Aug. 24, 2026
— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
The Bethlehem Co-Op Boondoggle still hasn’t set an opening date but it is revising its bylaws.
That means future board of directors’ meetings will not be open to the public despite the Boondoggle taking more than $3 million of taxpayers’ money to … to … well, what exactly? It hasn’t opened since its 2011 creation, but the store at 250 E. Broad St. may be getting closer to selling food.
Maybe.
Meanwhile the taxpayers won’t be able to hear what happened to their millions of dollars. That’s disappointing, as I noted at the end of the meeting. The public could shop there if the Boondoggle were open, but it’s not.
The Boondoggle views itself as a business, perhaps with deep dark trade secrets that Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe’s would like to steal. So only the board and owners will get into meetings now.
On the other hand, I now have every fourth Monday evening entirely free to watch Bowling for Dollars: The Director’s Cut. Roll tape!
The Boondogglers did meet Monday and I was able to listen. At last month’s meeting, I never did get into the virtual meeting, failing first under my own name and then under the moniker Jack Straw. I did get in tonight as Punky Brewster but I admitted my deception during question time.
I never saw the television show by that name starring Soleil Moon Frye, but who could turn down a call-in from Punky Brewster? Journalism ethics require a person to use only their real name, but I’m not a journalist now. I’m an irritating blogger and proud of it.
As for the meeting, and I’ll be right quick:
— The Boondoggle has not set an opening date.
— The No-Op is about $800,000 short of its $1.6 million fundraising goal.
— There is no general manager, though it sounds like there may be an interim GM.
— There may be some kind of pop-up event in September with vendors. There may not be too.
— As noted, the board voted to exclude interested members of the public from attending, but very few have done so.
— The Boondoggle got a three-month loan extension from an outfit known as LEAF. If I have to borrow money, I’m going to LEAF.
Monday’s board meeting was the last I can attend, unless I come up with $300 to be a member-owner and get one of those signs. I’ve offered to pay $1 per year for 300 years but not even Punky Brewster gets that kind of deal.
The board has always been polite and answered questions. They are an earnest crew. They just haven’t opened after 15 years and millions of dollars spent, and the organization has broken many promises. It also needed time to figure out a problem with refrigeration that cost lots of money, but meanwhile it continued to talk about opening.
Bethlehem City Council, meanwhile, has not responded to my requests that they step in and ask questions on behalf of residents, taxpayers and all of us starving for some fresh cilantro. The residents of the 42 yuppie apartments above the Co-Op have a craving for fresh food and nowhere to go!
Of course, some Council members are also members of the Boondoggle. That’s not surprising, eh?
By the way, the Co-Op Boondoggle refers to itself as the Bethlehem Co-Op Market. Read all about it at this Boondoggle link.
And Boondoggle On!
Editor’s note: I have edited this anonymous comment to remove one word. I appreciate your comments but please keep the language professional. I have blocked earlier comments that were personal or libelous.
When is our (deleted) mayor and his city council going to do their damn job and address this corruption? Why is this allowed to fester? Where are the so-called investors. I see fewer and fewer. “I’m a member of the Bethlehem Co-Op” yards signs. Where are their voices? I may have missed it but is the Morning Call reporting on this? This source seems to be the only one reporting on this.
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I’ve been surprised by the lack of member comments too.
The Morning Call ran a story, I think last year, and contacted me for comment. It was done professionally. There just aren’t that many people covering stuff.
The Lehigh Brown and White has also run some stories and Josh Powell, who has a Substack, has picked up on it too. His work is very thorough.
I’m almost 67. I grew up with newspapers (we subscribed to three in South Jersey), and the three big networks and radio was important too, particularly for sports. I still listen to some games.
Our situation now is sad, even dire.
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The Morning Call did a professional story last year and contacted me. That’s straight up pro work.
The Lehigh Brown and White has done some good coverage and stopped reporting each delay as a normal thing.
We are in a bad spot with few reporters and some focusing on long human-interest stuff at the expense of best coverage.
They are trying but sometimes I sense a lack of discipline.
when I was a kid we got three papers and a weekly, we have three tv networks and radio was important for immediacy and sports.
Those were the days ….
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Since they are getting grants and tax-payers’ money, shouldn’t their financial transactions be public info? What was the three million spent on? The while city government appears to be corrupt and will never look into this. We need someone higher up tondo the job. We also need people to get a clue and vote all of these people out of here.
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The No-Op Co-Op is in theory at least a for-profit privately run store (that isn’t open).
They appear to be accountable to nobody, including the taxpayers they hustled for $3.1 million.
The public funding never made sense and years later looks even worse.
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