Mayor Says Continued Development Key to Easton's Improved Economy

By Christina Georgiou

Easton Mayor Sal Panto gave the annual "State of the City" address to
city council Wednesday evening, with about 20 members
of the public in attendance.

The city's revitalization efforts of the last three decades are paying off, and Easton is on a much more solid financial footing than it has been in a long time, Mayor Sal Panto said in his State of the City address to city council Wednesday night.

"Unlike many cities throughout the northeast, Easton has weathered challenging economic times, and we remain steadfast in our determination to move progressively and positively toward a better future," he said. "As mayor, I am committed to harnessing the physical, cultural, and intellectual strengths of our city, transforming those matchless qualities into sustainable and unrivaled developments that will benefit residents and visitors alike."

Urban renewal was more like "urban
removal" for Easton, Mayor Sal Panto
noted. Revitalization and adaptive
reuse over the last 30 years has
be key to the city's turnaround since
then.

 Showcasing dozens of city buildings that have been redeveloped over the past thirty years  with before and after photos, Panto said that urban renewal during the 1960s, 70s, and early 80s, were more like "urban removal," and contributed to the city's decline during that period.

He credited former mayors Thomas Goldsmith, Michael McFadden, and Phil Mitman with continuing revitalization efforts after his own first mayoral tenure, beginning in 1984.

Despite the gains that have been made, the city needs to continue on its redevelopment trajectory to grow the population and keep tax rates down, he said.

A sketch showing the Easton Home's plans to add senior
apartments along Northampton Street in the city's West Ward.

"Our population fell below 30,000 (during that time). We need to get it back up so there are more people living and working in the city and paying taxes," Panto said.

The redevelopment and adaptive reuse of existing properties in Easton, such as the nearly completed Pomeroy Building, which houses two restaurants, office space  and more than 40 residential apartments, brings new tax revenue to city coffers, he said. Other planned projects, such as the conversion of the Governor Wolf building into upscale apartments and the redevelopment of old industrial sites such as the Simon Silk Mill on South 13th Street, will add to that.

"The Governor Wolf building will be coming back on the tax rolls in the next 30 to 45 days," Panto said. "You're going to see some major development going on (at the silk mill site) after the weather breaks."

New construction will also contribute to the city's well being too, Panto said, pointing to Lafayette College's plans for a new arts complex on North Third Street, and the Easton Home's plan to add senior citizen apartments on Northampton Street in the West Ward, as well as the new city hall and transportation center that is expected to be complete late next year.


"I think anyone who lives in that area of the West Ward will feel better about their neighborhood," he said in reference to the Easton Home project.
Investments of more than $420 million over the past six years have translated into more than just improvements in the city's infrastructure too, Panto said.

Overall crime in the city was down by 22.5 percent, and sound fiscal management, which has resulted in an "A+" bond rating for the city, are good news too, the mayor said.

"We'll save over a million dollars because of our credit score," Panto noted.

Still, Easton faces challenges in the years ahead.

Highlights from various city departments' annual reports
Click on any image for a full-size view

"We're very concerned about our pension costs...but we're doing much better," the mayor said. ""We've been trying to live within our means, but it's not easy...legacy costs will eventually put...every municipality in the Commonwealth under if our legislature doesn't do something soon."

Easton should continue on the path it's on, and that will mean a rosy future for the city, Panto said.

"We were elected on progressive change," the mayor said, adding that positive changes should not come at the expense of any one group over another.

"We've done this without gentrification. We have not pushed people out," Panto said. "The state of our city is progressing, growing."

State of the City Is 'Strong', Mayor Says

By Christina Georgiou


Easton Mayor Sal Panto gives the State of the City address
at the city council meeting Wednesday evening.

 In his annual "State of the City" address, Mayor Sal Panto exuberantly touted  achievements and successes in Easton in front of city council members Wednesday evening, and stressed that continued city success depends on continued development and investment.

"I am here to report to you that the state of our city is strong and getting stronger," Panto said. "We are vibrant, open, and smart."

Quoting Alvin Toffler--"to think about big things while you're doing small things"--Panto highlighted various projects that have been recently completed, mostly involving revitalization and business investment, and lavished praise on city employees for those successes.

"Some of my proudest moments as mayor have been seeing the response ofout city employees in the face of...challenges," he said. "In each and every situation, they have demonstrated what good government is all about."

During Superstorm Sandy, first responders deserve much credit for their efforts to minimize property damage, he said.

Volunteers also helped a lot in the past year toward driving the city's forward, the mayor said.

"Community volunteerism has benefitted Easton's economy," Panto said. "Volunteers also played an important part in our special events which brought hundreds of thousands of visitors to our city. They came, they saw the improvements, and they returned."

A slide that accompanied Mayor
Sal Panto's State of the City
address Wednesday evening.

Listing off a number of new businesses and rehabbed structures, both completed and yet to be finished, the mayor said, "Everything we do relies on a strong financial foundation."

The Silk Mill project is coming along, and other renovations around the city are also contributing to the city's progress too, he said.

"We started to do green rehab in 2009," the mayor said, especially noting a plan to renovate blighted properties along the 600 block of Pine Street, along with other locations. "Any blighted and vacant property we can buy and flip, we will do so."

"When (I) came into office in 2008, our city finances were in a state of severe decline,"  Panto said. "The fund balance was depleted, we inherited a deficit of $2 million, and our taxes had increased 107 percent over the previous four years. We were in the state's early intervention program on our way to filing (for bankruptcy) under Act 47."

Acting proactively, as well as working "smarter" and making use of modern technology to do more with less, was the solution to the situation, he added.

"We made the difficult cuts dictated by the draconian times our city faced," Panto said. "How are we doing it? By reducing wasteful spending and being more efficient."


A slide that accompanied Mayor Sal Panto's State of the City
address Wednesday evening shows the increases in Easton
municipal costs year by year.

Still, rising pension and healthcare costs are an ongoing problem that needs to be solved at the state level, the mayor said.

"Pension reform is something we really need," Panto said. "(Rising pension costs for municipalities are) happening throughout the state. Pensions are out of control, even for the wealthiest municipalities...Yes, we enacted a commuter tax, but we are still absorbing an additional $500,000 or an additional $2.7 million since 2008."

When it comes to the police and crime, despite a record high of six homicides in 2012, "all involving individuals involved in illegal activity surrounding the drug and gang segment of society", overall, crime is down in the city, the mayor said.

He cited the statistics: overall crime was down 16.3 percent, violent crime dropped from the 2011 by 14.7 percent in 2012, and non-violent crimes such as vandalism, impaired driving and disorderly conduct fell by 16.9 percent.

Again, returning to the theme of economic development, Panto talked about the city's achievements, noting that a Cheeburger Cheeburger franchise signed a lease to occupy restaurant space in the newly completed Pomeroy shopfront earlier on Wednesday and that phase II of the Pomeroy property is nearing completion.

"Even in this economy, the city continues to draw public and private investment dollars with more than $100 million in active projects last year and more than $20 million in grants being managed this year alone," he said.

From a city managment standpoint, an IT manager will be officially hired in coming months, and that person's first goal will be to add online payment capability for the city, which will "drastically reduce the thousands of utility bills processed each month," the mayor said.

"In closing, we are not here merely to hold office. We are here to empower the people of our community to live a better life with greater vision, with a sense of hope, and with the chance to achieve their dreams for themselves and their families," Panto said. "We are here to attract families and investors who feel confident that our finances are stable and secure."

Panto will again give the State of the City address this morning at the State Theatre during a breakfast gathering hosted by the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce.