EASTON, Pa. — Democratic congressional candidate Lamont McClure is denying accusations he tried to pressure a Northampton County lawmaker to send public funding to the Dixie Cup transformation project.
County Councilwoman Theresa Fadem last week said McClure — who served as county executive until January — called her boss in an apparent attempt to intimidate her into voting for a tax increment financing district that could have sent about $26 million to a private developer across two decades.
“My hiring was in all the papers.”Northampton County Councilwoman Theresa Fadem
Skyline Investment Group is working to convert the former factory, which has been vacant for four decades, into more than 400 apartments.
Fadem is a zoning officer in Hellertown. She said Thursday night that McClure recently called Hellertown Borough Manager Cathy Hartranft in “what appears to be an attempt to influence my position on this matter.”
McClure’s conversation with her boss was “inappropriate and unacceptable” and “clearly a breach of professional boundaries,” Fadem said.
Fadem repeated that characterization Tuesday to LehighValleyNews.com and she said she only returned the organization’s call to defend Hartranft.
“I did not intend for it to seem like [she] tried to pressure me” after speaking to McClure, Fadem said. She said Hartranft only relayed that she had a conversation with McClure.
Fadem said she would have entertained a direct call from McClure or any other constituent, but believed the former executive was wrong to call Hartranft.
But McClure, who is among four candidates in the Democratic primary for Pennsylvania’s 7th Congressional District, said he didn’t know Fadem — a former Hellertown councilwoman — now works for the borough and under Hartranft.
Fadem challenged that assertion Tuesday.
“My hiring was in all the papers,” she said of her much-publicized new job a year ago.
Fadem resigned from Hellertown Borough Council during the body’s meeting May 19, 2025; she then was hired during the same meeting to serve as the borough’s zoning and codes enforcement officer.
‘It’s just not true’
McClure said he reached out to the borough manager about the proposed Dixie Cup TIF because he believed Hartranft would “understand the municipal perspective” and its potential benefit to Wilson.
They also spoke about Skyline’s offer to support Northampton County’s affordable housing fund, McClure said.
“Northampton County needs that $2 million to do affordable housing,” he said.
But he refuted Fadem’s claim that his call was an attempt to influence her vote on public funding for Skyline’s project.
“As a former executive … I have no ability to get anything done, other than to talk” to officials and advocate for public policies as a private citizen.Lamont McClure
“It’s just not true that we tried to use her employment to get her to vote a certain way,” McClure said Tuesday.
“I would never ask any employer to interfere with anyone’s job,” he said, questioning Fadem’s “political motivations.”
He called Fadem a “very close ally” of Northampton County Councilwoman Lori Vargo Heffner, who is backing former federal prosecutor Ryan Crosswell in the local Democratic congressional primary.
McClure also questioned his own ability to “pressure” elected officials after relinquishing his role as Northampton County’s leader.
“As a former executive … I have no ability to get anything done, other than to talk” to officials and advocate for public policies as a private citizen, McClure said.
“I have no ability to affect the outcome,” he said.
Northampton County Council has twice rejected a TIF for the Dixie Cup project, while Wilson borough and school district officials approved the special district.
All three would have to ratify the agreement for it to take effect.
