Bethlehem City Council, at the beginning of its regular meetings, invites members of the public to speak about any topic not on the agenda.

On April 5 they got some testimony that runs counter to the common narrative that portrays a city in which quality of life is touted as a reason that people choose to live in Bethlehem.

Tina Kowalski, who said she is a resident of South Bethlehem, used the microphone to describe 2021 as being a “horrible year” for the Southside.

Among her complaints: Numerous muggings, vandalized property, and vagrants who are terrorizing residents.

She said there are 40-year-old wooden benches with “drunken riff-raff sitting on them all day.”

According to her, “the Greenway has become a public urinal and out-house,” and residents are “robbed, beaten up and physically assaulted.”

She said Broughal MS kids walking down the street see grown men passed out on park benches and drunken bums vomiting and urinating on the ground.

“This went on all summer,” she said. “It was disgusting. We don’t want another summer of Hell. This is not a homeless question. These are thugs assaulting and intimidating citizens.”

She received a thin round of applause from onlookers. Council President Michael Col?on suggested she take her issues up with Police Chief Michelle Kott, who was in the room.

Kowalski was not alone in finding fault with the city. A man took the lectern and complained about graffiti, the “fake news,” the mayor having pictures taken with protesters, and the removal of the Christopher Columbus memorial from the Rose Garden.

John (whose last name was unintelligible) wanted to know, “What is being done to eradicate graffiti in Bethlehem?

“I know there is a graffiti hotline in Bethlehem,” he said, “but of every instance of graffiti I have reported, not one of them have been eradicated.”

He said all of the bridge abutments on Route 375 between Main Street and and Route 22 are completely covered with filthy graffiti.”

He suggested that the city work with PennDOT to clean up the graffiti on that part of Route 375.

“The city is starting to look like a miniature version of Portland, Oregon,” said John.

He also lambasted the “fake news” for reporting on stories “about pamphlets being distributed around the town, but they the [“fake news”] never even mention the graffiti and blight in this city.”

John may have been referring to antisemitic and racist pamphlets reportedly distributed in March in Bangor and Washington Township; however, none has been reported in Bethlehem.

However, regarding news about graffiti and blight, a quick web search shows at least two stories (one in 2016 and another in 2020) in local media about graffiti and vandalism in Bethlehem.

Next, John leveled his criticism toward Mayor William Reynolds, saying he had “voted to remove Christopher Columbus from the Rose Garden” and that the mayor “likes to do photo ops with all his protest marchers.”

He wrapped up his turn at the microphone by asking council to “Please address the graffiti because the city is turning into a dump.”