Sunday, May 15, 2011

Video: Mayor Panto's Interview with Bernie O'Hare

Mayor Sal Panto of Easton is running for re-election on Tuesday. Since Bernie O'Hare of Lehigh Valley Ramblings did this video interview with him already, I am sending readers there who want a recap of the last three years from the mayor's point of view--the interview is in segments.


For more on Panto's opponent, Mike Krill, see my earlier interview, which has now slipped off the home page.

Whoever you vote for, remember to GET OUT AND VOTE ON TUESDAY. And don't forget to tell your neighbors too!

12 comments:

Bernie O'Hare said...

Ironically, I have a post going out at midnight linking to your Mike Krill interview!!

noel jones said...

ha ha--that's funny--glad to share until such time as we are able to clone ourselves and cover everything!

Anonymous said...

Mike who? This guy hasn't done a thing this primary. Sure he is unopposed in the primary but so is Panto. The mayor doesn't take our city government lightly nor an election. I am a Republican and he has my vote! Let's keep the momentum going. This is the longest positive trends in the city in decades. And as a senior on fixed income I have had no tax or fee increases. Even the small garbage fee several years ago he kept our senior rates the same. Panto care. The other guy can continue to fight our fires. We have an excellent fire department and he should do what he knows.

noel jones said...

Anon 9:31--I am still holding out for my dream that one day there will be no such thing as an uncontested primary in Easton's local politics...we are getting a little better in that regard, as the school board races show, but we still need more people to step forward and say, "enough is enough, I'm going to give it a try!"

For that reason alone, I am glad that Krill has stepped forward--otherwise we wouldn't even have a race at all, and there would be no potential for public forums and discussions of issues facing our city. I hope that we have a number of forums heading into the general election, so that these two can talk about how they differ in their vision, in front of a public audience who can ask them questions.

I would even be psyched if an Independent candidate jumped into the fray--I doubt anyone has a chance of beating Panto, but the forums would just be much more interesting and engage voters more.

tunsie said...

No one will beat my buddy SAL.....Tunsie

david williams said...

i no longer live in easton, but i think sal is a decent mayor. i remember how you had him over to your house, noel, to meet people in the neighborhood and to listen to some of their concerns and to answer their questions. the second time your house wasn't big enough, so the meeting moved to a larger venue with even more neighbors present. i think this was both good for the neighborhood and good for the mayor, because it gave him a chance to listen and to demostrate that he heard people, which i think he did.
i think the neighborhood and the mayor owe a lot to you noel for your efforts to create a more expressive partnership between the city officials and the people who live in easton. so...[loud applause here] to noel jones!

tachitup said...

Yup, ain't no doubt about it; Noël is a great asset for Easton!
Even when she's wrong....it happens sometimes...still a force for the good.
Bernie's videos suck, but capture the moment.

noel jones said...

This being the primary, there is no contest, as Mayor Panto is the Dem incumbent and Mike Krill is the Republican challenger. However, I wanted to post the interview with Mike Krill to give people a chance to know him, and Bernie's videos with the mayor so that readers can reflect on how the city has improved in the past three years.

As we approach the general election, I am hoping that these two will participate in some candidate forums, so that people can understand the difference in their approach to improving the city.

There is no doubt that the city has improved in the last three years in my mind--the street cleaning program has expanded, the bike paths and riverfront parks have been landscaped, Larry Holmes Drive has crosswalks and traffic calming now to encourage foot traffic to the riverfront, the farmers market is better than ever, the Ambassadors have kept the downtown clean and pretty and are a friendly presence on the street for visitors and residents alike, when it used to be sketchier down there. And in the middle of one of the worst recessions in this country's history, Easton has balanced its books and not raised taxes in the past couple of years.

Some people may feel that they don't like his methods, or that they would have done things differently, but the bottom line is that things got done, improvements were made on his watch, and it's important to give credit where credit is due.

What voters will need to decide for the general election in November, is not whether or not they think Easton has improved under Panto, because it clearly has. What they will have to decide, is whose vision for going forward they prefer. My sense is that the major topic for debate will be the planned intermodal center downtown, and that will be interesting...

Amend Wun said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amend Wun said...

sorry, my first post didn't work,so i'm gonna try again. just wanted to share the Elucidator's interview with Mayor panto. you'll probably have to cut and paste the link due to the length of it. hope that's cool. i would have emailed it to you, but i don't have your addy:

http://www.elucidator.net/
an-interview-with-eastons-
incumbent-mayor-sal-panto-jr

noel jones said...

thanks Amend--my email address is neighborsofeaston@gmail.com

noel jones said...

Amend--by the way--I offered to interview the mayor and asked if he'd prefer to meet in person or that I just link to these videos in the interest of saving us both time and he said he was fine either way, so I linked to Bernie's videos since they aren't edited and capture the mayor talking at length about his accomplishments and his vision in his own words.