veto the raises for city controller and mayor if they passed in city council.
Councilwoman Hillary Kwiatek said she supported the salary raises, as the salaries hadn’t changed in more than 10 years.
“These are what the salaries have been for these positions for 16 years and 12 years for the mayor,” Kwiatek said. “That’s why I believe that the controller’s position, as well as the council people and the mayor’s position, that those positions’ salaries do need to be increased.”
The salary for council members was raised from $7,000 per year to $10,000 per year in a 4-3 vote at the meeting. The proposed salary raises for both the mayor and the city controller failed to pass.
The Bethlehem City Council will meet again on April 1. The agenda will be posted on the City of Bethlehem’s website the Friday before.
Comment policy
Comments posted to The Brown and White website are reviewed by a moderator before being approved. Incendiary speech or harassing language, including comments targeted at individuals, may be deemed unacceptable and not published. Spam and other soliciting will also be declined.
The Brown and White also reserves the right to not publish entirely anonymous comments.