Letter: Lower Saucon Voters Deserved to Hear from Candidates at Forum

Dear Lower Saucon Community,

I have been the Pastor of Christ Lutheran Church in Hellertown for 28 years. In that period, I have hosted numerous candidates running for political office. Both Susan Wild and her first opponent, Marty Nothstein, agreed to a “town hall” meeting. Charlie Dent also appeared the last time he was running for Congress for a Sunday Morning “town hall” forum. I felt very good about presenting prospective candidates to our community. An informed electorate is essential for democracy.

Saucon Source and Christ Lutheran Church were going to sponsor a Lower Saucon Township Candidate Forum. Not a debate. The Republican candidates are Sandra Yerger, Mark Inglis and Susan Blair. The Democratic candidates are Priscilla deLeon, Victoria Opthof-Cordaro and Laura Ray.

Over the course of the last four weeks, I tried unsuccessfully to host this forum scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 2. It would be an opportunity for candidates to introduce themselves, answer prepared questions that Saucon Source and Christ Lutheran would have provided, and then take questions from the audience. I estimated the forum would last an hour-and-a-half, and I was willing to work with both the Republican and Democratic candidates to find the date that suited everyone best.

I invited all six candidates, through a variety of means. I have yet to hear from any of the Republican candidates. I will give Susan Blair the benefit of the doubt, for she conversed with Josh, at Saucon Source, and told him that that date was not good for her.

I commend the three Democratic candidates who were willing to move their schedules around to accommodate not only Nov. 2, but any date that suited the three Republican candidates.

We need civil, face-to-face, open discussions with candidates who want to represent us. Not showing up and not even corresponding with me is behavior I feel lacks integrity. Please save my time and just let me know you don’t want to participate.

I hope that Lower Saucon residents, as I have been for 23 years, are aware of their choices on Nov. 7.

Phil Spohn

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Letters to the editor about local topics of general interest may be emailed to josh@sauconsource.com for consideration. Letters must be signed and a phone number included for authentication purposes. The views expressed in letters are solely those of the author(s) and should not be interpreted as representing the views of this publication. Note: The deadline to submit a letter related to the Nov. 7 general election is 12 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. If accepted for publication, letters related to the election will be published by 12 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 3, 2023.