A proposed 2023 budget amendment on job classification and pay plans led to a discussion among Lehigh County Commissioners on how to best address the homelessness issue during their Nov. 9 meeting.

Homelessness has become a key issue in the last few weeks across the region. In fact, just last month, the City of Bethlehem presented a task force to city council on how best to address the issue.

Commissioner Jeffrey Dutt, who sponsored the budget amendment resolution, said, “We can make at least a dent in the issues we see with homelessness, within the county. And I think if we address at least some of those, at least we can see improvement in the lives that we have here in the county.”

Dutt went over the Maslow Hierarchy of Needs, focusing on key points such as shelter. He explained to his colleagues the model reflects what he feels should be priority in shaping policies that affect the residents of the county.

Commissioner Dave Harrington supported Dutt’s argument, making the point “housing is an issue.”

Explaining his frustration with the lack of proper data from vendors, Commissioner Bob Elbich spoke about how “we must have a mechanism in place to get the data back in terms of performance of our vendors in terms of issues and make sure that taxpayer dollars are well spent.” He went on to state how important it is to ensure those who need a service, are actually getting a service to better their lives.

The resolution passed by a vote of 7-2.

The other big issue of the night dealt with the reapportionment of Lehigh County Commissioners Districts. Commissioner Geoff Brace explained this process takes place after each U.S. Census.

Brace noted Lehigh County is currently comprised of 374,000 residents. Going over the new redistricting map, Brace said the biggest population growth since the last census was in District 2. The purpose of this process is to try and get the various districts as uniform, in terms of population, as possible.

The bill passed unanimously.

On a final note, all commissioners lauded Brace for his work related to the midterm elections. Commissioner Ron Beitler noted how “outstanding of a job” his colleague, as well as volunteers, had done to ensure things ran smoothly. Brace made the point it was a “really good day” for democracy as the process ran smoothly in the county.