Bethlehem council races features a rarity - three Republicans facing three Democrats
By Kathleen Parrish
And Katherine Reinhard
In the Bethlehem City Council race, three Democrats and three Republicans are vying for three open seats on Nov. 7.
Council is currently fully controlled by Democrats. It hasn’t had a Republican council candidate in a decade. With only one incumbent – Michael Colón – in the running, Republicans have three chances to gain a foothold on council.
Running on the Republican ticket are Devin Brunges, a retired Army major, Thomas Ginthner, a retiree who had worked in real estate, and James Follweiler, a retired Army colonel who won his May 16 nomination as a write-in candidate. All three have been familiar faces at council meetings.
Besides Colón, the other Democrats seeking four-year terms are Bryan Callahan, a former city council member, and Colleen Laird, a founder of the Bethlehem Food Co-Op. Democratic incumbents, Paige Van Wirt and Wandalyn Enix, did not seek reelection.
The election comes as several high-profile issues have drawn residents, business owners and advocates to council meetings to air their concerns. Candidates, including within their own parties, have differing opinions on them.
What to do about the historic district’s Walnut Street garage, which was built in the 1970s and has a 35% to 45% occupancy rate, is one such issue. Replacing it or renovating it would cost about the same.
A new parking facility would entail a smaller structure, creating the potential for incorporating retail spaces and apartments on the same site. However, merchants expressed concern that a smaller garage might reduce foot traffic in their stores.
Council voted 3-2 on Oct. 3 to move in the direction of replacing it, approving a certificate of appropriateness, which is needed for demolition. Colón was among the yes votes.
As part of the city’s commitment to address affordable housing needs, council on Oct. 17 unanimously voted to apply for $10 million in federal housing grant money. The city previously set aside $5 million it received through the American Rescue Plan in the 2023 budget to fund affordable housing initiatives. The best way to spend that money has been the subject of debate among the candidates.
Under consideration is whether to build a permanent shelter to address increasing homelessness among Bethlehem Area School District students. A consultant hired by the city last year to address the problem told council it would cost between $4.7 million and $7 million to build a 60- to 70-room facility with four family units and 10 emergency beds.
Here is a look at the candidates in contested races. Information on the candidates was found on their campaign websites, Facebook pages, Linkedin sites, news articles and other sources.
Democratic candidates
Bryan Callahan - Democrat
Callahan, 61, is a retired Bethlehem Area School District teacher who served on council from 2014 to 2021. He lost a bid for a third term in the May 2021 primary. A graduate of Liberty High School, Callahan holds bachelor’s degrees from Lock Haven and East Stroudsburg universities in journalism/public relations and health and physical education respectively, according to his website. He has a master’s degree in education from Wilkes University.
Prior to retiring from teaching in September, he served as an athletic director, vice president of the Bethlehem Education Association and department chair of physical education. He is the owner of Callahan Driving School and Testing Center, which he founded in 2011 when the state cut funding to school districts for driver’s ed classes.
Callahan said he wants to “focus on providing more low- and middle-income housing,” as well as restart talks with owners of Martin Towers” to build affordable housing units on the vacant 55-acre site.
He told The Morning Call that the city should not be building affordable housing but should incentivize developers to do so.
Callahan said he doesn’t believe a permanent shelter is needed in Bethlehem, preferring to allocate assets to other issues such as infrastructure.
During his tenure on council, Callahan occasionally clashed with then Mayor Bob Donchez and fellow council members. In 2019, he was removed as liaison to the city’s Parking Authority in a 5-2 council vote for raising unfounded ethical concerns about a city department. Colón voted no. Callahan offered to resign as liaison before the vote, meeting minutes show.
Reviewing his record as a whole, Callahan pointed with pride at his sponsorship of an ordinance that prohibited city officials and employees from accepting gifts. The 2017 ordinance, approved by a 5-0 vote, aimed to eliminate any perception that vendors, developers, or other entities were attempting to secure contracts or gain favor with council members.
Additionally, Callahan successfully advocated for the passage of the equity wage ordinance, which ensures that city employers cannot pay women and minorities less than their white male counterparts for equal work.
A widower, he lives in Bethlehem. He has two children. His brother is former Mayor John Callahan.
Michael Colón - Democrat
Colón, 37, is seeking a third four-year term on council after first being elected in 2015. He has served as president since 2022. A lifelong Bethlehem resident, Colón holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Penn State and is working toward a master’s in public administration at Kutztown University, according to his Facebook page. He works as an admissions manager at Gracedale nursing home. He previously worked as a 911 operator at Northampton County’s emergency dispatch center. He is a trustee for the Bethlehem Area School District Foundation, a board member of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and a member of the city’s Human Relations Commission. He lives with his wife and daughter in West Bethlehem.
Colón touted several accomplishments during his tenure, including passage of legislation in 2022 requiring council members to recuse themselves from votes where they would have a financial conflict, including campaign contributions. He also cited council’s support of a new community services unit within the police department to better facilitate positive interactions between officers and the public, according to a Lehigh Valley News article. Saying there’s no single solution to solve the affordable housing crisis, Colón told The Morning Call that the city needs to continue looking for available land, acquire the property if it has the resources and then partner with an affordable housing developer.
Colón said he supports a permanent homeless shelter and thinks it should be run by a local nonprofit that specializes in serving the homeless population and not the city. Job training and eviction prevention services should also be offered at the shelter, he said.
Colleen Laird – Democrat
Laird, 37, is a founder of the Bethlehem Food Co-op, a community-owned grocery store which is under construction on Broad Street in the Northside Alive retail corridor. She is a graduate of Moravian University, where she works as the assistant chief information officer for strategy and communications. She previously worked as a freelancer in graphic design, marketing, communications and project management for higher education clients and small businesses, according to her website.
She serves as president of the William Penn Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization. She is a troop leader for the Girl Scouts, receiving the Girl Scouts of Eastern PA Innovator Award in 2020. She and her husband have a daughter.
Laird was the top vote getter in the Democratic primary. She is running on a platform that prioritizes affordable housing, economic strategies that support small business successes, walkable communities, and environmental justice initiatives, according to her website.
Drawing on her own challenges with finding affordable housing, Laird said it takes a village – city administration, elected officials, private sector businesses and community nonprofits – to solve the problem.
“We all need to work together and figure out the solutions to help people be able to not just stay in their homes, but thrive in their homes,” The Morning Call article quoted her as saying.
Laird said the decision to move ahead with razing the Walnut Street garage is appropriate according to coverage of an October candidates night by Lehigh Valley News.
Republican candidates
Devin Brunges – Republican
Brunges, 61, is a retired Army major who moved to Bethlehem in 2017 to be closer to family. His military career included being part of a multinational peacekeeping force in Bosnia, according to his Linkedin account. He went on to have a career in journalism and public relations, working at one point for the Boy Scouts. Brunges is semi-retired, driving trucks for A. Duie Pyle, Inc. His education includes a bachelor’s degree in communications and media studies from Mansfield University and an MBA from University of Phoenix. He also received specialized military training from several schools, including U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.
On his campaign website, Brunges calls himself “a right of middle conservative Republican” who believes in limited government and that “the traditional family unit and the sanctity of life are the building blocks of our nation.”
He said he is running because he believes no one deserves special or preferential treatment in the eyes of the government, saying there is no greater marginalized population than the average resident and taxpayer of Bethlehem. “Do we continue to support the status quo where city hall caters to nonprofits and sinister special (sic) interest; Or do we launch an era of accountability, transparency and putting the people who live here first?” he wrote on Facebook. He said, “It is time we keep the City Council focused on our streets, our community safety and the needs of our residents, rather than arguing pronouns.”
Brunges posts his opinions on city issues on Facebook. He posted an article on the Oct. 19 ribbon cutting for Six10 Flats, a mixed-use development along E. Third Street. With it, he wrote, “It exceeds the rent per month for most top end apartments in the area. Helps our low income housing shortage?”
Brunges criticized a Sept. 27 Facebook post by Bethlehem police on the city’s creation of a bias-motivated incident report, which can be used to report incidents of antisemitism, extremism, bias, bigotry or hate. Bias-motivated crimes and incidents are thoroughly investigated by the Bethlehem Police Department and Bethlehem Human Relations Commission.
“This is why I am running for Bethlehem City Council. Our officers need to focus on laws and crime, not hurt feelings,” Brunges wrote.
Brunges believes council should have held off on voting on the resolution on the Walnut Street garage until plans for replacing the structure were fully revealed, according to an article in Lehigh Valley News.
Speaking of the Bethlehem Parking Authority, he wrote on Facebook, “The BPA HAS YET to demonstrate it can meet the financial requirements to build another facility.”
Jim Follweiler – Republican
Follweiler, 62, is a retired Army colonel whose career included a deployment in Afghanistan. He taught Army ROTC, including at Lehigh University. He was a FEMA response and logistics official who provided support for catastrophic events in a number of places, including Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. Follweiler grew up in Bethlehem, playing bagpipes for Liberty High School’s Grenadier Band. He has a business and finance degree from Susquehanna University, an MBA in aviation from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a master’s degree in history from Lehigh University. His wife Irene Follweiler is a former Bethlehem Area School Board member.
Follweiler ran for mayor in 2003, losing to Democrat John Callahan, Bryan Callahan’s brother. He unsuccessfully ran for council in 2005. He won a write-in campaign on May 16 to claim the third Republican nomination.
If elected, Follweiler wants to focus on the core services, including roads, parks, police, fire, emergency medical services, water and sewers. “Everything now centers on self-chosen priorities reinforced by never ending talking, self-directed studies and surveys, while Bethlehem’s basic core missions are ignored and fall by the wayside,” he said in an email.
Follweiler said council reallocates unspent money on “pet projects” and doesn’t consider reducing the budget, returning money to taxpayers or using it to bolster core services. “Distractions away from these, for the latest trends, undermine true service to our people,” he said. Follweiler also wants to preserve neighborhoods, saying “Uncontrolled development through constant zoning waivers for special interests encroaches upon the unique charm of our city and everyone's quality of life.”
Follweiler said it’s necessary to help people truly in need but that success does not come through government spending or programs. “Homelessness and affordable housing, while important and absolutely demand attention, are not the citizens’ top priority. I would support helping those in need through the continued and expanded use of charitable and non-governmental organizations that specialize in providing these services,” he said.
Follweiler said the city should promote increasing the housing supply. He said the redevelopment of the Martin Towers site is being hampered by Mayor J. William Reynolds’s “need for power and control.” He doesn’t think requiring developers to set aside 10% of their projects for affordable housing will work. “In the long run, the best approach toward helping housing affordability issues is pursuing better paying jobs,” he wrote.
Follweiler questions council’s thinking on the Walnut Street garage, saying they are choosing an option that “significantly reduces downtown parking.”
Tom Ginthner - R
Ginthner, 72, is a graduate of the former Hellertown-Lower Saucon High School who has lived in Bethlehem for more than 40 years. He has a bachelor’s degree from Penn State. Recently retired, he has a background in real estate and commercial sales. In a profile on the Lehigh County Republican Committee website, he said his principles and platforms are common sense, balance and diversity of thought. “What I can bring is experience, determination, willingness to do research to learn about anything or (any) subject to do a better job.
My competitive nature makes me rise to any challenge and negotiate the best possible outcome for the city of Bethlehem,” he said. Ginthner said he is running to be “the voice or reason.” Ginthner said his background has given him strong negotiation skills. “I know how to listen and pay attention to details including budgets and operating costs,” he said.
Ginthner said he wants to focus on public safety, infrastructure, parks, recreation and other vital services. “I will be (the) watchdog of taxpayer money and wasteful spending.” Ginthner said he is opposed to demolishing the Walnut Street garage without proper vetting. “What happens if adding 160 less parking spaces and apartments now takes 3-4 years. What will retail shops in the Historic Bethlehem District do?”
He said building a permanent shelter would be a start, but also believes services for mental illness and drug addiction and help for veterans need to be upgraded.
Ginthner said the city needs to do more than talk about affordable housing, saying there are options to make it happen through community development financial institutions, affordable trusts and better usage of Habitat for Humanity.