In the saga of Bethlehem's historic Broughal Middle School, it seems as if there may indeed be a violation of the law. There was an Act 34 hearing on the fate of the school on Dec. 14. While the board "won" that hearing, it was forbidden by state law to touch the building for 30 days, to allow for comments from the public. Apparently there is such zeal in the present school administration for costing the taxpayers a pile of dollars while destroying something irreplaceable that "salvage" work at the school began as early as the day after Christmas. Superintendent Dr. Joseph Lewis--he of the prim-yet-imposing mustache--and district contracted engineer M. Arif Fazil may regard the work, which succeeded in partially destroying datestones and decorative banisters, as "exploratory," but the state education department seems likely to take another view. It should, although perhaps the only punishment to the arrogant administration would be large fines, which it would collect from the taxpayers.
At that, maybe the taxpayers SHOULD have to pay the extra bills that may ensue. Would we have a better, more responsive superintendent and board if more of us had bothered to inform ourselves and vote? It's just possible.
Despite the disaster upon which I am reporting (I keep wondering, was that stonework damaged accidentally, or accidentally-on-purpose?), I would like to suggest that those who care about Broughal continue to fight.
Why? Isn't it hopeless? Very likely. In the words of Israel's first prime minister, "Miracles sometimes do happen, but one has to work terribly hard for them."
Well, let's work terribly hard for a while. Maybe we can make a miracle. And meanwhile let us remind ourselves that at this point EVERYTHING we care for, small and large, is up for grabs. Now more than ever. One little neighborhood school, one small city, one nation, the planet... It all needs to be fought for.
Tiring to think about, isn't it? But the price of survival, for ourselves and those who come after us.
Those who want more background on historic schools, their value, and the economics of saving them, may find it on the website of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Sorry I can't find the url in the piles of papers around me; you'll have to google it.

In my last posting I wrote of my in attending a Bethlehem Area School Board meeting in an attempt to help save Broughal School. By the time I had taken my story to the top of several flights of steps, which I had to haul myself up because of my disability, I had run out of finger power. I now continue.
Although the board seemed in some anguish that I had had to make such a heroic effort to get there--I have a feeling there was anxiety that I might report the lack of accessibility--they lost no time in telling me I was too late to do anything about the Broughal situation. Another couple of people spoke up in favor of saving the d old school, but they seemed to be trembling almost as much as I had done when I had first addressed the school board years ago.
And indeed, in this case I could see why they felt intimidated. There was a slick, well-oiled, pre-planned aura about this meeting that I did not like at all. My feeling was borne out when the board got to the really big item on the evening's agenda--the filling of a board vacancy.
Several people pleaded with passion for the chance to serve the public by serving on the board. I do not know them well enough to know whether one or more of them might have been good. I now know, however, that they and their supporters were wasting their breath; the matter had all been decided beforehand. I know this because the board members left the room, deliberated briefly, and upon their return announced THE WINNER. He was a once and future colleague of theirs who had been rejected at the polls by voters of both parties. And now he was back,resurrected and refreshed.
And they wonder why some citizens reject the whole idea of voting. I am not saying there is anything wrong with this man. What I AM pointing out is that the voters had already indicated they did not want him. That should have been enough.
Oh, yes, I almost forgot about the lunch. Somewhere in the course of the proceedings the board paused to have a light lunch, while the citizenry stood or sat around, uninvited to the repast and twiddling their thumbs while they waited.
Even if, as I suppose, board members paid for this little meal themselves, it was in the worst possible form. If they wish to socialize with each other, fine. But before or after the meeting, please--not because the citizens in attendance are hungry or wish to be invited, but because they would like to wrap up the meeting and go home.
So ends my tale of a very unpleasant public meeting. In my next posting I hope to ask new questions about the fate of Broughal School. At the very least, I hope to introduce some factors which the average citizen does not yet know. Perhaps we may yet turn the tide for the good of all--taxpayers, school children, and educators.

Many years ago I spoke for the first time before a public body. This was a short address to the Bethlehem Area School Board. I remember to this day how it felt; I shook all over. But I was among many citizens
speaking in defense of a Community Schools program that,I continue to believe, would have made Bethlehem a better community.
We didn't win; but we got something out of it. The community school for which I and many others volunteered--Donegan--got permission to try to go on, which we did for a while. I think that permission came from the School Board.
I do not remember, now, a single person who was on the board at that time; but I am grateful anyway. I am sure they had serious funding difficulties; and I am equally sure that we won the nod, rather than one of the other schools, because we managed to get out the most numbers. It did not prove Donegan Community School's superiority to the others. What it DID prove was that the majority of those board members felt they could not help us by retaining the whole program; but they WERE willing, having listened to us--really LISTENED to us--to give us a pat on the back and a shot at pulling it off.
In the end, we were not able to pull it off. Not every good cause manages to pull it off. That's the way of things.
As I write this--from a wheelchair, which was not an appliance I needed all those years ago--my most recent attendance at a public meeting also involves the Bethlehem Area School Board. I went on behalf of Broughal Middle School, being among those citizens who still hope to save that magnificent building. I hope our side is luckier this time; but my first--and, so far, only--contact with the current board and superintendent, Dr. Joseph Lewis, leaves me dubious.
Dr. Lewis from the first struck me as a man whose mind is made up, and who does not wish to be confused with facts. His board struck me (in a couple of cases) as subservient to him--and thus, like him, prepared to wreck things to prove they could do it--or else possibly afraid to annoy their colleagues.
I believe I have written about my attendance at this meeting before. It is only slightly excessive to say that, by the end of the evening, I was having fantasies about shaving off Dr. Lewis's mustache. It seems to contribute to his martinet air; and I felt he needed to be brought down closer to the level of the public whose money he is spending.
But first, I had to get to the meeting. And here I had to contend with a clear-cut violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act. If AWD does nothing else, it does assert that disabled citizens should have access to public meetings. And it was clear the Board had no idea that I, or anyone like me, was coming. They should always expect disabled citizens. We have a lot of time to think about the way things are going in the world, and to try to do something about the situation.
Having aranged for a ride to the meeting site, I found that the meeting was to take place in a room three or four floors above me, in a building without elevators. I was pushing myself along in what I think is called a rollator; that is, a wheeled walker. Mine has a seat built into it, and is heavier than some. The obstacle seemed insurmountable; the logical thing to do was to cry.
Instead, I asked a security guard to haul the rollator up the stairs for me, while I grabbed a railing and hauled myself up. By the time I got to the level of the meeting room I was both exhausted and furious. To do them credit, the officials around the table seemed dumbfounded and upset to see me there. As well they should have been.
(To Be Continued)

I am always interested in getting feedback for my work, even when I might not like it, or it stems from a misunderstanding. Since I have just been sent such a criticism, I may as well take it on.
This blog is not designed, first of all, to reach an audience of billions. Or even millions. Nor is it meant to be exclusively political. I think I remember writing that it is about LIFE AND politics here in the Bethlehem area. I want to feel free--indeed, I DO feel free--to write about horse racing in old Bethlehem; or charitable agencies in the city today; or sports, or music and the arts. In general, about whatever happened, is happening, or is likely to happen in Bethlehem. For its size, I regard it as one of the most interesting places I can imagine--and it gets more interesting all the time. I believe that in every place there is the essence of the universal, and I'd like to express that about Bethlehem--even though achieving that will take much time.
When I DO talk about politics, am I guilty of "innuendo?" No, I think I am pretty straightforward about politics. I remind you of my rather forthright denunciation of a primary candidate for the legislature who was heavily "into" scurrilous ads.
Why don't I mention more people by name? (As, in fact, I did in the case I have just mentioned.) Two reasons: I may despise what individuals are doing in certain cases; but in a lot of cases I have respect for them as human beings. I'd like to see them reform, but I don't want to demean them personally. And there is another, less high-minded reason why I often talk of their behavior without mentioning them by name. Given the temperament of the times, I don't really want to run the risk of getting sued.
What do I know about anti-South Side prejudice? Plenty, both from founding and refounding the South Bethlehem Historical Society, from things that were said to me, and from my friends' experiences. If you have a chance, listen to some old-line Southsider talk of the way he/she was treated at Liberty High School.
This brings to mind an oldish book I've never had a chance to read, but one that I'll bet contains some record of the uncomfortable times South Side students had in what was then the city's only public high school. It is called "At Liberty," and the public library most likely can help you find and borrow it.
In my view, very little has changed about those old bigotries against the South Side--although, of course, the tenor is changing now that the neighborhood is appearing under the guise of a place where a lot of money can be made and one can live richly even if that means driving out the old, poor residents. (This is beyond my wildest dreams--indeed, my worst nightmares--for the place. I dreamed of a place where rich and poor could live side by side, a place which was a school for Americans, because it accepted people of all colors, nationalities, and religions and taught them how to work together in reasonable social harmony. Instead, it looks more and more like a temporary roost for the upscale rootless.)
To return to what generated this post, I intend always to have The Bethlehem Blog Times feature more ideas than personalities. And I guess that anyone who does not like this should simply stay away. If no one at all were reading, I would still be writing this blog to clarify my own thoughts.
Happy Holidays.

As crunch time comes for a proposed Bethlehem casino, opponents of the idea "shrill up" their efforts to kill the idea. And maybe they will succeed. Certainly Allentown, in its desperation, has discerned the economic boost a gaming center might offer it, and its mayor has been willing to beg and plead to get one.
Bethlehem, thanks to an element that calls itself "moral," is a more problematical location. May heaven save us from those who think they know morality.
The despised South Side of the city has long been the home for people much of the rest of the city regards as undesirable. These include the poor and the troubled, and--for some--members of the wrong ethnic group. What will happen to these people, if there is no casino? And if they can no longer live in the old neighborhood because it has become a place of multi-hundred-thousand-dollar condos?
Well, if there is no casino, there is less chance than ever that many of these needy people will ever have jobs. But they will not be able to continue living in the old neighborhood, which is rapidly becoming an alien place, affordable only by the upscale rootless.
Most of them will not be able to leave Bethlehem. So where are they going to go?
My guess is: To your neighborhood, O gaming opponents. Yes indeed, especially if you live in a relatively un-upscaled part of town, such as the West Side.
If this happens, you will not like it. Especially if, as I fear, many of you secretly base your idea of "morality" on your dislike of what you regard as South Side types.
I say this with apologies to those gaming opponents who do not dislike anybody, but who are concerned with the very real downside of gambling itself. There are no easy answers to Bethlehem's challenges--but you should know that many of us who favor the casino do so only because we can see no better immediate prospect for the city.
But we need to act on the opportunity that is available at the time; and that is the casino. The opponents--who are reputedly gathering money for lawsuits from far out of the area and out-of-state--have nothing apparent to offer the city except the triumph of their own ideas and their own power. And economic death.
I would suggest that pro-casino forces set up a fund to counter-sue the anti-casino people.