'A three-part test:' Executive makes his case for a strong Northampton County in address

EASTON, Pa. — Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure offered his vision of his administration’s successes and goals during his State of the County address Tuesday at the State Theatre in Easton.

The annual speech gives the executive a chance to take a victory lap highlighting past accomplishments and to set priorities for the coming year or longer.

“The state of Northampton County is very strong," McClure said. "It may be as strong as it's ever been — since we've been around since 1752, it's hard to say."

At the beginning of his speech, McClure proposed "a three-part test” for evaluating the strength of a government — a framework for how he wants residents to think about his time as executive, and a road map for Tuesday's address.

Most important, he said, is preserving public safety. Second, it is important to know how the government is functioning.

“What is the county doing with your government? What kind of shape is your county actually in?” McClure said.

“Finally, I think people in my job, county executive, need to share a vision… about where you see the future in the near, the mid, and the far term.”

Past achievements

To show his work toward preserving public safety, which is mostly handled by municipalities, McClure recounted the county’s role in managing some of the calamities of the past few years.

“We must feel safe, we must actually be safe," he said. "No other service can be delivered if we are not safe in the first instance.

“There are some aspects of public safety that we are specifically responsible for.”

He touted the county’s role in providing testing, vaccinations and economic support during the COVID-19 pandemic, and in responding to disastrous flash flooding in and around the Slate Belt last year.

McClure also attributed the successful response to a March train derailment in Lower Saucon Township in part to his ordering additional training on train crashes for emergency workers.

As another public safety win, McClure highlighted the county’s Fake is Real program, a Narcan distribution initiative and public relations campaign aimed at reducing fentanyl overdose deaths.

County budget as an indicator

A worthwhile indicator of the state of his government is the county’s finances, McClure said.

Of the six budgets he has passed since taking office, he said, five have left property taxes flat and one cut taxes. At the same time, the county’s general fund balance has shrunk.

“This is the kind of moderate path that needs to be walked in order for people to have faith that government can be a power for good and change, and a force for good in their own lives,” he said.

McClure suggested that he could shrink the fund balance further in a future budget and use the smaller “surplus” to fund a tax cut.

As a second indicator of success, McClure pointed to his work on issues about which he said he has consistently heard from voters: preserving open space and keeping the Gracedale nursing home county-owned and -operated.

Both have long been priorities of McClure’s. Open space preservation in particular was a central theme of last year’s State of the County address.

From his first year on County Council in 2006 to the end of this year, McClure said, the county will have preserved more than 20,000 acres of farmland and 3,600 acres of environmentally sensitive land.

His administration’s chief accomplishment in preserving Gracedale, McClure said, has been shepherding it through the COVID-19 pandemic and a staffing crisis that accompanied it.

“It isn't a secret that the pandemic hit long-term care facilities like Gracedale the hardest, and Gracedale was one of the hardest hit,” he said.

“Because of the courage, and the decency of staff of Gracedale, we've weathered that storm.”

What lies ahead

In laying out a vision for the future of Northampton County, McClure explained how he hopes to continue to boost economic growth and improve the government’s functioning.

In the near term, he described plans for new county offices built into a replacement for the county government center’s “crumbling” parking garage.

It will include space for the Elections Division, which now is spread across several parts of the courthouse complex, in turn making more room for other county departments.

The new elections office will allow for greater efficiency, security and transparency, he said.

“One of the primary goals that we must have is ultimate transparency," McClure said. "So in the building that we're envisioning, you will be able to see everything that the elections officials are doing.”

In the middle term, he said, the county will prioritize developing parks and trails, both by continuing to improve parks and encouraging new businesses to set up shop nearby.

That will be a way to grow an ecotourism economy generating growth from the Valley’s natural resources, he said.

Finishing the Valley's Renaissance

To further boost economic growth, McClure said he plans to boost redevelopment in Northampton County, part of a broader goal to draw more high-tech manufacturing jobs.

“We must have a balanced approach to land preservation and economic development," he said. "And our view was that we should encourage manufacturing.

“When you first get a job in manufacturing, you're making $10,000 a year more than you would when you first start working in a warehouse.”

Pointing to successful redevelopment of much of the former Bethlehem Steel plant in Bethlehem, McClure again threw his weight behind a project redeveloping the former Dixie Cup factory in Wilson.

McClure’s long-range vision rests on bringing passenger rail service back to the region, connecting its three major cities to New York and to each other.

“It will cause a, I believe, revolution in our economy where we can truly recruit these high-tech manufacturers to relocate here," he said.

"And thus creating a economic boom and the ultimate finishing of the renaissance of the Lehigh Valley."