BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Bethlehem Mayor William Reynolds and city staff debuted an ambitious long-term vision for the city at Northampton Community College on Wednesday night.
The plan was constructed in part around the results of the “We Build Bethlehem” survey, launched in April of this year.
- Bethlehem is poised to take on new roles increasing the availability of affordable housing, fighting homelessness and making grants to local nonprofits
- It’s the city's plan for spending federal pandemic aid money, including $18.5 million in unallocated American Rescue Plan funds
- Survey respondents said the most important priorities for the city should be mental health and counseling services, food assistance, a permanent homeless shelter and improvements to parks
It lays out a road map for long-term investment in creating affordable housing, combatting homelessness, and granting funds to local nonprofits, which city officials said could broaden the city’s role in social services for years to come.
“I think everybody at some point has heard me say, or heard previous mayors say, ‘the majority of our budget is public safety; the majority of our budget is personnel,’” Reynolds said. “We are trying to change that.”
This new plan includes a strategy for developing affordable housing programs, constructing a new 50-70 bed emergency homeless shelter, and establishing a new community recovery fund to provide grants to local nonprofits.
Officials said the investment is possible due to an influx of federal dollars for pandemic relief and recovery, with $18.5 million in unspent American Rescue Plan Act funds at the city’s disposal, plus more money from other federal programs.
“The American Rescue Plan has given the city a once-in-a-generation opportunity to make thoughtful, systemic investments aimed at solving these thorny, complex issues,” said Sara Satullo, Bethlehem’s Deputy Director of Community and Economic Development.
“What that is going to do is allow us to be able to invest in these systems forever,” Reynolds said.
The "We Build Bethlehem" survey
Residents were asked to prioritize where they think funding should go based on a list of nearly two dozen options. Nearly 600 people responded, through English and Spanish-language online and paper surveys.
The top priorities for survey respondents were spending for mental health and counseling services, food assistance programs, a permanent homeless shelter, and improvements to parks and recreation programs.
The results will be used to help guide how the planned Community Investment Fund may dole out money to local nonprofits, though the officials said they hope to spend it on all 22 areas the survey asked about.
Officials emphasized that the survey is only one tool to engage with the community, not a silver bullet for finding out what Bethlehem residents want.
“We have to keep in mind our context: the people taking this survey are the ones telling us the priorities”Janine Santoro, Bethlehem Director of Equity and Inclusion
City staff said when the survey was only hosted online, at first, it wasn’t reaching far enough. So they put a paper version out into the field and the results showed a wider set of respondents, with different priorities.
The survey is still live and accepting responses.
Now, a budget
Reynolds will unveil his proposed city budget on November 11 at Bethlehem’s SteelStacks, which may give a clearer picture of how exactly these programs will work.
Officials said it will include money set aside to establish the Community Recovery Fund, as well as what Satullo called the Bethlehem budget’s first-ever line items for affordable housing and acquiring a homeless shelter.
Officials will also explain their plans for a subset of American Rescue Plan funds, earmarked for combatting homelessness, at a public hearing as part of a November 1 city council meeting.
