ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel took the oath of office at Cumberland Gardens public housing complex Monday, vowing to bring a sense of urgency to local government and provide the leadership for which Lehigh Valley voters are crying out.
Nearly 200 supporters gathered at the complex's community center to usher in Siegel's historic administration.
Siegel, 32, of Allentown, is the youngest county executive in Pennsylvania history and the first to take office away from the county's seat of government.
The setting was a deliberate one for Siegel, who campaigned on an ambitious platform of creating a countywide sales tax that would let county officials lower property taxes.
"This administration, in its four years, will govern ambitiously and audaciously, beginning now."New Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel
He also said he would explore regional police and fire departments and empower the elections office to help voters cure flawed ballots.
But his top priority will be building thousands of new housing units funded by local government.
"This administration, in its four years, will govern ambitiously and audaciously, beginning now," Siegel said.
"It will demand from partners and allies and institutions no less than the people deserve and no more than what they need to succeed.
"The trite tradition of "We've always done it that way" will no longer be tolerated."
Dreaming big and delivering
To accomplish his lofty goals, Siegel said he would look to restore confidence in local government by dreaming big and delivering as promised.
A hundred years ago, as the homeless gathered in tent cities, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Congress launched public housing initiatives to help average Americans who couldn't afford rising costs and a faltering economy, he said.
Public sector leaders were willing to take big swings, and generations of Americans have benefited from them, he said.
The Lehigh Valley has seen similar initiatives pay off, he said. As manufacturing jobs were drying up, elected officials and local business leaders banded together to form the LVEDC to help plan the region's next economic steps.
"Their ambitions were not bound by preconceived notions of possibility but rather what they deemed necessary to succeed."New Lehigh County Executive Josh Siegel
Their hard work and investment has allowed the region to buck the trends of other Rust Belt cities that struggled, he said.
"Their ambitions were not bound by preconceived notions of possibility but rather what they deemed necessary to succeed," Siegel said.
He pointed to Coca-Cola Park, Allentown's redeveloped downtown and the continued success of manufacturers such as Mack Trucks as proof of their success.
Siegel's political leanings were evident when he took his oath of office.
He placed his hand on a copy of the U.S. Constitution; under it, his wife, Sara, held biographies of Roosevelt and former U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, as well as the book "The Sum of Us."
That book analyses how racially motivated government policies harmed all U.S. citizens, such as filling in segregated swimming pools rather than letting everyone use them.
Voters hungry for a new generation
Siegel, a former state representative and city councilman, has been an advocate for bold ideas in government long before entering the public eye.
Former Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham met Siegel when he was still in high school and already a buff on history and public policy.
"It was clear then that there was something different about him. His interests and passions were not those of a typical teenager."Former Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham
"It was clear then that there was something different about him," Cunningham said with a chuckle. "His interests and passions were not those of a typical teenager."
Siegel defeated Republican Roger MacClean by more than 21 percentage points in November.
The victory was part of wave of lopsided Democratic victories in Pennsylvania and across the country as public polling shows Americans are fed up with high costs of living.
Siegel attributed his win to the energy and passion he brought to the campaign, saying voters were hungry for a new generation of leadership to provide real solutions to societal problems.
Unveiling his cabinet
Siegel should have a like-minded lawmakers with whom to work — at least through the first half of his term.
Later Monday, the newly elected members of Lehigh County Board of Commissioners — with its expanded 7-2 Democratic majority — are slated to be sworn into office at 7 p.m. at the Lehigh County Government Center.
After his address, Siegel said he will begin unveiling his cabinet nominees soon.
While outgoing Executive Phil Armstrong adopted nearly all of former Executive Tom Muller's cabinet upon taking office in 2018, Siegel is expected to bring in new leadership at most of the positions.
After his address, Siegel told LehighValleyNews.com that he plans on nominating the following:
- Sam Cohen, managing partner of Gross McGinley, as solicitor
- Bethany DiMatteo, Lehigh County's treasury manager, as chief fiscal officer
- Samantha Pearson, the director of development at the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, as his director of community and economic development
- Kyle Russell, the warden of the Lehigh County Jail, as director of correction
