City of Bethlehem Creates Community Advisory Board
Written by Victoria Scialfa on July 7, 2020
City of Bethlehem Creates Community Advisory Board
By Stephen Jiwanmall
July 7, 2020
Last month, hundreds rallied in Bethlehem, calling for justice and police reform as part of nationwide racial unrest. As WLVR’s Stephen Jiwanmall reports, the City is hoping a new committee leads to meaningful action.
The Bethlehem unit of the NAACP approached Mayor Bob Donchez about creating a community advisory board. Esther Lee is the unit’s president.
“Our desire is to initiate immediate change by encouraging transparency, accountability and effective communication that will stabilize the climate of the Bethlehem community and adjacent communities which are needed in these tumultuous times,” said Lee.
Twenty-one people are on the board. This includes elected officials, union reps, faith leaders and local youth, among others. Mayor Donchez says they’ll discuss policing and other critical issues.
“It’s always a good point to have a dialogue. That’s the most important — to reach out, have discussions, have a dialogue. We may not always agree, but hopefully we’ll agree most of the time, and that’s always been our tradition here in Bethlehem,” said Donchez .
The board will meet once a month. The next meeting is Monday.
Watch Stephen’s PBS39 News Tonight Report.
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