Robert "Bob" Donchez is an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He served as a

city councilman A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural council ...

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19, ...

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 A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

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 Kutztown University of Pennsylvania (Kutztown University or KU) is a public university in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. It is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) and is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher ...

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 Paul "Mo-Mo" Marcincin was an American politician. He served as a city councilman of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for 12 years. He was also the city's 7th mayor for two periods first from 1978 to 1987 and Interim mayor from 1997 to 1998. Early lif ...

as his treasurer during the 1976 mayoral race. Marcincin, and his campaign staff, convinced Donchez to run for city council as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

in 1995. Using his background as a teacher he sought to redevelop the decaying

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

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 J. William "Willie" Reynolds is an American politician. He served as a city councilman of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania from 2008 until 2022 and is currently the city's 12th and incumbent mayor. His term began in 2022 which is set to expire in 2026. He ...

, 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 Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

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 , usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency nu ...

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donchez, Robert Mayors of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Living people 1950 births Pennsylvania Democrats Kutztown University of Pennsylvania alumni