The tell-tale footprints evident at the site of Riverwalk are unmistakably those of Easton, Pennsylvania, lame-duck mayor Phil Mitman.

He follows in the footsteps of his immediate predecessor Tom Goldsmith. Just as Goldsmith used the Mayor’s position as a ladder to Pennsylvania’s Liquor Control Board, Mitman parlayed it into the executive directorship of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC).

Before Mitman leaves office, he plans to sneak past the lawsuit the Riverkeepers’ Network and the Littoral Society filed in federal court against Riverwalk.

He intends to issue building permits following bid openings, the winning bidder selected, and the construction contract awarded - thus claiming the federal lawsuit moot and throwing any subsequent litigation into the ineffably corrupt Northampton County Court of Common Pleas.

Under that scenario, the presiding judge would place the plaintiffs under a million dollar or more performance bond.

This is what Lafayette College’s chief counsel Danny Cohen, a Lafayette College alumnus, and Judge Robert Simpson did to Lafayette Cleaner’s owner and operator Barbara Groner when she and I filed a complaint against the college’s demolition of two residences bordered by Clinton Terrace and Cattell, Hart, and Marquis streets.
Lafayette wanted to replace the houses with a parking lot for the Louis B. Arinon Student Center, located on the college campus more than a block a way.

Our goal? Throw a road block in the path of Mitman and Riverwalk through aggressive political action.