Bethlehem City Council has four seats that will be contested at the May 18 primary. There are seven seats total on council and all are at-large positions.

Olga Negrón is not seeking a third term. Incumbents Grace Crampsie Smith, Adam Waldron and Bryan Callahan have all told the Press they are running for another four-year term.

Three newcomers have announced their candidacy: Hillary Kiwatek, Kiera Wilhelm and Rachel León.

All candidates and incumbents are Democrats. The annual stipend is $7,100 for regular council members and $7,600 for the president, the position currently held by Adam Waldron.

The chair of the Northampton County Republican Committee told the Press that at least one Republican candidate is going to run for office in Bethlehem, but did not provide further details.

All candidates will file petitions with the Northampton County Election Division after they have at least 100 signatures from Bethlehem residents. Those petitions were due at the Northampton County Election Division March 9.

Bryan Callahan is looking for a third term. He is a teacher at Northeast MS and owner of Bryan Callahan’s Driving School. He is a graduate of Liberty HS (1980); He attended Lock Haven University, earning a B.A. in journalism and public relations (1985). He attended East Stroudsburg University earning a degree in health and physical education (1994). Callahan earned a master’s in education from Wilkes University (1999).

Callahan is chairperson of the Human Resources and Environment Committee (2020- present), chairperson of Finance Committee (2016-20), chairperson Community and Economic Development Committee (2014-16), member of Parks and Recreation Committee, and a member of Public Works Committee.

Grace Crampsie Smith is a school counselor at Easton Area HS. Council appointed her to fill Shawn Martell’s chair after Martell resigned in September 2019. She then won the two-year term created when Eric Evans resigned as the city’s business manager. She was sworn in January 2020. She earned an master of education in secondary school counseling (2005) at Lehigh University; and a bachelor of arts at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania in sociology and social welfare (1980).

Crampsie Smith is chairperson of the Public Works Committee (2019-present), a member of the Public Safety Committee and a member of the Community Development Committee.

Adam Waldron is the owner of Adam Waldron Painting. He is a graduate of Liberty HS (2002) and of West Chester University, B.S. business management (2006). He is the president of council. Waldron was also Chairperson of the Human Resources and Environment Committee (2014-16), and chairperson of Public Safety Committee (2016-17).

Kiera Wilhelm has served as director of Fig Bethlehem magazine, a print and digital publication whose mission is to support and promote local businesses and organizations in Bethlehem and the Lehigh Valley. Wilhelm is a graduate of Moravian College. In 2000, she received her Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has served as director of Fig Bethlehem magazine since 2016.

Wilhelm currently serves on the development and marketing committee for the YWCA Bethlehem, the marketing committee for the Bach Choir of Bethlehem, and the steering committee for the historic Charles A. Brown Ice House Tonight performance series. Kiera is a member of the Bethlehem Food Co-Op. She was a member of the advisory group for the Lehigh Valley Creative Economy Project, and has served on committees and task forces for the Bethlehem Area Public Library, Touchstone Theatre, Godfrey Daniels, and Any Given Child Bethlehem. She officiates weddings and other celebrations as part of the Lehigh Valley Celebrant team.

Hillary Kwiatek is the employee communications specialist at Lehigh University, where she has been employed for 10 years. Prior to that she worked in nonprofit fundraising at cultural institutions in the Lehigh Valley and other places, such as PBS 39 and the Allentown Art Museum. Kwiatek has a B.A. in history from Queens College at CUNY. She has an M.A. in folk studies from Western Kentucky University. Kwiatek ran for Lehigh County Commissioner in 2009.

Rachel León, three months shy of being a 10-year United States Navy veteran, is a student at Northampton Community College majoring in global studies. She is bilingual. León is a Freedom HS graduate and resident of Southside Bethlehem.

She is also on the Bethlehem Area Public Library board and was on Bethlehem’s Climate Action Plan Steering Committee.

León ran a nonprofit organization in Hawaii that collected and donated clothing and other supplies to junior enlisted men and women. Her superior performance over the course of her Navy career was recognized with the award of two Navy Achievement Medals.

Currently León is working with the Northampton Community College Climate Action Network which, among other work, organizes community clean-ups.