Citizens’ Academy has Lehigh answers
Find out everything you wanted to know about county — but were afraid to ask
Lehigh County spends more than $500 million each year to provide government services. Now it wants to make sure local taxpayers know what it is spending that money on.
The county will welcome residents to join its Citizens’ Academy, starting Thursday evening.
Over the course of nine weekly sessions, major department heads and row office holders will discuss the functions of their respective departments. Each two-hour session will be followed by a question and answer portion.
“It would be nice to be able to get people to understand what their county does,” county Controller Glenn Eckhart said. “I don’t think people have a full understanding of the complexities of county government and how it works.”
County Executive Phillips Armstrong said the idea for the Citizens’ Academy came from community members, but that he believes it will promote transparency and clarity.
“It is important that [residents] know what we do and what their tax dollars are spent on,” he said. “Most people are concerned about how their tax dollars are spent or which programs are in their community [and] I believe that a lack of knowledge or understanding about government can discourage people from advocating or approaching their leaders. If you’re uncertain as to which department or government has which responsibility, it makes it difficult to fight for change or a new program.”
The first department to present is the Department of Administration. Administrator Ed Hozza said he will discuss the departments that report to him, including fiscal, human resources, procurement and the voter office.
Officials asked that people reserve a spot by contacting public information officer Joshua Siegel at joshuasiegel@lehighcounty.org, though that’s not mandatory.
“If more people attended the academy and left with a greater knowledge of county government, it would only increase my capacity to communicate with an engaged public body,” Siegel said. “I think the administration and staff benefit from having a well-informed public, it makes the legislative process and governing process richer and more comprehensive when residents participate and share their insight.”
The schedule
The Citizens’ Academy sessions run 6-8 p.m. in the public hearing room in the Lehigh County Government Center, 17 S. Seventh St., Allentown. • Sept. 12: Administration
• Sept. 19: General Services • Sept. 26: Community and Economic Development
• Oct. 3: Cedarbrook Senior Care & Rehabilitation
• Oct. 9: Human Services
• Oct. 17: Public Defender’s Office • Oct. 22: Corrections
• Nov. 7: Fiscal Office
• Nov. 14: County row offices — sheriff, controller, coroner
The syllabus
Several office holders and department heads discussed their plans for the academy.
Human Services
The Human Services Department includes Adult Services; Aging, Children and Youth; Crisis Intervention; Drug and Alcohol; Early Intervention; HealthChoices; Information and Referral; Integrated Services; Intellectual Disabilities; and Mental Health.
“[Human Services] is a collection of integrated services designed to help people in difficult life situations, regardless if those are short term or chronic in nature,” Director Kay Achenbach said. “The services help and guide people to assist them in moving forward with their lives and their families to achieve their personal goals, power and selfsufficiency.”
She said her presentation would introduce the department’s various programs.
Public Defender’s Office
The presentation will focus on a general overview on eligibility, constitutional right to council and types of cases the public defender can represent.
“We have people who come to our office seeking representation on noncriminal matters like domestic relations matters or family court matters or civil suits and so I want to explain to the public that we handle criminal cases,” Chief Public Defender Kimberly F. Makoul said.
“It’s most important for people to know how they obtain our services, when they can get us, at what stage can they apply for representation, when are we available to them and how they go about having us represent them,” she said.
Corrections
“Much of what a day in corrections looks like is still a bit of a mystery for most people, on the side of what we do and also for the inmate population,” Director Janine Donate said.
She said she would describe what occurs for a person from the time they are admitted to jail until they are released, as well as programs and opportunities offered to those in the system.
Fiscal
This session will look at Lehigh County’s finances. It’s purposefully toward the end of the Citizens’ Academy in order to tie all the departments into a financial picture.
The Citizens’ Academy can bring “more awareness of where their taxpayer dollars are actually being spent [and] understanding how the budget is put together,” Director Tim Reeves said.
Sheriff
“I’ll be addressing the number of personnel I have, what our role is in the realm of law enforcement in Lehigh County, the fact that some of our primary duties are the safety and security of the court rooms, the two courthouses, and the government center,” Sheriff Joseph Hanna said.
Controller
The controller makes sure money gets to the correct places, and verifies that payments are made and all rules are followed; audits departments and makes suggestions of how to save money; and operatesan ethics hotline.
Coroner
“The coroner’s office has the unfortunate responsibility of working with families when they are experiencing one of the worst moments of their life,” Coroner Eric Minnich said. “This presentation allows our office to interact with the public in a positive way and learn why we investigate deaths, how and why we interact [with] law enforcement agencies and the district attorney’s office and our efforts in preventing unnecessary deaths within Lehigh County.”