Bethlehem City Council to Meet for Ethics Training Tuesday; Please Include Not Funding Boondoggles and Blowhards in the Presentation

Feb. 19, 2026

— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs

Bethlehem City Council will hold mandatory ethics training on Tuesday, and for those who really have nothing to do, it’s open to the public.

The presentation from the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission covers investigations, conflicts of interests, legal opinions and statements of financial interest.

As for trusting the government, I’m not too suspicious except when government hands taxpayers’ money to public and private interests (blowhards) who claim they will do wonderful things, including our local boondoggles: The Bethlehem Co-Op Boondoggle, The Da Vinci Science Center Boondoggle and PBS39.

The Co-Op Boondoggle might have exhausted its time on the public dole, despite the efforts of the Happy Boondogglers to promote a money pit that hasn’t opened since its 2011 conception. Hey, what’s $3.1 million of taxpayers’ dollars as long as they feel good about themselves?

I’ve had multiple government officials say they won’t send money to PBS39, also known as Lehigh Valley Public Media, which has $80 million in the bank. It ran up millions in deficits while pleading with local governments for grants.

The Da Vinci Boondoggle bears watching. It’s been a disaster since moving to downtown Allentown, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have friends who will direct public money its way again. Quietly, perhaps.

Back to City Council’s ethics training. I’m digressing, but an earlier City Council did grant the No-Op Co-Op Boondoggle $105,000.

The presentation includes this interesting visual:

There are two problems with the above:

1-Most politicians seeking media attention.

2-There aren’t that many newspapers.

So after seeing that, I’m not confident in this presentation. See it all at this link.

By the way, when Council meets as a “Committee of the Whole,” it is supposed to lead to more relaxed discussion without making formal votes. The meeting is open to the public though I don’t know if any public comment is allowed.

It’s on, for 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 23 in Town Hall. Here is a link to the agenda.

Bethlehem City Council will meet as a Committee of the Whole for the training. The meeting is public and will be broadcast on the Internet, see the link in the previous sentence.