- Three seats are on the table for Lower Saucon Township Council
- A slate of Democrats is looking to change voting momentum by gaining a majority
- In-person voting opens on Nov. 7
LOWER SAUCON TWP., Pa. — Six people are running for three seats open on Lower Saucon Township Council, and a few Democrats are looking to get the upper hand on the current Republican majority.
Hot topics include the potential expansion of the Bethlehem Landfill, whether or not to make amends with the Hellertown Area Library for full township access, as well as a term limits referendum that could legally limit the service length of future panel members.
Current council member Priscilla deLeon is running as a slate alongside Democrat potentials Laura Ray and Victoria Opthof-Cordaro.
Current Council President Jason Banonis and fellow Republican member Thomas Carocci are up for reelection in 2025.
Two Republican incumbents are on the ballot, along with a fellow newcomer.
Here’s where the candidates stand.
Laura Ray (D)
Laura Ray grew up in Lower Saucon and graduated from Saucon Valley High School.
At one point, Ray said she was a government reporter with The Saucon News, covering lots of Lower Saucon council meetings.
Ray said that with the way the current council runs, she had to take a shot at getting a spot and doing her part to help.
“It’s just hard watching them in action,” Ray said. “We need to do something to help our community, and that’s why I couldn’t sit by and not run.”
She’s been part of the township Environmental Advisory Council for more than 16 years.
Ray spoke on her experience on that panel amid the Bethlehem Landfill’s most recent expansion proposal.
“The true EAC members that have the environmental integrity do not support expanding the landfill onto the land that was conserved, which is a forest,” Ray said.
“It’s just hard watching them in action. We need to do something to help our community, and that’s why I couldn’t sit by and not run.”Laura Ray, Democratic candidate for Lower Saucon Township Council
During the week following the interview, the township EAC voted against passing along an approval of the most recent disposal plan for the proposed landfill expansion.
Ray said, if elected, she’d be looking to settle the dispute over Hellertown library access for Lower Saucon residents.
She added that the township doesn’t need to own the Saucon Valley Compost Center, but should instead join Hellertown in another partnership in running the operation, just as it was in the past.
She said the incoming ballot referendum regarding term limits wouldn’t fly in the case of local representation.
“The voters determine the term limits,” Ray said. “ … I think that’s how it should be on local levels, like county on down.”
She, alongside her Saucon Valley Together running mates, will be doing meet-and-greet campaigning at local homes and more this month.
Priscilla deLeon (D)
Priscilla deLeon moved to the township from the Slate Belt in 1985 and has lived in Steel City ever since.
She’s been part of the Lower Saucon Council for over three decades at this point, so she said she feels like she’s well-known and has built lasting relationships among residents.
In regards to the term limits referendum, she was the sole dissenter of the motion back when it was voted on in July.
“We already have term limits called ‘the ballot box,’” deLeon said. “So residents have the opportunity to either continue to support a candidate or vote them out.”
She called Lower Saucon “a gem of a community,” a municipality with residents that don’t deserve the current treatment from its elected officials.
“It is appalling to witness the lack of respect of taxpayers and residents, who attend public meetings to share their concerns, only to be silenced in three minutes by the council majority,” deLeon said. “This has eroded civility, integrity, and confidence of the council body as well as the township’s competence in them.
“The constituents of Lower Saucon have the right to be heard and ask questions.”
“I promise to rectify the discordance and distrust of the council majority and bring back the trust."Priscilla deLeon, current Democratic member of Lower Saucon Township Council, who's up for reelection in November
DeLeon and her running mates have said they’d be looking to increase individual public comment time to five minutes instead of three. Moving it to three minutes was approved by council last January.
She voted against the most recent rezoning proposition that would allow landfill uses as a matter of right on land eyed for an expansion of the Bethlehem Landfill. She’s also spoken against the idea that Lower Saucon would be in debt by not expanding the landfill and eventually closing it.
She said Lower Saucon is one of the largest municipalities in the state that doesn’t fund its own home library, adding that's a “disgrace and an embarrassment.”
Her fellow Democratic slate is pledging to make amends and have Hellertown Area Library and Lower Saucon join forces once again.
She said her latest term has consisted of “the worst 18 months” she’s ever served on council.
“I promise to rectify the discordance and distrust of the council majority and bring back the trust,” deLeon said.
Victoria Opthof-Cordaro (D)
Victoria Opthof-Cordaro, a Democratic candidate, grew up in Saucon Valley and attended Saucon Valley High School. She's an active attorney but currently spends most of her time caring for her special needs son.
She highlighted the once-agreed-upon deals between Lower Saucon and Hellertown over the Saucon Valley Compost Center and Hellertown Area Library.
“The communities right now are fractured, and there’s not a lot of trust,” Opthof-Cordaro said. “We want to restore the trust that our residents expect that we have with our neighboring municipalities and bring our Saucon Valley community back together in doing so.”
She said some of the main concerns she’s heard from residents revolve around access to the Hellertown library, saying the council majority hasn’t listened to citizens’ requests.
"I feel like if the residents want something, we should pursue that."Victoria Opthof-Cordaro, Democratic candidate for Lower Saucon Township Council
“I think I’m best suited for the job because I want to really reach out to the community; I want the community to be involved in decision-making," Opthof-Cordaro said. “And I want to respond appropriately to what they’ve asked for.
"I feel like if the residents want something, we should pursue that."
She said if she was elected, she’d fight to protect the township’s conserved lands from a potential landfill expansion.
She said her Saucon Valley Together running mates have been reaching Lower Saucon residents this month, whether through a door-knock campaign or by mailers.
She’s been a part of three meet-and-greets in September, with another five scheduled for October.
Susan Blair (R)
Susan Blair is a Republican candidate for council.
A lifelong resident of Lower Saucon, Blair said she hopes her kids will grow up and someday make their way back to the township with their own families.
Currently a realtor, she said she learned a lasting lesson from her dad who worked for Bethlehem Steel: “You work really hard, but you make sure you give back to your community.”
“I think we can improve on our township and our parks and recreation facilities or open space, and really make it an even better place to be the next 10 years,” Blair said.
She said she understands the frustration from those living near the Bethlehem Landfill, but the dump has offered some breathing room for township finances. She said she’d be looking to help maintain fiscal responsibility if elected.
“You work really hard, but you make sure you give back to your community.”Susan Blair, Republican candidate for Lower Saucon Township Council, quoting her father
“Finding other sources of revenue would be great so we don’t always have to rely on the landfill, but also in the other retrospect, [the landfill] has really helped out with the taxes for the community,” Blair said.
She said she supports coming to a services agreement with the Hellertown library and offering full access for Lower Saucon residents. But she felt that Hellertown should bend a bit, as Lower Saucon needed “graphic representation” on the library board if offering to pay for service.
Blair said term limits in township government is a good move, as it can help to maintain council dynamics and bring fresh ideas to the table.
“I think they’re doing a great job managing the budget; it’s very healthy,” she said. “I just think that after a certain amount of time that new blood should come in and people shouldn’t be on the board for 30, 40 years.”
Mark Inglis (R)
Mark Inglis, current Republican member of council, has been a self-employed business owner for about four decades. As a lifelong resident of Lower Saucon, he’s raised three kids that have all been educated through the Saucon Valley School District.
Inglis said living here for as long as he has gives him an advantage when tasked among his fellow council members to address the issues at hand.
He said the township is currently in budget discussions.
“I think people can see from analyzing the budget that there’s not a lot of clippings that we can cut out in order to balance our budget,” Inglis said. “So therefore, we do need some landfill host fees in order to keep our budget intact.”
“I think we’re all about proper fiscal management, transparency in government and basically doing what’s right for the people of the township long term,” Inglis said.
“I think we’re all about proper fiscal management, transparency in government and basically doing what’s right for the people of the township long term."Mark Inglis, current vice president of Lower Saucon Township
He referenced the recent township offer to Hellertown Borough that highlighted library access, the Saucon Valley Compost Center and the Hellertown Area Pool.
“In our opinion, every member of Lower Saucon Township should be behind that because it’d be a bad arrangement for us to pay two times the amount of money that Hellertown would pay and not have board representation based on a two-time funding commitment,” he said. “From our point of view, that’s pretty much common sense.
“ … I don’t think it’s political. I think it’s political to not accept the offer.”
Hellertown officials decided against the offer back on Oct. 2. Borough officials also said they couldn’t make a decision on behalf of the library since they’re two separate entities.
Sandra Yerger (R)
Current council member Sandra Yerger, a Republican, didn’t respond to requests for comment.
