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Robert Donchez

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American politician
Deputy DirectorRobert Donchez
Northampton County Deputy Director of Human Resources
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 18, 2022
11th Mayor of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
In office
January 6, 2014 – January 3, 2022
Preceded byJohn B. Callahan
Succeeded byJ. William Reynolds
Personal details
Born (1950-03-27) March 27, 1950 (age 74)
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Political partyDemocratic Party
ResidenceBethlehem, Pennsylvania
Alma materKutztown University
OccupationEducator

Robert "Bob" Donchez is an American politician. He served as a city councilman of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania from 1996 until 2013 and was the city's 11th Mayor from 2013 to 2021. He currently is serving as deputy director of Human Resources for Northampton County.

Early life

Donchez is a lifelong native of Southside Bethlehem. His father was a police officer who died of a heart attack when he was 18. He abandoned his dream of being a lawyer and pursued a teaching degree at Kutztown University in order to support his family.

Career

Educator

Donchez worked as a social studies teacher at Allen Highschool for 35 years.

Bethlehem City Council

Donchez got involved in politics by assisting then councilmen Paul Marcincin as his treasurer during the 1976 mayoral race. Marcincin, and his campaign staff, convinced Donchez to run for city council as a Democrat in 1995. Using his background as a teacher he sought to redevelop the decaying Bethlehem Steel plant as well as expanding and funding for the police. He also spearheaded a policy of severing connections between the local government and construction contracts, increasing financial accountability. Throughout his career as a councilmen he was notorious for keeping his political views close to his chest.

Mayor of Bethlehem

Donchez, 62 years old at the time, decided to run for mayor as the incumbent mayor John B. Callahan had reached his term limits. He centered his primary campaign around his "maturity" compared to his Democratic opponent, J. William Reynolds, who was 30. Despite raising $112,000, 6 times more than Reynolds, he won the Democratic primary by a slim margin of 51.8 percent to 48.2 percent, or 184 individual votes. The Republican Party failed to file a candidate besides an unsuccessful, marginal, write-in campaign, meaning the primary was treated as the election proper. As mayor he modeled his mayorship around the technocratic mayorship of his mentor Marcincin, hiring professionals in various fields, and delegating to them committees on these fields. A large component of his mayorship would be his fiscal responsibility plan, a resumption of his work in the city council. The plan sought to streamline the city's budget, and cut unnecessary expenses, saving the city approximately $100,000 annually. He ran for a second term in 2017, and faced no opposition from the Democratic Party. He based his second term in office around taxation, vowing to not increase taxes in Bethlehem. In order to do so he slashed roughly $400,000 from the city's budget and drastically reduced the number of city employees. However, he did have to increase the budget to reform the Bethlehem area 9-1-1 dispatch center, turning it into a regional dispatch hub. He was unable to run for a third term due to term limits.

Post Mayoral career

Shortly after exiting office, Northampton county executive Lamont McClure named Donchez as his deputy director of human resources.

References

  1. "Robert Donchez sworn in as Bethlehem Mayor". The Morning Call. 2014-01-07. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  2. Radzievich, Nicole (May 22, 2013). "Donchez claims victory in Bethlehem mayor's race, Reynolds concedes". mcall.com. the morning call. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  3. Radzievich, Nicole (May 12, 2013). "Veteran Bethlehem councilman Robert Donchez runs for mayor". mcall.com. the morning call. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  4. "Bethlehem mayoral candidate Robert Donchez releases fiscal responsibility plan". lehighvallylive.com. Lehigh Valley Live. April 13, 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  5. Sara, Satullo (February 2, 2017). "Bethlehem mayor seeks another 4 years". lehighvallylive.com. Lehigh Valley Live. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  6. Satullo, Sara (December 21, 2017). "Good news in 2017 Bethlehem tax bills". lehighvallylive.com. Lehigh Valley Live. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  7. Satullo, Sara (April 16, 2016). "Bethlehem resigned to, but skeptical of, forced 911 merger". lehighvallylive.com. Lehigh Valley Live. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  8. Sroka-Holzmann, Pamela (January 11, 2022). "Former Bethlehem mayor Robert Donchez tapped for county role". lehighvallylive.com. Lehigh Valley Live. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
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