What: Northampton Council Meeting
Date: July 15th, 2021 at 6:30pm
Residents of one of Northampton County’s subsidized apartment complexes say they are tired of the way their building is run.
Six residents of the Oliver C. Border House in Nazareth brought these complaints to Northampton County Council July 15, saying the building’s management has allowed cleanliness standards to deteriorate.
In addition, the residents say management has become more difficult to work with as concerns about the building -- designed for people over the age of 62 -- are not addressed. And finally, the residents say the last six tenants to move in have all been men, because management has apparently told them female tenants are “harder to deal with.”
County Executive Lamont McClure says the problem lies with Lehigh County, which manages the Border House under an agreement with Northampton County.
While McClure did not specify why Lehigh County isn’t up to the job, he said the solution is for Northampton County to take back control of the building.
Subsidized housing is good for the community and it is important that we support the tenants of these buildings, making sure the municipalities are adequately funding them.
Meanwhile, council 9-0 voted to approve $1.15 million of additional American Rescue Plan funds to go to small businesses. The money is for businesses that have been (and still are) affected negatively by the COVID19 pandemic.
There was no information presented to show the need for small businesses across the county is greater than it was pre-pandemic. Even if that is the case, is the goal to make sure the services the small businesses provide don’t go away? Or is it to help individual business owners?
Officials will often say it’s about jobs (although this was not mentioned by the Northampton County Council members), but that would be “Trickle-Down Economics”, which has long been proven to be ineffective at helping community members, beyond just business owners.