In Lehigh County, race for 4 commissioner seats could bring change in party control
In Lehigh County, four at-large seats are open on the nine-member Board of Commissioners.
The election marks the first at-large race since 2019 when four Democratic wins ended Republican control of the board for the first time in decades.
Control could swing again.
The Democrats now have a 6-3 majority. Only one of four incumbent Democrats up for re-election – Dan Hartzell – is running again. Incumbent Democrats Bob Elbich, Dave Harrington and Zakiya Smalls opted not to run again.
Besides Hartzell, Democrats in the running are Sheila Alvarado, Jon Irons and April Riddick.
Republicans on the ballot are Gary S. Fedorcha, Paul Moat, Jacqueline Rivera and Rita Sisselberger.
The Board of Commissioners is the legislative branch of county government whose powers include adopting ordinances, passing budgets and levying taxes.
Last fall, the board unanimously adopted a $522 million budget for 2023 that kept taxes at 3.78 mills. They also raised the salaries of the four elected row officers and the elected county executive.
In April, the board unanimously approved an ordinance that created a volunteer service tax credit of up to $150 for eligible members of volunteer fire companies.
Also in April, the board revitalized the Lehigh County Redevelopment Authority, authorizing $134,000 to fund its work in helping municipalities with development projects. Among Its first projects is helping Catasauqua develop its Iron Works site.
Here is a look at the candidates based on interviews, campaign websites, Facebook pages, Linkedin sites, newspaper articles, League of Women Voter guides and board minutes.
Sheila Alvarado – Democrat
Alvarado, 38, of Allentown is a legislative assistant to state Rep. Peter G. Schweyer. She is a LANTA board member and former neighborhood manager of the Community Action Development Corporation. She has volunteered as an interpreter at the polls. Alvarado earned a bachelor’s degree in office systems administration from the University of Puerto Rico in 2008. She was the top vote getter among seven Democratic candidates in the May primary with 13,470 votes. On her Facebook page, she said she wants to protect services at the county’s Cedarbrook nursing home, promote fiscal responsibility to balance the budget, preserve open spaces and promote programs offered by human services. “I am a wife and mother of two wonderful kids and I am an engaged parent of the Allentown School District community,” Alvarado said. “Just know, I am committed to my community, and I have great joy in helping people without being noticed.” The Friends of Sheila Alvarado committee in a March 5 to May 1 campaign finance report listed $2,285 in donations, including $250 from fellow Democrat and commissioner Dan Hartzell. The committee spent $915 and received $434 from Friends of Peter Schweyer for printed materials. Alvarado donated $469 to her campaign.
Gary S. Fedorcha – Republican
Fedorcha, 74, of Slatington is vice president and a 30-year member of the Northern Lehigh School Board. The Temple University graduate is a retired teacher and administrator who worked for the Lehigh Carbon Career & Technical Institute. He now serves on the board of LCTI. His wife Lynne was a teacher and administrator for the Northern Lehigh School District. Fedorcha is active in multiple organizations, including the Lehigh Valley Credit Union, Northern Lehigh Chamber of Commerce, the IMPACT Juvenile Youth Panel and Rotary Club of Slatington, Slatington Masons Lodge 440 and the Rajah Shrine. “I believe my background and credentials make me an outstanding candidate to represent you as your Lehigh County Commissioner at large,” he said on the Lehigh County Republican Committee’s website.
Fedorcha said he wants to control county taxes; support law enforcement, firefighters and county workers; preserve farmland and open space; maintain Cedarbrook; make county government efficient, and be a full-time commissioner respresenting all citizens.
His campaign finance report for Feb. 15 to May 1 shows him loaning $1,000 to the Citizens to Elect Gary Fedorcha committee, which had $998 left on June 5.
Dan Hartzell – Incumbent – Democrat
Hartzell, 72, of South Whitehall is a former reporter and Road Warrior columnist for The Morning Call who retired in 2014 after 38 years. Hartzell graduated from Whitehall High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Kutztown University in 1973. Hartzell was first elected in 2015, coming in second place. He was reelected in 2019, coming in first place in an election that saw Democrats take control of the board for the first time in decades.
When he first ran, Hartzell was part of a slate of candidates critical of the board’s decades-long delay in deciding the future of Cedarbrook, the county’s outdated nursing home/rehabilitation facility. Hartzell has served as chair of the board’s Cedarbrook committee, providing board oversight to a $67 million upgrade to the facility that includes a four-story, 240-bed addition and renovations of the D wing.
In January 2021, Hartzell joined Lehigh County Executive Phil Armstrong, Cedarbrook Administrator and Director Jason Cumello and Cedarbrook resident Jean Larison in receiving the first covid vaccines administered at Cedarbrook.
In July 2022, Hartzell voted yes with the 6-3 majority on seeking information on how to change banking services. The vote grew out of concerns raised by county Controller Mark Pinsley over using Wells Fargo Bank, which has donated to anti-abortion candidates. The bank has also donated to Democrats. During a discussion, Hartzell called it “dangerous policy” to switch vendors for political reasons. Others agreed but said since the county hadn’t reviewed banking services in decades, it would make fiscal sense to make sure the county is getting the best services for its $145 million in bank holdings. The idea of giving business to a local or regional bank also was raised. In July 2023, the county put out a request for proposal for banking services. The proposals were under review in August for future presentation to the commissioners.
Hartzell listed a carryover of $5,025 in a campaign finance report for May 1 to June 5. He also gave $1,000 to the Friends of Dan Hartzell committee.
Jon Irons – Democrat
Irons, 36, of Bethlehem is manager of data and evaluation at Communities in Schools of Eastern Pennsylvania. He earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology in 2009 from Butler University in Indiana and a master’s degree in arts and anthropology from the University of British Columbia in 2012. He previously worked as a case manager at Whitehall Middle School and as the teen center director for the Boys and Girls Club of Allentown.
“I’m running for Lehigh County Commissioner because I want to live in a sustainable Lehigh County that uplifts our neediest residents and puts people first.”
He was among nine Democrats endorsed in the May primary by the progressive group Lehigh Valley Stands Up. He and Riddick were endorsed by the Pennsylvania Working Families Party.
A community advocate, he has spoken at county commissioner meetings including questioning giving money for renovations at Coca-Cola Park, saying the American Rescue Plan money being used is supposed to go for public relief, according to WFMZ. On his campaign website, Irons says Lehigh County has a responsibility to keep residents safe and healthy by addressing the root causes of poverty and pain.
He said this includes working to provide affordable housing, food, health care, clothing, internet access and a livable wage. Irons has a Twitter account where he comments on national and local issues. In one tweet, he said, “Walmart had $611 billion in revenue for the year. But they're cutting 35% of their workforce in Bethlehem. All the industrial [development] is supposed to bring jobs to the Lehigh Valley, but corporate greed leads to predatory layoffs that affect our working families. Make it make sense.”
Irons raised the most of any of the candidates in the spring, bringing in about $15,200 between Jan. 1 and June 5. Between Jan. 1 and May 1, the Committee to Elect Jon Irons raised $9,702 in cash and $2,716 in in-kind contributions that included $1,500 from Pennsylvania Stands Up. Larger donors included Dr. Michael Pipestone, a Bethlehem area physician ($2,500); Elaine Michael of Illinois ($1,000) and Jonetta Irons of Illinois ($1,000). Irons loaned his campaign $335. Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley, a Democrat up for reelection, gave $150. The committee spent $7,585. Between May 1 and June 5, the committee raised another $5,500, including $2,500 from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 375 and $1,000 from Pennsylvania Stands Up, which also provided $257 in in-kind contributions. His committee had $6,050 left on June 5.
Paul Moat – Republican
Moat, 58, of Whitehall is a facilities manager for Verizon’s global headquarters in Basking Ridge, N.J., who graduated from Stevens Institute of Technology, where he doubled-majored in materials engineering and bio-chemical engineering. He is an Army veteran who runs marathons and raises money for the Semper Fi Fund, which helps wounded, critically ill and injured service members.
On his website, Moat says he supports smaller government, less regulation, making public safety a priority and responsible stewardship of taxpayers’ money. “Even as the White House declares Lehigh County a major drug trafficking corridor, there are some who want to defund the police, defund the DA, eliminate cash bail, and send social workers to emergencies instead of police officers,” he said on the Lehigh County Republican Committee website. He wants to restore beauty to parks and roads, saying, “There is an abundance of trash littering our public spaces with seemingly little interest to address it by our government. Through targeted enforcement as well as public/private partnerships, Lehigh County can address these quality of life issues with little expense.
A campaign finance report for the Elect Paul Moat committee showed Moat gave $250 to the committee and was owed $370 from his committee.
April Riddick – Democrat
Riddick of Allentown is project manager, event coordinator, photographer and marketing consultant with I Thrive. She is a volunteer and board member at the Allentown Athletic Association. Riddick, who turns 56 in September, is a board member of Lehigh Valley Area Dress for Success Worldwide. She earned a certificate in cosmetology at Star Beauty School and took paralegal, business and accounting courses at Northampton Community College. She is involved in community engagement. In May 2022, she was among seven people from Lehigh County elected to the Democratic State Committee. She is a founding member of the Pennsylvania Democratic Latino Caucus. The Friends of April Riddick committee signed a waiver for the spring primary saying she would not raise or spend more than $250. Riddick and Irons were endorsed by the Pennsylvania Working Families Party.
Jacqueline Rivera - Republican
Rivera, 38, of west Bethlehem is a senior accounts receivable administrator for Olympus America. She graduated from Dieruff High School in 2003 and attended Lehigh Carbon Community College for business administration. Rivera is a married mother of a high school student and a college student. She is a youth basketball and softball coach.
Rivera is a daughter of Robert E. Smith Jr., a former Allentown School Board member who is the Republican candidate for Lehigh County controller and who lost to Democrat Josh Siegel in November 2022 in the state’s 22nd District House of Representatives race.
Rivera ran for county commissioner in District 3 in 2021, losing to Democrat Zachary Cole Borghi, who got 58.9% of the vote.
Rivera is secretary of the Lehigh County Republican Committee. In March, Rivera was a panelist at the Leadership Conference, where presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke. On Facebook, Rivera posted her support for the Elevating Excellence in Education slate in the Parkland School District and posted a photo of herself and conservative activist Scott Presler, who paid a local visit in April.
Rivera said restoring common sense, integrity, accountability, and transparency are at the forefront of her campaign. “I promise to always listen and represent the needs of everyone in this County regardless of your race, party, religion or background,” she said. If elected, she said she would reduce unnecessary government spending, oppose adding taxes or fees, support public safety, reduce regulations and government overreach to help business owners and farmers, ensure more oversight on grants and defend election integrity.
A People For Jacqueline Rivera campaign finance report for Jan. 1 to May 1 showed $781 in cash contributions, $690 in in-kind contributions, including $248 for an event and postage from her parents. River is owed $428 in unpaid debt from her campaign.
Rita Sisselberger – Republican
Sisselberger, 58, of Upper Saucon Township is a former radiation therapist who is the owner-president of GMS Environmental. She is a graduate of the University of St. Francis. Sisselberger was elected to the Southern Lehigh School Board in 2015, serving one term. She ran for district justice in the May 2021 primary and lost to now-deceased David B. Harding. Sisselberger said she is running to make a difference for her two grown children and the children they will have some day. She has a passion about being a decision maker and a voice for what matters in Lehigh County. “What we do matters. We all have to do our part in order to make this world a better place. If we think of the outcome and think clearly of what would be the outcome down the road, not just the right here and now,” she said on the Lehigh County Republican Committee website.