At the June 21 Bethlehem City Council meeting, resident and regular attendee Stephen Antalics spoke during the first public comment period about the differences in the composition and effectiveness of city councils over a number of decades.

His observations appeared heartfelt and objective as I reviewed the YouTube video from that evening.

Antalics pointed out that councils in the past were more bi-partisan, that they consisted of Bethlehem natives who knew the city well, and that they delivered a better brand of decision-making in the interest of residents. In the process he mentioned a former councilwoman, a non-native of the city who was forced to resign after a Northampton County Grand Jury recommended she do so. That investigation into her actions as a member of cuncil revealed unethical behavior on her part. That councilwoman was Karen Dolan.

For some bizarre reason, Mayor J. William Reynolds felt the need to jump to the defense of several current city councilmembers who are not Bethlehem natives and Dolan, whom he called a “fantastic” councilwomen.

She may have been if she hadn’t mismanaged the Illick’s Mill Partnership’s finances, costing Bethlehem taxpayers $128,000, which was made public by a city audit when she was both on council and receiving compensation from the Illick’s Mill Partnership nonprofit.

I testified before the Grand Jury called to investigate the situation because of my role as the city official who initially established and monitored that account. The Grand Jury findings called Dolan to task for her unethical behavior as a councilwoman and said she should resign, which she did after the findings were released.

Perhaps the mayor, a former teacher, needs to return to the classroom as a student and open up his dictionary to revisit the definition of “fantastic.”

Editor’s note: Dana Grubb is a freelance reporter for the Bethlehem Press. He was also a candidate for mayor in May 2021, losing to J. William Reynolds in that primary election.