Bethlehem Co-Op Boondoggle Members, Here Are Some Questions for Monday’s Meeting; I’ve Been Snubbed!

Oct. 3, 2025

— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs

I asked the Bethlehem Co-Op Boondoggle very politely to make their annual meeting on Monday public, or to let me listen to the virtual event of the season.

So far, I haven’t received my Golden Ticket. That’s unfortunate, because the public has an interest in the boondoggle at 250 E. Broad St.

Boondoggle. I like the word.

The co-operative that doesn’t operate has taken in $3.1 million in public dollars, while I estimate that member fees total about $520,000. So for every $1 members paid to join, the public has put up $6, but has been shut out of the Oct. 6 meeting.

The boondoggle has also accepted donations and borrowed money (it’s more than $1 million in debt), and the organizers (a term used loosely here) are trying to raise another $1 million.

And it’s still not open, years past the planned date. If it ever does open, members will get special deals not available to the public, and if the boondoggle ever makes money, members will get dividends.

I suggest the taxpayers be paid back first, but perhaps I’m selfish.

So members, either please slip me the top-secret link to the event, or raise these questions yourself. There is a public interest in the boondoggle, and you have your own interest, having invested $300 and been asked to give more, or make a low-interest loan.

Fool me once …

The envelope, please:

When is the co-op going to open? — If they start hemming and hawing, repeat the question, noting that the opening is anywhere from 10 years to three years late.

How much money has gone to pay staff of an operation that doesn’t operate? — The Co-Op is seeking its second general manager. It has never opened, but it has staff. Who has been paid, how much, and for what?

What is the cash balance, what are the total debts and what is the monthly cost to have a vacant store at 250 E. Broad St.? Follow the money. Who has benefited?

If you don’t raise that $1 million, is the concept dead? The co-op is at risk, the boondoggle said in an earlier statement.

Are the boondoggle’s … I mean the Co-Op’s … tax returns available to members?

When an operation is not-for-profit, its returns are public. The boondoggle is in theory for-profit, meaning members have already benefited from our tax dollars, though I’d like to see who the real beneficiaries are.

The boondoggle probably files a Form 1120-C (not a public document) with the IRS. Whatever they file, ask to see it. If they put it up during the meeting, please take a screenshot and send it to me.

I read boring things so other people don’t have to.

Could we just dissolve and spread whatever money is left among the members, taking the taxpayers for a ride?

Good luck with that. You’ve already received in theory an $1,800 benefit for your $300 investment, but where is that money?

Can members be held financially responsible for the boondoggle’s debts if it collapses and be compelled to pay back the taxpayers?

Only in my dreams.

Toward the end, try: This is getting boring. When does the drum circle start?

So far, no response to my request so it looks like I’ll have to find something else to do Monday evening. I’d hoped for an inspirational meeting followed by lots of virtual good fellowship.

Maybe I’ll clean the garage.

The Bethlehem Co-Op Market Boondoggle will meet Monday, Oct. 6, virtually at 6:30 p.m.