Landfill, Hellertown are key issues for candidates
Three of five seats are up for grabs in high-profile races
Lower Saucon Township residents will vote Nov. 7 in one of the most high-profile municipal races in the Lehigh Valley, with three of the five council seats for four-year terms at stake.
A Republican majority of the current council has, in the last two years, drawn heated disagreement from some residents over its decisions to sever a longstanding, intermunicipal relationship with the Hellertown Area Library and approve a rezoning toward a major expansion of the Bethlehem Landfill, among other actions. The library issue led to a greater schism in the neighboring communities, including a breakup of a cooperative group known as Saucon Valley Partnership.
The winners could keep the council’s heavily Republican majority, which has swayed the previous two years’ votes, or it could shift control to Democrats, with a slate of candidates supporting a return to the Hellertown library and redirecting the outcome of a proposed landfill expansion on nearly 276 acres.
Republican candidates are incumbent Sandra Yerger, who has been on the board 20 years; Mark Inglis, who was appointed to an unexpired term in 2022; and newcomer Susan Blair.
Democratic candidates are longtime incumbent Priscilla deLeon, Victoria Opthof-Cordaro and Laura Ray, who are running under the banner “Saucon Valley Together.”
Council members are paid $3,250 per year. The other board members, Thomas Carocci and Jason Banonis, who is council president, are up for reelection in 2025. Lower Saucon, with a population of slightly more than 11,000, has 2,393 registered voters. The total includes 1,237 Democrats, which is slightly ahead of Republicans (1,151), according to Northampton County election office data.
Lower Saucon residents will also vote on a ballot referendum to decide whether to set limits on council members to two consecutive terms, effective Jan. 5, 2026.
The candidates were asked to respond to emailed questions and provide brief background. Their answers appear in the order they appear on the Northampton County election ballot, with the answers edited for clarity and length.
The candidates
DEMOCRATS
Priscilla deLeon
Occupation: DeLeon is serving her ninth term on council. She was employed more than 20 years as a radiologic technologist in the Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia area.
Personal: She grew up in Washington Township in the Slate Belt, graduating from Bangor Area High School. She also graduated from Philadelphia General Hospital School of Radiologic Technology. Retired from her career, deLeon spends free time with family and enjoys such pastimes as photography, camping, music and dance.
Victoria Opthof-Cordaro
Occupation: OpthofCordaro is an attorney with a practice that includes municipal law.
Personal: She is also a wife and mother of two children who has shifted her career focus to caring for the children, one of whom has special needs for a rare genetic disorder. She has been an advocate for the township on various issues, including preserving Lower Saucon’s historic and natural resources. When not busy, she plays the piano, French horn and other musical instruments.
Laura Ray Occupation: Ray has
worked in information technology more than 25 years and currently is in cybersecurity. She says her years as a business systems analyst has made her wellversed in gathering information, researching issues and analyzing data to make sound decisions. “I think those skills translate well to the job as a councilwoman,” she said. “I am not one to make rash decisions with no sound reasoning.”
Personal: Ray grew up in Saucon Valley, where she raised her daughter. She has earned several college degrees, including a master’s in business administration with a focus on decision and system sciences. An animal lover, Ray has a llama, alpaca, chickens and cats on her property, tending to them as part of her “exercise” program.
REPUBLICANS
Sandra Yerger
Occupation: Yerger is retired from the Heritage Conservancy in Doylestown; currently, she works assisting elderly and handicapped residents to remain in their homes.
Personal: Yerger has lived her entire life in different parts of the township. She
said it has helped her better understand the different needs and issues of residents “no matter where they live.”
Mark Inglis
Occupation: Co-owner of Freedom Lawn Care and Landscaping.
Personal: Inglis, 57, who has lived nearly all of his life in the township, was appointed in 2022 following the resignation of Jennifer Zavacky from council.
Susan Blair
Occupation: Blair has been a Realtor since 2015. She has also served on Moravian Academy’s board of trustees and has volunteered at St. Luke’s University Health Network.
Personal: Married with two children, ages 31 and 28. Blair said she was born in Canada but moved to the Lehigh Valley at age 3, when her father was transferred to the Valley to work for Bethlehem Steel. “It was very important to my parents to raise their children in Lower Saucon,” she said, “and I made it my mission to do the same raising my own children.”
How would you go about mending the last two years’ worth of fractured relationships
between Lower Saucon Township and Hellertown? DeLeon:
I would start by offering to have a face-toface meeting with Hellertown Council and officials to discuss the issues that have divided us and work them out in a respectful manner. Let’s drop the lawsuits. We have spent way too much money on legal fees. We can work this out.
Immediately set dates for the Saucon Valley Partnership to resume meeting. The SVP, a Council of Governments, was founded in 2004 to build stronger relationships and pursue strategies that improve the efficiency and effectiveness of municipal services to save tax dollars. Together we can work on access to the Saucon Valley Compost Center, which was wellliked by residents, the Hellertown Pool and full library services. Let us be a community again.
Opthof-Cordaro: I would do all that I can to open respectful and constructive dialogue with Hellertown Borough officials, including having face-toface meetings to find a future way forward for our Saucon Valley community without threats of litigation looming. I would immediately attempt to reestablish meetings with the Saucon Valley Partnership, which was formed to allow Hellertown, Lower Saucon and the Saucon Valley School District to develop policies that benefit the community as well as address any concerns.
With respect to transparency and constructive dialogue, I believe we can rebuild our community with access to the Saucon Valley compost center, Hellertown pool, and full library services with Hellertown Area Library. Bringing the community back together is a top priority.
Ray: First, I’d want to have any pending legal threats against the borough ended. Each issue would be handled separately with face-to-face discussions as much as possible. These are not matters to be resolved by having a lawyer send over a one-sided list of demands. Restarting the Saucon Valley Partnership would be very beneficial as well. That council bridged together both municipalities along with the school district that we share.
Hellertown has made it clear that they want to work with the township to restore relationships if they have reasonable leadership to work with. The Saucon Valley Together slate of candidates, which is myself, Priscilla deLeon and Victoria Opthof-Cordaro, will provide reasonable leadership willing to openly discuss and negotiate issues in our community. We do listen to what constituents say and will take their input under consideration in our decision making.
Yerger: I have served on Lower Saucon Council for over 20 years and every now and then neighboring municipalities temporarily disagree on matters. I will continue to reach out to our neighboring municipalities, including Hellertown, to discuss these challenges. I see them as opportunities to move forward and work together to build a better Saucon Valley for all our residents.
Inglis: Unfortunately, a funding discrepancy over the library has led to a lot of other fractures. LST did not and has not initiated any litigation or action against Hellertown. All of the separations have been initiated by Hellertown. We made a real offer to Hellertown to settle all of our differences, and I think it was taken the wrong way. We just wanted to wrap everything up and start fresh.
Going forward, we will try again to mend fences. However, there have not been any counteroffers from the other side. It seems to be a one-way street. Perhaps, after the election, they might be more amenable to some back-and-forth dialogue. One final note, I think we have to remember that we all interact and associate with each other every day, Hellertown and LST residents, this is more of a political divide than a personal one for most people.
Blair: There have been some bumps in the road, but I don’t believe the Lower Saucon Township-Hellertown relationship is permanently fractured. I think both communities want what is best for their municipalities without doing harm to the other. However, the Township needs to ensure that when it spends taxpayer’s dollars in Hellertown — it is getting what it pays for — no excuses. I look forward to bringing the parties together to resolve all outstanding issues.
Given the stalemate to date over the Hellertown Area Library, what do you envision as the future of library services for Lower Saucon residents?
DeLeon: I have heard loud and clear what the residents want. They want the Hellertown Area Library as their home library, and that comes with a PA access card. That will be a priority in January.
I voted no to the latest offer by the Township because it was not an offer made to the Hellertown Area Library. The offer was made only to the Borough of Hellertown and included many conditions unrelated to the library. The current council majority hopes by throwing the community a bone, the residents will forget all about their votes and actions regarding the compost center, the library, the pool and the landfill debacle. This is nothing more than a smoke screen to blind people for the Nov. 7 election to get votes for their candidates. I along with Victoria and Laura will negotiate in good faith.
Opthof-Cordaro: I believe Lower Saucon residents deserve public library services through a longterm contract of funding to Hellertown Area Library. Our residents have continuously spoken up to request continued service. Hellertown Area Library was built by Lower Saucon residents in partnership with residents of Hellertown. It is located in close proximity to the Saucon Valley school complex and centrally located to all of our residents.
Importantly, funding a home library will allow all residents to visit and obtain materials from the public library of their choice and obtain library materials online. The current council majority has wasted more money on legal fees to lose library services than the annual cost to fund Hellertown Area Library. I would end the unnecessary spending on lawsuits and work to reestablish a long-term funding agreement with Hellertown Area Library.
Ray: Residents have clearly shown that they want to have Hellertown Area Library as their home library. A digital-only library is not what most people want. I would like to see the township reestablish a longterm arrangement with the HAL and fully fund it based on a per capita fee. We would work with the library board to create an agreement.
Yerger: I think the future of library services for Lower Saucon residents is bright. We are having long overdue discussions with multiple municipalities, and I want to include Hellertown in these discussions on how best to pool our resources to create the library of the future and a library that will be relevant and useful over the next 10 to 20 years that our kids and adults will want to use.
At the Lower Saucon Township Council meeting on Sept. 20, I supported and voted for a plan to fund the Hellertown library for two years at $125,000 per year and for the Township to have Library Board seats proportional to this contribution. Unfortunately, the Hellertown Borough Council rejected this offer. I believe $125,000 per year with proportional board representation is a fair offer and plan on proposing it again after the election.
Inglis: I truly believe that the future of library services is a consolidation of the small libraries into a regional library system that shares resources and employees. It is too expensive today to duplicate services and staff. The existing model of today is destined to struggle. Most small towns, townships, boroughs, etc. have a limited amount of resources available and those resources must prioritize public safety and public service first.
We understand that this transition will take some time and research, which is why we made our $125,000 per-year offer for two years.
It gives the parties time to find a solution. Unfortunately, I think the sticking point was board representation based on contribution level. We have a fiduciary duty to our residents to represent them justly, which means if we contribute twice as much money to the library, we should have the majority of board representation. That’s a pretty standard setup.
Blair: I envision future library services to be state of the art, relevant in an electronic/digital age with modernized library facilities for both Lower Saucon Township and Hellertown residents. The Township can afford to create that by working together with Hellertown and possibly inviting other municipalities to join us in having the best library system in the Lehigh Valley. In the short term, I would like to see the township work together with the Hellertown Area Library to help fund it proportionally and fairly — to provide services to all residents.
What do you see happening going forward with the Bethlehem Landfill?
DeLeon: I will continue to be a watchdog over the landfill. I voted no for both rezoning ordinances and against the release of the conservation easements that were placed on the land in 1994. I also voted no to the Landfill Host Agreement because it did not adequately protect and compensate the residents for an additional 20-plus years of trash.
I believe the township should honor its promise to keep the land conserved. I voted against the township entering into an agreement with the landfill for litigation brought by residents. The township should be working with the people, not the landfill. Lower Saucon is not for sale.
Opthof-Cordaro: I do not believe the council majority thoughtfully considered all the concerns of the public and future burden on the township when they green-lighted a 275-acre landfill expansion on arguably the most environmentally sensitive area that was placed in conservation in 1994. I do not think the township should be wasting taxpayer money on legal fees to defend the shortsighted decisions of our council majority.
By disregarding the conservation easements prior councils had placed on the land to protect the community, the current council majority is disrespecting decades of township precedent established by residents through voter referendum to protect our natural resources and preserve open space. By disregarding the 1994 easements, the township majority is turning its back on residents who have placed their land in open space and the voters, who for 15 years chose to pay taxes toward preserving our community. I cannot say what will happen with any of the pending litigation. However, I will work to honor the wishes of our residents to conserve our natural resources.
Ray: I hope to see the courts honor and enforce the conservation easements that exist on the properties that the landfill wants to expand. This environmentally sensitive land is one of only two forested areas along the entire Lehigh River. As a long-time member of the township’s Environmental Advisory Council, I worked to promote the voter referendum for an open space tax that was placed on the ballot and approved three times. Voters showed that they support preserving the open space in our township by approving that tax for a 15-year period.
A review of our budgets for the past five years shows we do not need to rely on income from the Bethlehem Landfill to cover our expenses. For the remaining landfill lifespan, we should continue to build a healthy reserve fund.
Yerger: I voted against the rezoning of the landfill property because I think it is too much land to change from rural to light industrial. I was the first resident of the township to preserve my family property in our open space program and I did it at no cost to taxpayers.
The Bethlehem Landfill will now present a land use plan to the Council for the rezoned acres. In my opinion, their proposal must meet all township ordinances and regulations. As founder of the Township Environmental Advisory Committee and a lifelong land preservationist, I would be OK with a small landfill expansion — the smaller the better for the economic benefit the Township receives.
Inglis: The Bethlehem Landfill will have to go through all the regular township channels for development. They will also have to work with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to come up with a plan that satisfies all of the agency’s requirements, which are extensive. The Landfill is a highly regulated business with weekly inspections and reports. So far, they have a very good track record and we see no reason why this would change.
On the financial side, they are the third largest contributor to our budget. Contrary to some reports, we do spend part of the landfill money to balance our budget and to provide excellent public services to our residents. To lose our host money would mean a tax increase for our residents. We now have one of the lowest tax rates in the area. However, if we were to lose the landfill a tax increase would be inevitable, with not having a large commercial real estate base.
Blair: The Township Council has already voted to rezone the landfill property so that issue has been put to rest. It is now up to Bethlehem Landfill to present a land use plan to the Council for the rezoned acres. I would prefer a small landfill expansion — not large — so that the Township could continue to receive the economic benefits that the landfill provides and not have to raise taxes on residents. I would also require the land use plan to meet all Township zoning and planning regulations and ordinances. Our Township engineers are currently reviewing the landfill plans. I am very interested to hear their recommendations.
The issue of campaign contributions has surfaced around the community. Have you accepted any campaign donations from the Bethlehem Landfill or any groups affiliated with the Landfill? Also, from which outside political groups are you accepting contributions?
DeLeon: I have never accepted any campaign donations from Bethlehem Landfill or any groups affiliated with the Landfill. The only money our campaign accepted from organizations was $60 from Northampton County Committee of Democratic Women. This represented $20 for each candidate. I also don’t believe candidates should accept donations from developers who do business in our township as our opponents have done.
Opthof-Cordaro: I do not believe any developer should influence the elections in our township. I have not and will not accept any campaign donations by Bethlehem Landfill, or any groups affiliated with the landfill. I also will not allow any super PACs funded by the landfill to promote my candidacy through independent expenditures.
Our campaign accepted a $60 donation from the Northampton County Council of Democratic Women, representing $20 for each candidate.
Ray: Our campaign has not accepted campaign donations from the Bethlehem Landfill or groups affiliated with them, nor would we want to. The only political group that I am aware of at this time that has contributed is the Northampton County Council of Democratic Women. They donated $20 to me and to the other two candidates I am running with for a total of $60.
Yerger: Our campaign has not accepted any campaign contributions from the Bethlehem Landfill or any group affiliated with the Bethlehem Landfill. Our campaign is funded by individual donations.
Inglis: Our campaign has not accepted any contributions from the Bethlehem Landfill or any other political committee. All of our funding has come from local residents and friends. Our campaign finance reports will reflect that.
Blair: My campaign has not accepted any campaign contributions from the Bethlehem Landfill or any group affiliated with the Bethlehem Landfill. My campaign is entirely funded by individual donations from township residents and friends — not from outside political groups.