WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — Whitehall Township treasurer/tax collector Tina Koren is asking Lehigh County Court to reject the township board of commissioners' president’s bid for her job.
Democrat Thomas Slonaker submitted paperwork to run for treasurer/tax collector in the May 20 primary election.
Koren, also a Democrat, filed a petition objecting to Slonaker’s financial disclosure forms.
Slonaker and Koren are the only two candidates running for tax collector.
According to the court filing, Slonaker filed his statement of financial interests with the county board of elections by March 4.
However, as Koren’s objection notes, Slonaker did not file that document with Whitehall Township by the March 11 deadline.
That means he should not appear on the ballot as a Democratic candidate for Whitehall Township treasurer/tax collector, her filing argues.
Koren is seeking reelection. She won a four-year term in 2021.
Slonaker was Whitehall Township treasurer from 1994-97.
When she was a candidate for Whitehall Township mayor in 2023, Koren herself was accused of not filing a complete statement of financial interest.
Republican Kade A. Marx, a son of then-Democratic mayoral candidate and current Mayor Joseph Marx Jr., filed the challenge, saying Koren allegedly failed to file a statement of financial interest with the township.
A memorandum issued by Lehigh County Judge Michele Varricchio said Koren filed a required financial statement with the Lehigh County Board of Election and the township.
Kade Marx testified that the financial statement she filed was for her current elected position, not as a mayoral candidate, as she had not checked off the box marked candidate.
Varricchio said Marx had not raised the box as an issue in filing his appeal and thus could not bring it up.
