YMI Talking

In each episode, you will hear from one of the leaders of the Lehigh Valley’s vibrant business hub. They will tell you the keys to their success, the mistakes they’ve made, and what they have in store for the future.

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YMI Talking

S2E18: YMI Talking to J. William Reynolds the Mayor of Bethlehem

November 01, 2024 • Jimi Honochick • Season 2 • Episode 18

🎙️ Roots, resilience, and real talk: Bethlehem’s Mayor Willie Reynolds joins us to share his journey from teacher to leader, discussing what it takes to build a thriving, inclusive community.

From smart budgeting to the importance of investing in quality, Mayor Reynolds believes that culture is a conversation—and he’s all in on making sure every voice in Bethlehem is heard.

Tune in to this inspiring episode as he breaks down why small decisions today lead to big changes tomorrow. Now streaming!

For more info on YMI insurance visit our website at ymiagency.com

Or give us a call at 610-868-8762 to see how we can better protect your business and family.

1:00:03

We are a combination of cultures, acombination of identities.One of the Moravianministers from Denmarkput it perfectlylast week where he said,culture is a conversation.And I thought thatjust summed it up justin the most perfect way possible.I'd never heard itthat simplified before,but he's like,culture is a conversation.And this is anopportunity, I think, for usas we move forward as acity, like so many placesacross America, tohave conversationsabout what community means.So people look at world heritage,like we're going to welcome people,people are going to come from allover, and so on and so forth.And we will have somepeople that come here.The biggeropportunity in my mind for usis an internal one asfar as what the values arethat the world has now recognizedus for to live up to.That idea about how do we make sureeverybody feels included?How do we make sureeverybody has opportunity?How do we make sure?I mean, you've probably heard thisbefore at God's Acre.You have people thatwere rich and poor that wereburied next to each other.And that just doesn'thappen usually in 2024.And I think it's a real opportunityfor us internallyas well to kind of think about whowe want to be as a city.- That is me.I am Jimi Honochickhere with another episodeof "Why Am I Talking?"and joined by Avery Pennell.- That's me.(laughing)- That is you.And speaking ofpeople, our guest today,I am beyond excited.- I've beenbragging about it all week.- Why don't you fill the people inwho we got today?- All right, listeners, listen up.Turn up those volumes.We got the mayor ofBethlehem on the podcast.Mayor Reynolds was on our podcast.- Yes.- That man made time for us.- And it was awesome.- It was so great.I learned so much.- I knew that hewas a good speaker,so I wasn't worried, but heexceeded my expectations.And when I satthere, I was just like,I never knew Ienjoyed politics this much.- Look at that.You're gonna become a politician.- Well, let's not go that far...- I'm not gonnawaste any time here.I think we're justgonna go right into it.- Jump right in.- Jump right in.So without further ado, this is"Why Am I Talking?"with Mayor J. WillyReynolds, and it's awesome.All right, we are live.This is JimiHonochik, "Why Am I Talking?"and I am going to pausebefore I do this intro.I named thispodcast, "Why Am I Talking?"because the guestsare gonna be so goodthat I don't needto do any talking.And Avery, I don't thinkit's ever lived up moreto this moment right here.We have a lifelongBethlehem resident,born, raised, Magna Cum Laude fromMoravian College.I don't even know whatthose words mean now.Youngest city council member inBethlehem history.And in 2022, he becamethe mayor of Bethlehemwhere he has beenworking and succeedingat making it one of the best placesto live in America.J. William Reynolds, Mayor J.William Reynolds,thank you so much for coming on.- It is great to be here.Thank you for hosting.I'm looking forwardto a good conversation,but yeah, it'swonderful to be here.- This is fantastic.So let's start with your roots.Like we said, you are born andraised Bethlehem.Talk a little bit about your rootsand what those mean to youand how they shaped youto kind of be who you are.- Yeah, I think that, you know, mystory is a story.I think of a lot ofpeople in Lehigh Valley.My dad went to Lehighin the late sixties.My mom went to Cedar Crest.They both came here from NewJersey, you know, 55,56 years ago.And then my dad got his PhDand was a professor atMoravian for about 40 years.And, you know, so we all grew up.I got four brothers and sisters.We grew up right across fromLiberty High School.We all went to Liberty High School.I went to Moravianand kind of just beenin the area ever since.But, you know, it's interestingbecause, you know, myparents have the storythat they moved herefrom somewhere elseand I've been here my whole life.And I think it really is kind of amicrocosm or a symbolof, you know, who so many peopleare in the Lehigh Valley.And, you know, I thinkit's helped to shape me.But, you know, afterI got out of college,I was thinking aboutwhat I wanted to do.My first job was working for thestate representativeat Bethlehem, Steve Samuelson.So he hired me.I graduated on Saturday.I started working on Monday.I was tired.And, you know, I did thatjob for a couple of years.And then I decided torun for city councilwhen I was 25 because Ithought that, you know,growing up in Bethlehem, you know,we were going througha period of transition,a period of change.And, you know, I hadgone to a meeting or twoand, you know, there's nothingwrong with the peopleup there, but Ididn't necessarily thinkthat our generationwas being representedin this kind of nextgeneration of decision-making.And I ran for city council.And I did that for 14 yearsuntil I was like themayor a couple of years ago.- So your firstjob was in politics.Is this something you knew, youknow, in high school,this is what I want to do?Or did you kind ofjust stumble into it?- Yeah, my dad was a politicalscience professor.And, you know, sothat's what he taught.And so we were very into politics.I will make thedistinction between politicsand working in one of these,like a staterepresentative's district officeis you're helping normal peoplethat walk in off the street.They're like, I gotthis problem with PennDOT.I'm waiting for myteacher certificateor whatever it might be.And, you know, once I started tohave that experience,I thought to myself, you know,there's so many peoplethat care about our community.Like what's something that I can doto be a part of it, to be a voice.But I always thought Iwanted to do somethinghaving to do with this space.I didn't know exactlywhat it was going to be,but it just kind of fit from there.And then, you know, one of thethings I did that's similaris, you know, after I left therepresentative's office,I taught for 13 years.So I taught, you know, over atAllen High School.So I kind of had this dual lifeas both the public school teacherand then also spendingtime in city council.And just allowed me to see a lot ofthe wonderful changesgoing on in the Lehigh Valley,but also meet a lotof wonderful peopleand realize that, you know, people,no matter if they're 15 or 72are looking for the same things.- And what are those things?Because I thinkyou've done a great jobof focusing them in Bethlehem,but I wanted tokind of get your takeon what you think is important.- People want to feel like they'repart of a community.And I think that'ssometimes lost in 2024.And there's a lot written thesedays about isolationand people feeling alienatedand they're spendingtime with themselves.But that kind of secret, you know,of the Lehigh Valleyand the secret of Bethlehemis the idea that people want to bea part of community.And, you know, it doesn't matter ifyou've lived herefor, as I say, a weekor a year or 50 years,like humans want the same thing.And maybe this is myacademic background,but if you've everseen that, like, you know,you ever took a psychology classand you saw like Maslow's needhierarchy at the bottom,like, you know, how do we take careof our basic needs?And then we want to be cared for.And then we want to, so like,that was on thewall in my classroom.And that's a very simple thing thatcrosses all racial lines,all income lines ispeople want to be cared for.They want to be apart of community.They want to feel safe and theywant to have opportunity.Those are universal, Ithink, basic human valuesor human goals, I should say.And I think that's one of thethings that, you know,we never can forget.And sometimes I think people inpolitics forget that.It's just becausesomething's working for you,it doesn't mean it'sworking for everybody.And obviously we all want things tobe working for ourselves,for our families, but we're alsotrying to design thingsto be like, okay, sothis is my experience,but what's your experience?What's your experience?What's your experience?And you want to always be listeningand self-reflectingon what you can do toeven be a better listener.- So that issomething I've noticed.I attend all of yourstate of the city addresses.And one thing I'vecertainly noticed is--- We appreciate that, by the way.I love them.- And I say that,and that's not cliche,and that's not the kindof BS that like, you know,a mayor would say, but, you know,oftentimes thepeople that are there,and they are also great people,is you have cityemployees or you have peoplethat are with law firms or you havepeople that, you know,do differentbusiness within the city.They're building things, but tohave people there,such as yourself from other areas,because you're interested, isreally a special thingand a thing that weabsolutely notice.So I do want to thank you for that.- Well, if you want tofeel excited about the city,like go to one of these.I'm telling the listeners rightnow, it is inspiring.But what I was saying is a themethat comes out of thatevery time is this inclusivityapproach that you've taken.And I don't know that it's beenspearheaded in other places,but it seems almostcentral to what you do.- Yeah, it absolutelyis central to what I do.And I think it goes back to justlike a basic ideaof like empathy, but alsothe idea that all of us,if we don't, and social media, allthese things like,you know, pushesin those directions,is, you know, we can get very lostin our own feelings.And I, you know, I, one thing Ididn't mention wasI played basketball for Liberty.I played basketball from Moravian.And the one thing I learned duringthose experiencesis that some years I gotto shoot the ball a lot.Some years I was passing.Some years I didn't play as much.Some years I wasrooting on my friends.And you don't everforget those feelingsthat sometimes likeyou're the middle,you're the center of attention, andsometimes you're not.And most people are notthe center of attention.And that's anexperience that they havefor the majority of their lives.And it's very importantto me that as the mayorand as our administration is thatwe center everythingwe do on like, how iseverybody else feeling?And of course, you're never gonnaget everybody to be happy.You're never gonna get everybody.Then sometimes, you know, you don'twanna bend over backwardsfor people that you want thingsthat just aren't good,but you wanna startfrom that place of like,how do we make people feel welcome?And I think, and there's obviouslybeen a lot of changesin America in thelast 10, 15 years,but one of the best ones is just,there's been araised awareness of like,how do other people feel?And if I tell you like, no, no,Jimi, I respect you.Like, no, no, no, no,no, you get to decidewhether or not you feel respect.It's not just what my intent is,but it's the way it's received.And I just learned that.I think I learnedthat from teachingand teachingteenagers for a long time.And I remember myfirst couple of years,like I'm a great teacher.Like I know what I'm doing.But then, and somekids would say that,but then also I would self reflectand I would listen to kidsand I would read thesurveys at the end of the yearand things like that.And I'd be like,maybe I missed this.Maybe I could do thisa little bit better.And I think oftentimes people inthese jobs of leadershipthink that their job,they need to exhibit this kind oftraditional confidenceall the time.And I think that's thewrong way to approach it.And that's one of the things thatwe kind of make centralto our administration.- Yeah, so you hiton something therethat I did wanna bringup and it's election time,election season,the country feels like it's neverbeen more divided.And I thought thatlast election cycle.So it just keeps getting,compounding on itself.How did we get here?And what sort of vision do you seeto get us through this?Please solve theproblems of America.- The first questionthere is easier to answerthan the second one.And I think, and there's obviouslybeen a lot writtenabout this, is that we,and let me just look atBethlehem, for example,like once a month timewe had Bethlehem Steel.And whether or not youworked at Bethlehem Steelor your dad did,or your brother did,or your uncle did, or your cousindid, or whatever,it was this common experience thatpeople were like,oh, the steel.So you were more willing to be apart of a community effortbecause you lookedaround, you're like,we're the steel workers,where we all havethis kind of same story.And as we've had kind of a declineof those kind of sharedspaces across America,and I think, youknow, however you feelif you're religious or not,it's like the decline of religionhas been a kind of thingthat has likeminimized the amount of timesthat people gettogether with each otherto sit next to eachother, listen to them.You know, you don't have these hugeindustries oftentimesthat have tens ofthousands of peopleto create this kindof like shared culture.So I think that, you know, we'vekind of slowly becomemore and more and more of anindividual society.I make the comparisonduring the pandemic too.It's like, I think a lot of peopleduring the pandemicrealized, you know, it's good tohave some time to myself.It's good to beable to self reflect.It's good to be able to kind oflike spend time on myself.But then after a while, it doesn'tmatter who you are,you realized we'remissing something here.And thankfully we moved beyond it,we got the vaccineand things like that.But we need both ofthose experiences.We need that individual experience,we need that community experience.And I think one of the thingsthat's happened in Americais that, you know, thosescales have been tippedwhere it's becomemore and more and moreof this individualexperience about like,how does this affect me?How is this gonna affect me?How do I feel right now?And then all of those things thatpeople talk about,social media, 24 hour news cycle,it's just kind of like train peoplethat there's thisconstant, you know, as I say,there's a group of peoplenow that follow politicsthe way that peoplefollow the Eagles.They're yelling at the TV,they want the scoreto be 49 to three.They don't want it to be 24, 21.They want three hours ofjust like the other sidefeeling bad.And it's not good becausegovernment is not sports.And, you know, ourprogress in the Lehigh Valleyhas been because we'vehad a very nonpartisanor bipartisan approachto economic development,things like that.But where do we go from here?It's, I'm gonna tell you that,I don't know what the answer is.Because there are somethings that you could say,let's lower the temperature on.But I also will becompletely transparentand honest is like, Iget it that like you and Imight disagree, notliterally, I don't know,but like we might disagree on taxcuts or foreign policy.Like those are thingsyou can have intellectualconversations on.It just seems that there are tworeal competing visionsfor what the future ofthe culture of Americalooks and feels like.And I don't think inmy personal opinionand people that I started like,there's a lot of issues there thatpeople aren't willing toand they shouldn't compromise on.And I'm not gonna tell somebody andnobody should tellsomebody like, well,we need to get along.And your rights need to kind of beon pause until wefind a way to kind ofbuild back up a relationship.So in some ways, I think we mightbe able to find waysto talk about economic policy andthings like that.But there's a change going on inthat American identityand there's changesgoing on with gender normsand all sorts of things that Ithink are positive,not everybody does, but it is untilthat kind of shakes outon a generational way,I think we're gonna seesome of the sameconflict going forward.- Yeah, well, let's talkabout sort of the economicdevelopment and we candisagree on economics.I think there's a big idea thatDemocrats love to spendand spend and spend and spend andfiscal responsibility,forget about it.Going to your addresses, I haveseen that as not the case.You are spending, youare doing public worksand improving the community, buttalk a little bit aboutwhether it's the debt that you'velowered or sort ofthe actions that you've taken froma fiscal perspective.- Yeah, so I mean, City ofBethlehem went through some tougheconomic times, I mean,for decades as the steel wasdeclining, I mean, we were builtaround Bethlehem Steel,not only with the literal jobs thatpeople were workingthere, but I mean,Bethlehem Steel used one thirdof our water, so I mean, that's ahuge revenue sourcethat when they shut down.So Bethlehem had tomake some tough decisions,we had to borrow money tomake sure we could pay ourpensions and pay our medical andthings like that.And then over the last 20 yearsthrough public-privatepartnerships, which isone of the keys is that,I don't care who you are, like whenyou're in the publicsector, you need to workwith the private sector,you need to be like, what is itthat you need for yourbusiness to be ableto bring jobs here?Because when you can bring jobshere, and then you'repaying your employees and you'repaying property taxes,that's what funds our policeofficers and our firefightersand our roads and things like that.So I've never looked atbudgeting as a particularideological thing, asmuch as a math problem.And you know, next Wednesdayactually, there's a plugfor our budget addresses, you know,I'm gonna deliverthe budget address again,and I'm gonna talk abouthow we have these financial rules,and one of those isyou gotta pay sustainable expenseswith sustainable revenues.And you know, just like you wouldwanna do in your house,like you wouldn't be like, ah, Iwon the lottery at $1,500,I'm gonna go pay mymortgage this month.Like, that's a recipe for disaster.So what we look at is very much,what's the real answer?How do we handle this from asophisticated point of view?Sometimes you gotta make toughdecisions in the short term,and not everybody likes it, butthen you talk aboutwhat the long term assistance is.And you kinda mentionedthis, in 2015 we had like$170 million in debt.We have paid off aggressively toget under $90 million,and within three yearswe're gonna be down to like$55 million, which isa revenue to debt ratiothat you don't seein any other city.But it's because we've had mayorsand people in city councilthat are like, let's makesure that we never forgetthat there's always a next year.There's always two years from nowand three years from nowand five years from now, and it'slike anything elsewe do on our own personally.If you're willing to kinda beresponsible in the short term,over the long termyou can do more and morethe things you wanna do.And that's what we'redoing in Bethlehem.We've gone through this is, and Ialways say this is like,I'm just the latest guy, this islike chapter like 27in this revitalization.So, all of these good decisionspeople have made,the benefit is seen downthe road, and you know,maybe not a lot ofpeople are probably lookingthrough the budgets,but it's, people see itand they feel it, and I am verycommitted to that ideathat running a citybudget is not a liberalor conservative thing.It's, I mean, my momwas a math teacher.My dad taught politics,but my mom taught math.And she said like,no, no, math is math.Like you can't lie, like one plusone will never equal three.And eventually people, andeventually that catches upwith people if you try to do it.- What are you most proud of?You've accomplished alot in your short tenure.Like what are you most proud of,whether it's your lifeor as mayor, I mean,if you had to pick.- Yeah, on the personal side, Ihave a wonderful wife,Natalie, and wehave a young son, Leo,who's about 14 months old.Those are definitelythe things that I feelthe most joy in being involved in.And I think that, you know, I, welive in Bethlehem,you know, Leo's going to WilliamPenn down the streetfrom where we livein a couple of years.And I'm just incredibly, I'mincredibly, you know,fortunate and happy that with wherewe are as a family.I would say as far asbeing a mayor is concerned,is that, and this comes down toprobably just beinga citizen in Bethlehem, is like, wehave so many peoplethat pay attention inthe best way possible.And so many people that want to bea part of somethingthat's bigger than them.And that's what a community needsis people that wake up in themorning and be like,hey, I want to be apart of this thing.I don't need credit for it.But you know what, this afternoonI'm gonna look backand be like, hey, Ispent my morning doing itfor a couple ofhours doing somethingthat really helped out the park orhelped out the communityor helped out mychurch and things like that.And when I go around,people are, they thank me.And this, once again, sounds likethe kind of like BSM mayorwould say, but like, I turn aroundand I'm like, no, no,no, no, like whatmakes my job so much easierthan mayors in somany other places,that we have so many people thatwake up in the morningthat are like, I want tobe a part of this thing.I want to coach mylittle league team.I want to coach, youknow, the basketball team.I want to, you know, we're gonnaput in this communitygarden at our church.Like all of those little things addup, add up, add up,add up to create thisoverall vibe of positivitythat we have in the city.And that's the thingthat we've never lost.And I think that was the thing,even when steel went downand things like that, that's thething I think I'm probablythe most proud of.And when people come to Bethlehem,and I think the LeahValley is like this as a whole,but it'sparticularly true in Bethlehem,that there's likethat vibe of positivity,the vibe ofcommunity that's unique,that you don't get everywhere.And that's probably the thing I'mthe most proud of.- Where do you find the time?Like I'm tired listening to you.And you know, you have so manypeople counting on you, right?You have a family, as youmentioned, you have Leo at home.You play basketball, I'msure, in your spare time.Like how do you time manage andtake the responsibilityfor all of this?- Yeah, now this is what a mayorwould say is like,my wife has a moredifficult life than I do.I mean, she's a family physician atLeah Valley Health Network.So she is workingand helping peoplein a way that allows mesometimes the opportunityto be a little bit more flexible.But you know, it's not easy.And I would say, butI'm also not unique.And I don't try to, I think there'sa lot of people too,that are, you know, sleep hasn'talways been greatover the last year or the baby.If I know, I think as anybody athome would tell you.But it is, I thinkit's just the experiencea lot of people have.I mean, we gotstreets workers that show upand lay blacktopfor eight hours a day.And then they go and they coachtheir kids little league teamand then they sleepand then they wake upand they go do it again.So I think that, youknow, the hard work ideaabout doing things is just, youknow, part of who we are.And, you know, thereare days when I'm tired,but I do a lot of running.Running is like themost important thingto just clear my mind.- Yes.- But, you know, it's, I think Ishare a Leah Valley workethic with a lot of people.But I will also say, a lot ofthings in my job,people think arework, like, oh my God,thanks for showing up.I'm like, no, no, no, this is fun.Like this is what you would do ifyou were the mayor.- Yeah.- Like, oh, you cameout to our block partyor you came out to our concert.Or like, you came outto like, no, no, no,that's what youwould want to do anyway.- Yeah.- You know, it justhappens to be what it isthat's part of the job.- Yeah, no, that's great.What are your top priorities as youlook out towards,you know, the secondhalf of your first term?What are your top priorities?- Continuing to make smartdecisions, I think,is that oftentimes,you know, I do believethat people becomecynical when governmentsmake short term decisions.And one of the things that I'vealways proud ourselves onis the idea that we makesophisticated decisionsthat if you asked us,why did you do that,we could explain in a way.And I think thathopefully has come throughin the budget address inthe state of the cities,is there's always a plan.And I look at it aswe're gonna continue to workwith the privatesector, we're gonna continueto budget well, where, you know,some of the thingsthat we're reallyexcited about now is,if you're inBethlehem, you know that we havesome beautiful newparks facilities.We have MemorialPool, which is beautiful.We have Fairview Park, we justbought the last partof the Greenway last week.So we have all of these kind ofA-level amenities.So we're doing acitywide parks master planto be able to kind of like buildnetworks of parks.How are we doingdifferent things there?We are also launching acitywide bike master planthat's gonna be able toconnect all of our city.- You're a big biker.- I love to bike.And I love to, I also just love tosee people bikingbecause I thinkthat's one of the thingsthat like shows you'repart of like a community.You're not likejust driving through.And so we're doing abunch of these things nowthat you couldn't havedone 15, 20 years agobecause then once wecome up with those plans,we're like, okay, sothen these are the parkswe can rebuild andyou know, 25 and 26,these are the streetswe can kind of redo.So we're kind ofreally looking forward tohow do you invest inthat infrastructure.For a long time, youknow, there was a periodnot to get too historical on you,but I mean, GreatDepression afterwards,there was all this money comingfrom the federal governmentto be able to rebuild so manypublic works projects.And then for decades,cities didn't have any money.And now because ofsome of the actionthat the federal government thathas been positiveabout investing in cities, we nowhave the resourcesto really create theselike A level amenitiesthat people justwanna be a part of.That's what you wantin your neighborhoodis you want this awesome park, youwant the new pool,you want the bikelanes, you want those things.And that's what we'regonna be focused on.- The basketball courts.- The basketballcourts, absolutely.No double rims.(both laughing)This is like one of my things.And it's, you know, wejoke around about is likeno basketball court should everhave a double rim.They're the worst.It's also symbolicis like the differencebetween buying adouble rim and buying a rimthat's slightly more expensiveversus the experienceis like, don't justbuy the cheapest thing.Because when you buythe cheapest thing,it gives off themessage to the publicthat public spaces are cheap.Like these aren'tthings that you value.So sometimes youcan spend just likea little bit more money.So rather than payinglike $39 for the rim,like just pay like $65 for the rim.And then people comeby and they say, look,this is clearly a respect factor.People want us to.You can't always put glassbackwards everywhere.We have a couple of parks that wehave those in now.But like you wantto invest in a waybecause thenpeople take care of it.They have this real sense of pride.And like parks that are depressing,like can depressyour whole neighborhood.So that's kind of our philosophy.- Yeah.So I wanted to do something.You know, there isan election coming upand so voting is very important.And we have someissues that we thoughtwe would like to get your vote on.- Absolutely.And so Avery is goingto take this and run.This is basically athis or that segment.- I'm going to scoot over here.- Oh, get on camera.- It's not like totallynot looking at the camera.- You're better at this than I am.- All right.- So we'll do a speed round.We'll try to dothis under a minute.- Absolutely.- My goal is to doit in 45 seconds.- So the whole thing?- The whole thing.So as soon as I give you an option,it needs to justbe whatever's first.You're right.All right.Ready?- Yes.- Those are pots, hot dogs.- Pots.- Lehigh Valley Iron Pigsor Lehigh Valley Pantoms?- Iron Pigs.- Ardverk Sports Shopor The Running Company?- Ardverk.- Lehigh Valley Zooor Da Vinci Center?- Da Vinci Center.- Music Fest or October Fest?- Music Fest.- Ooh, Coke or Pepsi?- Coke, but Idon't drink a lot of soda.- Oh, Joel Embiid or Tyreese Maxi?- Oh, great question.I'm going with Maxi on that one.- Eagles or Phillies?- Eagles.- Whoopi Pies or Shoe Fly Pie?- Shoe Fly Pies.- Natalie Bieber or Justin Bieber?- Natalie Bieber.- Road Cycling ora Casual Bike Ride?- Casual Bike Ride.- Ice Cream or Frozen Yogurt?- Ice Cream.- Pineapple Arm Pizza, yes or no?- No.- Liberty High Schoolor Freedom High School?- Liberty Freedom'son Saturday, Liberty.- Thank you so much for your time.Now, if you want toturn to one of the cameras,you can absolutely goahead and tell peopleto get out there andvote if you'd like.- Absolutely.So we have an election coming up.It's in a little bit less than twoweeks and it's America.And we have this wonderful abilityto go out and votefor all of the different racesthat are on the ballot in November.So whether or not you're returningyour mail-in ballotor you're getting out there in acouple of weeks, get out,utilize that American rightthat so many people across theworld don't have and vote.- That was perfect.You also answered allthe culinary questionson there correctly.I was a little nervous, but we'regoing to be okay.- There's a big debate here.- I was surprisedabout the Shoe Fly Pie.- I mean, my mom usedto make a Shoe Fly Pie.- Oh, really?- So yeah.- My mom used to bea Whoopie Pie woman.(laughing)- So there's all sorts,it's kind of what yougrew up with, I think.For better or worse.- Yes.One thing that wehave to talk aboutand we haven't hit yet is theUNESCO World Heritage Site.You're a Moravian guy.And so seeing this recognitionon the internationallevel is really cool.Just your thoughts on that.I wanted to pick your brain.- Yeah, it's beena long time coming.Like so manysuccesses in Bethlehem.It's not somethingthat started two years agowhen I came into office.It's something that'sbeen working on for decades.Charlene Donches Maers withHistoric Beth Museumsand Sites really was the personthat kind of started thisinitiative and took it.It is obviously something that weare super, super excitedabout in the city of Bethlehem.The city was founded by Moravians,but the tenants and themorals of the Moravians,this idea ofcommunity, of equality,those reach beyondjust the Moravians.And the majority ofthe people in our cityare not Moravian, butthe majority of the peoplein our city believe in the idea ofcommunity and equality.And one of the cool thingsabout ourtransnational World Heritage Site.So there are 26 World HeritageSites now in the United States.We are the only transnational one.I know, it's fantastic.So our partners in NorthernIreland, Denmark, and Germany,who also had originalMoravian settlements,we have spent a lotof time with them.Last week they were in for kind ofthe official inscription event,the signing ofdocuments and things like that,that we celebrated thisidea that community hereis the same ascommunity in Northern Irelandor Denmark or Germany, back to theidea about people.And one of the, I don'tknow if you're not sure,of challenges butopportunities is like,how do we make World Heritage workfor all 78,000 people?Because you have a lot of peoplethat aren't not Moravian,that look at this as a,we are a combination of cultures,a combination of identities.One of the Moravianministers from Denmarkput it perfectlylast week where he said,"Culture is a conversation."And I thought thatjust summed it upjust in the mostperfect way possible.I'd never heard itthat simplified before,but he's like,"Culture is a conversation."And this is anopportunity, I think, for usas we move forward as a city,like so many places across America,to have conversationsabout what community means.So people look atWorld Heritage like,"We're gonna welcome people,"and people are gonnacome from all over,"and so on and so forth,and we will have somepeople that come here.The bigger opportunity in my mindfor us is an internal oneas far as what the values arethat the world has now recognizedus for to live up to.That idea about how do we make sureeverybody feels included?How do we make sureeverybody has opportunity?How do we make sure?You've probably heardthis before at God's Acre.You will have people that...And that just doesn'thappen usually in 2024.And I think it's areal opportunity for usinternally as wellto kind of think aboutwho we wanna be as a city.- So I've beenlistening to you talk,and I wrote three things, threewords that I feel likeencapsulate whoyou are as a person.But I'd like to pick your brain.What do you think?Who are you?If you had to sumyourself down to three words,who do you feel like you are?- That's a good question.I think that I am somebody that iscommunity minded.- Check.- I am somebody thatis self reflective.And I am somebody that is...I'd like to believe that I'msomebody that is committedto causes other than my own.And I always...It's never trying topat oneself on the back.So this is a dynamicthat I think you seethroughout Bethlehem, that it'slike once you kind of haveyours, how do you helpother people get theirs?And that's kind of theway that Natalie and I,my mom and everybodyI know feels about it.It's like oncethings are okay for you,the best we can feel oftentimes inworking for thingsto help other people.And I think I said this before, Iwas a teacher at Allenand people often would say,how could you teachteenagers how to...Cause there's nobetter feeling than helpinglike a 15 or 16 or 17 year oldaccomplish anything.And I think that that's kind of howI view my work as well.- Yeah, empathy, thatwas the word I wrote,which I think itkind of sums that up.I mean, you do take other people'sthoughts and feelingsinto consideration inall of your decisions.The one that I had that you didn'thave was inspiration.And I mean that in the sense oflike, I thought passion,I thought, you'revery dedicated to things,you get passionate, but I thinkit's so infectiousthat it inspiresthe people around you.So inspiration was theother one that I had.- I appreciate that.- So we are likeshockingly running out of time.I've enjoyed every minute of this.We are sponsored by Hocus PokesCleaning Service.It's a female owned cleaningcompany in the area.They do incredible workand they do this thing.It's called the witching hourwhere you have amessy closet or whatever.They'll come in and they'llreorganize it for you.It's basically magic.And so I ask everyone on here,if you could haveany magical abilityand we are approaching Halloween,what would your magical ability be?- It's a good question.I would probably say,let me think aboutthis for a second.I would probably say that theability to see the future.- That's a first year.- And it's not asee the future in a,back to the future part two,how do we like, what's the lottery?Who's gonna win theWorld Series in 2031?I don't want that.I just think that oftentimes,we think back to decisions we madeand we think, oh mygosh, that was the best.That was something that we thoughtwas best at the time.But if we knewwhat was gonna happen,we would have done A, B, or C.And it's probably false.Like you're doing thebest you can at the time.It just saves timeand feelings and energyif you kind of could see wherethings are going a little bit.At least in a couple of things.So I would probably say that.Other than, I don't know,you're gonna laugh at this.- I would love it.- That's what I would like.Because then if, the biggestproblem I have now is sleep.- Yes.- So, and like I love Leo to death.- Right.- And my wife, as I said,takes even on more than I do.But like, we justneed a few more hours.Like I need like a 26 hour day.Like a 26 and a half hour day.- How is he as a sleeper?- He, I think islike most little guys.See like he kind ofgoes back and forth.Like he'll have good weeksand then maybe hewon't be feeling great.He'll be getting tosort of things like that.But you know, and Ican't really blame him.They're like, once he's up then,like he's just like,- Ready to go.- He's like, I'm ready to go.- Yeah.- And then people havetold me and Natalie is like,well, look, like,what are you going to do?(laughing)What do you thinkhe was gonna be like,"Ah, I'm not chilling."- He's like, youknow, like, yeah, yeah.- I'm gonna sit over here and read"Lord of the Rings."(laughing)Like I'm gonna go,I'm gonna go do things.So he's doing okay,but he's a joy every day.- It's fun, but you're right.I remember our firstlike did not sleep at all.- Yeah. - And then you're like, you're gonna sleep more after that.- Yeah, yeah. - But you do, you forget about it.- Yeah.- And you love them somuch, you just keep going.- So I think it's, I'm one of five.- Yeah.- So my mom, God bless her,greatest grandma ever.Like once in a while, shealso puts in perspective.- She's just like, yeah.- Like one day you will wish thatthe biggest problemyou have at three in themorning with your childis the fact that they won't sleep.(laughing)It was like one day.- The problems change.- Yes, yes.Small kids, small problems.- Yeah.- Big kids, big problems.- Yeah.(laughing)- I mean, it's so fastyou don't even realize.Like I've beenwatching my kids grow upand everyone tellsyou it happens fast.And now I have a 10 year old.I'm like, where did this happen?- Yeah.- Yeah, it's cool.So anything we didn'thit that we should hit,anything you wanna talk about?- No, I just reallyappreciate the conversation.I know you have a bunch ofdifferent people in hereto talk about a bunchof different issues.And just the kind of podcast world,it's like, it is acommunity builder.And I think that youdo it in a positive way.This isn't like a Facebook group.It's not like justlike, what's going on?- Hamilton Boulevard.It is a positive kind of,we're celebratingthings that are going on.- 100%.- I just wanna thank you for thatbecause like eachone of these thingsreally does add up to create thekind of communitythat you wanna live in.- Yeah.- That people want.And so I just wannathank you for that.- Well, I appreciate that.I'm thanking you for coming on.Like I said, you've gota ton of things to do.So for you making thetime, we appreciate it.- I got one last question for you.- Yeah.- Are you dressingup for Halloween?- Yes.We're doing Disney villains.So I'm gonna be, Imean, if you look at me,I think it's prettyobvious I would be Gaston.Give him a side of the message.So that is what I am being.- Okay.- How about you?- I actually still, I mean, I'mrunning out of time,but I don't knowwhat I'm gonna do yet.- Gotcha.- So Leo though is dressing up as amail-in drop-off box.(laughing) So, and I will tellyou that I wanted to,Natalie has him wearing it for theHalloween parade,which is on Sunday.And then, you know,maybe one other time,I wanted him to wearit for all like 37 daysleaving out to theelection when you could returnyour mail-inballot to remind people.Cause people belike, that guy's crazy.That little kid'swearing that mail-in boxevery single day.But Natalie responsiblysaid, we're not doing that.- Yeah, you have tohave a sensible half.- Yes.- She's awesome.- Well, thank you again.This was great.I loved every minute of it.- Thank you.- Absolutely.